eNews

“On Track for Clean and Green Transport”:

High-Level Event on Transport and Climate change organised by UIC, Amtrak, UN DESA and SLOCAT before the Summit to discuss in particular the Transport & Climate Change issue with key leaders

In the context of the UN Climate Summit, UIC, in cooperation with one of its Members of the North American region, the US national passenger rail operator Amtrak, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the Partnership for SLoCaT organised one day before the UN Climate Summit, on 22 September, a high-level meeting on transport and climate change. This event brought together more than 100 participants from all over the globe, including representatives of the Transport world, as well as diplomacy, media and key political leaders of NGOs, IGOs, CEOs, VPs and VIPs.

This event, “On Track for Clean & Green Transport”, which took place at the General Post Office on 8th Avenue, currently being redeveloped as Moynihan Station, aimed at sharing the vision of potential development within the railways in the future and the role they can play regarding climate change between speakers and participants in an interactive atmosphere, with many questions asked by the audience. A few welcoming words were given by Michael Evans on behalf of the host of the day to say a few words on Moynihan Station and its future as a railway station, intermodal hub and backbone of sustainable transport.

A keynote address was made by José Viégas, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD). He highlighted Potential and Challenges of Railways’ contribution to Sustainable, Low Carbon Development by saying that in spite of significant progress of railways on multiple fronts, in some of the areas of railway advantage, the gap to road is shrinking. He also insisted on what is needed to reinforce railway’s contribution to Sustainable Development. He said: “You have to gain market share … you have to understand what the market wants … you have to anticipate, to have the courage to engage people and to think out of the box …” He also insisted on the fact that radical innovation is needed, and that ITF is available for cooperate and help UIC, one of its key interlocutors in this strategic sustainable development / climate change issue. He encouraged people to think differently - not a critical change but necessary to improve the legibility of railway advantages towards decision-makers. He added: “If the railway industry wants to shift … it has to overcome the procurement constraint, pushing the limits of what regulations usually do – and maybe the barriers will change … we have to change the frontiers of how procurement is made; we need some fresh air – so let’s go beyond the procurement.”
During the morning session participants also discussed the role that railways can play in the realisation of sustainable transport and addressing climate change. This session provided a global overview of how railways contribute to sustainable, low carbon development. Recent accomplishments and future plans of Amtrak, MTA, East Japan Railways, Mongolian and other rail operators and manufacturers in strengthening the position of railways were discussed with moderation by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, who said:

“At the UN Climate Summit tomorrow, UIC will announce an initiative to improve rail sector energy efficiency, decarbonise rail sector power and leverage this though modal shift – promoting a more sustainable balance of transport modes. The world needs resilient transport networks, as the climate changes the railways need to take action to ensure that services continue to meet customer expectations”. He added “Rail offers an important part of the solution to climate change. This is because it has low carbon intensity; and because the sector is taking action to provide climate resilient transport networks. Rail achieves low carbon intensity because it is an inherently efficient transport mode, fundamental to this is the very low rolling resistance between steel wheel and steel rail. It also benefits from economies of scale and high capacity - it has the ability to transport far more passengers and far larger freight quantities than road or air transport. I would like to start by with some examples from Europe before we move on to our panellists. The European rail sector has set itself the target to reduce specific energy consumption, per passenger km and tonne km, by 30% between 1990 and 2030. And to reduce specific carbon emissions, again per passenger km and tonne km, by 50% over the same period. We are on track to meet these targets. This is due to a number of reasons; improved load factors, investment in electrification, adoption of advanced technology and investment in low carbon power. For example: regenerative braking, returning breaking energy to the grid, is now state of the art. Advanced traffic control allows optimized train movements and speed profiles; in the UK, a reduction of over 2000 K tonnes of carbon will be achieved in 10 years through the installation of Driver Advisory Systems on both diesel and electric trains Eco-driving is now common, with recent trials in Sweden achieving savings of up to 19% in energy consumption. Experience in Norway has shown reductions in energy consumption of up to 15% following the installations of energy meters on trains. Meters on trains are now compulsory in Germany. In total 25,000 energy meters will be installed in Europe by 2020. The MERLIN project, part funded by the European Union, will offer a 10% reduction in energy consumption through more efficient energy management across the whole rail system. The electrified rail system, representing around 80% of European rail traffic, is immediately compatible with renewable energy. In fact the European rail sector has doubled its use of renewable electricity between 2005 and 2010. Renewable energies now account for 28 % of all electric traction in Europe. There are entire rail networks in Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria where the electricity used is almost entirely carbon free. Today we have rail companies choosing to pay a premium price for electricity so that they can support investment in renewable energy. The Swiss railway owns and operates its own hydro electric power plants. The German railway offers business class travellers zero emission transport. The Dutch railway brokered a special deal so that from 2018 they will only use electricity supplied from new sources of renewable energy.”

After that, he invited panellists to illustrate actions taken by their companies in response to the challenge of climate change. [Presentations made during this day will be available in the next issue of UIC eNews].

Following this, participants broadened the scope to look at the wider transport agenda, with the first session of the afternoon considering integrating transport in international policy on climate change. This included contributions from Transport Research Laboratory, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Minister of Environment from Mexico City, the Global Environment Facility, the Clean Development Board and Siemens Mobility.

This session aimed to explain the importance of integrating transport in international policy on climate change. Relevant findings for the transport sector from the recent 4th Assessment report of the IPCCC were presented as an underpinning for a discussion on the mitigation potential of the transport sector. In response to the outcome of the November 2013 session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), which called for a more active integration of successful mitigation efforts by parties outside the convention into the deliberations on a new global climate change agreement, the session discussed how to best shape the contribution of the transport sector. This included a discussion on how to integrate the transport commitments that would be presented at the 23rd September Climate Summit of the Secretary General into an emerging Road Map for effective action on transport and climate change; this based on the understanding that fighting climate change is essential for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

At the end of the day participants looked again at action on the ground, by considering the Roadmap for Action on Transport and Climate Change. This session involved contributions from the World Resources Institute, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), International Railway Association (UIC), International Association for Public Transport (UITP), the FIA Foundation, & the Smart Freight Centre.

The focus of this section was to explain to the audience how the commitments made at the Climate Summit will help the scaling up of sustainable, low carbon transport. At the same time, each of the organisations making a commitment also spoke about how the SG Climate Summit has accelerated/is expected to accelerate activities covered by the commitment at the Summit.

This High Level event was also supported by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) and the Canadian rail operator Via Rail.

UIC takes this opportunity again to thank the two architects for this fruitful day of discussion, Petra Messick from Amtrak and Nick Craven from UIC, for their involvement and all the work done to make this event a great success.

A video including the several highlights of the Event “On Track for clean and green transport” is available here:

See the full article

“Train to Paris” campaign – focus on trains

On 28 November, UIC coordinated on behalf of its Members the worldwide campaign “Train to Paris”.
The UIC “Train to Paris” team would like to pay tribute to all the actors of this project and would like to highlight the very powerful contribution of Members involved in this campaign during the one year preparation.
Saying that, the UIC team would like to warmly thank UIC Members and partners which contributed, through their action and coordination, to make this campaign a unique experience of cooperation and a unique opportunity to demonstrate that rail can be considered a solution to combat climate change.

Please find below some links illustrating some of these actions held on board several trains involved in the “Train to Paris” campaign:

DB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12CLcBjsZQc
Video made by the German Ministry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EqXOoJlIp8

Thalys: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/programmas/journaal/2.41928?video=1.2509313
http://www.rtbf.be/video/detail_la-delegation-belge-en-route-pour-la-cop21?id=2063440

NS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uC1yrv7rXk
http://pt.rfi.fr/franca/20151201-de-comboio-ate-cop21-de-paris

On “Train to Paris” website, you will also find several interviews: http://traintoparis.org/interviews

Interviews were conducted on 28 November 2015 during the “Train to Paris” High Level Event organised by UIC with Yolaine de la Bigne, print and radio journalist (France Inter, RTL, France Info, Europe 1).

Author of several books, Yolaine de la Bigne was one of the first “urban-rural” journalists continuing to work in Paris, whilst still living in the French countryside. Already sensitised to nature through her collaborations with Nicolas Hulot for the Ushuaia issue, she became aware of the urgency to act and embarked on various actions to defend the environment.

She founded the Néoplanète website www.neoplanete.fr, and the first web-radio mixing music 24/7 and information on the defence of the planet.

See the full article

“Train to Paris” campaign: D-117 before 28 November 2015!

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Are you wondering what the actual routes of the Trains to Paris will be? Just take a look at the map created for the campaign.

As trains converge from the Northern and the Eastern parts of Europe, Russia and Asia, Southern Europe will also take a symbolic journey to the high-level event to be held in Paris on the evening of 28 November.
Trains will depart from Rotterdam, Bonn, Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt, and the train crossing Asia will depart from Beijing on 18 November with main stops in Ulan Bator, Irkutsk and Moscow, before heading to Paris. An incredible journey that we cannot wait to share!

In the run-up to COP21, we want to share how railways connect people to the world. To do so, the “Train to Paris” team has created an Instagram account to post pictures of the campaign online.

Do not hesitate to follow and tag #traintocop21 when you post pictures of trains and railways in your everyday life, on your way to work or during your holidays – even more so if your pictures show a sustainable touch!

For more information on this campaign, please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, the Event Coordinator: philippe at uic.org

Follow us on Twitter @trainCOP21 and on Instagram @traintocop21
Keywords: Train to Paris, COP21, sustainable development, climate change

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“Train to Paris” campaign: share with us your best practices!

130 days to go before the arrival of the international network of trains to Paris, just 48 hours before the beginning of COP 21! We are confident this international event will reinforce rail transport as one of the backbones to combating climate change and draw the attention of decision-makers.

The first steps were taken during the UIC General Assembly and the 9th World Congress on High Speed Rail, both held in Tokyo from 6 – 10 July. Those two major UIC events were the occasion to promote the Train to Paris campaign and give this project unique international coverage. Mr Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, addressed a powerful message to members to launch the general assembly, highlighting the importance of railways for a low carbon future! Needless to say that Train to Paris is already working in that direction, positioning UIC on the world stage for a sustainable outlook.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, said:

28 November at UIC will be a special day for the contribution of railways with new sustainable efforts. Just one day before the kick-off of Cop 21, it will highlight the important role of transport and rail in particular towards climate change.

As UIC represents the railway sector within international and UN-related organisations such as the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport to the UN Secretary General, the Train to Paris team is now be more than interested to know how all UIC members promote their best practices or their innovations in sustainable development, low carbon emissions, etc.

Share with us the best practices you believe we could publish on the dedicated website traintoparis.org and on social media, to give the world an overview of how railways around the globe are heading towards a greener future for railways.

For more information on this campaign and to share content please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Event Coordinator: philippe at uic.org

Follow us on Twitter @trainCOP21

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“Train to Paris” video campaign

The “Train to Paris” coordination team is happy to announce the launch of the video promoting the campaign!

This short video using flat design presents in a colourful and fun way how railways can be considered as one of the backbones to fight climate change. Developed in the frame of COP21, the video also displays the commitments of UIC and its members in favour of a more sustainable future as the Climate Summit is now getting closer!
Enjoy viewing this video!
For more information on this campaign or if you would like to publish information about the campaign internally or externally in dedicated newsletters, board magazines, etc. please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Event Coordinator: philippe at uic.org

Follow us:

Train to Paris website: http://traintoparis.org/
Twitter: @trainCOP21
Instagram: @traintocop21
Facebook: Train to Paris
UIC: www.uic.org

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10th UIC Noise Workshop to be held on 15 March 2016 at Paris UIC Headquarters

The International Railway Association, UIC, will hold the 10th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 15 March 2016.

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise. Topics will include the recently published Staff Working Document (SWD) on rail freight noise reduction, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive, forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in addition to communication and managing relationships with residents living close to railway lines.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups, noise specialists from other transport sectors, experts in communication and managing relationships with residents groups in addition to representatives of residents groups.

Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation; however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To reserve your place please complete the form in the link below:

http://uic.org/events/spip.php?article3434

Confirmed speakers include:

Moderator: Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

  • Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director-General UIC
  • Libor Lochman, Executive Director Community of European Railways
  • Marco Paviotti, Policy Officer DG ENV
  • Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV
  • Stephen Stansfeld, Queen Mary University London & Chair of the working group for the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region
  • Richard Greer, Director of Acoustics ARUP
  • Peter Ettler, President Swiss Noise Organisation (Schweizer Lärm Liga)
  • Dominique Bidou, Chairman CIBD
  • Nick Craven, Sustainable Development Manager UIC
  • Marina Bylinsky, Environmental Strategy & Intermodality Airports Council International

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

See the full article

10th UIC Railway Noise Workshop to be held on 15 March 2016

Please find below the reminder for the UIC Railway Noise Workshop which will be held at UIC Headquarters on 15 March 2016.

PDF - 369.8 kb

To register for the event please consult the dedicated UIC page:

http://events.uic.org/10th-uic-noise-workshop

We hope to see you in Paris!

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Manager of the Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

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10th UIC Railway Noise Workshop, 15 March 2016 in Paris

Around 90 people attended the 10th UIC Railway Noise Workshop, held on 15 March 2016 in Paris. The workshop was designed to bring a wide range of stakeholders together in order to facilitate an open, inclusive and constructive discussion regarding the current situation, challenges and possible solutions for managing environmental noise from the rail sector.

In his welcoming address, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, observed that ‘whilst rail has the lowest environmental impact of any major mode of transport – in Europe at least, noise remains a critical issue. We must work together to ensure greater acceptance of rail transport if we are to increase rail modal share and through this to improve the sustainability of the transport sector.’ He also emphasized the need to move beyond completion between transport modes and collaborate on optimizing inter-modality.

The first sessions focused on noise policy in Europe, with interventions by Mr. Marcin Wójcik from the European Commission, Directorate General MOVE (Mobility and Transport) discussion the recent Staff Working Document concerning rail fright noise. This was followed by Ms. Ivana Juraga of European Commission DG ENV (Environment) who presented an update on the REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive (END). The session concluded with an intervention by Mr. Ethem Pekin concerning the rail freight noise strategy of the Community of European Railways (CER).

The second session opened with Prof. Stephen Stansfeld of Queen Mary University London is a leading expert on the impact of noise on humans. He addressed the development, by the World Health Organisation, of new environmental noise guidelines for the European region. This was followed by a look at the approach adopted by different transport modes, starting with Mr Nick Craven who presented the recently published report Railway Noise in Europe – State of the Art. This was followed by Mr. Patrick Malléjacq, the incoming Secretary General of PIARC, the World Road Association (a non-political, non-profit association with the aim to promote international cooperation on issues related to roads and road transport) and concluded with Mrs. Marina Bylinsky, Manager Environmental Strategy & Intermodality ACI (professional association of airport operators, joining 500 airports in 45 countries) who presented the State of the Art on Airport Noise Management.

The final session considered differ perspectives regarding communication with residents. This opened with Mr. Dominique Bidou is chairman of the French Noise Information and Documentation Center (CIDB) who presented a case study from the Éole project to the west of Paris. This was followed by Mr. Richard Greer, Director of Acoustics at consulting company Arup, with an introduction to SoundLab auralisation offered by Arup as an alternative to classical ways to inform the public about large infrastructural projects. The next speaker presented the perspective of the residents, Mr. Peter Ettler, president of the Noise League Switzerland (Schweizer Lärm Liga), discussed their lobbying actions and input to the Swiss Railway Noise Improvement Act of 2000. The final speakers presented approached sued by rail and road projects, this included Mrs. Maria Röjvall works for Stockholm City Council, Mr Günther Dinhobl (ÖBB) of the Austrian Railway ÖBB and finally Mrs. Lene Nøhr Michelsen of the Danish Road Administration and Mr. Allen Jensen of consulting company Ramboll.

In the concluding remarks, the workshop moderator Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB, thanked all speakers and participants and observed that the workshop provided a wide variety of perspectives, both in modalities and countries. It was clear that there is a need to maintain a proper balance between environmental performance of the railways on the one side and loss of market share on the other. With respect to the residents, the railways should strive to avoid or minimize health risks. Above all, it is important that all stakeholders will agree to settle for a compromise instead of insisting on their own position.

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11th International Railway Summit to debate innovation for people, planet and prosperity

The 11th International Railway Summit, a unique networking event for the global rail sector, will take place from 15-17 February 2022 in Berlin, Germany.
The International Railway Summit features a bespoke programme of pre-arranged one-to-one business meetings, a two-day conference programme delivered by global mobility leaders, and technical visits to local rail facilities showcasing the latest innovations. In addition, delegates will be able to expand their networks and build friendships over coffee, lunches and dinners.

The one-to-one meeting programme provides an opportunity for operators, infrastructure owners, rolling stock manufacturers and governments to learn about cutting-edge solutions matching their project requirements.

The theme of the summit will be“Innovating rail for people, planet and prosperity”. The conference will tackle the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainability, with plenary and breakout sessions debating how rail can transform itself and help change the world. Looking back on the European Union Year of Rail and the ongoing recovery from the pandemic, the summit will help plot the course through uncharted territory to a kinder, greener and wealthier future.

Leading figures addressing the summit will include Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director, EU Agency for Railways, Rolf Härdi, Chief Technology Officer, Deutsche Bahn, Philippe Citroën, Director General, Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), and Conor Feighan, Secretary General of the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA).

Proudly partnered with the International Union of Railways (UIC) since 2017, the International Railway Summit has built a reputation for attracting major established organisations, exciting and disruptive ideas and niche solution providers. UIC’s Simon Fletcher, Director Europe, and Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability, will act as Chair and Co-Chair, respectively, of the conference programme.

The safety of delegates is of paramount importance to the summit organisers. All possible efforts will be made to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for delegates in addition to adherence to local regulations. Delegates will be required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or negative tests.

Organisations and individuals interested in learning more about the International Railway Summit and how they can participate in the event can visit https://www.irits.org or contact the organiser, IRITS Events.

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, at anderton at uic.org; Simon Fletcher, UIC Director Europe at fletcher at uic.org

or Stephen Russell-Gebbett, Editor-in-Chief, IRITS Events Ltd at stephen.russell-gebbett at irits.org

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11th UIC Noise Workshop held in Paris on 14 November 2017

The International Railway Organisation, UIC, is holding the 11th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 14 November 2017. Around 80 participants are gathered today at UIC for this annual event.

This event is focusing on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons & ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) & appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers are invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought.
Opportunities are provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

Here are the main themes developed throughout the day as well as the speakers taking the floor:

EU rail noise policy with Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV, Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV, Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA, Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER.

Impact of quieter routes to the business: Operators reflection with Michael Müller, Euro Fleet Mang. DB Cargo.

Noise assessment with Martin van den Berg, Chiaramonte Noise and Transport Consult & WHO noise working group, Paul de Vos, Satis, Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra.

Research and development with Alf Ekblad, Trafikverket and chair of the UIC Vibration Expert Network, Paul de Vos, Satis, Baldrik Faure, SNCF, Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University, Nick Craven, UIC, Jakob Oertli, Chairman Noise Expert Network & SBB.

Consult the Railway Induced Vibration Report: https://uic.org/noise

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

11th UIC Noise Workshop held in Paris on 14 November 2017

The International Railway Organisation, UIC, is holding the 11th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 14 November 2017. Around 80 participants are gathered today at UIC for this annual event.

This event is focusing on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons & ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) & appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers are invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought.
Opportunities are provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

Here are the main themes developed throughout the day as well as the speakers taking the floor:

EU rail noise policy with Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV, Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV, Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA, Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER.

Impact of quieter routes to the business: Operators reflection with Michael Müller, Euro Fleet Mang. DB Cargo.

