This seminar, organised by UIC and TCDD as part of RAME, falls within the scope of UIC’s global activity. It builds on the idea that the development of rail activity requires constant and growing consideration of security risks, security threats, and all forms of outside disturbance (civil security, climatic impact, earthquakes…), as well as ensuring consistency between policies developed to tackle such outcomes.
Protecting the railway system is a key factor in rail’s competitiveness that must be developed in order for railways to survive and continue to be useful to society. This competitiveness involves the concept of capacity, which is essential for rail to justify its place in the market; and sustainability, which rail needs in order to be appreciated and accepted by society. This sustainability, taking into account environmental, economic and social aspects, includes in particular the protection of people (passengers, employees and third parties) and goods (cargo carried or stored, railway investments and third-party ownership) and must be extended to all possible threats – whether intended or not; and whether predicted or not – that could compromise this sustainability. It was this principle that led to the idea of “comprehensive protection”, developed with the aim of upstream protection, as well as in the event of any incident or accident, to minimise the consequences and restore functions as swiftly as possible.
This idea of “comprehensive protection” consisting of developing rail system resiliency in the case of disruptive events, is notably applied to high speed given its specific features and the worsening consequences of the same incidents depending on transport speed.
The idea was presented in Africa during the Railway Security Seminar held in Marrakech in April 2013, in Europe during the World Security Congress held in Paris in mid November 2013 and in Asia during the Regional Assembly for UIC Africa-Pacific, and during the 1st UIC Conference on Natural Disaster Management in Taipei from 12 – 16 May 2014.
During the seminar in Ankara, Mr Veysi Kurt, Deputy Director General of TCDD, highlighted the importance of rail in the daily lives of an increasing number of people and the need to allow passengers to feel “safe and secure” during their journey.
He concluded his speech to the participants by saying “I wish for a safe, secure, efficient and sufficient railway system in a better and livable world”.
After the presentation on the general themes of “comprehensive protection” (J Colliard, UIC), the high speed security handbook (I Barron, UIC), safety management (E Gör TCDD) and protection and security (I Gül, TCDD), the seminar focused on the following themes:
Technical issues, stations, freight, multimodal and logistics services, and security research projects
The theme of technical issues was the opportunity to give various presentations on tunnels, focusing on the specific features of the Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosphorus and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan as among the longest railway tunnels.
The performance of the European Train Control System (ETCS was presented in view of the possibility of extending the system to other railways outside Europe. Technological developments were also outlined such as satellite applications, next generation radio communication, train-track interaction, etc.
Finally, the subject of rolling stock was addressed in terms of preventing fires on trains.
Regarding railway stations, presentations focused on existing complex stations such as that of Antwerp in Belgium, specific features of stations which accommodate high speed rail and finally the prospect of a research project on innovative stations within the scope of ongoing European programmes.
The session dedicated to freight and logistics confirmed the importance of the door-to-door concept in the supply chain by highlighting the important role of rail in this multimodal chain.
The panel illustrating the transport chain welcomed representatives from the Turkish Transport Ministry, a multimodal user and promoter (UN RORO) and a rail operator (CFL MM). All speakers insisted on the need to formulate a medium to long-term vision and on the importance of partnerships and investments to implement that vision. Technology was identified as one important means to ensure safe and secure transport, be it at the level of the terminal handling or even in areas such as data exchange or loading practices.
Finally, the session on the research projects also showed UIC’s commitment in the area and the role played by Turkish Railways in certain European projects.
The last session of the seminar was the Concluding Session in the shape of a Moderators’ Session. This session was moderated by Paul Véron, Director of Communications at UIC and Coordinator for the Middle-East Region. It offered an opportunity to each of the six session moderators (sessions on “Overarching themes”, “Technical issues – tunnels”, “Technical issues”, “Railway Stations”, “Freight/Corridors, Multimodal and Logistic Services”, “Research”) to summarise the main messages and challenges that the rail sector will have to cope with in terms of rail safety and security. For each activity field, the session moderators expressed their views about the next steps to be taken as well as possible international cooperation or partnerships.
The floor was then given to Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, and Mr Süleyman Karaman, Director-General of TCDD, Chairman of the UIC Middle-East Region for final remarks.
The UIC Director-General warmly thanked Mr Karaman, TCDD Director-General, as well as Deputy Director-Generals Mr Isa Apaydin, Mr Veysi Kurt and Mr Adem Kayis for hosting this important seminar in Ankara and for their personal involvement during the two days of the seminar.
He underlined that “this seminar successfully contributed to get a clear picture of what is understood under the concept of a “Comprehensive Protection”, a concept integrating all the fields of activity of railway companies and a series of new risks generated by society. Safety and Security have definitively become a strategic issue for all UIC members, considering the consequences in terms of economy and costs, customer satisfaction and attractiveness of rail transport, etc.”
“UIC Member railways can only take advantage of this kind of seminar held at regional level with the objective to consider local conditions and specific situations. But finally Rail Safety and Security are genuinely global issues and solutions will be global with adaptations to specific conditions”. Therefore all participating railways are cordially invited to join UIC projects and activities. Summarising, Mr Loubinoux underlined that he liked Mr Veysi Kurt’s expression that UIC had to be considered as a global “Innovation Agency” for the railways.
