The second yearly meeting of the UIC Expertise Development Platform (EDP), which took place at MERTCe (UIC Middle East Railway Training Centre) in Eskişehir on 3 December and at the TCDD training centre in Ankara on 4 December 2012, brought together training executives/representatives from 15 different rail training centres/institutions.
MERTCe, which is based at the TCDD training centre in Eskişehir, was officially inaugurated in October 2012 on the occasion of the first UIC training session (International Railway Business Course and High Speed Workshop) organised in the frame of the new centre.
The objectives of MERTCe are described in a message from Mr Karaman, President of Turkish Railways and Chairman of RAME as follows: “MERTCe is designed to create a solution to the training needs of railways that are emerging due to rapid developments in our region. It is envisaged that MERTCe will make contributions to the creation of a common railway area in the Middle-East in the medium- and long-term and to the provision of interoperability via training and education”.
More information about MERTCe is available at the following address: http://uicmertce.org
One part of the meeting, chaired by Mr Alexander Netolicky – chairman of the EDP – was dedicated to the work progress in the activities which form the focus of the Expertise Development Platform for 2012-2013:
- Trainer development
- Benchmarking customer service training
- Benchmarking in-company training programme (training of drivers for licence and certificate) and
- Preparation of the Second World Congress on Rail Training which will be organised in St-Pölten/Vienna from 24 – 26 April 2013
Registration for the World Congress is now open at www.wcrt2013.org. The draft programme of the Congress is also available at the same address.
Information related to the conditions for partnership/sponsoring the Congress is available at http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1378
Another part of the meeting was dedicated to the exchange and sharing of information as regards rail training developments across the industry, as well as to information on current international developments regarding the rail sector, including the latest worldwide developments at UIC.
Besides visits to the training facilities, a visit was organised at the construction site of the high speed line between Eskişehir and Istanbul.
The next meeting of the Platform is scheduled for next June 2013, though the venue is not yet confirmed.