Noise assessment with Martin van den Berg, Chiaramonte Noise and Transport Consult & WHO noise working group, Paul de Vos, Satis, Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra.

Research and development with Alf Ekblad, Trafikverket and chair of the UIC Vibration Expert Network, Paul de Vos, Satis, Baldrik Faure, SNCF, Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University, Nick Craven, UIC, Jakob Oertli, Chairman Noise Expert Network & SBB.

Consult the Railway Induced Vibration Report: https://uic.org/noise

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

11th UIC Railway Noise Workshop to be held on 14 November 2017

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons and ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought. Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation; however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To reserve your place please click here:

http://events.uic.org/11th-uic-noise-workshop

Please find below the programme of this workshop:

Moderator: Jakob Oertli Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

08.30 Registration & coffee
09.00 Welcome remarks: Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General UIC
09.10 Introduction: Jakob Oertli, Chairman UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

EU rail noise policy
Rail freight noise policy - Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV
Environmental Noise Directive - Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV
TSI revision - Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA
Freight CEO task force - speaker tbc
The view from CER - Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER

Noise assessment
WHO guidelines for noise Stephen Stansfeld, Queen Mary University London & Chair WHO noise working group (invited)
Rail noise, Leq or Lmax? Paul de Vos, Satis
UIC Track Train Interaction acoustics Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra

Research and development
Vibration State of the Art Report- Paul de Vos, Satis
How much is enough? Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University
Reflections on noise management – Nick Craven, UIC
Conclusion – Jakob Oertli, Chairman Noise Expert Network & SBB

The Shift2Rail projects Fine1 & Destinate will be presented as poster sessions during the breaks.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

See the full article

11th UIC Railway Noise Workshop to be held on 14 November 2017

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons and ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought. Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation; however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To reserve your place please click here:

http://events.uic.org/11th-uic-noise-workshop

Please find below the programme of this workshop:

Moderator: Jakob Oertli Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

08.30 Registration & coffee
09.00 Welcome remarks: Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General UIC
09.10 Introduction: Jakob Oertli, Chairman UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

EU rail noise policy
Rail freight noise policy - Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV
Environmental Noise Directive - Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV
TSI revision - Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA
Freight CEO task force - speaker tbc
The view from CER - Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER

Noise assessment
WHO guidelines for noise Stephen Stansfeld, Queen Mary University London & Chair WHO noise working group (invited)
Rail noise, Leq or Lmax? Paul de Vos, Satis
UIC Track Train Interaction acoustics Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra

Research and development
Vibration State of the Art Report- Paul de Vos, Satis
How much is enough? Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University
Reflections on noise management – Nick Craven, UIC
Conclusion – Jakob Oertli, Chairman Noise Expert Network & SBB

The Shift2Rail projects Fine1 & Destinate will be presented as poster sessions during the breaks.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

See the full article

12th UIC Workshop on Noise and Vibrations held on 19 March 2019 in Paris

UIC held the 12th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 19 March 2019. Around 100 participants met at UIC HQ for this annual event. The workshop was designed to bring together a wide range of railway stakeholders in order to facilitate an open, inclusive and constructive discussion regarding the current situation, challenges and possible solutions for managing environmental noise from the rail sector.

Mr Francois Davenne, Deputy Director General of UIC, reminded the meeting that “whilst rail has the lowest environmental impact of any major mode of transport – in Europe at least, noise remains a critical issue. We all have to work together to ensure greater acceptance of rail transport if we are to increase rail modal share and through this to improve the sustainability of the transport sector.” He also emphasised the need to move beyond completion between transport modes and collaborate on optimising inter-modality.

The first session focused on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. The first presentation aimed to explain the noise policy in Europe, with presentations by Mr Nino Zambara from the European Commission, Directorate General MOVE (Mobility and Transport). The discussion addressed rail freight noise reduction, the revised TSI noise and the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects. This was followed by Mr Marco Paviotti of the European Commission DG ENV (Environment) who presented an Environmental Noise Directive (END) and common noise assessment methods for Europe. The session concluded with a presentation by Mr Ethem Pekin concerning the rail freight noise strategy of the Community of European Railways (CER). During the first session, opportunities were provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

The second session opened with Mrs Sabine Janssen from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Netherlands who was also part of the Guideline Development Group of the WHO Noise Guidelines. She addressed the development, by the World Health Organisation, of new environmental noise guidelines for the European region. In conclusion to her presentation, she reminded the meeting that the WHO provides guidelines which are not noise exposure limit values for European legislation and recommended to perform the cost-benefit analysis to find what is feasible at national level. This was followed by a look at the approach of the Shift2Rail project about Cross Cutting Activities, with Mrs Judit Sandor and Mrs Siv Leth who presented the objectives of S2R and some examples from funded projects. This was followed by Till Bunsen from the International Energy Agency (IEA) who presented the report on the “Future of Rail” (https://www.iea.org/futureofrail/), which reflects the cooperation between UIC and IEA. He emphasised that rail remains the most energy efficient transport mode, integrated policies for all modes needed to reach climate objectives. The second session concluded with Mr Alf Ekblad, Chairman of the UIC Vibration Expert Network & Trafikverket, who presented current issues on vibrations in the railways.

The final session considered the various requirements on the noise and vibration mitigation management of railway transport. It was planned as short talks – five minute presentations. This opened with Mr Günter Dinhobl from ÖBB, Austria and was followed by Mr Ward Verhelst (Belgium/Infrabel), Mrs Lenka Vaňková (Czech Republic/SZDC), Mrs Lisette Mortensen (Denmark/Banedanmark), Mr Jean-Philippe Regairaz (France/SNCF), Mrs Martina Fleckenstein (Germany/ DB), Mr Nils Ijntema (Netherlands/Prorail/NS), Mr Trygve Aasen (Norway/Bane NOR), Mrs Joanna Salawa (Poland/PKP Cargo S.A), Mrs Karin Blidberg (Sweden/ Trafikverket) and Mr Jakob Oertli (Switzerland/SBB).

In the concluding remarks, the workshop’s moderator Mr Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB, thanked all speakers and participants and observed that the workshop provided a wide variety of perspectives, both in modalities and countries. At the closure of the workshop, the video of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration Working Group was presented and is now available on UIC’s YouTube channel which can be seen here:

  • The speech given by Mr François Davenne during this Noise Workshop is available here:

https://bit.ly/2CAAFa0

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor for the Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

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13th UIC Sustainability Conference – focus on the Awards

The UIC Sustainability Awards Ceremony was held during the 13th edition of the Sustainability Conference organised by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Austrian Railways (ÖBB) from 12 – 14 October 2016.

This world tour of railways was a unique opportunity to illustrate the commitment of companies and best practices with a global audience.

The international panel of judges was composed of Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC, Willy Bontinck, SNCB, and Johann Pluy, ÖBB Infra.

Prizes were awarded to:
1st Prize – SBB, for “Sleep Well, My Train”
2nd Prize – DB, “Train simulator”
3rd Prize – DFCCIL, Indian Railways, for Railway Project “Saksham”

These were all the projects presented:

DB
DB has created an App called DB Train Simulator. The goal is to simulate an energy efficient ride and to demonstrate that each driver has the opportunity to push the climate performance of the train even further. The game is based on the training programme that teaches train drivers an efficient use of energy […]

Thalys
Thalys integrated the Science Based Target programme. […] There is a business opportunity here. As we decarbonise, we also become more attractive to customers. Having this target also gives us a stronger voice and more credibility in the debate on climate change and on the role the transport sector has to play in reducing emissions.

Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI)
1. GHG inventory for railway operation
2. Carbon footprint calculation for infrastructure construction of high-speed rail
3. Domestic carbon footprint labelling through life-cycle railway operation service for a target route
4. Tier 3 GHG emission factor for diesel-electric locomotive
5. Development of energy metering system for electric railcars

Network Rail
[…] Provide a strategic route linking key centres of economic activity between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury and Bedford by re-opening, reconstructing and upgrading the partially-disused routes. A significant part of the case for EWR is modal shift and positively tackling climate change by providing a more sustainable means of meeting travel demands. […]

ÖBB
Ethical Investment became a strong growing sector […] ESG Rating agencies like oekom research in Munich, are providing an essential service for those investors as they are publishing sustainability ratings, as an independent party.
Oekom research has been rating the transport infrastructure sector two times already: ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG turned out to be “best in the class” among over 40 other transport infrastructure companies all over the world.

SBB
[…] A project with a huge impact is the recently developed system of sending all vehicles their effective service timetables (“fahrplanbasierte Bereitstellungszeit – timetable-based preparation time”). Based on this information, the vehicle decides on its own which operational mode it should stay in and for how long, and what preparation is necessary when, depending on the outside temperature and its own thermal behaviour. […]

Infrabel
The first “sail” train ran on wind power on 24 October 2015 following the activation of the first seven wind turbines in the Greensky park. This wind farm is located alongside the high-speed Leuven-Liège railway line and the E40 motorway. […] Annual production is estimated to be nearly 5,000 MWh of electricity with an annual reduction in CO2 of 15,000 tonnes.

Dfcc.co.in
[…] In 2015, DFCCIL launched a project titled “Saksham” to provide skills based training to the youth of displaced families, ensuring employment to beneficiaries to restore their livelihood.
The project was spread over different field units. Of the 1012 persons trained in different trades in year 2015, about 750 persons from project-affected areas obtained employment […]

Via Rail Canada
[…] We are especially proud of our innovative intermodal partnership program that is helping to increase the modal share of rail, reduce the transportation sector’s contribution to climate change and smog, improve economic activity and congestion, and promote quality of life for our society by connecting people and communities.

All presentations can be found on the dedicated website: http://uic-environment.org/uic-sustainability-champion-award

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe: philippe at uic.org

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13th UIC Sustainability Conference – Vienna 12-13-14 October 2016

Plans are now well progressed for the 13th UIC Sustainability Conference, jointly organised by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB. The conference will take place in the glorious Imperial city of Vienna at the famous Hofburg International Congress and Event Centre on 12, 13 & 14 October 2016.

This programme will examine both the contribution that rail can make towards delivering the 2030 sustainable development agenda and also how sustainability can give rail a competitive advantage. The latest programme is enclosed, please consult http://uic-environment.org/ for updates.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Andreas Matthä OBB CEO
  • Franz Seiser, OBB INFRA CEO
  • Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC CEO
  • Canadian Railways, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, Via Rail Canada
  • Michail Stahlhut, CEO SBB Cargo International AG
  • Kamel Ben Naceur, Director of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology, International Energy Agency
  • Rajesh Sethi UNFCCC
  • Gireesh Shrimali, Climate Policy Initiative
  • Johann Pluy, OBB Infra

Workshops

The conference will include a number of dedicated workshops dressing key sustainability issues, including:

  • Carbon footprint in railways: integrated scope and innovative tools
  • Weather resilience and climate change adaptation
  • Emissions and air quality: which framework?
  • Digital communication and energy efficiency in railways: driving, metering, and billing
  • Energy efficiency projects: potential improvements for mid and long term
  • GRI G4 reporting: challenges for rail sector
  • Railway noise in the common noise assessment method CNOSSOS
  • Sustainable procurement in the rail sector: taking larger strides and leapfrogging along the sustainability path
  • Door to door business solutions
  • Sustainable and smart stations and infrastructures
  • Sustainable tourism (Toprail)
  • Biodiversity: preventing decline & benefits of effective stakeholders management
  • Environmental management for maintenance activities
  • Recyclability of rolling stocks

For more details please refer to the website http://uic-environment.org/workshops

14th of October: technical and cultural visits

The technical visit will take place in the new Rail Freight Centre South Vienna. Click here for more information

Participants are also welcome to join a visit of the cultural highlights of Vienna.

More information will be given shortly.

Only registered participants can attend and should send an email to philippe at uic.org to confirm their presence on the 14th.

Sustainability Champion

The first day of the UIC Sustainability Conference will allow UIC members to highlight recent achievements in the field railway sustainability. This session will take the form of a world tour of railways, with each given 3 minutes and one slide to describe the impact on environmental, social and economic sustainability. This is a unique opportunity to illustrate the engagement of your company in Sustainability issues and share best practice with a global audience. Apply on line http://uic-environment.org/uic-sust...

Sponsorship

There are a number of interesting Sponsorship opportunities, for more details please contact Marie Luz Philippe at philippe at uic.org

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13th UIC Sustainability Conference held from 12 – 14 October 2016 in Vienna

The 13th UIC Sustainability Conference, jointly organised by UIC and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) with the title “Railways: efficient power towards Sustainability” was successfully held in Vienna at the Hofburg International Congress from 12 to14 October 2016.
This conference follows a successful edition held in October 2012 in Venice.

The Conference featured speakers from leading international organisations and European institutions, such as United Nations’ UNFCCC and UNECE, International Energy Agency IEA, European Commission, European Investment Bank EIB, the Austrian Energy Agency and representatives from the rail sector including Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President of VIA Rail Canada, Chairman of UIC North American Region, Mr Michael Stahlhut, the CEO of SBB Cargo, Switzerland, etc.

330 delegates from 25 countries attended and participated in the debate focused on a sustainable future for the railway sector. The conference aimed to examine the key issues of how sustainability can give rail a competitive advantage, attract investment whilst reducing costs and risks.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, opened the conference giving a message from Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations: “I am pleased to convey my greetings to all those gathered for the 13th Railway Sustainability Conference.
Sustainable transport is an important part of our common efforts to tackle climate change and build a cleaner, greener world.”

“…. The transport sector can play a vital role in achieving the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. I count on the commitment of the global railway community to make transport more sustainable – and your gathering is especially timely coming within weeks of the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”

He also delivered a message on behalf of Mr Oleg Belozerov, UIC Chairman & Russian Railways RZD President, addressing the participants:
“Sustainability is among the priorities of UIC. Its members consistently put measures in place that are aimed at improving the mobility of the population and the experience that passengers have with railway services.”

The UIC Environment, Energy and Sustainability Platform (…) set priorities for UIC activities aimed at environmental protection and sharing of best practices.”

Mr Johann Pluy, Division Manager of “Railway Systems”, ÖBB Infra, declared that climate change is a reality. Natural disasters influence the reliability of railways and are costly. As Austria is an industrial country, powerful freight corridors are important. There are opportunities to improve the efficiency of the rail sector.

ÖBB is investing a significant amount in advertising to inform customers about sustainability. The company supports the climate strategy of the government and encourages innovative solutions.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux highlighted that: “Sustainability is embedded in the core functions of UIC. Our mission statement is to develop rail transport to meet the needs of sustainable mobility.”

Rail is the backbone of sustainable transport, which in turn is an enabler of sustainable development. Our contribution to society has impacts that reach far beyond the transport of people and goods…”

“…We have now published our first report on progress against these targets, ready for the United Nations Climate Change conference COP 22 to be held in Marrakesh next month. These data and analysis have been collected, analyzed and published in partnership with the International Energy Agency.”

Mr Rajesh Sethi, Manager Sustainable Development and Mechanisms Programme, UNFCCC, gave a quote from the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Mrs Patricia Espinosa:

The 13th UIC Sustainability Conference in Vienna provides a forum for the rail sector to identify the key actions that railways can take to deliver action that increases global ambition to meet the climate change challenge.“

To go more in depth, this event covered three main sessions: The Global 2030 Agenda & COP21 Paris Agreement, Rail and Sustainable development in Europe, and Railway delivering sustainable developments goals.

  • The first session introduced the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the COP21 Paris Agreement, considering both the global and national perspectives before focusing on the role that rail transport can play. It also presented key messages for COP22.
  • The 2nd session organised by CER, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, focused on the key issues at European level for achieving low-emission mobility. Decarbonising the transport sector thus remains both a challenge and an opportunity for European policymakers, and low-carbon transport modes such as rail can play a big role in effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The 3rd session considered the strategic issues concerning the contribution of railway companies to key Sustainable Development Goals and how this can secure a competitive advantage. It examined innovative business models, technology and finance and technology transfer, amongst other issues.

UIC Sustainability champion

During the event, the UIC Sustainability champion selected nine short presentations by UIC members and showing the sustainability initiatives of their companies.

Three awards were given to:

  • Mr Ueli Kramer, Project Leader Energy Management at Swiss Federal Railways SBB, received the 1st award thanks to his project on “sleep well, my train”.
  • Mrs Milena Oschmann, Expert Environmental Affairs, DB, received the 2nd award with the DB project on the application developed on ‘DB Train Simulator’, which shows how train drivers are climate friendly.
  • Mr Sanjay Kumar, DFCCIL, Ministry of Railway, Government of India, received the 3rd award, with the project “Saksham”, marching ahead on the sustainability path.

During the second day, a series of 14 technical workshops looked in detail at key issues for railway sustainability.

Parallel Workshops

Some parallel workshops were held discussed on:

  • The Carbon footprint in railways where solutions are on the table today to save carbon and save money simultaneously when building new rail infrastructure.
  • The Sustainable procurement: where the use of lifecycle perspectives and in particular life cycle costing in procurement decisions can have a significant impact on sustainability outcomes and should be encouraged. The UNEP-led 10YFP SPP programme (Sustainable Public Procurement Programme from the United Nations Environment Programme) aims at accelerating the shift to sustainable procurement through the establishment of a global collaborative platform. The strengthening of sector based initiatives such as Railsponsible should be encouraged. The legal framework that controls public procurement makes it complicated for public entities to make use of common rating standards of suppliers.
  • Noise & the common assessment method: We have a common noise prediction method, but an un-common process to deal with the data produced.
  • Rail roughness is a dominant parameter for rolling noise. But this parameter is dynamic. It may change by about 1 dB per month. How that should be taken into account in a noise map that is produced once every five years.
  • For implementation of the common noise assessment method, a lot of work still has to be done. A better link with the Inspire Directive shall be sought.
  • Digital communication and energy efficiency: which requires standardisation / harmonisation for cross border operation. It also deals with ’Increased data transfer and cyber security risks’.
  • Sustainability reporting: UIC sits in a ’perfect storm’ for green investing: decarbonising mobility, steady cash flow, long term track record and negative interest rates.
    Reporting with GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and the UIC Guidelines is critical to establish credibility to substantiate the degree of decarbonisation and provide further confidence in purposeful management.
    Environment and social profit loss accounting presents a new and exciting possibility for the UIC Guidelines.

Other workshops addressed climate change adaptation, sustainable tourism, energy efficiency projects, recyclability of rolling stock, emissions and air quality, door-to-door solutions, environmental management for maintenance, sustainable and smart stations and biodiversity.

Mr Willy Bontinck, Environmental and Energy Management SNCB and Chair of UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform (EES) and Mr Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit, concluded this two-day conference. They were satisfied by the evolution of the conference and the growing success, with ten times more participants than 20 years ago when the conference began for the first time. Mr Bontinck saw the changes and a shift for pure environment and sustainable issues and also a shift to railway business management.

With these 100 speakers, the purpose was to exchange information because “we are a part of one railway world” he said.

They thanked the sponsors, the ÖBB team and all the speakers for their involvement.

The third day was dedicated to a technical visit which took place in the new Rail Freight Centre South Vienna.

For further information please contact:

Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable development Unit: craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development: philippe at uic.org

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13th UIC Sustainability Conference to be held in Vienna from 12 – 14 October 2016

The 13th UIC Sustainability Conference, jointly organised by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB, will take place in exactly one week in Vienna at the famous Hofburg International Congress and Event Centre on 12, 13 & 14 October 2016.

This programme will examine both the contribution that rail can make towards delivering the 2030 sustainable development agenda and also how sustainability can give rail a competitive advantage. The latest programme is enclosed, please consult http://uic-environment.org/ for updates.

