e-News #692

UIC, with the support of Hit Rail B.V, has developed a project for the provision of its Electronic Ticket Control Database (ETCD). The new service vastly improves the ability of railway companies to issue and control rail passenger tickets across a number of countries and will increase security and help prevent fraud.

Under the new ETCD service, UIC now offers a centralised, real-time passenger ticket control system for use by railway companies around the world. The aim is the online exchange of ticket control information between ticket issuers and passenger carriers. These exchanges increase ticket security, prevent fraud and reinforce electronic ticketing capabilities.

The ETCD service is provided in a Software as a Service (SaaS) mode. It has been operational since February 2020 and already several European ticket issuers and passenger carriers are establishing connections to it.

Within UIC Passenger department workgroups, railway experts have now agreed on a common specification IRS 90918-4 for the exchange of ticket control data between ticket issuers and rail carriers controlling the passenger tickets. The ETCD service now provides a central implementation of the ticket control specification, allowing UIC members to exchange information with the central system, involving less complexity and lower implementation costs on their side. The ETCD will become an important foundation for passenger travel based on the increasing adoption of e-tickets.

The ETCD service meets the demanding scalability, performance and security objectives set by UIC. The architecture supporting the service leverages powerful cloud technologies and is designed from the start to reach a high volume of tickets and downloads and to be capable of supporting future UIC services requiring the storing or checking of ticket data.

The technical components of the solution are deployed in a fully virtualised, leading edge, enterprise-grade cloud environment, for a high degree of flexibility in response to varying loads and future changes. While advanced, these technologies are conceived for corporate use, offering high scalability, performance and availability, all while maintaining a reasonable cost.

You may remember our article published in eNews #682 in March 2020 (https://uic.org/com/uic-e-news/682/) announcing the release of the “Catalogue of damages in masonry arch bridges”. During the projects “Improving assessment, optimisation of maintenance and development of database for masonry arch bridges” and “Assessment of masonry arch bridges” UIC developed several background documents containing interesting detailed information on maintenance of this bridge type.

The Panel of Structural Experts (PoSE) decided in 2019 to publish selected background documents to give broader access to the most useful of these guides, providing further detailed information and guidance for masonry experts.

The “Cleaning Manual” gives comprehensive information on the defects on masonry that are suitable for removal by cleaning techniques. It then describes the advantages and disadvantages of each cleaning method, including also innovative methods like laser cleaning. Thus, it provides guidance for the selection of the most adequate method and also precious information to avoid damage of masonry by aggressive methods.

The “Guide on Maintenance and replacement of existing masonry” starts with a brief description of the deterioration processes in masonry. Adequate maintenance techniques which are able to stop evolution of damage, but which also improve the performance of the masonry against environmental aggression are described. For each of the methods the procedure, materials, technical specifications are explained, concluding by cautions and recommendations. Like the cleaning guide the document provides guidance for proper selection of methods to increase the life span of masonry arch bridges and thus improve sustainable asset management.

You can find the documents in the UIC ETF shop at the following link:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/guide-for-execution-and-control-of-repairs-cleaning-manual.html
https://www.shop-etf.com/en/guide-for-execution-and-control-of-repairs-maintenance-and-replacement-of-existing-masonry.html

In case you missed the article in eNews #682, you can follow the link here to the “Damage catalogue”:
https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalogue-of-damages-in-masonry-arch-bridges.html

Furthermore, the second edition of IRS 70778-3 “Recommendations for the inspection, assessment and maintenance of masonry arch bridges” will be published soon. According to the decision of the Panel of Structural Experts it will be available in English, French and German.

The sixth meeting of the UIC Covid-19 taskforce was attended remotely on 12 May by a large number of participants from Asia to the Americas, including Europe and Africa. Marc Guigon, Chair of the Task Force, delivered a special greeting to the newcomers, namely:

• ANPTrilhos, the National Association of Passenger Carriers on Rails of Brazil
• ETOA, the trade association for tourism in Europe with whom UIC signed a MoU last year
• Irish Rail, the operator of the national railway network of Ireland
• Keolis, the international operator of urban and rail networks
• OTIF, the intergovernmental organization for international carriage by rail
• UNECE, the United Nation Economic Commission for Europe

Presentations were delivered by DB, FGC and UNECE, notably on the impact of Covid-19 on transport operations, how they were addressing the current situation, measures being taken, as well as the challenges to come during recovery.

