The UIC Research and Technology Platform’s Steering Body has approved the PTR Strategy Programme 2020 to define its strategic orientation for the next decade.
PTR’s mission, now as part of the new Infrastructure and Rail System Forum, is supporting all UIC bodies dealing with technological development and research, system related transversal matters such as safety and environment – in order to develop an integrated rail system. PTR, as one pillar of UIC, contributes to the holistic development of the rail system and enhances its competitiveness with the other modes of transport. PTR‘s work is dedicated to topics related to the European railway system and open to the world.
The core subject is rolling stock including the interfaces to the railway infrastructure (permanent way, electrical power supply, signalling) and environmental issues among others. The key activities standardisation and input for European technical harmonisation was broadened to railway research and development.
It assures the co-ordination and management of the EU research projects and supports the worldwide research activities.
This PTR Strategy Programme 2020 is a roadmap with a long-term horizon for the development of rolling stock and the interfaces. It allows an easy assessment of all future R&D activities and the set-up of annual PTR working programmes. The main target groups are the Programme Managers, the PTR Steering Body, the RCG chairman, the RCG/ERRAC Interface Managers as well as the members of the UIC Rail System Department.
The Research and Technology Platform (PTR) has identified the following mega trends and challenges for the socio-economic, ecological and technical development in Europe until the year 2020:
• Transport
• People
• Environment
• Politics
With the people and the economy changing quickly (even quicker than in the past decades) the railways have to find the right answers to comply the needs of tomorrow’s passengers and customers.
Based on this, eight strategic goals have been extracted to identify the framework for finding concrete answers to the future socio-economic, ecological and technical challenges in tomorrow’s Europe. The first three were assessed as top priority.
1. Driving the global system (Top Priority)
2. Environment (Top Priority)
3. Economics (Top Priority)
4. Capacity
5. Safety
6. Security
7. Service
8. Human Resources and Know-How
This programme is not supposed to compete with other platform’s strategies but to be regarded as one brick in a common UIC strategy paper to face tomorrow’s challenges. It shall be in line with the global strategy of the railway community. This working paper shall trigger off the necessary discussion with other UIC bodies and the railway community.