Strategy day

The first day will be composed of three main sessions:

I - The Global 2030 Agenda & COP21 Paris Agreement
II - Rail and sustainable development in Europe: Panel Session Co-organised by CER
III - Railways delivering sustainable development goals

Technical day

The conference will include a number of dedicated workshops dressing key sustainability issues, including:

  • Carbon footprint in railways: integrated scope and innovative tools
  • Weather resilience and climate change adaptation
  • Emissions and air quality: which framework?
  • Digital communication and energy efficiency in railways: driving, metering, and billing
  • Energy efficiency projects: potential improvements for mid and long term
  • GRI G4 reporting: challenges for rail sector
  • Railway noise in the common noise assessment method CNOSSOS
  • Sustainable procurement in the rail sector: taking larger strides and leapfrogging along the sustainability path
  • Door to door business solutions
  • Sustainable and smart stations and infrastructures
  • Sustainable tourism (Toprail)
  • Biodiversity: preventing decline & benefits of effective stakeholders management
  • Environmental management for maintenance activities
  • Recyclability of rolling stocks

For more details please refer to the website http://uic-environment.org/workshops

Technical and cultural visits

The technical visit will take place in the new Rail Freight Centre South Vienna on 14 October.

Participants are also welcome to join a visit of the cultural highlights of Vienna.

Sustainability Champion

The first day of the UIC Sustainability Conference will allow UIC members to highlight recent achievements in the field railway sustainability. This session will take the form of a world tour of railways, with each given 3 minutes and one slide to describe the impact on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Contact: Marie Luz Philippe at philippe at uic.org

See the full article

13th UIC Sustainability Conference to be held in Vienna on 12, 13 & 14 October 2016

Be a Sustainability champion ! – Apply now

Following the success of previous editions, the first day of the UIC Sustainability Conference will allow UIC members to highlight recent achievements in the field of railway sustainability.

This session will take the form of a world tour of railways, with each given three minutes and one slide to describe the impact on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

This is a unique opportunity to illustrate the engagement of your company in Sustainability issues and share best practice with a global audience.

To be a Sustainability Champion and reserve your time on stage please complete application form here and return it to environment at uic.org before 12 September 2016.

Technical day programme

Thursday 13 October will be the occasion for participants to attend numerous parallel sessions focusing on key sustainability issues affecting the rail sector including energy, noise, carbon, sustainability reporting, climate change adaptation, sustainable mobility, recycling and sustainable procurement, sustainability for maintenance activities.

You can download the details of those workshops here. Do not hesitate to check the website for regular updates.

Registration – free of charge – is possible here.

Website: http://uic-environment.org/

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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15th Meeting of UIC Sustainable Land Use Network

On 16 November 2017 the 15th Meeting of UIC network Sustainable Land Use was held at the SNCF offices at Paris Gare du Nord.

After Andrea Braschi, Advisor at UIC, gave news from working groups and general activities of UIC, Ethem Pekin from CER provided the CER political update and the discussion currently happening in Brussels.

All participants then participated in a round table on the more newsworthy than ever topic of glyphosate. Companies discussed a response to a possible ban and updated the network on the political situation in their country and the envisaged strategy for the next few years.

Throughout the day various members of the Network took the floor:
Roland Nolte (IZT) presented the Herbie assessment report and the next steps for the final vegetation guidelines. Micheal Below (DB) and the audience conversed on the content of the Herbie project, its content, the priorities timeline and the deliverables of the project.

The day finished with a session on projects for 2019. The Herbie is expected to be delivered in the first Semester of 2018. New projects are expected to be approved by the Next EES Platform in April 2018. Members are of course encouraged to bring ideas for new projects for the Expert group.

To receive more information or for any enquiries, please contact Andrea Braschi, UIC Advisor:

braschi at uic.org

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1st South East Environment Workshop

The first South East workshop, jointly held by Serbian Railways and UIC in Belgrade on 29 and 30 September, brought together environmental specialists from railways in the South East Europe region, to share best practice, start a regional network, and improve links with the environmental working groups of UIC.

There was excellent representation from the region, with presentations from Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Slovakia. Other railways represented at the workshop included Poland and Romania. Presentations were also delivered by specialist consultants working in remediation of polluted soil from both Serbia itself and the Netherlands. Deutsche Bahn also presented the way they manage their environmental and sustainable development activities. In total around 40 specialists attended over the two days.

Following on from the success of the workshop, all participants have been invited to join the newly-formed UIC Expert Network on Sustainable Land Use which will explore issues around soil pollution, vegetation control, biodiversity protection and so on. The first meeting will be on 15 November at UIC headquarters.

In related news, Serbian Railways are organising a conference on Energy Efficiency in Belgrade on 17 & 18 November, and a 2nd South East Europe Environment Workshop will be planned for September 2012.

For more information please contact Alex Veitch: veitch at uic.org

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1st South East Environment Workshop (29-30 September 2011, Belgrade, Serbia)

UIC and Serbian Railways are jointly organising the 1st South East Environment Workshop in Belgrade. The workshop will present railway experts of the South-East Europe region with practical solutions for their key environmental issues, enable exchange of best practice, and create a network among experts of the region.

For details and online registration please click here: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2806

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1st UIC Forum on Tourism Opportunities for Railways successfully held on 20 April 2018 in Barcelona

The 1st UIC TopRail Forum, jointly organised by UIC (International Union of Railways) and FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya) under the theme “The Business of Rail Tourism”, was held at the Fira de Barcelona congress centre as part of the B-Travel Trade Fair.

The TopRail project is an initiative of the International Union of Railways (UIC) dedicated to Rail Tourism at international level. Its primary objective is to bring together rail and tourist-related stakeholders – from the railway industry (operators, manufacturers) and the tourism industry (tour operators, wholesalers) to international, national and regional policy makers, international organisations and academia, to the final customer – to discuss the business opportunities in the rail and tourism sectors.

The Forum was created with the aim of establishing itself as the ultimate benchmark for sector professionals and is intended to be the meeting point of all the stakeholders involved. The approach is very broad encompassing different areas: train-cruises, panoramic trains, railway heritage, etc.

This first edition, attended by around 60 participants from 15 different countries (from Ecuador to USA and Russia to most of the countries in Europe), consisted of single intense day of morning and afternoon sessions, complemented by a technical visit on the following day to the new Railway Museum of Catalonia in Vilanova (near Barcelona).

The Forum was opened on 20 April by Mr Pere Calvet, Director General of FGC and President of UITP, Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, and Mr Enric Ticó i Buxadós, President of FGC.
Pere Calvet expressed his gratitude on behalf of UITP (International Union of Public Transport) for having been invited to open the first TopRail. He said: “UIC and the UITP share many common goals and have to deal with similar technical, social and regulatory issues and we are working to strengthen this links and develop common working schemas … the business-oriented approach, customer satisfaction, modal transfer, ticketing, are part of TopRail and also part of the daily challenges for urban public transport providers all over the world.
In a world with an increasing urban population, public transport has a key role to play. Without an efficient public transport system, it would be impossible to achieve liveable and sustainable cities.”

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux began by thanking Pere Calvet, the team at FGC and Carles Casas, Chairman of TopRail, for their commitment to the project from the very beginning.
He said: “Tourism and transport are inherently and historically linked. TopRail is a commitment to address the challenge of facing the future of railways not only from a nostalgic point of view that special trains can provide, but also to support tourist experiences on railways as a strategic framework for ensuring an attractive and positive image of the railways in the generations to come.”

Enric Ticó i Buxadós said it was a pleasure and honour to welcome everyone to Barcelona on behalf of FGC. He added: “I wanted to start by thanking the UIC for choosing Barcelona to celebrate the First TopRail Forum because it not only gives us the opportunity to express and strengthen our commitment with TopRail group, but it will give you the opportunity to experience, first hand, our wide range of services.
We are responsible for a wide range of tourist-related services going from rail services to mountain resorts … so tourism for us is not just an exotic traveller that randomly appears on our lines but is part of our core business, and we want to keep it this way.
This approach goes all over the company and we are continuously looking for ways to attract the tourist market to our services, all of them.”

Three panel sessions then addressed the issues of railways in relation to sustainable tourism, regional development and the preservation of heritage. Participants discussed how the railway industry can contribute to fostering well managed tourism, sustainable development, job creation and trade by looking at issues such as:

  • The impact of increasing tourism on current infrastructure
  • How rail tourism can contribute to sustainability
  • Examples of good practices in rail tourism
  • How to make the most of rail heritage and to make it an income generator

Highlights included presentations by the following guest speakers, among others:
Peter Haxton, Policy Analyst, OECD
Tim Fairhurst, Director of Policy, ETOA
Supinder Singh, President, Palace Tours
Jordi Tresserras, Director, LABPATC, Barcelona University and Advisor for UNESCO
Urs Wieser, Sales Manager, Stadler Rail

Partners and sponsors included: Renfe; Stadler; OECD; ETOA; OBB; Rodalies; Fundación de Ferrocarriles Españoles.

Renfe, as the company sponsoring the event, gave a presentation that was delivered by Amador Robles as representative in Toprail of the General Directorate of Development and Strategy. The presentation consisted of a general explanation of all the tourist trains operated by Renfe, but with special attention paid to the historical ones: the Strawberry Train and the future potential of the Historic Steam Train.

The closing session was delivered by Marc Guigon, Director of the UIC Passenger Department. He said that UIC started TopRail to meet the demand for sustainable tourism. On behalf of UIC, he was pleased to co-host this event with FGC, and thanked them for their excellent organisation. He thanked the panellists, moderators and participants for the interesting discussions, and extended a special thanks to Vanessa Perez for her efforts in making the event a success.

During the second day of the First TopRail Forum, the participants enjoyed a visit to the Railway Museum of Villanova i la Geltrú run by the Director of the Museum, Pilar Garcia; She explained to the participants the past, present and future projects of this particular Museum that aims to show the contribution of the railways to the economic and social development of the area, emphasising the importance of people at all times.

At the end of the conference, it was announced that the second TopRail Forum will take place next year in Italy, kindly hosted by the Italian Railway Foundation.

Website: http://toprail.org/

For further information please contact Vanessa Perez, Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department:

perez at uic.org

See the full article

2015 Edition of the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions published

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have officially launched the new edition of the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions. 2015 marks the fourth year of collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to produce the Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 emissions of the world railway sector. Following the previous editions, UIC and IEA have been increasingly encouraged to pursue this joint effort in close cooperation.

The book contains data and analysis of the rail sector’s performance. It illustrates the efficiency in terms of the rail system’s energy and carbon performance. This data and analysis are independently verified by the IEA.

This publication facilitates analysis that is vital to the proper decision making process. Previous editions were recognised as a reference document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. These data provide an answer to understanding environmental issues and propose solutions for the decarbonisation strategies of the transport sector.

The global demand for transport is expected to double by 2050. The ability to meet this growing demand in a sustainable way is of fundamental importance in this historical moment.

The special focus on vehicle efficiency in this handbook (and related KPIs) delivers a clear message to the audience: to meet this growing demand by increasing investments on new and efficient rolling stock and technical improvements to the existing fleet will produce important improvements both in transport efficiency and environmental impact.

Some key facts of the 2015 edition:

  • The transport sector was responsible for 23.1% of global CO2 emissions in 2012. 3.6% of transport emissions were due to the rail sector, while railways transported over 8% of the world’s passengers and goods. The relative contribution of rail to global CO2 emissions has decreased since 1990 while total CO2 emissions have risen by almost 50%.
  • Electric intensity for passenger rail vehicles at global level, measured in MJ/train-km, has consistently improved from 1975 to 2012 by -32%, while the electric intensity for freight rail vehicles has improved by -23%. This improvement is particularly significant for electric vehicles in China and diesel vehicles in North America.
  • The railway sector has implemented several technological solutions that will facilitate the energy efficiency of rolling stock in the next decades: installing energy meters, energy recovery from braking, DAS (Driving Advisory System).
  • Railway specific energy consumption has been following a downward trajectory since 1975, both for passenger and freight services. From 1975 to 2012, the energy use per passenger-km declined by 62%. In the same time span, the amount of energy needed to move one tonne-km fell by 46%. In 2012, both indicators reached about 150 KJ per passenger-km (for passenger transport) or per tonne-km (for freight transport).
  • Specific CO2 emissions in the rail sector have been following a similar rate of improvement to specific energy consumption, resulting in CO2 intensity close to 16 g CO2 per passenger-km in the case of passenger transport and per tonne-km in the case of freight transport.

This is just some of the key information provided in the Handbook that emphasises the decisive role of the rail sector in meeting global climate and economic challenges.

Again, this publication has only been possible thanks to the support of UIC members and their annual contributions to UIC Statistics and to the Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) of UIC. The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to thank UIC members and hopes that this new edition can provide valuable information with sound science.

The UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions is available at:

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/iea-uic_2015-2.pdf

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, UIC Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

2016 Edition of the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions focuses on sustainability targets

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have officially launched the new edition of the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions. The 2016 publication marks the fifth year of cooperation between the two organisations and aims at providing insightful information, each year covering a special feature. In the past, these topics have ranged from the energy mix in the rail sector to the cost and sustainability impacts associated with rail infrastructure to vehicle efficiency. The new edition takes into account the Paris Agreement, the historic outcome of the 21st UNFCC Conference of Parties (COP21) in December 2015 in which more than 180 countries pledged to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With each new edition, the rail and energy data continue to improve as a result of the close cooperation between the IEA and the UIC. For this 2016 Handbook, the main improvement results from the collection of more detailed and accurate energy data from UIC members. In addition to the existing collected and validated information for European railways, Russia, Japan, USA, China, India and South Korea, among others, have made particularly noteworthy strides to improve data within the report.

As in previous editions, Part I of this year’s Handbook is dedicated to presenting the most significant data and trends concerning energy consumption and CO2 emissions from the rail sector, focusing on the most relevant regions in terms of rail activity, namely EU 28, USA, Japan, Russia, India and China. This serves to place a spotlight on the regions and countries which cumulatively accounted for 89% of passenger-kilometres and 84% of tonne-kilometres travelled globally in 2013. In addition, statistics illuminating rail-related CO2 emissions, passenger activities, freight activities, and electrification rates at a regional and global level are published within this section.

Furthermore, this Part pays particular attention to the growing role of high-speed trains in the rail sector, including but not limited to global coverage and the number of kilometres (in operation, construction, and planning phases). The sector of high-speed rail infrastructure was dominated by China in 2013, as it hosts 60% of the global High-Speed rail infrastructure, followed by Europe which accounts for a share of 24%.

Part II of this year’s handbook emphasises the analysis and the evaluation of rail sector and national targets, also compared to other modes of transport. The results of our analysis indicate that historical evolution of specific energy consumption and specific CO2 emissions from rail are on track to achieving the 2030 and 2050 UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge targets, moving the rail sector towards the 2 Degree Scenario (2DS) outlined in the IEA Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) publication. The Handbook presents for the first time the evolution of the rail global targets set by UIC in 2014, supported by the outcomes of the commitment on reporting signed in 2015 by UIC Members through the Climate Responsibility Pledge inside the ‘Train To Paris’ campaign.

The special focus on sustainability targets in this handbook delivers a clear message to the audience: rail transport offers a more sustainable alternative to most other transport modes, both in terms of energy use and carbon emissions per passenger-kilometre or tonne-kilometre, and is anticipated to continue to do so over the coming decades.

Part II also zooms in on commitments made by single countries to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. In this context, an analysis is included of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – representing the outlined actions individual countries intend to take under the Paris Agreement – aimed at understanding the extent to which single countries include the transport sector and the rail sector in their pledges.

This is just some of the key information provided in the Handbook that emphasises the decisive role of the rail sector in meeting global climate and economic challenges.

This publication has only been possible thanks to the support of UIC members and their annual contributions to UIC Statistics and to the Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) of UIC. The direct data collection from railways covers over 90% of the global rail transport activity, and the incorporation of this information into the IEA Mobility Model has increased the consistency of the data, providing a more solid background for the analysis presented in this publication and into the Mobility Model of the IEA.

The production of the Railway Handbook 2016 has been a good opportunity to strengthen the collaboration between the IEA and the UIC. This relationship has served to enrich and improve the knowledge of activity, energy and emissions data associated with the railway sector. The previous editions of the Handbook are freely available from the UIC website.

The IEA-UIC Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions 2016 Edition is available at: http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/iea-uic_railway_handbook_2016_web.pdf

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, UIC Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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20th UIC Environment, Energy & Sustainability (EES) Platform held on 5 April 2017 in Paris

The 20th UIC Environment, Energy & Sustainability (EES) Platform met at UIC HQ in Paris on 5 April 2017. UIC presented the latest sustainability activities, proposals for opt-in 2018 and a number of items for information.

The meeting started with an introduction and welcome by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (UIC CEO) and Willy Bontinck (SNCB & Platform Chair).

Last time the EES group met was during the Sustainability Conference in Vienna in October 2016 and Jean-Pierre Loubinoux emphasised the success of the event as well as the growing awareness of the importance of sustainable transport as a key driver for social and economic development and peace. Mr Loubinoux added that the publication in October 2016 of the final report of the High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport as well as the participation of UIC in the first Sustainable Transport Conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan last November had been great occasions to advocate the role of rail as the backbone of sustainable transport. UIC is still liaising with the new UN Secretary General Antonio Guteres to sustain momentum on sustainable transport.

An update of each of the expert networks was then conducted along with the political update of CER provided by Ethem Pekin, Senior Environmental Economist at CER.

The unit proposed four new projects for Opt-In – three in Europe and one in Asia:

  • Best Practices Energy workshops (Europe)
  • Noise Technical Advice to the European Union
  • UIC Leaflet 930
  • Best Practices Energy workshops (Asia)

Two new projects for the global budget were also proposed:

  • Door to door mobility
  • Clean air rail

The EES platform was the opportunity to discuss future plans for COP23 under the Fiji Presidency taking place in Bonn in November 2017, and gave the chance to the Members of the platform to learn more about the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) and comment on the global macro-roadmap on “An Actionable vision of the decarbonisation of transport”.

The EES platform gave the occasion to renew invitations to the RailAdapt workshops to be held in 2017, in London in April and in Beijing in June.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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3rd edition of the “Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions” officially launched in New York in the context of the UN Climate Summit

UIC officially launched on 22 September in New York the new edition of the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions at the High-Level Event “On Track to Clean & Green Transport” organised in the framework of the UN Climate Summit.

2014 marks the third year of collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to produce the Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 emissions of the world railway sector. After the success of the 2012 and 2013 editions, UIC and IEA have been increasingly encouraged to pursue this joint effort in close cooperation.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, who presented the UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions during several meetings in New York in the context of the UN Climate Summit, said:

“Today I am proud to launch the 3rd edition of the Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions – published jointly by the International Railway Association, UIC, and the International Energy Agency. This is the 3rd consecutive year that we have worked collaboratively on this project.

The book contains data and analysis of the rail sector’s performance. It literally charts the rail sector renaissance and clearly illustrates the unrivalled efficiency of the rail system. This data and analysis is independently verified by the IEA. I must thank the IEA for their fruitful collaboration.

This publication is the product of our philosophy – a statement of our belief in transparency, evidence based decision making and the importance of building partnerships. It represents hard work and commitment by UIC and by the IEA – but most importantly by our member companies who provide the data, which enables the analysis fundamental to proper decision making process.

I am pleased to state that the previous edition was recognised as a reference document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. And we trust that this honour will also be bestowed on the new 3rd edition.”

The positive feedback received from the private sector, governments and international organisations has made it clear that there is a real need for valuable information on energy use and related CO2 emissions for rail and the transport sector in general.
These data provide an answer to understanding environmental issues and propose solutions for the decarbonisation strategies of the transport sector.

The global demand for transport is expected to double by 2050. The ability to meet this growing demand in a sustainable way is of fundamental importance in this historical moment.