The meeting also looked at the Task Force deliverables. To date the UIC taskforce has prepared three guidance documents:

• Management of Covid-19, a series of potential measures (March 2020)
• Management of Covid-19, potential measures to restore confidence in rail travel following the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020)
• Management of Covid-19, RAILsilience, how the rail sector has fought Covid-19 during the lockdown (to be published shortly)

Focus was given to this last guidance, which is a collection of response measures implemented by railway companies to tackle Covid-19, written on the basis of information provided by members of the UIC Task Force through questionnaires, the Extranet Forum and presentations. To date, 37 responses had been received from all UIC regions.

The next Task Force web-conference is due to be held on 26 May 2020.

If you missed the first UIC FRMCS conference organised last year and if you want to learn more about the Future Railway Mobile Communication System, do not hesitate to consult the UIC YouTube channel.

UIC has produced a short video on the main challenges of this crucial issue concerning the future of railways.

As accessibility is one of the concerns of UIC, a new version in international sign language, is now available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEB01rwUsbo

As UIC believes that this issue must be supported, the Communications team follows the United Nations recommendations as far as possible in terms of web content accessibility. More globally, UIC will do its best to gradually produce an increasing amount of accessible content.

This FRMCS video in international sign language is the first concrete communication product demonstrating UIC’s commitment in this direction.

What is Web Accessibility? (Source: UN website)

“Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.” (Source: W3C).

Persons with disabilities are faced with many challenges when using the Internet and some use assistive technologies to help them access information. For instance, persons with visual impairments may use screen magnifiers or screen readers that read out loud the content of a page or translate it on a Braille display. Persons with mobility impairment may be unable to use a mouse and resort to using the keyboard or another assistive device to surf the web.

Special attention needs to be dedicated to web accessibility in the web design process to ensure a site is usable by persons with different types of disabilities, using a wide range of assistive technologies.

The Passenger Department (Station Sector) and the Security Division of the UIC are delighted to join forces to launch a new network of experts on Inclusive Station. The first virtual meeting was held on 12 May from 15:00 to 16:00.

The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the objective of this experts’ network. On this occasion, over 10 railway companies from North America and Europe attended the meeting.

This network aims to bring together a wide field of experts, with different backgrounds and expertise, to understand how the station can play a bigger role than a simple railway infrastructure. In terms of urban fabric, the station is a component of the city’s infrastructure and the station needs to interreact in a socio-economical-societal context. The objective is to include every actor within the discussion to manage as efficiently as possible station resources for a better atmosphere in stations, enhance the passenger experience, their feeling of security and improve station management.

This network is not a working group but rather a discussion platform, to share thoughts and ideas, questions, feedback and compare different points of view. Thus, UIC has given members access to a new UIC extranet workspace called “Inclusive Stations” where members can ask questions in the discussion forum and share documents. In addition, for urgent matters, UIC can set up the Network of Quick Responders procedure to receive information from the network very quickly and give the required support to experts.

The next Inclusive Station network meeting is planned on 18 June at 14:00 via GoToMeeting. Jernhusen (Sweden), RFI (Italy), OBB (Austria) and PKP (Poland) will present their solutions to recovering from disturbing events in terms of station managements.

UIC hopes to keep growing the network with the participation of new experts across all regions.

Although freight trains are a major source of vibration annoyance, the influence of passenger trains on vibrations is increasing e.g. due to passenger trains running faster and more frequently. Allowing these developments while avoiding the increase of vibrations at the same time has become a major challenge.

Over the last decade, a number of research projects (such as EU-funded projects like RIVAS and CargoVibes) and country specific initiatives on vibration mitigation have taken place. Most of the studies describe measures taken in infrastructure or freight trains, however only a few are addressing the issues related to passenger rolling stock.

For railway operators, it is therefore very important that vibrations do not hinder train operations. Therefore, operators may wish to procure “vibration-friendly” trains. Overcoming this problem involves setting requirements when ordering new trains. Unless this issue is tackled through collaborative work between railway operators, infrastructure managers and manufacturers, it will be difficult to obtain the relevant information which can be used in the technical specification for new passenger trains, given the large amount of research projects. Hence guidance is needed in the development of requirements for vibration-friendly passenger trains.

As agreed by UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) members in their experts meeting, which was held in Berlin on 12 March, an online survey was prepared to obtain as much information and experiences on vibrations as possible from operators, infrastructure managers and manufacturers.

UIC attempts to collect information from those three different stakeholders in order to provide a comprehensive and detailed review about the vibrations in infrastructure caused by passenger trains.

Please fill in the questionnaire using the link below by 13 July.

https://uic.org/events/UIC-NNV-quest-vibration-friendly-trains

All answers will be kept strictly confidential in the UIC Extranet within the Noise and Vibration Network Folder and without permission of the deliverer will not be used or issued.

