“UIC at a glance” was the motto of the seminar held on 23 September 2011, attended by around 30 Deutsche Bahn trainees. The aim of the afternoon workshop was to provide a comprehensive overview of the mission and work of UIC Headquarters in Paris to young professionals from the Deutsche Bahn company. Having recently started their professional career at Deutsche Bahn, the trainees participated in an on-and-off-the-job DB training session.

UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux welcomed the group, led by Daniel Beutler (Managing Director of DB France in Paris), and highlighted some core parts of UIC’s work, its strategic course of action as a world organisation, and underlined that UIC’s full focus is to be at the service of its members.

After the opening the various UIC technical departments provided an overview of their current activities and highlighted the key projects, from freight and high speed activities to Rail System and the RSF “Outlook and Vision” Strategy Programme, without forgetting safety and human factors.

All participants were very touched by the presentation on “International Level Crossing Awareness Day” regarding safety at level crossings. The dissemination material used was impressive and the scenarios presented made many participants think about their own behaviour at level crossings.
The general overview was finalised by a summary of the successful work achieved over many years in the field of environment and sustainable development.

All trainees were highly interested in the work being performed by UIC and each presentation triggered lively discussions. Although only one afternoon was scheduled for UIC, the trainees gained an excellent inside view. Perhaps one of the group members might return one day as a member of seconded staff, to become a senior advisor at UIC. The first feedback, at least, was positive.