The special focus on infrastructure in this handbook (and related KPIs) delivers a clear message to the audience: to meet this growing demand by increasing investments on rail will produce important improvements both in transport efficiency and environmental impact.

Some key facts:

  • Since 1975 paved road lane kilometres doubled while global rail track length decreased by nearly 10%. At the same time, rail infrastructure carries 10 times more transport units per km than road, using roughly 11 times less energy per transported unit.
  • Every dollar invested in rail infrastructure results in between 3 and 10 times less CO2 emission generated compared to each dollar spent on road, while carrying 3.5 times more TU than road.
  • Worldwide, only 0.6% of the total energy consumed in 2011 and 1% of global CO2 emissions comes from rail, compared to 20% of energy and 16.5% of emissions from road transport.
  • The effort of the railway sector to improve its environmental impact is already acknowledged: energy consumption and CO2 emissions have both been halved since 1990 levels.

This is just some of the key information provided in the Handbook that emphasises the decisive role of the rail sector in meeting global climate and economic challenges.
Again, this publication has only been possible thanks to the support of UIC members and their annual contributions to UIC Statistics. The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to thank UIC members and hopes that this new edition can provide valuable information with sound science.

The UIC-IEA Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions is available here:

http://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/uic-iea_railway_handbook_on_energy_consumption_co2_emissions-2.pdf

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org or Veronica Aneris: aneris at uic.org

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3rd International Conference on Standardisation

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Conference on Standardisation

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Conference on Standardisation

]

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Conference on Standardisation

]

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Conference on Standardisation

]

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Conference on Standardisation

]

UIC is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference on Standardisation which will be held on 16 March 2021 in Paris, UIC Headquarters.

The conference will be developed around the theme “How can Standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”

Participation is free of charge, by clicking on the link below:

https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference

For more information please contact the Standardisation Unit at: standardisation at uic.org

See the full article

3rd International Railway Standardisation Conference

The UIC Standardisation Unit held its third International Standardisation Conference on 16 March. The conference theme was “How can standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”.

Over 130 people from more than 20 countries participated in the online event, which was opened by François Davenne, UIC Director General. Following this introduction, five speakers from various countries shared their experiences of challenges, best practices, successes and innovation in achieving sustainable mobility. Many different areas have been tackled in order to reduce negative environmental impacts, including carbon-free mobility, use of hydrogen, energy-saving vehicles, renewable energy sources, fuel cells and electric storage systems. JR-East, RZD, AAR, and RAI are some examples of eco-friendly associations and companies supporting policies to fight climate change and bring about a green recovery as the backbone of sustainable mobility.

National standardisation structures and standards used were also presented during the conference, with an excellent atmosphere for discussion and networking. The event was moderated by Simon Fletcher, UIC Europe Director. Célia Levy, UIC Chief Standardisation Officer, invited the participants to next year’s conference during the closing session.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to the first edition of the Standardisation Awards, which aim to support and promote excellence in user-friendly, business-sensitive documents that promote efficiency in railway operations. Numerous IRSs were submitted for the awards, and the finalists were selected on the basis of stringent evaluation criteria. There are four categories of award, distinguishing IRSs that have not only achieved technical recognition but also help the railway operating community and the sector to achieve excellent results. Best-in-category awards were be presented for 11 IRSs.

For further information, please contact: standardisation at uic.org

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4th African Railway Thursdays webinar Sustainable Development Challenges: Railways of Tomorrow

On 29 April, the UIC Africa Region held its fourth webinar as part of the African Railway Thursday series: Sustainable Development Challenges: Railways of Tomorrow. The African Railway Thursdays are bimonthly webinars dedicated to the activities and projects of UIC and the UIC Africa Region.

The webinar was attended by over 200 participants representing UIC members and non-members not only in Africa but also the Middle East, North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe – a clear indication of the level of commitment to improving railway sustainability.

In his opening speech, Mohamed Rabie Khlie, President of the UIC Africa Region, highlighted the #African Railway Green Deal, which emphasises sustainable development as an objective for resilient growth. He noted Africa’s potential to develop rail as the backbone of sustainable mobility. Mr Khlie gave the example of Morocco, which has made significant progress in achieving sustainability by 2030 and making rail an essential element of sustainable development. He also noted the significant challenges facing Africa in terms of sustainability and the need for ongoing commitment, highlighting the target of carbon neutrality before 2050.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, stressed the urgency of making this a decade of action on sustainability, particularly in Africa. He spoke of the need to position rail as the greenest transport mode and achieve rapid, efficient modal shift whilst also proposing technical, urban and interface solutions. Mr Davenne also mentioned the new UIC Sustainability Taskforce, which will be a truly international commitment and will propose high-impact transformation projects in a number of areas, including digital and multimodal transport.

Sustainable mobility at the core of international and regional challenges

The webinar programme consisted of three dedicated panels. Moderated by Thierry Béra, UIC CFO and Africa Region Coordinator, the first panel began with a presentation by Lucie Anderton, UIC Sustainable Development Unit Manager, on the initiatives and projects developed by UIC. Ms Anderton talked about the International Green Transport Week to be held from 30 May to 5 June, as well as key projects on the circular economy, sustainable land use, air quality, energy efficiency and carbon, and noise and vibration, as well as the flagship SDG Rail Index project.

The presentations given during this panel were well-received. Debashish Bhattacharjee of UN-Habitat, Regional Office for Africa, presented the prospects for and challenges of rail transport and urbanisation in Africa, while Placide Badji of the African Union Infrastructure and Energy Department gave a presentation on the challenges and opportunities of connecting African railways.

The second panel, moderated by Lucie Anderton, included presentations from four sustainability leaders from other UIC regions, who shared their experiences, challenges, successes and plans for sustainability. There were presentations on the sustainability and emission reduction strategy at Sydney Trains, sustainability initiatives at Irish Rail, Korail’s sustainability management efforts to connect people, the world, and the future, and the sustainable energy policy at SNCF Voyageurs.
The final panel was dedicated to innovative financing modes and mechanisms to facilitate low-carbon mobility in Africa, and included a presentation on rail financing for green transport by Martha B. Lawrence, Leader of Railway Solutions at the World Bank.

Closing the seminar, Said Chandid, UIC Representative at the Regional Office in Rabat, outlined the RABAT call for action on an African Railway Green Deal for sustainable mobility, which will be presented in the lead-up to and at COP 26 in November 2021.

For further information on the activities of the UIC Africa region, please contact Maria Lafont at: lafont at uic.org

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4th UIC ASEAN online meeting on railway standards and standardisation held on 25 February

The fourth in a series of UIC ASEAN online meetings was held on 25 February, with a focus on railway standards and standardisation and access to UIC tools in this field. Co-organised by UIC Asia-Pacific and the UIC Standardisation Department in collaboration with the Rail System Department and the Sustainable Development Unit, the meeting offered an opportunity to share expertise and introduce all of the relevant tools and information to UIC ASEAN members.

Potential future members of UIC in ASEAN, such as Lao PWTD-DR, Lao Railway Authority and Myanmar Railways, took part in the session along with 23 participants from a total of eight member companies (DJKA and MASKA of Indonesia, KTMB, MyHSR CORP and RAC of Malaysia, DOTR and PNR of the Philippines and VNR of Vietnam). Invited representatives from NRCOE Malaysia also attended the meeting.

The meeting was moderated by Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative. Vincent Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations and Asia-Pacific Coordinator, opened the session by recalling UIC’s role and its development in Asia-Pacific.

On behalf of Celia Lévy, Chief Standardisation Officer, Mouna Bennouna, Programme Coordinator within the UIC Standardisation Department (SD), gave a comprehensive presentation of the SD and its Platform, outlining the current railway ecosystem and the role of UIC as an SSO (Standard Setting Organisation), as well as the regulatory framework for IRSs (International Railway Solutions) and agreements concluded with other international organisations, such as ISO, IEC, CEN, CENELEC, etc. A detailed overview of the ongoing process of migration of UIC leaflets to IRSs was also provided. Ms Bennouna invited the participants to attend the third International Railway Standardisation Conference being held online on 16 March 2021.

An example of the process of development and application of a standard, IRS 90940 (Data exchange with Driver Advisory Systems (DAS) following the SFERA Protocol), was then presented by Philippe Stefanos, Sustainability Advisor within the UIC Sustainable Development Unit.

SFERA stands for “Smart communications for Efficient Rail Activities”. Mr Stefanos explained all of the steps involved in preparing an IRS, from the initial stages to review and final publication, in order to demonstrate how railway standards are developed and why they are useful to the entire railway ecosystem. The presentation helped the audience to understand the importance of UIC’s working groups and user groups, composed of UIC members and railway industry stakeholders.

Hélène Cambreleng, ETF Manager, UIC Publication Department, then gave a presentation on ETF (Railway Technical Publications), explaining its role and how to efficiently use and download documents from the UIC website. She invited participants to register for the UIC newsletter, which provides regular updates on available documents.

The participants had several questions on the use of standards at national level. Thanks go to our Indonesian colleagues for their contributions.

The next in the series of UIC ASEAN online meetings will be held on 25 March, focusing on the UIC Passenger Department with a special emphasis on railway stations.

For further information please contact Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative:

fapmilko at gmail.com

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5th International Railway Summit to be hosted in association with UIC and Huawei

The 5th International Railway Summit will be hosted in association with the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Huawei Technologies, the global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. The summit, a comprehensive networking event for the railway industry, is organised by IRITS Events and will take place in Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November 2017, which is the first time this event is held in Asia.

UIC is the worldwide professional association which represents 200-member organisations in 100 countries, encompassing 1 million km of rail track. The association helps members meet sustainable development and mobility challenges, creates standards and common solutions, and proposes new ways to improve technical performance, competitiveness and cost-efficiency. UIC develops and facilitates cooperation and the sharing of best practices among members.

Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, intelligent devices and cloud computing. Its innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions. To date, Huawei’s Digital Railway solution has been applied in more than 120,000 kilometres of rail lines by over 50 global rail construction companies and operation companies, including five of the top 10 rail operators.

The 5th International Railway Summit will feature a full two-day conference programme with speeches delivered by industry leaders and experts, as well as concurrent bespoke one-to-one consultation meetings between buyer and expert companies.

The conference programme is organised under the theme of Social and Economic Sustainability for Rail Transport and will address the pressing issues facing rail today and in the decades to come.

UIC’s Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux will deliver a keynote speech as part of a session on the Economics of High Speed Rail, along with Mohd Azharuddin Bin Mat Sah, CEO of Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD). Subsequently, Marc Antoni, UIC’s Director of Rail Systems, will take part in a panel discussion on Standardisation for Cross-border Transport.

Yuan Xilin, President of the Transportation Sector of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, will make a keynote speech in a dedicated conference session on Digital Railway Transformation. This session will also include interventions from Francis Bedel, UIC’s Chief Digital Officer, Dr Prodyutt Dutt, Chief Development Officer of SPAD, and Prasarana’s Chief Strategy & Information Officer, Ezwan Hazli Abdul Malek.

Other conference sessions will debate congestion in urban networks, investment in freight corridors, and intermodal passenger transport.

During the Summit, Huawei will showcase its latest platforms, technologies and solutions to accelerate digital railway transformation, such as Railway IoT, Urban Rail Cloud, Rail operational communication network.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC remarked: “UIC is happy to collaborate on the 5th International Railway Summit, which underlines the ever-increasing importance of safety in the daily operations of railways. Beyond the existing processes, transparent benchmarks and the sharing of experience from all stakeholders is certainly a must to make the most of efficient collaboration. Obviously, digital is a new element to take into consideration in the development of technologies and the necessity to anticipate, as much as possible, an endogenous approach to cyber security in all safety devices.”

Yuan Xilin, President of the Transportation Sector of Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group, said: "It is a great pleasure for Huawei to share the latest rail industry trends, innovative solutions and global application cases with leaders of key rail operators, rail infrastructure owners, as well as international rail authorities. Huawei is dedicated to joint innovation with customers and partners in fields such as cloud computing, IoT, Big Data, communications networks, and other new ICT technologies. We aim to become a preferred partner in railway digital transformation that helps customers improve operational safety, operational efficiency, and passenger experience.”

Jules Omura, Managing Director of IRITS Events, commented: “We are delighted to organise the 5th International Railway Summit in association with UIC and Huawei. UIC’s unique position representing and promoting the global railway industry will significantly enhance the quality and reach of the summit. As the world’s leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei are active across a vast range of sectors and will bring great skill and expertise to the Kuala Lumpur meeting. We look forward to working closely with them to make the summit a success.”

Organisations and individuals interested in learning more about International Railway Summit and about how they can participate in the event can visit www.irits.org or contact the organisers, IRITS Events.

About International Railway Summit

International Railway Summit is an exclusive meeting of the world’s key rail operators, national and local governments, and leading technical experts. Rail sector leaders receive free bespoke consultation from innovative experts, relevant to their future projects. The summit also offers a full conference programme, technical visits, and evening dinners, designed to forge lasting relationships between participants.
After four successful events in Europe, the summit makes its Asia Pacific debut in 2017 when it hosts its 5th edition in Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November. The 6th edition will take place in Prague on 21-23 February 2018. The International Railway Summit is hosted by IRITS Events Ltd. To find out more visit www.irits.org

For further information please contact Anuja Raut, Marketing Director, IRITS Events:

anuja.raut at irits.org

See the full article

5th International Railway Summit to be hosted in association with UIC and Huawei

The 5th International Railway Summit will be hosted in association with the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Huawei Technologies, the global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. The summit, a comprehensive networking event for the railway industry, is organised by IRITS Events and will take place in Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November 2017, which is the first time this event is held in Asia.

UIC is the worldwide professional association which represents 200-member organisations in 100 countries, encompassing 1 million km of rail track. The association helps members meet sustainable development and mobility challenges, creates standards and common solutions, and proposes new ways to improve technical performance, competitiveness and cost-efficiency. UIC develops and facilitates cooperation and the sharing of best practices among members.

Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, intelligent devices and cloud computing. Its innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions. To date, Huawei’s Digital Railway solution has been applied in more than 120,000 kilometres of rail lines by over 50 global rail construction companies and operation companies, including five of the top 10 rail operators.

The 5th International Railway Summit will feature a full two-day conference programme with speeches delivered by industry leaders and experts, as well as concurrent bespoke one-to-one consultation meetings between buyer and expert companies.

The conference programme is organised under the theme of Social and Economic Sustainability for Rail Transport and will address the pressing issues facing rail today and in the decades to come.

UIC’s Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux will deliver a keynote speech as part of a session on the Economics of High Speed Rail, along with Mohd Azharuddin Bin Mat Sah, CEO of Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD). Subsequently, Marc Antoni, UIC’s Director of Rail Systems, will take part in a panel discussion on Standardisation for Cross-border Transport.

Yuan Xilin, President of the Transportation Sector of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, will make a keynote speech in a dedicated conference session on Digital Railway Transformation. This session will also include interventions from Francis Bedel, UIC’s Chief Digital Officer, Dr Prodyutt Dutt, Chief Development Officer of SPAD, and Prasarana’s Chief Strategy & Information Officer, Ezwan Hazli Abdul Malek.

Other conference sessions will debate congestion in urban networks, investment in freight corridors, and intermodal passenger transport.

During the Summit, Huawei will showcase its latest platforms, technologies and solutions to accelerate digital railway transformation, such as Railway IoT, Urban Rail Cloud, Rail operational communication network.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC remarked: “UIC is happy to collaborate on the 5th International Railway Summit, which underlines the ever-increasing importance of safety in the daily operations of railways. Beyond the existing processes, transparent benchmarks and the sharing of experience from all stakeholders is certainly a must to make the most of efficient collaboration. Obviously, digital is a new element to take into consideration in the development of technologies and the necessity to anticipate, as much as possible, an endogenous approach to cyber security in all safety devices.”

Yuan Xilin, President of the Transportation Sector of Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group, said: "It is a great pleasure for Huawei to share the latest rail industry trends, innovative solutions and global application cases with leaders of key rail operators, rail infrastructure owners, as well as international rail authorities. Huawei is dedicated to joint innovation with customers and partners in fields such as cloud computing, IoT, Big Data, communications networks, and other new ICT technologies. We aim to become a preferred partner in railway digital transformation that helps customers improve operational safety, operational efficiency, and passenger experience.”

Jules Omura, Managing Director of IRITS Events, commented: “We are delighted to organise the 5th International Railway Summit in association with UIC and Huawei. UIC’s unique position representing and promoting the global railway industry will significantly enhance the quality and reach of the summit. As the world’s leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei are active across a vast range of sectors and will bring great skill and expertise to the Kuala Lumpur meeting. We look forward to working closely with them to make the summit a success.”

Organisations and individuals interested in learning more about International Railway Summit and about how they can participate in the event can visit www.irits.org or contact the organisers, IRITS Events.

About International Railway Summit

International Railway Summit is an exclusive meeting of the world’s key rail operators, national and local governments, and leading technical experts. Rail sector leaders receive free bespoke consultation from innovative experts, relevant to their future projects. The summit also offers a full conference programme, technical visits, and evening dinners, designed to forge lasting relationships between participants.
After four successful events in Europe, the summit makes its Asia Pacific debut in 2017 when it hosts its 5th edition in Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November. The 6th edition will take place in Prague on 21-23 February 2018. The International Railway Summit is hosted by IRITS Events Ltd. To find out more visit www.irits.org

For further information please contact Anuja Raut, Marketing Director, IRITS Events:

anuja.raut at irits.org

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60 days to go until “Train to Paris”, the COP21 global tie-in campaign coordinated by UIC

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This coming 28 November, just before the start of negotiations at the COP21 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, world railway organisation UIC will coordinate the arrival in Paris of a series of trains from across Europe, Asia and Russia as part of an international campaign dubbed “Train to Paris”.

“Train to Paris” is an international-scale demonstration of UIC’s long-standing commitment, on behalf of its 240 members worldwide, to tackling climate change and related issues, organising substantive action to develop sustainable transport systems across the globe.

Trains are set to depart from Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Rotterdam, Moscow, Beijing, and Ulaanbaatar. Carrying delegations to the COP21 negotiations in Paris, the purpose of these trains is to emphasise the importance of developing sustainable transport systems - which represent part of the solution to climate change.

The trains will converge on Paris on 28 November 2015, the weekend preceding the start of the COP21 negotiations. Amongst the events to be held in connection with “Train to Paris” will be a high-level symbolic welcome hosted by UIC and attended by a delegation featuring senior representatives of the United Nations, French government and European Union, as well as key stakeholders in the railway community, both public and private sectors, operators and suppliers.

The rail sector’s pledges

The railways pledge to help protect the climate by:

  • Reducing CO2 emissions: on average, a journey by train emits 3 to 10 times less CO2 than the equivalent journey by road or air.
  • Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions: rail represents 9 % of transport worldwide, but produces only 3 % of total transport-sector greenhouse-gas emissions.
  • Increasing the share of renewable energy source in the energy mix used to power trains: wind, solar, hydroelectric, etc. Many countries have already taken major steps in this direction, from Germany to the USA (California), not forgetting the Netherlands and India, which recently commissioned wagons covered in solar panels.

The key messages of the “Train to Paris” campaign are outlined in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyqQvAzpui8

To find out more about UIC’s “Train to Paris” campaign – 28 November 2015

Visit the “Train to Paris” website: http://traintoparis.org/
Twitter: @trainCOP21
UIC website: www.uic.org

For further information please contact:

UIC Sustainable Development Department: craven at uic.org; philippe at uic.org

Media: UIC Communications Department, plaud at uic.org

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6th Global Rail Freight Conference in Genoa addressed the main challenges in global logistics

From 26 – 28 June 2018, the 6th UIC Global Rail Freight Conference (GRFC), one of the leading events dedicated to rail freight transport and logistics at world level, was held in Genoa, Italy, at the historic venue of Palazzo Ducale. This event, prepared in a close cooperation between UIC and Italian Railways FS Italiane, is a landmark for all actors of the logistics chain. Genoa is the south terminal of the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, one of nine multimodal TEN-T Corridors under development to boost the growth and competitiveness of the European economy in a sustainable way and a port open to world trade.

