The Regional Assembly of the UIC Middle-East Region was held in Esfahan, Iran on 26 November 2018.
Seven UIC Members from the Region (from Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan) took part in the meeting hosted by the Iranian Railways RAI in the presence of the deputy Governor of Esfahan city.
The RAME Chairman Mr Apaydin, President of Turkish Railways TCDD and Vice Chairman of UIC, opened the meeting, followed by the Deputy Mayor of Esfahan who presented the latest developments in the city.
The Vice Minister and RAI Board President Mr Mohammadzadeh underlined the importance of the meeting and presented perspectives of RAI developments including investments in rail infrastructure and rolling stock as well as plans for a future high-speed rail connection between Tehran and Esfahan. The project is to be completed within five years.
Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, thanked RAI for their warm reception, and expressed his sympathy with regard to the damage and injuries caused by recent earthquake which recently affected western Iran. He thanked RAME for the results achieved with the support of the Regional Bureau in Tehran led by Mr Abbas Nazari. During this meeting, the UIC book “Dreams Stations” was presented to the Mayor of the City and RAME members as a token in association with the Next Station Conference to be held in Tehran in 2019.
He also presented UIC’s recent developments and thanked Syrian Railways and Iraqi Railways for participating in the meeting and wanting to resume their membership of UIC.
It should be noted a speech was delivered by the CEO of Syrian Railways about severe difficulties affected by the war and the efforts they make for domestic rail transport.
Following the opening session, Mr Nazari presented the actions completed in 2018. Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, Middle-East Region Coordinator, confirmed the actions planned for 2019. He also informed members that the RAME Strategic Action Plan perspective 2020 was sent to Members after adjustments. The document will be distributed to the UIC General Assembly on 7 December in Paris.
RAME members presented their achievements and neighbouring cooperation. Mr Francis Bédel, Chief UIC Digital Officer, presented UIC’s IT strategy and outputs of the Digital Platform. He was asked by Members for more detailed information focused on their needs. The 23rd Regional Assembly for Middle-East meeting will be held in spring 2019 at the kind invitation of MDA (Ma’an Development Area), a company in Jordan.
The next RAME meeting will be held at the kind request of Aqaba Railways Corporation (ARC).
