Ferdinand Schmidt (CEO of Rail cargo Austria), Chairman of the Freight Forum, opened the session and welcomed all the participants especially the new delegates from CD CARGO (Mr J. Ram), CICF ( Mr A. Grobri), SNCB ( Ms M.G. Henuset).
New projects 2010
The main issue on the agenda of the Freight Forum session was the presentation of the new projects 2010 and the review portfolio of all projects and on going activities.
In view of the financial crisis, the budget presented showed a 43% reduction vs the 2008 budget and 25% reduction vs the 2009 one !) 4 new projects have been proposed for financing by the Freight Forum.
As underlined by Mr Schmidt all projects are dealing with quality and productivity improvements. These are INPUT ( Industrialised production used in combined Transport), MAP ( management and productivity of wagons), DDP ( Data Delivery Points ) and SITA ( standardized Interface for telematic application).
Budget process 2010
The new UIC budget process was explained and presented . In consideration of the final opt in deadline of November 15, Oliver Sellnick asked the audience to forward the declaration of interest for these new projects to the UIC Freight Department by November 10.
Focus on following additional points
Information about CER position on the proposal of regulation concerning a European rail network was given by Jacques Dirand. He answered questions about the position expressed in the collective amendments and underlined the differences between the future management committee and the advisory board of the corridors.
Eric Peetermans, Chairman of the SG Wagon Users, gave a presentation on the consequences of the Viareggio accident and the EU safety conference held in Brussels last September. He gave an overview of the package of 10 measures proposed by the sector.
The European Performance Regime project manager, Mr Kandels gave an update and timeline on the calculation model and the preparation of the first trial implementation.
A live presentation of the RAILFREIGHT Portal was given by Gustav Manding http://www.railfreightportal.com/. He reminded that this website was the spin off activity of the 2009 project Changing the Perception of Rail. All participants agreed on the good quality of the portal in terms of design and of content.
The next forum will take place on 26 May 2010.
