On 3 November, a special Testimony in memory and honour of Eng. Gheorghe Barbu who passed away in July 2015, was held at UIC Headquarters in Paris at the invitation of UIC Director General Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.
Gheorghe Barbu was an engineer – and Technical Advisor at UIC – recognised across the world for his railway foresight as one of the leading experts in railway signalling and telecommunications. On this occasion, UIC remembered his marked contribution to the progress of advanced signalling and telecommunications systems for railways with a special focus on ERTMS and SATLOC. Gheorghe Barbu strongly contributed through his action and commitment to strengthening UIC’s credibility and global position in the most advanced areas of telecommunications, control command and signalling.
In his testimony, UIC Director General highlighted the personal qualities of Gheorghe Barbu:
“An engineer who, as a result of his journey from Romania, to ERRI in Holland and then UIC, a manager whose colleagues, in Bucharest, in Utrecht, in Brussels or in Paris, say that he was the most passionate professional they have had the honour to work with, a man who through his ideas, projects and vision, would almost certainly have given to UIC more than he would have received, a man who would have positively contributed to the service provided to the members of the global rail technical platform…and to the future of the rail system.”
Furthermore: “It is important to know who we remember, and to pay our respects to and honour those who, like George, before him, today and tomorrow, who, as a result of their knowledge and beliefs, and through their thoughts and deeds, have contributed to the development of UIC, who have built the UIC into what it is today and who have left a legacy for tomorrow that is as rich as its past..
“That is therefore in honour of all the “Georges”, past, present and tomorrow, that a meeting room at UIC Paris Headquarters which will continue to see experts of all cultures and from all countries around the world, will be named after Gheorghe Barbu”.
“This symbolic gesture of transition and transmission will encourage everyone when they enter this room, to reflect on his or her own contribution and added value in the development of the future railway system, to recall that it is respect, hope and courage that will ensure that the UIC flame never dies and that the memory and indeed the spirit of Gheorghe Barbu lives on and in us and in our UIC”.
Following the testimony of UIC Director General and the naming of the room by Mrs Valentina-Mihaela Barbu the spouse of Eng. Gheorghe Barbu, the film “SATLOC for Train Control, Speed Supervision and Traffic Management of Low Traffic Lines”, recently produced under the guidance of Gheorghe Barbu for the European Commission, the GSA and UIC, was presented to the guests representing the family of Gheorghe Barbu, the railways, European institutions, and railway suppliers.
