The UIC Security Division participated in the Conference on Rail Passenger Security in the European Union, which took place on 10 May 2016 in Brussels. This conference, organised by DG MOVE, brought together national transport authorities and experts from the rail industry. The conference was dedicated to sharing and discussing good practices within railway security, to further improve the cooperation between operators and federal authorities to ensure that passengers are safe and secure when they travel on European railways.
The conference was opened by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport. She underlined that the public and the staff must have confidence in rail: “It is our duty as regulators to ensure the public can have confidence in rail”. The speech is available at:
To conclude Violeta Bulc said: “Proportionate, effective actions are required in order to ensure the security and the sense of security that the public requires in order to use the rail network. It is also essential that, as far as possible, public transport remains open, attractive and easily accessible. Rail should remain as far as possible an open system in order for it to continue to function correctly as a means of mass transport.”
Four different topics were addressed during the day, focusing on crisis management, the use of technologies and their fast evolution, security by design, the implication of passengers, the role of the staff and the private-public partnerships:
- Security planning and risk assessment (presentations by the Netherlands and Thalys)
- Security technology e.g. screening equipment for people and luggage (presentations by Eurostar and EOS)
- Security training for staff and third party employees on railway premises (presentations by Deutsche Bahn AG, Colpofer and the Ministry of Transportation Israel )
- Infrastructure, security alerts and incident response systems (presentations by the United Kingdom and EIM rail)
Within two group sessions, concerning security in railway stations and security on trains, the participants discussed crisis planning and cooperation between operators and authorities. A panel discussion on these topics underlined the value of an open railway system and the efforts necessary to keep it as such. Gerd Neubeck from DBAG and the Vice-Chairman of the UIC security platform highlighted the role of the staff to increase the feeling of security of the passengers and the importance of training.
To conclude, Robert Missen, Director responsible for Transport Security, explained the next steps and especially the on-going study on the security of passenger and how to orientate the European policy. The report will be presented in September 2016.
