The 8th meeting of the UIC Covid-19 Task Force was attended remotely on 9 June by around 50 participants from across the globe.
The meeting received a special welcome from François Davenne, UIC Director General, who highlighted the importance of the UIC Task Force as a collective intelligence which is committed to finding solutions on an international level. He added that the response of the Task Force represents a joint statement to overcome the challenges of the current health crisis and to provide sector solutions to address the issues of mobility and interconnectivity in this new normal.
Marc Guigon, Chair of the Task Force, gave a warm greeting to the newest member, namely Sweden’s SJ. He outlined the agenda and reminded the meeting of the latest figures concerning the pandemic, the release of the three guidance documents, the LinkedIn group discussion topics, as well as the results of the latest questionnaire.
A series of interesting presentations were then delivered by representatives from CIT (International Rail Transport Committee), Bosch Security Systems, Infrabel, VIA Rail Canada, RAI (Iranian Railways) and CEO of TRA Consulting Andrea Giuricin.
The key themes of the presentations included:
- Data protection in the context of the pandemic
- Smart solutions for public transport operators, new technologies and how to restore customer confidence
- Business resumption plans and company experience
- Economic impact and measures related to Covid-19
To date the UIC Task Force has published 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 fought Covid-19 during lockdowns (May 2020)
You can consult these documents on UIC’s dedicated Covid-19 webpage, which is regularly updated with the latest news articles, webinars and other audiovisual material:
https://uic.org/news/article/covid-19
A fourth guidance document is currently being prepared, which focuses on the recovery period and the various measures being taken by the railways post-confinement.
As a reminder, the Task Force LinkedIn group holds a different discussion or every week. Feel free to join the group and share your thoughts: https://lnkd.in/eEKqfW2
The next Task Force web-conference is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 23 June 2020.