For one-and-a-half days, representatives of institutions, companies and the logistics world exchanged and debated on the following main challenges over the course of seven sessions:

  • Mega Trends in Global Logistics
  • The race towards sustainability
  • Sustainable finance
  • Blockchain technology
  • Globalisation, Innovation and Connectivity
  • Rail freight corridor developments and the new Silk Roads
  • Integrity of the Logistics Chain

Session 1: Megatrends

Intramodality is a must
Collecting Big Data is not an issue anymore but data processing and analysing is the key
Legal frameworks are evolving everyday
Large focus on Asia-Europe corridors (but do not forget the flows between North America and Central and South America which are growing, and be conscious of Africa)

Session 2: Sustainability

Transport is not taken into consideration enough but it is the core of sustainable development goals
Projects exists but are developing slowly
Amount of investment is huge
Investing in infrastructure and rolling stock is costly
Think about “soft measures” such as process enhancement, language issues, IT developments.
Sustainable development is not only about environmentally-friendly measures, but also about ethical and social measures. The rail sector is generally speaking a leader on these aspects.

Session 3: Sustainable Finance

New tools now exist: Private Public Partnerships (PPP) Green Bonds, etc.
Stakeholders need to use them because public resources are not enough.

There is a need to find funding from other sectors:
Investors
Investment funds
Pension funds
Private banking

Finance flows to the transport sector are small compared to other sectors (as energy).

Session 4: Blockchain Technology

Characteristics: Transparency (complete overview of all costs, information on exact status of shipment)
Process: Competitive options such as cost, time, mode of transport, carriers, etc.
Services: Real-time location, better customer service and online administration of all bookings
Experience: to ease booking such as for road or air transport

Session 5: Globalisation, Innovation, Connectivity

Technology now helps us to go further in the areas of:
Smart Assets
Lean maintenance
Rolling stock maintenance
Fleet management
Infrastructure works better planned, smart interventions

Session 6: Rail Freight Corridor Developments and the New Silk Roads

Operators on the Europe-China corridor are financing the whole business and the growth
The 13th Five-Year-Plan at a glance – infrastructure is one of the most important future corner-stones
Eurasian rail cargo grew significantly, yet has a low intermodal market share

Session 7: Integrity of the Logistics Chain

Electronic seal-systems and electronic devices help operations people to enhance the security level of shipments featuring:

Track and trace
Rapid responses
Real time monitoring
Better costs
Better delivery delays

Rail cargo has advantages, especially on Eurasian corridors:
Faster than sea freight
Cheaper than air freight
More sustainable than air freight
Loading capacity higher than road and air freight
Security is better by rail than by road

BIC presentation: using BIC codes and Locodes helps
Track and trace
No language barriers (codes are international)
Better asset management

In CIT’s presentation, the goals were defined as follows:
One legal regime for all transport modes
Standardisation of the contractual relationship between carriers and shippers
Using the CIM consignment note (paper) and the electronic consignment note

The obstacles are:
Still lots of papers need to travel with goods (invoices, paper consignment notes, etc.)
Procedures need to be updated
Customs
Legal framework

For further information please contact Sandra Géhénot, UIC Freight Director:

gehenot at uic.org

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6th UIC ASEAN online meeting held on 22 April on the 2022 opt-in process and UIC projects in and with ASEAN

The sixth in a series of UIC ASEAN online meetings was held on 22 April and was dedicated to the 2022 opt-in process and UIC projects in and with ASEAN.

Co-organised by UIC Asia-Pacific and UIC ASEAN with the support of the UIC Passenger Department, the meeting served as an opportunity to introduce and recall the basic rules and relevant information on submitting and participating in projects involving UIC ASEAN members at Asia-Pacific and global level.

42 participants from ten member companies attended this sixth session: KAI, DJKA and MASKA from Indonesia, KTMB, MyHSR CORP and RAC from Malaysia, DOTR and PNR from the Philippines, DRT from Thailand and VNR from Vietnam, as well as invited representatives from JR EAST, Korail and IR. The meeting was moderated by Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative.

Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Institutional Relations Director, provided a comprehensive reminder of the rules for project selection (training sessions and long-term studies), also recalling the roles and rights of each member in terms of submission, participation and financing rules.

It was noted with appreciation that KAI and KTMB had decided to vote for selected projects for 2021-2022, and that DOTR Philippines had submitted three potential projects. Together with the various technical departments within UIC, Béatrice Segeral will review training session proposals, and Irina Petrunina will review long-term study proposals prepared by the Asia-Pacific members.

Milko Papazoff briefly reiterated that there are plans to cooperate further with UIC institutional partners in Asia-Pacific such as ADB, UNESCAP, ASEAN Secretariat, UNCRD and AIIB, who will be involved in any future ASEAN proposal submissions as required. This topic will also be discussed further with the various parties concerned.
The next part of the meeting focused on ideas for potential projects in Asia-Pacific for 2022 and beyond. These ideas, presented by Irina Petrunina, UIC CIS Representative and APRA Project Coordinator, are the fruit of various discussions and consultation among APRA members, European members and UIC’s technical departments. Some projects submitted but not approved in the past may again be relevant, and there will be further communication with the ASEAN members on this.
Marc Guigon, UIC Passenger Director, also took the floor to present a comprehensive summary of the Passenger Department’s projects and to inform the participants of the upcoming UIC Passenger webinar due to take place on 4 May. The department’s future priorities include multimodality, mobility as a service, sustainability, multiregional projects, digitalisation, cooperation with universities and the impact of the post-covid-19 era on passenger activities.

To complete the picture, Milko Papazoff provided a summary of the main concerns among UIC ASEAN members in recent years. The first is for each country to develop a stronger base of national railway standards. The relevant authorities, supported by operators and industrial supply chains, are also very open to examining the UIC IRS model. Other important concerns include security/safety, systems and digitalisation/5G, training activities, freight development (including heavy haul), sustainability and natural disaster management, as well as high-speed rail development in certain countries. UIC ASEAN members have been encouraged to register for and participate in the UIC working groups and platforms at their disposal.

Further speakers during the meeting included Justine June of KTMB (Malaysia), Brion Dominic Alano of DOTR (Philippines), Nguyen Thi Thu Thanh of VNR (Vietnam), Athaphon Kawprasert of SRT (Thailand) (via message) and Taufikurrahman of KAI (Indonesia).

Finally, the possibility of launching a common ASEAN project on automatic gauge changeover systems as a technical solution for railway corridor development was also briefly discussed. Such studies have already been undertaken at European level within the framework of cooperation between UIC, OSJD and their members. This could result in the creation of the much-awaited working group on meter-gauge networks in cooperation with the UIC Passenger Department.

The session concluded with a presentation by Béatrice Segeral of the timeline for projects in 2022. Participants were also reminded of the various deadlines and upcoming APRA virtual events to take place in 2021.

The next UIC ASEAN online meeting will be held on 14 September, focusing on UIC training activities and various tools and platforms.

For further information, please contact Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative: fapmilko at gmail.com

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9th Noise Workshop

UIC will hold the 9th Noise Workshop in Paris on 18 November 2014. This event will focus on recent and forthcoming initiatives at European level for the reduction of rail freight noise.

The programme will open by considering the European Commission’s Roadmap (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/media/consultations/doc/2013-railnoise/roadmap.pdf) for Effective Reduction of Noise Generated by Rail Freight Wagons in the European Union and proposals to re-fit the Environmental Noise Directive, with presentations by Piotr Rapacz (DG MOV) & Marco Paviotti (DG ENV). Responses and insights will be provided by representatives of the rail operating and wagon keeping communities, including Libor Lochman (CER). Opportunities will be provided for participants to pose questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders.

The second session will commence with insights to an evidence based approach for determining guidelines for noise exposure with a presentation by Marie-Eve Héroux of the World Health Organisation. This will be followed by a look at the overall environmental impact of transport in terms of external costs, presented by S Markovic-Chenais (UIC). A review of the current knowledge of railway noise control and a proposal for acoustic criteria for new LL blocks will be presented by Franck Poisson (SNCF) and Fabien Letourneaux (SNCF). This session will end by considering the scope for future research funded by the European Union within the Shift2Rail programme, presented by Simon Fletcher (UIC).

Finally the workshop will examine different perspectives from across Europe regarding Noise Differentiated Track Access Charging and retrofitting with low noise LL-blocks. This will include speakers from the German and Swiss Governments in addition to representatives from networks where NDTAC may not be implemented. The programme also includes perspectives from UIP and Becorit, operators and infrastructure managers.

There is no charge for attendance. To register your place and download the latest programme please visit:

http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3293

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between UIC and the World Wildlife Fund Central and Eastern Europe (WWF-CEE)

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On 18 November, Director General of UIC, François Davenne, and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund Central and Eastern Europe (WWF-CEE), Andreas Beckmann, will virtually sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between WWF-CEE and UIC.

To mark the beginning of a fruitful and exciting collaboration, UIC invites you to join the online event, in which participants will explore the objective of the relationship with WWF-CEE of generating incentives for railway stakeholders for a more sustainable future for the railways in Central and Eastern Europe.

The main purpose of this MoU is to promote environmentally conscious rail transport in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by enhancing international cooperation between the parties. In accordance with the mission statement of the UIC Sustainable Land Use Sector within the Sustainability Unit, the parties will establish mutual dialogue in domains of common interest and an option for information exchange in the following fields:

The programme for the event is as follows:

Programme: Webinar will be open from 9:45 a.m.

Moderator: Simon Fletcher, Director Europe
10:00 Welcome and UIC vision by UIC Director General François Davenne
10:05 WWF-CEE vision of MoU by CEO of WWF-CEE Andreas Beckmann
10:10 Signature of MoU
10:15 Questions from chat
10:25 Closure of the session

The event will be recorded and then uploaded to the UIC YouTube channel after the meeting. Admission to the online event is free of charge, and we very much look forward to having your support!

To register, please click here

For further information, please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Land Use Sector: yilmazer at uic.org

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Additional virtual seats now available for the UIC Noise Days

Is the railway a good neighbour?

Transport noise is one of the main sources of environmental noise. It is essential that our railways increase capacity to provide sustainable mobility; however, this brings with it a risk of increased rail-related noise and vibration emissions, as well as increased impact on local residents. Although the "quieter routes” concept of the revised TSI Noise will enter into force at the end of 2024, many railway noise and vibration issues remain unresolved: how will the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and European Environment Agency (EEA) report on environmental noise inform noise policy? Will the issue of braking in winter conditions in Nordic countries be resolved? What is the current status of the bans on loud vehicles in Germany and Switzerland? What is the future of noise-differentiated track access charging? How is railway noise related to other environmental issues?

These are the types of questions that will be addressed at the first of the UIC Railway Noise Days, to be held on 23 February 2021. This workshop will take the form of a half-day webinar, and is being organised by the Noise and Vibration Sector.

The workshop will provide an update on the most important issues and developments in the field of railway noise, as well as an opportunity to discuss these with the relevant stakeholders. Participants will hear from speakers representing the European Commission (DG MOVE and DG ENV), CER, UIC and the EEA. In addition, UIC will present its latest state of the art report on railway noise in Europe.

Participants will have the opportunity to pose questions directly to these stakeholders and to discuss current issues.

On the second day, 24 February, The Train-Track Interaction Sector (TTI) within the UIC Rail System Department will conduct a half-day webinar.

Noise and vibration caused by the interaction between the train and the track remains an important issue for the railway sector as a whole. Furthermore, there is now greater insight into the effects of noise and vibration emissions on local residents and growing pressure on railway undertakings and infrastructure managers to keep reducing emission levels wherever feasible.

The TTI Sector has set out to address these concerns and provide roadmaps on this topic with a view to offering new solutions. The White Paper on Acoustics published in 2020 reflects the current situation and main issues and provides information on proposals for technical projects to conduct research and devise solutions for infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.

The field of acoustics presents significant challenges to global railway development. Efforts need to be made to support the proposals put forward in the White Paper in order to prepare operational and technical subsystems (comprising both infrastructure and rolling stock) for the new acoustics requirements in line with the European Commission’s existing vision for the future of the railways.

Webinar attendance is free of charge.

To register, please complete and submit the online form before 22 February 2021: https://uic.org/events/uic-railway-noise-days

Confirmation will be sent following registration. Participation may be limited if the number of registrations received exceeds the available capacity.

UIC is looking forward to seeing a large number of participants at the UIC Railway Noise Days in February.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor for the Noise and Vibration Sector: yilmazer at uic.org

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African Railway Thursdays

A dedicated webinar, “Sustainable Development Challenges: Railways of Tomorrow”, will be held on 29 April from 12.00 to 15.00 CET by UIC Africa as part of the African Railway Thursdays, a series of bimonthly webinars focusing on the activities and projects of UIC and the UIC Africa Region.

Participants will:

  • learn about the sustainable development policies implemented by global and regional institutions (United Nations, African Union, World Bank, African Development Bank, French Development Agency, etc.)
  • exchange experiences and best practices applied on different continents
  • discuss initiatives to strengthen the positioning of the railways as the best option for eco-mobility, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,
  • enable the rail system to better contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals by 2030 and benefit from innovative financing and low-carbon mobility mechanisms,
  • capitalise on feedback on the challenges of sustainable development as the continent aims to connect African capitals via integrated continental high-speed train, one of 12 flagship projects selected by African Heads of State for Agenda 2063

The webinar will be held in English and French. For more information and to view the programme and register for the event, please visit https://uic.org/events/african-railway-thursdays-4th-webinar-sustainable-development-challenges

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

For further information, please contact Maria Lafont at: lafont at uic.org

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African Railway Thursdays: railway partnership models in Africa and opportunities for development

On 25 February, the UIC African Region held the third in a series of dedicated African Railway Thursdays seminars, a bimestrial initiative focusing on the main activities and priorities for the region. This webinar on the topic of railway partnership models in Africa and opportunities for development was organised in partnership with EDR – Ethio-Djibouti Railways.

The webinar was attended by 106 participants representing UIC Africa members and authorities from Ethiopia and Djibouti, as well as representatives of the African Union’s Infrastructure and Energy Commission and AUDA-NEPAD. It was opened by the Minister of Transport of Ethiopia, Her Excellency Ms Dagmawit Moges, who outlined the EDR success story and noted the importance of the green railway, sustainable development and public/private financial investment.

Mr Mohamed Rabie Khlie, President of the UIC African Region, presented partnership in the African railway sector and the case of Moroccan Railways, outlining the key success factors for a win-win public-private partnership. UIC’s Director General, François Davenne, noted the importance of the webinars as a forum for exchange for the benefit of the African Region and reminded the participants of the importance of standardisation as a key provider of added value at UIC as the main technical body serving the entire community of railway stakeholders.

The presentations included an overview of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol tool for railway rolling stock financing, presented by Soteri Gatera of UNECA, the African Union Agenda 2063, presented by Younes Touitha of AUDA-NEPAD/UMA, and an overview of concession models in Africa provided by the UIC African Regional Bureau representative in Rabat, Said Chandid. Specific case studies were presented by Tilahun Sarka, Director General of Ethio-Djibouti Railways, and by Charles Yombo of Camrail. Thierry Béra, UIC African Region Coordinator, also announced the launch of the Vision 2063 study supported by UIC.

During the conclusions, François Davenne emphasised the importance of sustainable development and raised the possibility of organising the next UIC African Railways webinar specifically on this topic with the potential participation of the United Nations and the financial institutions with which they work. He suggested that a further webinar dedicated to PPP could be held in the future in order to share experience and best practices, as well as UIC’s technical and operational standards.

Presentations from the webinar are available at https://uic.org/events/african-railway-thursdays-3rd-webinar-railway-partnership-models-in-africa-and

For further information on the activities of the UIC African Region activities, please visit the UIC Africa website https://uic.org/africa/

For further information, please contact Thierry Béra, UIC African Region Coordinator, bera at uic.org and Maria Lafont, lafont at uic.org.

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Alberto Mazzola to follow Libor Lochman as CER Executive Director

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Alberto Mazzola was unanimously elected as new Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) by the CER General Assembly on 21 September. He will succeed the current Executive Director Libor Lochman and take office on 1 January 2021.

Alberto Mazzola holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a Doctorate cum Laude in Nuclear Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan. In 2002 he joined Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS), where he held different positions. In his current role as Head of International Government Affairs, he is based in Brussels dealing with international affairs and European legislation, market regulation and technical standards. Before joining FS, he contributed to the worldwide business section of Leonardo Finmeccanica (1988-2002). From 2015 to September 2020, he was Vice-President of the Transport, Energy and Service of General Interest Section and President of the International Trade Agreements Follow up Committee of the European Economic and Social Committee.

CER Chair Andreas Matthä (CEO, ÖBB Holding AG) said: “With Alberto Mazzola, the General Assembly today decided for an outstanding expert not only in EU policy making but also in the European rail business. I am confident that he will strongly represent Europe’s rail sector towards the European institutions and successfully position rail as the backbone of Europe’s future sustainable mobility plans. The Executive Director will also focus on the current Covid-19 challenges working hard with members to regain customer trust."

“With his deep knowledge of the railway system, Libor Lochman has immensely contributed to the work of CER over the last 15 years, first as Deputy Executive Director responsible for technical affairs, and as of 2011 as its Executive Director. Let me highlight that thanks to his relentless efforts, the finalisation of the Fourth Railway Package has been a stepping stone for the creation of the Single European Railway Area. An era is coming to an end and CER thanks him for all his achievements.”

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said: “I am extremely happy that Alberto Mazzola has been appointed today as the next CER Executive Director. We have been working together for years and I know he is recognised by all rail stakeholders as one of the top lobbyists in the EU rail community. He will have the chance to start his mandate with the kick off of 2021 as the Year of Rail and with a freshly published EU Strategy on Sustainable and Smart Mobility: I am sure he will be able to use this historical moment to confirm CER as a key player in the definition of the future EU mobility policies. I look forward to working with him in the upcoming weeks to ensure a smooth change of leadership here in Brussels.”

Incoming CER Executive Director Alberto Mazzola said: “I would like to thank the Chairman Andreas Matthä and the CER members for the trust in selecting me as new Executive Director and Libor Lochman for his determined work at the service of CER. I will work to support, with the relaunch of Europe after Covid-19, the full recovery of passenger and freight transport by rail, as well to promote new policies to boost rail. With the 2021 European Year of Rail we will bring citizens, railway workers, social partners, businesses and European youth closer to the public debate on EU Sustainability and Mobility policies.”

The CER General Assembly also elected Róbert Homolya (CEO, MÁV) as a Vice-Chair of CER and Vincent Ducrot (CEO, SBB) as a new member of the CER Management Committee.

(Source: https://www.cer.be/media/press-releases/alberto-mazzola-follow-libor-lochman-cer-executive-director)

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An active summer for the “Train to Paris” campaign

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A great deal has happened during the summer of 2015. There are now less than 100 days left before COP21 and here is our latest news.

Climate Responsibility Pledge

Following Ban Ki-moon’s declaration to UIC members during the General Assembly, UIC has created the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge. In the next two weeks, CEOs of all UIC members will be invited to electronically sign this pledge. This commitment by every company will be presented to the United Nations during the “Train to Paris” High Level Event on the evening of 28 November.

Modal shift

In addition to the pledge, UIC will develop a compelling narrative of real modal shift supported by a concrete base of evidence. We will build confidence that increasing rail market share can become a reality by highlighting the breadth and depth of rail projects in a Global Register of Modal Shift Projects. To support this register we have developed a short online survey and will be reaching out to request your support by registering the main projects that will help to increase your companies’ activity.

