The contract signed between IFEF, the International Federation of Esperanto-Railwaymen – a member of FISAIC, and the Jan Perner Transport Faculty within Pardubice University has already resulted in cooperation in the shape of a seminar organised between the University and the Czech Association of Esperanto Railwaymen ĈeFEA dedicated to European Railways on 26 February, to which five speakers representing IFEF (from Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Romania and) accepted the invitation.

In the auditorium there was a large audience, a mixture of interested Esperanto-friends and new, young people, who listened to the presentations. First, Rodica Todor, Romania, president of IFEF, introduced IFEF and its role as an organisation of railwaymen developing Esperanto as a professional railway language. She was followed by:

• Problems and opportunities with trams on railway tracks (Guido Brandenburg, Germany)
• Principles and processes creating and following norms (Bodo Ehrlich, Germany)
• The tools for monitoring irregularities on rolling stock equipment (Ladislav Kovář, Czech Republic)
• Plans and accomplishment of the project, Køge Nord Station south of Copenhagen (Jan Niemann, Denmark)
• The progress of the project Bologna Station (Vito Tornillo, Italy)

In spite of the huge amount of different material presented in a short time the attention of the audience was held until the last slide.

For the speakers, besides meeting friends, the day also served as an opportunity to visit the model railway of the University, used for training purposes.

Some of the guests left only the day after and had a possibility to meet the dean of the host university to discuss further cooperation.

One of the strong points of FISAIC and Esperanto gatherings is that they serve as a platform for acquiring professional knowledge, cultural impressions, new friends and colleagues.

The IFEF seminar in Pardubice was attended by Secretary General of FISAIC Mr Jan Niemann and Coordinator of Technical Commissions Mr Roman Štěrba.

FISAIC is an International Railway Art & Culture Association. FISAIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UIC on 1 December 2016. FISAIC aims to promote and support cultural activities of the railway personal of all nations in their leisure time, to establish relations among the creative railway personal of the national associations and unions in order to organise cultural events and contribute to development of cultural motivation and activities. FISAIC was founded in Strasbourg in 1952.

(Source: SZDC)