Appointment of Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, as UIC Chairman for 2013-2014 to be ratified in December
Focus on global railway standardisation: a selection of updated UIC Leaflets to be transformed into International Railway Standards (IRS)
California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) admitted as new member of UIC
The 80th General Assembly of UIC, the worldwide railway association, was held on 9 July in Philadelphia, USA, in connection with the 8th Congress on High Speed Rail, “UIC HIGHSPEED”, jointly organised with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and with the support of North American UIC members, Federal Railroad Administration (US DoT), Amtrak, Association of American Railroads (AAR) and Via Rail Canada.
The General Assembly was chaired for the last time by Yoshio Ishida. Mr Ishida was recently promoted to Corporate Auditor of East Japan Railway Company and is no longer in a position to chair UIC. Mr Satoshi Seino, Chairman of East Japan Railway Company (EJRC), will complete the mandate as UIC Chairman until December 2012. The Assembly unanimously paid tribute to Yoshio Ishida for his deep personal involvement in UIC and his strong commitment since March 2009 to increase UIC’s unity, reputation and worldwide credibility.
The UIC Executive Board and the General Assembly debated the issue of UIC governance for the coming years. The General Assembly unanimously greeted Mr Vladimir Yakunin, President and CEO of Russian Railways (RZD) as the next UIC Chairman for the 2013-2014 term, subject to ratification at the next UIC General Assembly in December in Paris. Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of Italian Railways (FS Group), also accepted to fulfil a new mandate, together with Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, whose mandate has been proposed for renewal for another two-year term starting April 2013.
Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux detailed the activities developed by UIC working bodies in cooperation with its members since the previous assembly.
One key focus was to reflect on UIC’s management of the global financial crisis and slow economic recovery, in increasing the value of UIC’s activities for members, in being rigorous in management issues and drawing benefits from the dynamism of the railways in the 6 UIC regions. To ensure transparency all UIC activities are documented in the latest version of the UIC 2010-2013 Reference Document.
Mr Loubinoux gave an overview of new MoUs and agreements signed with, among others, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), AITD, the Coordinating Council on Transsiberian Transportation (CCTT), ongoing discussions with EBRD and cooperation agreed with the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA).
Standardisation, Research
In the technical cooperation field, strong focus was placed on the progress of the railway standardisation issue, an issue with a potentially extremely high value for all UIC members at global level. Important work has been achieved by members of the Standardisation Working Group (SWG) to propose the transformation of a number of important UIC Technical Leaflets into UIC International Railway Standards (IRS). This development will considerably increase the international recognition of UIC’s assets and the UIC’s credibility vis-à-vis members, industries and standards bodies. In this context the General Assembly was informed of the progress of cooperation with ISO, in particular through the preparation of a Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with ISO.
Another strong focus was placed on the progress of the activities of IRRB, the worldwide International Railway Research Board, chaired by Mr Boris Lapidus from RZD/VNIIZhT, in the field of global railway research. Particular mention should be made of the development of a very effective rail research portal which will be finalised in December, as well as the creation of the UIC Rail Innovation Awards which will be granted to winners in December 2012 for the 90th anniversary of UIC.
UIC management, appointments
Concerning financial reports, the General Assembly unanimously approved the 2011 accounts and took note of the current financial situation and of the preliminary elements for the 2013 budget.
UIC General Assembly members were informed of the cooperation progress in the 6 UIC regions – namely Africa, North and Latin America, Asia, Europe and Middle-East – by the respective regional assembly chairmen or their representatives, giving an overview of the dynamism of the regional cooperation groups within UIC.
The General Assembly was informed of the appointment of the Heads of UIC working bodies.
Michele Elia, RFI/FS Group as new chairman of the Rail System Forum, succeeding Zbigniew Szafranski, from PLK; Mr Lubomir Hradisky, from ZSSK, as new Chairman of the Security Platform, succeeding Moha Khadour from ONCF, with the Vice-Chairman being Mr Pradeep Kumar Mehta, Director General of the Railway Protection Force, Indian Railways. At UIC HQ Mr Hans Günther Kersten, from Deutsche Bahn was appointed new Director of the Rail System Department, succeeding Mr Emilio Maestrini who retired earlier this year.
New Members
The UIC as a worldwide railway association continues its expansion by approving a number of new applications for membership:
- in North America the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA)
- in Europe BDZ PP from Bulgaria, NKH the Hungarian National Transport Authority, WestBahn, Austrian passenger operator, HS2, British promoter of High Speed Rail, Student Agency, Czech passenger operator
- in Asia/Europe FPC, Russian passenger operator, a subsidiary of Russian Railways (RZD)