Results will be communicated and discussed at the next vibration meeting which will be held on 16 September 2020 in Oslo, Norway.

Participants of the survey will be invited to the UIC Vibration Expert meeting to join in the section where the result of the research will be discussed.

Thank you very much for your help and feedback.

The CIT UPC is participating in the European project ARIADNA (Awareness Raising & capacity building Increasing Adoption of EGNSS in urban mobility Applications and services),. The aim of this project is to facilitate access, promote and train in the use of the European satellite navigation system, Galileo. The target audience are stakeholders for whom urban mobility and public transport is an essential factor.

As part of the project, the Galileo Mobility Forum (GMF) has been launched. This is a space in which stakeholders of the ecosystem of urban mobility and public transport can find out more and benefit from all the opportunities offered by this geolocation system.

Galileo, a European geolocation system

Developed by the European Union, Galileo is a satellite geolocation system similar to the United States’ GPS, Russia’s Glonass or China’s Beidou. With Galileo, the European Union aims to ensure its strategic independence in this highly strategic area, improve its market share in the geolocation sector, and expand its high value-added services.

In 2019, a billion smart phones were already using Galileo. New vehicles that are launched on the market incorporate the European system EGNSS. However, even though its use is common in our daily life, Galileo continues to be little known among city councils, public transport authorities and operators, companies and individuals.

What does Galileo offer to the urban mobility and public transport ecosystem, start-ups and SMEs?

Transport of goods and people is one of the sectors in which Galileo offers the greatest number of possibilities, both for economic stakeholders who are involved in the sector (urban transport operators, industrial suppliers and public transport providers) and for final users. The greater accuracy of Galileo compared to other geolocation systems makes it more competitive. Greater accuracy also enables new transport services to be developed that meet current market needs and existing services to be optimised, making them more flexible and efficient. Therefore, Galileo opens new application opportunities in areas such as fleet management (buses, trains, trams, etc.), traffic management, mobility applications, communication between vehicles and road safety, among others.

To promote synergies and business opportunities of high added value for organisations and companies, the Galileo Mobility Forum (GMF) has been created and is promoted by the CIT UPC. The Forum offers to companies, authorities and public transport operators, as well as city councils and technology suppliers who participate in the GMF:

• The opportunity to form part of the flagship project of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), and one of the most important projects for promoting the use of GALILEO for public transport and urban mobility.
• The technical support and advice of Galileo experts and members of the ARIADNA consortium.
• Preferential access to project deliverables.

About ARIADNA

ARIADNA is led by an international consortium, coordinated by the Spanish company Factual Consulting, and four other partners in three European countries. In addition to the CIT UPC, the other participants are the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), Pildo Consulting and Auxilia. The project will last 24 months and will end in November 2021.

The heads of the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD) issued a joint statement on 15 May 2020 agreeing to coordinated efforts for the continued facilitation of railway supply chains and to mitigate the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our societies.

As a result of Covid-19’s impact on the railway industry, some railway companies are confronted with challenges in preparing and collecting paper-based documents required for Customs procedures in international railway transport. In this context, the heads encourage Customs administrations to facilitate railway transport by temporarily accepting electronic documents and deferring the requirement for paper-based documents until a later stage, if necessary, as stipulated in the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).

WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya, OTIF Secretary General Wolfgang Küpper, and OSJD Chairman of OSJD Committee Tadeusz Szozda expressed their readiness to support their respective Members in the implementation of relevant instruments, tools and programmes in order to ensure the continuity and facilitation of international railway transport.

The full statement is available at : http://otif.org/fileadmin/new/5-Media/5A-News/2020/WCO-OTIF-OSJD_Joint_Statement.pdf

Due to an unexpected situation, we would like to inform you that the UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology planned has been postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021.

The goals of the programme are to share knowledge and best practice of railway passenger service in the Asia-Pacific region, to discuss quality service and to find ways to cooperate. The main themes are:

• Overview of the rail ticket distribution: from concepts to databases
• Rail Ticket Digitalisation: the barcode solution from mass transit ticket to high-speed ticket
• Artificial Intelligence: to serve the customer at the train station AIRobot
• UIC IT solution for Rail Passenger Control. Paperless ticketing
• PRM Assistance Booking Tool: how to guaranty assistance for the impaired passengers (wheelchairs…)

We hope that it will be a great opportunity for all of you to broaden your understanding of UIC Asia-Pacific railways and strengthen cooperation among members.

UIC has received, selected and gathered a number of films and other audiovisual material on Covid-19 from its members and partners that are now available in the UIC Mediacenter.Automatic word wrap
The collection will be updated on a regular basis.

