Each year on 14 October, the members of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as international standards.

“This specific reunion of major standardisation bodies is for UIC an excellent opportunity to recall the work which is now becoming a strategic priority to the benefit of all our Members. As a matter of fact, UIC, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, has over the years developed around 700 technical leaflets which have been essential to develop worldwide a railway system, and many Members use these leaflets daily for their common operation. Based on these assets and property of all our Members, UIC is at the moment working on the development of possible international railway standards through the creation of a Standardisation Platform and also the possibility of developing with ISO in particular a Technical Cooperation Agreement through which some of these leaflets or International Railway Standards could become ISO standards, that are recognised and used at global level for the benefit of the whole railway sector”, said Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General.