On 17 March a new meeting of the Commuter and Regional Train Systems Group took place at UIC Headquarters in Paris. The meeting was chaired by Mr Bartłomiej Buczek, president of the group. Representatives from Trenitalia, SNCF, PKP-SKM, Euskotren, BLS, Korail and East Japan Railways were present. Mr Barrón, Director of the High Speed and Passenger Department, and Mr Casado, Senior Advisor, represented UIC.

The meeting started with a general presentation of Commuter and Regional Trains Systems in Italy made by one of the Trenitalia representatives, Ms Follesa. Her presentation served as a starting point for the exchange of information between the railway companies present at the meeting, comparing some aspects of the Italian systems with systems in other countries.

The handbook for Commuter and Regional Train Systems currently being prepared by the group was also on the agenda, and an update was given on how the work had progressed in the last weeks. Given that the group at this stage is focusing on contracts, as this will be the first chapter of the handbook, there were two presentations on this matter. Mr Casado gave an overview of the situation of the legal relationships between railway companies and authorities in Asian countries, and Mr Buczek gave a presentation of the current situation of the contractual relationship between Polish regions and railway undertakings. Lively discussions followed both presentations.

The group agreed to meet again on 8 and 9 October in Rome.