The SMGG (Station Managers’ Global Group) met on 13 June in Madrid, organised by ADIF under the direction of the SMGG chairman, Carlos Ventura, at the Spanish Railway Foundation.
Representatives from ADIF, SBB CFF FFS, SNCF, RZD, SNCB/NMBS, FS & RAI attended the meeting. UIC was represented by Marc Guigon, Director of the UIC Passenger Department and Clément Gautier, Project Manager for this department.
The initial feedback on the Security Handbook were presented by Ekaterina Kozyreva from RZD. The handbook was used to prepare the 21st Football World Cup and to share with all the Station Managers of Russia. In order to prepare all 33 stations for this event, RZD held a discussion with SNCF about the 2016 European Football Cup held in France. The position of the station staff is also based on the experience of the German colleagues because they know how welcome one million people on one day due to the Summer Jam Festival held every July in Cologne.
After the final of the World Cup, RZD will analyse all the experiences to improve aspects of security and announcements as much as possible. This analysis will be shared with UIC members.
The second point on the agenda was the potential synergies with the other UIC working groups, from the Passenger Forum as well as also other UIC platforms. A synergy diagram of the SMGG is therefore in preparation and will be unveiled in the coming months. On this occasion was the question of inviting non-UIC members to broaden the vision of the working group to exchanging experience, share best practices and improve the LTDRS project (Long-Term Development for Railway Stations).
Then RZD presented the draft of the first work package of the LTDRS project on the quality assessment of passenger railway stations. With the duration of the project lasting six months, SMGG members will provide a final version of a call for tender and look for a company to manage this specific topic.
Finally, a discussion was held on the preparation of the next 2019 NEXTSTATION event in Iran. Mr Vahid Alighardashi, Director General of the Engineering and Supervising the Infrastructure Bureau of RAI, was part of the discussion concerning the exact date and location of the conference, the set-up of the Scientific Committee, the slogan and the first potential topics for the event. On this occasion, SMGG members will include university bodies within the Scientific Committee.
The next SMGG meeting and the first NEXTSTATION 2019 Scientific Committee will take place in Iran from 8 – 10 October 2018.
Previous NEXTSTATION Events:
Madrid: http://www.nextstation2017.com/
Morocco: http://www.nextstation2015.com/?lang=fr
Moscow: http://nextstation2013.com/