Media relations

UIC has developed several partnerships with specialised press and an international website called theverb! This online media is an environment newswire service focusing in particular on the UNFCCC process, with writers from all over the world.

UIC has already been in contact with several specialised press partners: Eurailmag, Jura, RZD Partner International, Think Railways and Railway Gazette. In addition to the national and local partnerships created by our members directly involved in the campaign, these partnerships will cover a large part of Europe and Asia.

For more information on this campaign or if you would like to publish information about the campaign internally or externally in dedicated newsletters or board magazines, etc. please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Event Coordinator: philippe at uic.org

Follow us on Twitter @trainCOP21 and on Instagram @traintocop21

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Announcement of 10th UIC Noise Workshop

UIC is happy to announce the 10th edition of its annual Noise Workshop to be held in Paris on 15 March 2016. The event will focus on initiatives at European level for the reduction of rail freight noise: topics will include the forthcoming Communication by the European Commission on Rail Freight Noise, track maintenance for noise control, national developments and the latest guidance from the World Health Organisation.

As in previous years high level officers and other key stakeholders will present these topics and answer questions.

Already confirmed speakers are:

  • Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General International Union of Railways
  • Libor Lochman, Executive Director Community of European Railways
  • Stephen Stansfeld, Professor of Psychiatry Queen Mary University London & Chair of the working group for the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region
  • Marco Paviotti, Policy Officer DG ENV
  • Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV

Railway Noise Control has always been an environmental concern for railways. In October 2005, the first workshop was organised as a platform to present the technical progress of the noise action plan of UIC/UIP/CER and to discuss the implications of implementing the Environment Noise Directive (2002/49). Since then the annual Noise Workshop has been organized around a specific noise question.

The Noise Workshop is free of charge. Secure you seat now by registering at the following link: http://www.uic.org/events/spip.php?article3434

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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Announcement of the 8th UIC Railway Noise Workshop

The UIC promotes silent railways through effective noise management in context of sustainable development. With the conclusion of the EuropeTrain project, 2013 is a particularly important year. This workshop will bring together all the major stakeholders to discuss the latest developments and next steps.

The topics covered will include both regulation at European level (NDTAC, Noise TSI, Environmental Noise Directive revision, the Swiss ban of cast iron brake blocks) and the latest technical developments (EuropeTrain, RIVAS, AcouTrain, StarDamp).

Please register here:

http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3030

For further information please contact Nick Craven: Nicholas.Craven at networkrail.o.uk

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Announcing new members to the U.N Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST)

The Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport gathered in the margins of the Paris climate change meeting to highlight the critical role that sustainable transport will play in addressing the climate crisis. The Group asserted that through innovation – in operations and policy as well as in technology – the transport sector can lower emissions while ensuring access to markets, services and social interaction for people in all parts of the world.

“I am confident that my Advisory Group will make sure that transport is part of the solution to the climate crisis,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “The agreement in Paris will change the world only when it is implemented, and transport – which currently is responsible for nearly a quarter of fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions – will be essential to this implementation.”

The Advisory Group, which includes leaders from the public and private sectors and which represents all modes of transport, met on 7 and 8 December with the Secretary-General and later with government representatives and other stakeholders to communicate the importance of including transport in all climate solutions. The Group pledged its support to a successful outcome in Paris.

“The problem of climate change is severe, and we need a large-scale shift in transport – in large cities, in rural areas, all around the world,” said Mayor Carolina Toha, co-chair of the Advisory Group. “By strengthening the links between the modes of transport, and keeping people’s need for access at the centre of our thinking, we will make real progress.”

Mr Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group and co-chair of the Advisory Group, emphasised that transport of freight and passengers has the potential to drive progress on climate change and to advance sustainable development. “Transport can build prosperity in the broadest sense, enhancing the quality of life for all while protecting the environment and fighting climate change,” said Mr Lundstedt. “We need bold innovation and a true partnership among governments, civil society and the private sector. This Group embodies this partnership and we are committed to concrete, actionable change.”

The Advisory Group was established for a period of three years and is expected to provide policy recommendations on sustainable transport actionable at the global, national, local and sector levels, and to promote the integration of sustainable transport in development strategies and policies, including in climate action.

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Artificial intelligence, case of the railway sector: state of play and perspectives published by UIC

UIC has released a new publication on artificial intelligence.

The document describes the state of play and perspectives for the implementation of AI in the European railway sector by explaining artificial intelligence with a focus on machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics.

It also examines the context of European policy in the railway sector as it relates to AI (sustainable and smart mobility strategy, strategy on AI and data), and the cost leadership strategy employed by railway companies in the face of increasing competition.

The document describes how AI technologies are currently deployed in the railway sector and how they should be implemented in the future. For example, it describes the possibilities offered by AI with regard to face recognition, chatbots and virtual assistants for passengers, sales prediction through machine learning, robotics in railway stations, trains and warehouses, and predictive maintenance for rolling stock and infrastructure. It highlights key success factors and UIC’s role in successful AI implementation in the railway sector.

The author, Christian Chavanel, UIC Rail System Department Director, said: “Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for railways. UIC is ready to support its members in this large-scale transformation.”

The document is available at https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/artificial_intelligence_case_of_the_railway_sector_state_of_play_and_perspectives.pdf

For further information, please contact Christian Chavanel at chavanel at uic.org

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Austria/China: First train from China arrives at Cargo Center Graz

The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and the Cargo Center Graz provide sustainable end-to-end logistics from China to Austria. On 21 June, the first train from China arrived at the most modern freight transport centre south of the Alps.

On Monday 21 June, the Managing Director of Cargo Center Graz Christian Steindl and Rail Cargo Group Sales and Logistics Director Thomas Kargl welcomed the first train from China at Cargo Center Graz in Werndorf. The block train with 41 40-foot containers departed from China on 30 April and covered a distance of 800 to 1,000 kilometres each day.

The shipments of non-food products such as juicers, glass bowl sets, laundry basket sets, drink holders and T-shirts are destined for a leading European retail group. With the arrival of this train, RCG and Cargo Center Graz are able to highlight once again the importance of the One Belt One Road initiative, which connects economies on the Eurasian continent and is seen as an extremely sustainable alternative to air and sea freight.

Clients benefit from the efficient RCG network

RCG’s rail freight transport operations have grown steadily since the first test train from China arrived in 2008. By the end of 2016, the number of departures along the Silk Road was gradually increasing, and in 2017 RCG officially entered the Chinese market. As a result of the strong demand, RCG was able to transport 35,000 TEUs between Europe and Asia in each of the following two years. In 2020, a new record was set with more than 700 trains transporting approximately 70,000 TEUs. This means that one RCG service is travelling in each direction along the new Silk Road every day, benefitting customers across the entire Eurasian continent.

(Source: Rail Cargo Group)

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Austria: ÖBB Rail Tours: the new Nightjet combination ticket

Sustainable mobility is becoming increasingly important in summer tourism. Thus, in spring 2021, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), Tirol Werbung and komoot are launching the ‘Nightjet into the Mountains’ project. The aim is to expand the Tyrolean tourist region by offering a relaxed return journey on ÖBB’s night trains.

In cooperation with numerous Tyrolean tourist regions, ÖBB Rail Tours is offering the new Nightjet Combiticket for the travel period from 25 May to 31 October. The Nightjet Combiticket includes a relaxed, climate-friendly journey on the modern ÖBB night train fleet, as well as and transfers between the station and the passenger’s accommodation. ÖBB Rail Tours has been able to secure komoot as an additional professional partner and can thus offer tailored online suggestions for hiking and biking tours for all guests, including the corresponding online map materials.

The packages – including rail travel, the world package from komoot (worth €29.99) and transfers – are launching now to/from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Amsterdam for the Tyrol tourist regions of St. Anton am Arlberg, Stubai, Wildschönau, Alpbachtal, Wilder Kaiser, St. Johann in Tirol, Kitzbüheler Alpen - Brixental, Kitzbühel, Kitzbüheler Alpen - Hohe Salve, PillerseeTal, Silberregion Karwendel, Kaiserwinkl and Zillertal.

Reservations can be made directly with ÖBB Rail Tours at kombitickets at railtours.oebb.at or at kombitickets.railtours.at

The Tyrol Tourist Board has been promoting the ‘Tirol auf Schiene’ initiative with mobility and tourism partners since 2012. “Despite the current challenging situation, we are continuing to pursue this path together. ‘Nightjet into the Mountains’ is a further incentive to get guests onto the rails; this product is easy to book and takes the entire mobility chain into account,” says Tirol Werbung’s Managing Director, Florian Phleps. “This is an additional contribution to relieving Tyrol’s roads and our climate, especially since guests in our province expect a comprehensive public transport offer. Tyrol has by far the largest number of businesses that have been awarded the ’Best Austrian Summer Bergbahnen’ seal of quality,” says Phleps.

(Source: ÖBB)

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Austria: ÖBB RCG and EGGER save the environment from more than 700 tonnes of CO2 emissions

Transporting glue sustainably by rail eliminates the need for more than 3,500 truck journeys every year. EGGER will continue to rely on climate-friendly rail transport in the future following the extension of its contract and thanks to the RCG’s new wagon design.

The long-standing partnership between wood-based materials manufacturer EGGER and the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group will continue this year. By transporting its glue products to its Austrian factories sustainably by rail, more than 3,500 lorry journeys can be cut out per year and more than 700 tonnes of CO2 emissions can be saved. Not only do the two companies thereby make a significant contribution to environmental protection, they also play their part in achieving Austria’s, and by extension Europe’s, climate protection targets.

New wagon design for EGGER

In addition to sustainable glue transportation by rail, EGGER and the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group are also putting their weight behind a new design of wagon for handling shipments. The wagons, some of which are more than 30 years old, will gradually be replaced by new, more modern tank wagons in the future. The first eight test wagons have been in operation since 2018 and a further seven are due to follow in May and June this year, with the aim of eventually replacing all the old wagons.
By employing the latest technical standards, such as a gas displacement system, the new wagons make a significant contribution to increasing worker safety and boosting productivity during transport. Their modern design with a lower bottom valve and a bend in the boiler allows the wagons, which have a transport volume of between 66 and 68 tonnes, to be operated from the ground and to be emptied completely.

Contract extension to 2024

EGGER has been a solid partner of RCG for wood supply on sustainable rail for many years. The recent extension of the contract up to 2024 is intended to further deepen the successful cooperation between the two companies. Over the next three years, around 90,000 tonnes of glue or chemical raw materials for chipboard production will be transported by rail to the leading wood-based materials manufacturer’s production sites in Lower Austria and Tyrol. As a result, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group will contribute to further reducing the carbon footprint of the steadily growing and globally active family-owned company both in the production process and in the transport chain.

(Source: Rail Cargo Group)

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Austria: ÖBB RCG and Lamborghini working together for sustainable logistics

With a transit time of just 48 hours, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group is transporting Lamborghini URUS car bodies from Germany to Italy. Transport by eco-friendly rail cuts 1,903 tonnes of CO2 emissions and reduces Lamborghini’s carbon footprint by 85%.

The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) and Lamborghini have created a new rail transport concept. RCG is transporting Lamborghini URUS car bodies from the VW factory in Zwickau, Germany, to the Lamborghini headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Modena, Italy. With a transit time of just 48 hours, this is the fastest, most efficient and eco-friendly transport service from Zwickau to Modena.

Road transport is to be entirely replaced by rail. The weekly transport operation will reduce CO2 emissions by 85%, from 2,234 tonnes to 331 (saving some 1,903 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually). All this while guaranteeing a total transit time of 48 hours – a record time for this type of transport – from the site in Zwickau to Modena. Again from a sustainable perspective, the only road transport by wheel will be on gas trucks (LNG) for transport from Modena to the Sant’Agata Bolognese site, accounting for around 21 km out of the total 1,000 km journey.

Together for sustainable logistics

The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group’s goal is to shift more freight to rail. Every tonne RCG transports by rail reduces its carbon footprint and is a step towards achieving Austrian and European climate targets. 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 a year are currently avoided thanks to the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group’s rail freight transport services in Austria. With this new rail transport concept, the ÖBB RCG’s sustainable rail transport services are helping to counteract the vicious cycle of transit traffic on the Brenner Pass. This relieves Austria, especially the province of Tyrol and its population, of the burdens of air and noise pollution. In the European Year of Rail, this new cooperation is another significant milestone on the way to achieving European climate targets.

(Source: Rail Cargo Group)

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Austria: EcoVadis: Gold for ÖBB RCG

Rail Cargo Group works in harmony with society and the environment. Its activities have been evaluated for the third time by EcoVadis, who have awarded the company CSR “Gold” status. This puts RCG in the top 1% of all the railway companies assessed.

As one of the leading rail logistics companies in Europe, RCG’s business model is intrinsically sustainable. After all, the more goods we transport by rail, the less we pollute the environment. The modal shift to rail is the most important tool the rail industry has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. RCG honours its responsibility by investing in safety, flexible rail logistics and a wide range of measures above and beyond mobility. It goes one step further by selecting its business partners using criteria that ensure they not only support the company’s philosophy, but also focus on the same values.

RCG’s responsible approach has been awarded “Gold” status by EcoVadis, the international rating platform that has ranked more than 75,000 companies for their corporate social responsibility (CSR). The assessment took into account environmental, labour and human rights issues, business ethics and sustainable procurement. RCG improved its rating in this third assessment, moving from “Silver” to “Gold” status. This places the company in the top 1% assessed by EcoVadis in the rail transport sector.

RCG’s received special recognition for its CO2 emissions calculator for customers and its development, the work the company is doing to retrofit its freight wagons with quiet brake pads, plus its wide range of training programmes. It also scored highly when it comes to working conditions, with an extensive range of health and diversity benefits, as well as measures aimed at achieving a better work-life balance such as flexible working hours, remote working/home office and leisure activities. RCG’s comprehensive occupational health and safety programmes, as well as its anti-corruption training, service partner evaluations and registration modalities in its online portal, were all praised.

(Source: Rail Cargo Group)

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Ban Ki-moon: “The world is expecting more from you than half-measures”

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“The clock is ticking towards climate catastrophe,” warned the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, at the opening of the High-Level Segment on Monday, 7 December.

“The world is expecting more from you than half-measures,” he told the delegates in the plenary room “La Seine”, calling on the countries to agree to their commitments being reviewed every five years, starting even before 2020, the year when the future agreement will enter into force. “Current ambition must be the floor not the ceiling for our common efforts. That means the agreement should include regular, five-year cycles, beginning before 2020, for governments to review and strengthen their commitments according to what science tells us.”

“The decisions you make here [in Paris] will reverberate down through the ages,” said the UN Secretary-General. In this agreement, “the private sector needs a clear signal that the low-emissions transformation of the global economy is inevitable, mutually beneficial and already under way,” he added. He then highlighted that “developed countries must agree to lead, and developing countries need to assume increasing responsibility in line with their capabilities.”

“Outside these negotiating halls, there is a rising global tide of support for a strong, universal agreement,” continued Ban Ki-moon. “All of us have a […] duty to heed those voices.”

(Source: AFP)

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Be a Sustainability champion! – Applications until September 12 2016

Introduced at the 10th UIC Sustainability Conference in London in 2008 and following the success of previous editions, the first day of the UIC Sustainability Conference in Vienna will allow UIC members to highlight recent achievements in the field of railway sustainability.

This session will take the form of a world tour of railways, with each speaker given 3 minutes and one slide to describe the impact on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

During the last edition in Venice in 2012, awards were given in four categories to the following participants: Sustainable Mobility award to TRENITALIA, Energy and CO2 award to Eress Partnership, Sustainable Land Use award to ÖBB Green Paper and the Jury’s Special Prize on Energy Efficiency to Indian Railways.

This is a unique opportunity to illustrate the commitment of your company to sustainability issues and to share best practice with a global audience to show the important efforts of the rail sector to enhance its sustainability performance.
To be a Sustainability Champion and reserve your time on stage please complete your application on the website http://uic-environment.org before 12 September 2016.

You can register – free of charge – for the conference here.

Website: http://uic-environment.org

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

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Be an ambassador for your rail network and share photos of your favourite spots this summer in the UIC TopRail photo competition 2021

Inspiring the world to enjoy sustainable tourism on rail

As part of the European Year of Rail, UIC is organising a photo competition through its TopRail group (rail tourism) under the theme “My Secret Rail Spots”.

The aim of the competition is for railway employees to be ambassadors of their railways and to share their favourite rail spots in order to inspire passengers to hop on a train and get to know these places once it becomes possible to travel again.

Participants (UIC member employees) have six months, until 10 September, to upload a picture of their secret railway spot to the PollUnit platform.

The photo with the most “likes” by the end date wins the competition.

The 12 photos with the most “likes” will be used to produce a UIC TopRail calendar for 2022 and a selection will be published on the UIC Instagram page.

The winners of the competition will be announced on 26 October during the TopRail Forum.

For more details on how to participate please visit the UIC TopRail page: https://uic.org/events/uic-toprail-photo-competition-2021-themed-around-my-secret-rail-spots

For further information about TopRail please contact Vanessa Pérez, Senior Advisor Passenger Department: perez at uic.org

TopRail website: http://toprail.org/

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Belgium: “Let’s modal shift together!”: a sustainable rail vision for Port of Antwerp

In Belgium, almost 75% of goods are transported by road. At the end of 2019, a cooperation agreement was signed between Infrabel, Port of Antwerp and Railport (a Port of Antwerp subsidiary), confirming the three Belgian companies’ ambition to buck this trend in favour of a more sustainable mode of transport.

Today, they have decided to take action. On 31 March, the companies revealed a collective and ambitious plan of action with the objective of increasing the proportion of goods transported by rail from 7% to 15% by 2030.

The “Let’s modal shift together!” plan aims to involve the entire logistics chain and is based on several pillars. These range from better management of traffic flows, neutral management of marshalling installations, effective use of rail infrastructure, targeted investments in port areas with high growth potential and an efficient parking policy to a dedicated regulatory framework for the port and the development of an IT platform for rail transport in the port.

With a 50% share of Belgian freight, the port of Antwerp is a strategic gateway in stimulating modal shift in other logistics hubs and industrial sites. Infrabel is currently working with other partners to develop a global plan to double the share of rail freight throughout Belgium.

(Source: Infrabel)

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Building and running a resilient railway: UIC RailAdapt project

RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements such as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world’s governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experiences and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services.

The themes of the workshop aim to include:

  • Weather resilience experiences
  • Challenges of coastal operation
  • Challenges of highland operation
  • Micro-climate impacts
  • Rolling stock resilience
  • Infrastructure resilience
  • Bridges and earthworks
  • Asset vulnerabilities
  • Freight operations issues
  • Urban and suburban rail
  • Multi-modal challenges
  • Economics
  • Investment planning
  • Policy priorities
  • Future climate information
  • National and international policy
  • Safety and resilient operations
  • Future expectations of service
  • Best practice approaches
  • Other topics on rail resilience, natural hazards and future climate

Programme and call for abstracts
Each day will have a plenary session, containing a keynote speaker and up to four other speakers, followed by three parallel themed discussion sessions in which up to three further speakers will be invited. Poster presentations will also be available in each of the themed discussion sessions and during the coffee and lunch breaks.
Abstracts of up to 300 words are now invited on any of the topics of the workshop, from which speakers and posters will be selected for the various sessions. Please submit your title and abstract through the UIC website.

Key dates:
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 8 May
Notification of acceptance: 29 May
Workshop: 19 – 20 June

Registration and call for abstracts
Do not hesitate to register and submit your call for abstracts here http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-beijing

Please know that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals for 2022 - Railway Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit is collecting ideas for a new opt-in project in 2022.

