Foreword
As the worldwide professional association of railways, the UIC has constantly been promoting railway transport, by developing the overall coherence of the railway system at world level, sharing practices, developing and offering solutions, implementing strategies to improve the performance of transport by rail and to foster innovation. From its very beginning in 1922, our association, celebrating its centenary this year, has been putting the publication of standards and reference documents at the very core of its activities, thereby supporting this ambition.
For some years now, several orientations, that are described in the UIC “Vision of Rail 2030” document, have already been impacting the standardisation landscape. Introduction of new technologies, connectivity, smart cities and smart transportation, integrated and intermodal mobility, improvement of passenger experience, boom of transverse standardisation, all these emerging challenges often mobilise new skills and require to efficiently interface with technical or business areas out of the usual frame of railway standardisation.
Lacking expert resources to face the expansion of needs and the proliferation of initiatives, the members of the Railway Operating Community would benefit from a shared strategy, rationalising activities and usage of resources, mutualising experiences and developing, when and where appropriate, common specifications and solutions.
A task force gathering international standardisation specialists from DB, FRA, JR EAST, MAV, NS, ÖBB, RFI, RTRI, RZD, SNCF, TRENITALIA and VAYLA, has been constituted within the UIC Standardisation Platform, to conduct a reflection and propose a strategic document at worldwide level, hoping to answer needs and expectations of the UIC members and to help to meet the present and upcoming challenges.
To better understand your expectations, constraints, points of view and to collect your proposals, we have elaborated this questionnaire which is now addressed to all UIC members.
On behalf of all the Task Force members, we sincerely thank you for spending some of your time to support this task, and for the precious contribution you will provide by answering the following questionnaire.
Laurent SCHMITT
Standardisation Platform Chair
Asako TOGARI
Standardisation Platform Vice-Chair
Contact
For any practical or more fundamental questions, do not hesitate to contact us at:
- laurent.schmitt@sncf.fr
- togari@japanrail.fr
Questionnaire
The questionnaire now follows. Please take your time and answer all the questions as honestly as you are able to do.