At the beginning of September, UIC once again reinforced its relationship with the UN by attending the Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP5) at the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

From 3 – 5 September 2012, UNECE held the 25th session of the Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The first day was devoted to a workshop on Urban Transport, where the need for multi-modal mobility was emphasised by most of the speakers who were technical experts or country representatives. During day 2, speakers provided information on Euro-Asian links and the Mediterranean region. The conclusion we can draw is that there is an effort to address the lack of links, which tend to be more and more developed.

During the afternoon, the transport situation in Europe was updated by a representative from a UNECE country, from a non-UNECE country and from the road and rail sector, to assess the state-of-the-art.

UIC, represented by Mr Vincent Vu, showcased the role of railways in developing Euro-Asian links and underlined that railways were a sustainable solution that enables people to be moved quickly. The role of high speed rolling stocks was put forward, and we are likely to be invited to the next forum on high speed organized by the UNECE. During this meeting we were able to give our ideas for a high speed planning and contribute to the development of high speed lines with our precious knowledge.

We look forward to working with UNECE and widening our collaboration with the United Nations.