The new project will follow our soon-to-be-published ‘State of the Art’ report on the topic and will build on work led by noise and vibration experts from across the UIC membership.

As a follow-up to the discussions conducted during expert meetings held from 15 to 16 September 2020, the UIC Noise and Vibration Sector has decided to launch a new opt-in project in 2022 with the aim of supporting the continuation of a series of experts’ and core group meetings within the Sector.

The new project will allow us to continue to participate in our work with the European Commission and other key stakeholders (e.g. CER and EIM) and promote well-informed and effective policy and regulation on Noise and Vibration for Rail.
The UIC Noise and Vibration Sector hereby invites experts to submit their project proposals by 16th October. Proposals should include the goals and expectations of the project. The following online form allows noise and vibration experts in railways to submit their ideas to the UIC Sustainable Development Unit.

https://uic.org/events/project-proposals-for-uic-nnv

Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company or yourself. Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted. If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

All proposals will be evaluated at the core group meeting on 20th October.

To find out more about the activities of the Noise and Vibration Sector, please visit our website.

For further information, please contact the Senior Advisor for the Noise and Vibration Sector, Pınar Yılmazer at uic.org'>yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals for 2022 - Railway Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit is collecting ideas for a new opt-in project in 2022.

The new project will follow our soon-to-be-published ‘State of the Art’ report on the topic and will build on work led by noise and vibration experts from across the UIC membership.

As a follow-up to the discussions conducted during expert meetings held from 15 to 16 September 2020, the UIC Noise and Vibration Sector has decided to launch a new opt-in project in 2022 with the aim of supporting the continuation of a series of experts’ and core group meetings within the Sector.

The new project will allow us to continue to participate in our work with the European Commission and other key stakeholders (e.g. CER and EIM) and promote well-informed and effective policy and regulation on Noise and Vibration for Rail.
The UIC Noise and Vibration Sector hereby invites experts to submit their project proposals by 16th October. Proposals should include the goals and expectations of the project. The following online form allows noise and vibration experts in railways to submit their ideas to the UIC Sustainable Development Unit.

https://uic.org/events/project-proposals-for-uic-nnv

Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company or yourself. Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted. If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

All proposals will be evaluated at the core group meeting on 20th October.

To find out more about the activities of the Noise and Vibration Sector, please visit our website.

For further information, please contact the Senior Advisor for the Noise and Vibration Sector, Pınar Yılmazer at uic.org'>yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Call for proposals: UIC submission tool for 2022 sustainability proposals

The UIC Sustainability Unit invites UIC members to submit ideas for projects and activities. Selected ideas may be proposed as new opt-in projects for the 2022 work programme.

Members are invited to submit their project proposals online by 24 February using the form available at https://uic.org/events/UIC-Sustainablity-Unit-Project-Proposals. Proposals may be submitted on the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use (vegetation control, biodiversity, soil quality)
  • Noise and vibration
  • Air quality
  • Circular economy
  • Energy and CO2

The submissions will be discussed and validated during upcoming sector meetings. Proposed ideas may be put to vote following the proposal submission process. Ideas with the most support may be presented as new opt-in projects at a programmes and projects workshop to be held on 4 May at UIC.

Your proposal should include information on your interest in the particular research area and topic you wish to study. Please note that submissions will not be regarded as a financial commitment from your company or yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same individual/company will be accepted.

We look forward to hearing about your ideas!

For any questions relating to the process, please contact: Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Call for Proposals: UIC Sustainable Development Unit Proposals Submission Tool for 2021

]

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit would like to collect ideas for future projects and activities starting from 2021. Selected ideas might be proposed as new opt-in projects.

Members are hereby invited to submit their proposals until 12 December 2019.

To participate in the “project proposal” process for following issues, please fill in the form through the website: https://bit.ly/2pTxt6n for the following topics:

  • Sustainable land use
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Adaptation
  • Emission & air quality
  • Energy & CO2

Results will be discussed during the upcoming meetings of each corresponding sectors. Proposed ideas might be put to vote after the proposal submission process. Ideas with the highest number of votes might be presented as new opt-in projects at the Programmes & Projects Workshop Day on 28 April 2020 at UIC.

Your proposal should include your interest in the particular research area and the topic you want to study. Please note that this will not be taken as a financial commitment from your company and yourself.

Multiple submissions from the same author/same company will be accepted.
If you plan to submit more than one proposal, please fill in a new form.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For any questions related to the process, please contact Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Carole Escolan replaces Nick Craven as new Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit

Carole Escolan joined UIC on 6 November to replace Nick Craven as the head of the Sustainable Development Unit.

After a Master’s degree in international purchasing, she gained 12-years’ experience in the field of industrial purchasing: first at Bombardier Aerospace in Quebec for two years, then at SNCF in France, in particular as a Manager.

In 2010, further to an inspiring experience in sustainable purchasing, and convinced that professional skills should serve some more global issues, she decided to complete a new Master’s degree in the field of sustainable development and to make a career change to Corporate Social Responsibility.

Since then, she has acquired a strong expertise in that particular field. In particular, she has been in charge of the annual CSR Reporting and non-financial ratings for SNCF group.

This enabled her to develop solid experience in project management and network leadership.

Aged 46 and a mother of two teenagers, Carole Escolan is committed to moving her projects forward in a constructive way. She is now proud to meet the challenge to promote sustainable mobility and environmental issues to UIC members.

See the full article

CER launches the Future is Rail campaign

Today the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) launches its Future is Rail campaign, showing rail as a smarter, cleaner and more connected means of transport in the EU. The kick-off of the campaign comes after the official launch of the European Year of Rail and shares the objective of encouraging more passengers and businesses to see rail as the future of transport.

The freedom we depend on to go to work, travel or buy our favourite products is nothing without movement. But the way Europe moves needs to change. It needs to become smarter, more connected and cleaner. With rail, this is possible. The EU can move more, move freely and still meet pressing climate objectives set out in the European Green Deal. That’s why our aim by 2030 is to double the amount of rail passengers and ensure that at least 30% of freight moves by rail.

2021 is a major year for European railways, with the European Commission’s EU Year of Rail highlighting the benefits of rail as one of the most sustainable, innovative and safest modes of transport. The Future is Rail campaign builds on this initiative, showing how smart, connected, clean railways can help decarbonise the European transportation sector while enabling sustainable economic recovery and growth.

Rail is an integral part of a smarter transportation system. The sector is embracing digital technology to maximise capacity and provide even safer, more efficient and higher quality services. With transport demand growing, turning to this smart rail system will help beat congestion (the typical freight trains carries as many goods as 40 trucks) and make travelling easier and more comfortable.

Rail offers Europe a truly connected future. The seamless rail network of tomorrow is being built today through infrastructure works but also cooperation among rail actors in areas such as timetabling processes and simplification of rules and technical requirements for trains crossing borders. With the appropriate political support, high-speed and night trains between our cities can become a real alternative to cheap flights.

A cleaner European transportation system must be built around rail. Rail pollutes 8x less and emits 9x less CO2 than other modes per unit of traffic. It accounts for just 2% of EU transport energy consumption, while it carries 18% of freight and 8% of passengers. With four out of five trains already running on electricity, and plans to phase out the remaining diesel trains by 2050 thanks to alternative fuels, the total decarbonisation of rail transport is within reach.

The Future is Rail campaign is one of the CER flagship initiatives to make the European Year of Rail as lively as possible. We are not alone in our efforts and already find great support from our partners in the European Commission, European Parliament and the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council. We also thank the Dutch and Austrian Governments for their role in establishing the International Rail Passenger Platform, which we are confident will inspire positive regulatory developments. Most recently a Joint Position Paper, signed so far by sixteen Member States, calls for the EU Commission to launch an initiative in favour of rail freight operators to promote modal shift to clean transport – a plea which we wholeheartedly welcome and hope that many more Member States will join. Lastly, we look forward to continue working with the upcoming Slovenian and then French Presidency of the Council as we head into 2022.

CER Chair and CEO of Austrian Federal Railways Andreas Matthä said: “The new CER communication campaign underlines the strength of the entire rail sector in Europe and will further support the positive development of European rail as a solution to achieve the climate targets set.”

CER Executive Director Alberto Mazzola added: “Rail is ready to be at the centre of a fully decarbonised transportation system in line with the European Green Deal. Investment in rail is an investment in more mobility, more economic activity and more growth, but sustainably. Because rail is cleaner, smarter and makes us more connected. Rail is the future.”

Read more about why the future is rail on our dedicated campaign website at https://futureisrail.cer.be/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moFd640_VdI

#FutureIsRail #EUYearOfRail

For further information, please contact Laura Henry, CER Communications Manager, at laura.henry at cer.be

See the full article

Circular economy and sustainable management of resources: UIC presents the REUSE final report

The REUSE project has delivered its final report, taking stock of sustainable resource management practices in European rail with a view to providing a selection of tried and tested approaches and “quick wins” to help rail companies on their journey towards circularity

Rail has long been frugal in its culture and has practiced closed loop systems in the way it has managed assets for decades. It is however clear that more can and should be done to reduce waste, carbon and costs. Against the backdrop of a growing interest in recent years in the sustainable use of resources in the railway sector, UIC launched the REUSE project in 2019. REUSE addresses the challenges associated with the scarcity of natural resources, as well as management of waste, waste flows, end-of-life materials and related emissions and pollution in the coming decades.

Although worn-out materials and equipment may be considered a problem in some cases, they are now increasingly being recognised as a resource. This change of perspective has been addressed in the context of the REUSE project to show that decreasing the environmental footprint of resources is not only beneficial to our ecosystem but can also result in significant cost savings if carefully planned and implemented.

The two-year project included a series of collaborative knowledge-sharing working group meetings and research on circularity practices in railways (desktop research, online survey and interviews). The final deliverables comprise an interactive webinar held on 15 April 2021, as well as this final report.

Both of the final project deliverables were produced with the support of researchers from the Slovenian National Building and Civil Institute (ZAG), who were commissioned to help conduct the workshop and draft the report.

REUSE project final report: circular practices in the railways and paths forward

This new research report is an easy-to-use reference guide for UIC members looking to better understand circular economy concepts and strategies. This best practice guide shares cost saving and innovative applications of the circular economy principles in real, tried and tested case studies in Europe’s railways. The report also highlights lessons and good practices to be taken from other sectors and transport modes.

Access the report:

The REUSE project and final report are available on the project webpage: https://uic.org/projects/article/reuse

The report can be downloaded free of charge at: https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/reuse_project_final_report.pdf

For more information on the UIC Circular Economy Sector’s ongoing activities, please visit https://uic.org/sustainability/circular-economy/ or contact Isabelle de Keyzer, UIC Senior advisor, Environment and Sustainability: dekeyzer at uic.org or circular at uic.org

See the full article

Cleaner Diesel Vehicles soon running on European Tracks

Yesterday the European rail research project CleanER-D (Clean European Rail-Diesel) held its midterm conference, bringing about a lively discussion among engine and rolling stock manufacturers as well as operators on expected results after 2 years of cross-sector collaboration in the consortium.

The conference was jointly hosted by the project coordinator UNIFE, the European Rail Industry and the International Union of Railways (UIC) together with 23 CleanER-D partners. CleanER-D is a project partly funded by the European Commission to develop, improve and integrate emissions reduction technologies for diesel locomotives and rail vehicles.

Diesel propulsion will still play an important role on the European rail network as a large part thereof is still not electrified, and it retains a major role in rail freight transport.

Although the level of development of rail network differs starkly from country to country, train operating companies still depend on diesel traction across the whole European continent. In order to take Diesel propulsion into the future of European transport, the CleanER-D consortium made considerable progress towards complying with the challenging emission limits set by the European Commission.

The speakers of the demonstration projects presented their approach to complying with the emission levels below the limits established by the new European Directive 2004/26/ EC by the refurbishment of existing rolling stock and development of a new locomotive. The possibilities to refurbish existing locomotive or diesel multiple unit fleets in order to reduce the costs for procurement of new vehicles were outlined.

In addition to that, focus was on the evaluation of innovative and hybrid solutions for the best possible contribution to reductions in CO2 and pollutant emissions. The sustainability study covering diesel performance and emission represents a mid-term success of CleanER-D. The European Commission contributed their vision on sustainable products and future emission limits to be expected in the Non Road Mobile Machinery Directive (NRMM) and set a clear framework and leitmotif for future R&D activities in this field.

The day concluded with an outlook on the next steps within the CleanER-D project including the refurbishment of a Czech DMU railcar, a German main line locomotive and the roll out of a new main line locomotive from Spain.

CleanER-D has proven that Diesel propulsion fulfils the new exhaust gas limits and that freight and passenger services hauled by Diesel can be very innovative and state-of-the-art technology.

See the full article

CleanER-D Sustainability and Innovation workshop held successfully in Turin, 5 June 2013

As part of the dissemination activities led by UIC within the EU FP7 co-funded collaborative R&D CleanER-D project, the Sustainability and Innovation Workshop was held on 5 June 2013 in the city of Turin on the premises of the former FIAT Lingotto factory, an extraordinary 1920s industrial heritage building. The largest car factory of its time, with its rooftop test track, hosted the CleanER-D workshop remarkably well, acknowledging the importance of engines throughout the history of transport.

And indeed, this thought-stimulating venue gave rise to very fruitful presentations and discussions during the day.

Opened by Judit Sandor (UNIFE), Technical Coordinator of the project, and moderated by Isabelle De Keyzer (UIC), the workshop started with a comprehensive presentation of how in practice it is possible to provide Stage IIIB compliant rail diesel vehicles. This first panel session explained the results of the demonstration subprojects, i.e. Heavy Haul and Light Weight, and LCC models used in the project. Their purpose was to bring CO2, NOx and PM emissions below the limits established by the Non Road Mobile Machinery Directive (2004/26/ EC), by refurbishing an existing locomotive and integrating a stage IIIB compliant engine into a new locomotive.

After this introduction, the next panel sessions presented in a clear and very interactive way the findings derived from the work of the three scientific Sub-projects, namely: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid Solutions and Sustainability and Integration. The preliminary results demonstrate that substantial reductions of NOx and PM emissions for the European Diesel fleet from 2008 – 2020 have been achieved already and further significant reductions are expected until 2020 (minus 30 % NOx and minus 40% PM).

Beyond this reduction a further emissions reduction of rail diesel vehicles is possible with existing technologies as well as hybrid solutions, but the main factor for a further emissions reduction is to accelerate the market uptake of IIIA and IIIB compliant rail diesel vehicles into the fleet, as all scenarios still suggest a high percentage of UIC II and older engines in 2020.

CleanER-D has thus proven that diesel propulsion will fulfil stage IIIB exhaust gas limits and that freight and passenger services hauled by diesel propulsion can be very efficient as well as innovative.

Given the intense exchange and interest expressed by participants, the consortium considers this workshop as a perfect introduction to the final conference of the CleanER-D project on 20 November in Brussels where the final results and recommendations derived from the work achieved will be presented.

We are therefore inviting you to save the date of 20 November 2013 for the CleanER-D final conference in Brussels and to follow us on our website: http://www.cleaner-d.eu

For further information please contact judit.sandor at unife.org or dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Climate Chance 2018 Report

This first report of the Global Observatory of Non-State Climate Action builds on existing knowledge, by bringing together nearly 1000 references from global reports of think tanks, NGOs and IGOs, databases, scientific literature and specialist press.

What is it about?

Unique in its importance, this report highlights the impressive swarm of initiatives around the world. It crosses public policies and non-state actions within the main emission sectors (Book 1), focuses specifically on territorial action (Book 2) and new financial tools (Book 3). It is based on available data and studies in order to better understand recent trends in greenhouse gas emissions, which is a necessary step if we want to give credibility to scenarios of stabilisation of global warming.

The report is divided into three thematic books:

  • Sector-based action
  • Mobilisation of the local and subnational governments
  • Bringing finance on board – report on climate action in the financial sector

The sector-based report contains a chapter on rail titled Greenhouse gas emissions: a decisive asset for rail? This chapter assembles data collected among others, by UIC and IEA.

To learn more, consult this webpage.
https://www.climate-chance.org/en/observatory-of-action/annual-reports/
Source for the article: www.climate-chance.org

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Climate Chance Summit to be held from 28 – 29 June 2018 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

The Climate Chance Association and the Assembly of Regions and Districts of Ivory Coast (ARDCI) are co-organising a regional Summit dedicated to Climate Action in Africa: the Climate Chance Summit Africa 2018, which will be held from 28 – 29 June 2018 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

During a meeting in Abidjan of a steering committee convening organisers and partners, the Summit was officially announced by Ronan Dantec, French Senator and president of the Climate Chance Association, and Vincent Kouaoh N’cho, Deputy Governor of the District of Abidjan, representing Jeannot Ahoussou Kouadio, Former Prime Minister, President of the ARDCI.

The event aims to convene a broad gathering of non-state actors from all over Africa (local governments, companies, NGOs, unions, youth organisations, indigenous peoples, women, the scientific community, etc.), key groups of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) committed to combating climate change as well as their associated networks.

This summit aims to share and support action geared towards fighting climate change in Africa, through actor coalitions brought together in 10 thematic workshops which will highlight good practices (exemplary and inspirational climate action projects) and define sectoral and operational roadmaps adapted to the context in African territories.

More information about the summit will follow shortly (registration, programme etc.)

For further information please email: atmobilisation at climate-chance.org

Contact at UIC: Maria Lafont, Senior Advisor – Finance Projects &
African Region, lafont at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30-10:00 Keynote Plenary
Mr Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
Mr Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
Mrs Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:00-12:30 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
10:00 Mr Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
10:30 Mr Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
11:00 Mr Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Mrs Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
11:30 Mr Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:00 Q&A with the audience
12:30-14:00 Lunch break

14:00-16:30 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:00 Mr Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways (RZD) (TBC)
14:30 Mr Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:00 Representative from Hamburg

16:00 Q&A with the audience
16:30 Conclusions
16:45-17:30 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

Moderator: Simon Fletcher, UIC Coordinator Europe

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, UIC Director General

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40-11:10 Networking coffee break

11:10-13:10 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”

12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:15 Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways (RZD) (TBC)
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 TBC

15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne

16:30-17:15 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of Rome City Council
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-11:00 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
10:00 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:20 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:40 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

11:00 – 11:15 – Networking Coffee Break

11:15-13:15 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:15-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome
15:05 Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy, CER
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

Networking Coffee Break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-11:00 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
10:00 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:20 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:40 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

11:00 – 11:15 – Networking Coffee Break

11:15-13:15 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:15-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome
15:05 Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy, CER
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

Networking Coffee Break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of Rome City Council
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC
Networking coffee break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, UIC Director General

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40-11:10 Networking coffee break

11:10-13:10 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”

12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:15 Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways, RZD (TBC)
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 TBC

15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne

16:30-17:15 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-11:00 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
10:00 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:20 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:40 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

11:00 – 11:15 – Networking Coffee Break

11:15-13:15 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:15-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome
15:05 Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy, CER
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

Networking Coffee Break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of Rome City Council
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC
Networking coffee break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, UIC Director General

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40-11:10 Networking coffee break

11:10-13:10 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”

12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:15 Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways, RZD (TBC)
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 TBC

15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne

16:30-17:15 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-11:00 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
10:00 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:20 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:40 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

11:00 – 11:15 – Networking Coffee Break

11:15-13:15 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:15-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome
15:05 Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy, CER
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

Networking Coffee Break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of Rome City Council
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC
Networking coffee break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, UIC Director General

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40-11:10 Networking coffee break

11:10-13:10 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”

12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:15 Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways, RZD (TBC)
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 TBC

15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne

16:30-17:15 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-11:00 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
10:00 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:20 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:40 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

11:00 – 11:15 – Networking Coffee Break

11:15-13:15 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways (ONCF)
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail)
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:15-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome
15:05 Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy, CER
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

Networking Coffee Break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of Rome City Council
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC
Networking coffee break

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

As evidenced by the recent forest fires in Australia, climate is still an issue that needs to be addressed. At EU level, plans to tackle this issue have taken the form of measures recently set out in the Green Deal Investment Plan. At international level, the Climate Change Conference in Madrid made it clear to everyone that although discussion matters, more needs to be done and that the time has come to act.
The railway sector is currently considering ways to solve this issue through innovative solutions.