This week’s latest additions include films from Spain and France.

Feel free to consult them here Automatic word wrap
https://mediacenter.uic.org/en/nl-nav/83-videos-audios/template/first-level

https://bit.ly/3cHpvQT

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UIC Communications team has published a series of illustrations.

As confinement comes to a close and the recovery period begins, UIC would like to thank Mr Sergey Kabenkov, Editor-in-Chief of the OSJD Bulletin who sent us drawings by Maria Buczkowska (Poland) with the help of her uncle Igor Belov (Austria).

#Recovery #StayHome

© OSJD

UIC thanks Barbara Mouchel from the UIC Communications Department, for all her drawings during this period.

© UIC / Barbara Mouchel

European railway museums have started a collaborative action process aimed at showing the beneficial role that these spaces can play, in the social and cultural spheres, within a context of coexistence with Covid-19.

The first of the actions has consisted of writing and disseminating a Manifesto, which will be made public on 18 May, coinciding with the celebration of the International Museum Day. The document emphasises the peculiarity of these museum spaces that establish a vital link between railways and society.

Large centres, conducive to generating healthy environments that promote well-being and can help alleviate the physical and psychological effects generated by the pandemic.

Among the objectives included in the Manifesto are the interest in contributing to the recovery of cultural activity in Europe and in establishing joint strategies for action. Partnerships that promote reflection on the value of this heritage in relation to technological, economic and social development in the past, present and future of this mode of transport, as well as contribute to ensuring that European citizens keep trusting and the role it plays for mobility throughout the continent.

The Manifesto, to which the main European railway museums and transports and communications museums have joined, is also supported by other institutions, heritage departments of railway companies and international associations of museums, railway history and transport in general.

Click here to read the manifesto: https://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/manifesto_european_railway_museums_updated_20200518.pdf

(Source: FFE)

During the May Day holiday, China Railway Wuhan Group Co., Ltd. insisted on the regular epidemic prevention and control, and accurately increased the effective supply of passenger transport resources.

By vigorously implementing the “railway+tourism” strategy, it had provided scenic spot information and advisory services on the trains, set up tourism promotion desks and posters at stations, strengthened cooperation with local tourism authorities, and provided convenient transfer services, so as to ensure the safe and convenient travel of passengers.

China Railway Wuhan Group Co., Ltd. has strengthened its regular epidemic prevention and control work. It continued to take measures such as selling tickets of scattered seats, ventilation and disinfection of stations and trains, temperature taking of passengers when checking in and out, provision of meal delivery services, and setting up of emergency isolation seats.

It had implemented grid disinfection system for key places and regions in passenger stations, provided all-around thorough disinfection in public places such as waiting rooms, platforms, ticket gates, ticket offices, toilets, etc. on a daily basis, and provided regular preventive disinfection for equipment and facilities frequently contacted by passengers such as door handles, elevator handrails, seats and the like. Party member volunteers provided services such as ticket purchasing (picking up) guidance and travel and transfer guidance at the station entrance, ticket selling hall, waiting room, etc. and maintain the order of boarding-alighting.

Hankou Station allocated intelligent disinfection robots in security inspection area for continuous disinfection. Ezhou Station allocated “China Health Cabin” for rapid disinfection and sterilization. Wuhan Station added automatic thermometer and provided disinfectant in the places such as ticket vending machines, toilets and waiting rooms. Wuchang Station opened self-service ticket selling (picking up) machines and a ticket selling windows at intervals, and set up medical posts with medical staff on duty 24 hours a day.

(Source: CR)

Logistics against the pandemic: DB Schenker currently ships rising volumes of Covid-19 diagnostic kits from pharmaceutical companies to public bodies and private companies all over the world. One example is the organisation of the carriage of several hundreds of thousands of test kits for Korean healthcare manufacturer SD Biosensor. In particular, the rapid antibody screening kits are brought to countries where the number of people infected is particularly high. More testing can help to determine the development of the Coronavirus outbreak more accurately by reducing the potential number of undetected cases, helping policy makers to conduct measures as precisely as possible.

Thorsten Meincke, Board Member for Air and Ocean Freight at DB Schenker: “More tests for Corona help to enhance the accuracy of infection case figures and thereby assist in improving the projectability for politics, people and businesses. We are happy to be able to make our contribution to this effort by ensuring the timely transportation of diagnostic kits on a global scale.”

SD Biosensor is one of Korea’s largest healthcare companies. It develops and manufactures rapid test kits to determine whether a person has developed antibodies in their bloodstream to fight Coronavirus. If such antibodies occur, this indicates that the person has become infected with Covid-19. The blood collection takes place with a very small needle. The test provides results within 10-15 minutes, helping healthcare professionals to diagnose the mid- to late-stage of a viral infection. The test can thereby help to estimate the spread of past and present infections in a population.

Given reduced freight capacities on passenger airline flights, it was a challenge for SD Biosensor to ship the rising production volumes of diagnostic kits. At short notice, DB Schenker developed alternative air freight solutions to transport the medical goods from the company’s production facilities near Seoul to various regions of the world.

Dirk Lukat, CEO of Schenker Korea: “Can we make required capacities available? Our answer is yes – thanks to our highly skilled and dedicated team. We are proud to showcase our strength in the Korean market and beyond.”

As a leading global logistics service provider, DB Schenker is supporting several major pharmaceutical developers with their Covid-19 test kit shipments, for example from and within the United States. As part of a recently announced partnership with sports car manufacturer Porsche, dozens of full charter flights bring medical equipment from China to Germany – including test kits for medical facilities.

(Source: DB Schenker)

• Service Updates: While some services were reduced or suspended, Amtrak has and will continue to operate as an essential service as our nation recovers. In addition to the Acela and Northeast Regional, trains will be restored to service by monitoring demand, working with state partners and continuing to prioritize customer and employee safety. Visit the Service Updates page for the latest information.

• Face Mask Policy: To protect customers and employees, all customers in stations and on trains and thruway buses are required to wear a facial covering, beginning May 11. Facial coverings can be removed when customers are eating in designated areas, in their private rooms, or seated alone or with a travel companion in their own pair of seats. Small children who are not able to maintain a facial covering are exempt from this requirement. Customers must supply their own facial covering. Customers can go to CDC.gov for detailed instructions on how to make their own mask. Service will be denied to customers not wearing facial coverings.

• Station Staffing: Due to service reductions, some stations may not be staffed. If the station is closed, please use the Amtrak app or call 1-800-USA-Rail to check train status while waiting in a personal vehicle.

• Amtrak Guest Rewards: Learn more about the important Amtrak Guest Rewards updates we have made in response to Covid-19.

Amtrak’s Commitment to Customers and Employees During the Covid-19 Crisis

Amtrak wants to express its heartfelt appreciation for our frontline team members who work tirelessly to provide our service to those who need it most.
The safety of Amtrak’s customers and employees is our top priority. To protect customers and employees, all customers in stations and on trains and thruway buses are required to wear a facial covering, beginning May 11. If you need to travel with us, know that we are taking extra steps to sanitize our stations and trains, including taking the following measures:

Enhancing Cleaning Protocols
We have increased the frequency of cleaning services onboard trains and at our stations and we continue to recommend that everyone follow CDC guidelines around physical distancing.

Taking Steps To Protect Yourself and Others
We are regularly sharing best practices with employees and customers on ways to protect against communicable diseases. As recommended by the CDC, we encourage everyone to use a facial covering, practice physical distancing, frequently wash hands, and please stay home if you are feeling ill.

Limiting Bookings
To help maintain CDC recommendations for social distancing onboard our trains, we are temporarilyreducing sales of Coach, Business, and Acela First Class to 50% of available seating.

Cashless Service
As an added measure to ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees, we will temporarily be accepting only cashless payments in stations and on trains.

Posting Physical Distancing Posters and Floor Stickers
Signage will be displayed at a number of our busiest stations to indicate safe distances in high customer traffic areas. In addition, clear protective barriers are being retrofitted at stations where there are no current glass barriers.

Updating Food and Beverage Service for Customers
The California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle will offer flexible dining service in the Dining Car or via room service; Coach customers will be offered Café service in the Sightseeing Lounge. Traditional dining service will remain on the Auto Train as an exclusive amenity for Sleeping Car customers. This temporary change in service offers additional opportunities for onboard social distancing and will be effective through May 31, 2020.
Amtrak continues to evaluate current practices and pilot new opportunities to support personal safety.

Ticket Changes and/or Cancellations

• Amtrak is waiving change fees: For reservations made before May 31, 2020. This includes reservations booked with points. To modify a reservation, log in to your account, go to ‘Modify Trip’ on Amtrak.com, or find your reservation from your account on the home screen in the Amtrak app. A fare difference may apply to your new itinerary. If you want to cancel your reservation with no fee, you must call 1-800-USA-RAIL and speak with an agent (not available via Amtrak.com or the app).

• Multi-Ride tickets: Multi-ride train and city pair restrictions are removed on the Northeast Corridor through May 31, 2020.

(Source: Amtrak)