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.
Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40 – 11:10 – Networking Coffee Break

11:10-13:10 Round table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken

11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”
12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality

14:15 Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division, Fret SNCF
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie
15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne, Director General of UIC

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” to be held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

Register here:
https://uic.org/events/low-carbon-mobility-making-modal-shift-desirable

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform this concept into reality. In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC is pleased to invite you to a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels. It will also be an occasion rediscover an unexpected advantage inherent to railway, the virtue of frugality.

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 Opening
François Davenne, UIC Director General

09:40-10:40 Keynote Speakers
09:40 Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP
10:00 Bernard Soulage, Expert in Urban Planning
10:20 Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

10:40-11:10 Networking coffee break

11:10-13:10 Round Table 1
Moving towards low carbon mobility: the initiatives already taken
11:10 Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East
11:35 Mohamed Rabie Khlie Director General of Moroccan Railways, ONCF
12:05 Thomas Möhring Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema, ProRail
12:30 Paul Hegge Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”

12:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

13:10-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-16:15 Round Table 2
How to make modal shift desirable: Rediscovering the virtue of frugality
14:15 Evgeny Charkin, Director of Information Technologies, Russian Railways, RZD (TBC)
14:40 Pietro Calabrese, Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Rome
15:05 Representative from Hamburg
15:30 TBC

15:55 Discussion and Q&A with the audience

16:20 Conclusions and closing
François Davenne

16:30-17:15 Networking drinks reception

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor:

mouchel at uic.org

See the full article

COP21 at Le Bourget: UIC participated in Fer de France morning debates

During the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 30 November to 11 December, Fer de France is organising a series of morning debates in the Solutions Gallery exploring the main issues of public and rail transport on energy transition:

  • By inviting international opinion leaders to speak at the event
  • To outline what they see as the challenges ahead
  • To generate a response from chairpersons in the rail sector

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, participated in a 27 minute debate on 3 December to discuss the theme: Is public transport still necessary in the age of smart cities and connected mobility?

Invited speakers were also Pierre Guislain, Senior Director, Transport and ICT GP at the World Bank and Elisabeth Borne, Chairperson of the RATP.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux particularly highlighted the importance of the management of interfaces, between intra-modality and inter-modality, as the key of Sustainable Development.

You can watch this debate at: http://www.dailymotion.com/ferdefrance

About Fer de France: Fer de France is the inter-branch association of French railways, created in 2012, which aims to bring together all the players in the French railway sector: the transport authorities (GART and ARF), the State, the operators (UTP, SNCF, RATP), the infrastructure managers (SNCF-Réseau, Eurotunnel), the supply industry and engineering companies (Syntec Ingénierie). The association aims to facilitate and to optimise the reflection of the professionals of the French rail sector, to enable actions for economic development, valuation and promotion of the sector. The aim is to increase the capacity and efficiency of the French rail sector and to promote it to domestic and international markets.

www.ferdefrance.com

See the full article

Delft University of Technology

We may not be using metro or train services as much as we used to at the moment, but considering the challenges ahead, why not take this opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge needed to deal with the multifaceted aspects of railway systems?

To keep trains running, improve services over time and offer faster and more comfortable travel, the rail industry is in need of professionals with the knowledge and skills to support innovation and provide sustainable and low-cost solutions.

As a follow-up to its popular introductory course in railway engineering, with over 17,000 participants in more than 130 countries, this programme from Delft University of Technology covers various specialist areas in greater detail. The programme consists of four career-oriented courses especially designed for professionals working in the sector, and has been endorsed by industry leaders and railway professionals worldwide.

Join the programme on 3 March to improve your strategies and decision-making in the design, operation and performance of both infrastructure and rolling stock.

10 reasons to take part in the programme:

  1. Focus on tackling the challenges of worldwide mobility networks in a sustainable way
  2. Tools and insights to optimise infra capacity, deal with disturbances and improve train services
  3. Gain awareness of other specialisations to improve your own projects and decision-making
  4. Strong link to practice with real-life cases
  5. Accessible content supported by visuals, knowledge clips and expert interviews
  6. Personal guidance from world-class instructors and industry experts
  7. Interaction with peers from all over the world
  8. Opportunity to work and study from home in your own time and at your own pace
  9. International credits for continuous education or professional development
  10. Access to relevant journal papers

4 career-oriented courses:

  • Track and train interaction – download syllabus
  • Real-time operations – download syllabus
  • Performance over time – download syllabus
  • Capstone project – individually guided project that integrates the knowledge and skills gained from the first three courses

Duration: 6 weeks per course
Effort: 4-5 hours per week
Language: English

For group registrations and discounts, please contact Delft University of Technology at onlinelearningsupport at tudelft.nl

For more information or to enrol, please visit http://www.tudelft.nl/rail-online

“With this unique programme, rail professionals learn to apply an integrated railway systems approach to help them implement appropriate innovations needed to optimise maintenance time, costs and safety.” Taco Sysling, Department of Asset Management at ProRail, Netherlands

If you need more information please contact Eduardo Landin e.landin at tudelft.nl from TU Delft Online Learning.

See the full article

EcoPassenger calculator widget now available for implementation on other websites

From this week, the recently re-launched version of the EcoPassenger tool contains the possibility to implement a widget on other websites. This tool is currently available in four different languages: English, French, German and Spanish. The new functionality allows UIC pages and rail members to include a basic form of the tool to perform calculations for their clients and web visitors.

This new functionality allows the tool to be included in other websites, extending the possibilities to perform calculations with EcoPassenger, showing the relevancy of the personal choices on energy consumption, carbon emissions and local air pollution.
The addresses required to implement the widgets, depending on the language, can be extracted from the four following websites:

In addition, the new version of EcoPassenger has improved usability for smart phones and tablets with a new mobile version completely compatible with all the operative systems.

UIC invites you to check the emissions of your journeys at www.Ecopassenger.org

For further information please contact Aymeric Boniou, Webmaster: boniou at uic.org

UIC Communications Department: com at uic.org

Or Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

]

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

]

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

]

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

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Ecoscoring at the service of UIC members and their contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

]

The UIC Ecoscoring project was kicked off in January 2019 at the joint requests of UIC Chairman and the UIC General Management with the overarching aim of providing the UIC members with a supportive tool not only to measure rail’s overall progress in environmental, societal and governance performances, but also to enable UIC member companies to do the same, by producing a simple dashboard with benchmarks next to best practice to ensure the trends (at company and sector levels) are evolving towards improvement of rail’s overall ESG performances to enable the much needed shift towards a greener economy.

UIC has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a widely accepted standard

To produce the progress reports, a decision was made to base the tool on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership and are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Ecoscoring will be beneficial for railway companies

Even though it is well known that rail’s performance is good in terms of environmental footprint and energy efficiency, by gathering the measured results on a synoptic dashboard, UIC’s Ecoscoring will help railways in a simple, yet robust way to show the sector performance against the SDGs. Individual companies will thus be able to take advantage of other UIC members experience and good practice in order to improve their own contribution to the SDGs over time.

June 2020 achievements: Rail-relevant KPIs selected to produce progress report

The tool will process aggregated data recorded by UIC members on the one hand, and KPIs already collected in the various UIC databases on the other, in order to produce a sector progress report. The KPIs used in the tool were selected after consultation of experts and circulation among the UIC members and have been adjusted in order to accurately meet the specificities of all activities of the rail sector while at the same time demonstrating the sector’s and individual companies’ contribution to the achievement of the selected rail-relevant SDGs and corresponding targets.

Ecoscoring will help railway projects access green funding opportunities

As SDGs have become the world standard on achieving sustainability at all levels of society, this tool is designed to become a sector standard to communicate on rail’s sustainability and as a result, to help improving rail’s access to green funding opportunities.

If your company – be it an Operator, Infrastructure Manager, Stations Manager or a Rolling Stock Maintenance company – is willing to make a difference for rail in using Ecoscoring and taking part in a UIC flagship project, feel free to contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

EES Core Group meeting (Berlin, 14 September 2011)

The Core Group of the Energy, Environment and Sustainability (EES) Platform, chaired by Joachim Kettner, Head of Environment at Deutsche Bahn, met at the kind invitation of Deutsche Bahn in Berlin. The group provides strategic guidance to the EES platform, reviewing progress on projects and budgets, and also provides a link between UIC environmental research activities and CER lobbying actions in Brussels.

The meeting on 14 September focused on the results of the Opt-In process so far and planning for staff and project resources in 2012. The group also discussed the work of the several Expert Networks that make up the EES platform (Energy & CO2, Noise, Emissions and Sustainable Mobility) and agreed plans for the next Platform meeting on 11 October 2012.

The Group also provided feedback on the proposals for UIC activity at the Rio+20 summit in June 2012 and the next UIC Sustainability Conference planned for October 2012.

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Election of François Davenne as Board Member of the SLoCat Partnership

In July 2019, the members of the SLoCaT Partnership and the supporters of the SLoCaT Foundation elected a new cohort of Board Members to serve for the next three years.

The new SLoCaT Board brings together a diverse group of experts in terms of geographical representation and wide-range of experience from transport, energy, and cities sectors. François Davenne is one of the new members elected. He succeeds Jean-Pierre Loubinoux who was previously Member of the Board. SLoCat helps UIC to represent rail at international level, and particularly at conferences on climate change (COP).

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) promotes the integration of sustainable transport in global policies on sustainable development and climate change and leveraging action in support of the implementation of the global policies. SLoCaT consists of a multi-stakeholder partnership of over 90 organisations, which is supported by the SLoCaT Foundation.

The SLoCaT Partnership on Sustainable Transport is a multi-stakeholder partnership of over 90 organisations (representing UN organisations, multilateral and bilateral development organisations, NGOs and foundations, academies and the business sector).

The thematic scope of the Partnership is land transport in developing countries, including freight and passenger transport. Both motorised and non-motorised transport are included. The policies proposed by SLoCaT are universal but the geographical scope of the Partnership is mainly for developing countries. The Partnership’s current focus is Asia, Latin America and Africa.

(Source: SLoCaT)

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Energy Efficiencies and Carbon Strategies at the railway fair EXPO 2015

The 5th International Fair of Railway Equipment and Technologies EXPO 1520 was held from 2 – 5 September at the Experimental Ring of JSC Russian Railway Research Institute (VNIIZhT) in Shcherbinka, Moscow.

EXPO 1520 is a biennial show featuring an exhibition and a bespoke conference which explores all major aspects of rolling stock manufacturing and operation. The railway fair features the latest developments in railway equipment, technology, infrastructure, services and logistics. EXPO 1520 brings together all major stakeholders namely manufacturers, users, suppliers and regulating bodies. It is the only international rolling stock exhibition in the 1520 gauge wide track space.

The highest standards of organisation, the active participation of international companies, and the event’s dimension and a unique position in the 1520 space all ensured that the railway fair was attended by senior level government officials, heads of relevant ministries and executives of leading European companies as honorary guests and delegates.

The exhibition showcased the all-new rolling stock and railway equipment produced in Russia, CIS and EU. Live presentations of locomotives and railway cars make EXPO 1520 a unique place enabling manufacturers to spotlight their rolling stock in front of the users, experts and media. There was also the Dynamic Exposition parade of railway equipment. The 3000-plus visitors were able to see more than 20 full-scale models of rail stock equipment in action.

One of the most relevant train models presented in the parade was the compressed natural gas locomotive GT1h-002. This locomotive has no analogues in the world running on compressed natural gas, a fuel that meets the highest world environmental standards. The GT1h-002 not only makes for improved traction, but also reduced consumption of power and diesel fuel and lower levels of harmful emissions.

In this context, on 3 September, Gabriel Castañares Hernández, UIC Senior Advisor in Energy and CO2, presented the experience of the energy data collection and sustainability reporting at UIC during the round table organised by RZD: “Environment Protection, Power Efficiency and Energy”. The round table, moderated by Boris Ivanov, first Deputy Head of the Department of Technical Policy of RZD, included the presentations of 10 participants from different fields connected to environment and sustainability in rail.

During this round table, UIC highlighted the relevancy of the Environmental Strategy Reporting System, introducing the latest performance of RZD and the European rail sector, presenting the strategy and targets for middle and long term, and the next “Train To Paris” campaign to show our main stakeholders the advantages of railways in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability and the low carbon advantages of modal shift to rail.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández castanares at uic.org

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Energy Efficiency and CO2 Experts Network

The UIC Energy Expert Network provides strategy, guidance and leadership across the work of UIC and the rail sector in general for UIC members with respect to projects and issues related to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the railway sector. It also provides a forum to share good practice. It consults or advises on energy-efficiency related UIC projects led by other platforms and working groups and provides expert positions on current issues at the request of UIC (e.g. pending legislation, media inquiries).

The UIC Energy Expert Network deals with all aspects of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. Through the various projects it runs and its advisory role, the UIC Energy Expert Network also responds to the need for increased energy efficient rolling stock and railway equipment. It reviews and assesses the various technological solutions and international regulations to achieve the goals of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction in order to ensure rail transport keeps its “label” of most environmentally-friendly transport mode.

Meetings and workshops to promote good practice and achieve energy efficiency and reduce emissions

In 2017 the Network met three times in March, June and October. As part of the opt-in projects it conducts, the Network held two of the so-called “Energy Efficiency workshops”. The first was held in March 2017 on the “Connected Driver Advisory System (C-DAS)” and the second in October on the “Energy Efficiency of Future Trains”. Both events were well attended and gave rise to interesting exchanges between audience and speakers.

The next workshop on Energy Efficient timetabling will be held in Brussels on 20 February 2018. This workshop that targets all railway timetabling experts, will be an opportunity to exchange on the subject and possibly also look for good practices in other transport modes.

The Energy Efficiency Network also coordinates the following projects:

  • SFERA (Smart communication for Efficient Railway Activities) launched in early 2017. This project is aimed at standardising DAS (Driving Advisory Systems) languages for broader implementation, reduced costs and facilitating exchange of data for traffic management systems. The final outcome of the project will be the set of data that should be exchanged to optimise the functioning of the Driver Advisory Systems on-board the trains. This data will be included in an International Railway Solution (IRS).
  • Revision of UIC Leaflet 930 “Exchange of data for cross-border railway energy settlement”: The project is currently conducted as an informal Working Group to convert the current UIC Leaflet 930 to a new IRS Standard compatible with the new TSIs and the CENELEC norm. The goal of this project is not only to achieve compliance with European regulations and norms and to help Railway Undertakings and Infrastructure Managers to improve the energy efficiency of train operations, but also the accurate exchange of energy consumption information will improve energy billing processes thus clarifying the return on investment for energy-saving measures.
  • The ESRS database is meant to monitor progress achieved by contributing railways with regards to energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
  • The data that are compiled in the database are powerful benchmarking tools at the service of the UIC members allowing them to assess their energy efficiency and carbon footprint. These databases are an essential component of the UIC-IEA handbook published on a yearly basis in close collaboration with IEA since 2012. The 2017 edition will be released this week.
  • Tools: Ecopassenger is an online comparator of energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the different transport modes, that can be embedded into websites or used by railway undertakings to advertise on the environmental performance of rail against other modes of transport.

New co-chairpersons

Harald Jony has been called to new duties in BLS Cargo. Therefore, the Network recently elected its new co-chair persons Chloé Lima-Vanzeler (SNCF) and Bart Van der Spiegel (Infrabel) at its meeting of 5 November in Rome. Both of them will effectively be co-chairing the Network as from January 2018.

Forthcoming Edition of Energy Efficiency Days – call for hosts

UIC intends to hold the next Energy Efficiency days in the second half of 2018. This event, consisting of plenary sessions, conferences, workshops, will showcase the latest achievements of the railway undertakings and infrastructure managers to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint while at the same time ensure a reliable, safe and environmentally friendly service to the community. The event is to be held in autumn 2018 and discussions are ongoing with possible hosts. As with previous editions, this event will offer attractive sponsorship packages.

For further information on the activities of the Energy Efficiency Network and CO2 Emissions Expert Network, please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Environment and Sustainable Development Advisor:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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Energy Efficiency Time Tabling Workshop to be held on 20 February 2018 in Brussels

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Expert Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop “Energy efficient time table planning” that will be held in Brussels on 20 February 2017 at Infrabel, near Brussels-Midi station.

Background

Eco-driving, eco-stabling and measuring energy consumption and savings have been at the core of our discussions and workshops over the past years.
At the earliest stage of the train production is the potential for energy savings: the timetabling step.

An efficient timetable is indeed regarded as a timetable without conflicts and with some spare time, which in real operation can be used to return to a punctual running of trains.

By avoiding conflicts and stops, the robustness of the timetable also has a significant impact on the energy consumption of the global system, as spare time can be used by Driving Advisory Systems or Automatic Train Operation to reduce energy consumption and energy costs.

The goal of this workshop is thus a first attempt to break new ground with a view to achieve greater energy efficiency by means of optimised timetabling.
If the participants confirm their interest in digging deeper into the topic, other meetings can then be organised in the future.

Workshop highlights

  • Experience from other transport modes, e.g. aviation (Ralph Luijt, NS);
  • Presentation of specific software and IT systems
  • TTG Timetabling solution (speaker tbc)
  • Applications to verify the robustness of time tables: the case of Infrabel, Frédéric Weymann, Viacom)
  • Round table confronting the experiences from Railway Undertakings and Infrastructure Managers; (Alwin Meijerink, ProRail; Gerben Scheepmaker NS; Eric Vercauteren, Infrabel; RZD, speaker tbc);
  • Beyond the state-of-the art
  • Open discussion

To register for the workshop and get practical information, please click here:

https://events.uic.org/energy-efficient-time-tabling-workshop-20-february-2018-brussels

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor - Environment and Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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Eress Forum held on 25 May 2016 in Madrid

The Eress Forum was held on 25 May 2016 in Madrid, where over 150 experts from Railway Undertakings, representatives from Infrastructure Managers, manufacturing companies, EU and national policy makers, journalists and suppliers exchanged their experiences and points of view.

This edition of the Eress Forum presented the links between energy consumption and measurements and the opening of the railway market, including the best cases in energy efficiency improvements. In addition, the forum presented the latest experiences in the implementation of energy metering systems on board (detailed programme here).

The conference was opened by Terje Stomer from Eress. Frank Jost of DG Move provided the keynote speech presenting the opening of the railways of Europe for competition. Other relevant speakers from ERA, EIM, CER, and rail companies at European level provided the latest information of ongoing projects and activities on the topic.

The morning session included a presentation on energy consumption and CO2 emissions of railways in the world by Marine Gorner from the International Energy Agency (IEA), presenting the latest data included in the IEA-UIC publication Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions (latest publication).

In the afternoon, Bart Van der Spiegel from Infrabel gave feedback on the latest activities for updating UIC leaflet 930 “Exchange of data for cross-border railway energy settlement” and the next meetings planned for 2016.

In the same panel Gabriel Castañares Hernández from UIC introduced the advantages of the standardised formats of communications for connected Driving Advisory Systems (DAS) in an open discussion for the participants and the potential advantages of the SFERA project presented at the latest Opt-In UIC process.

ERESS is a European partnership for railway energy settlement systems, integrated by Banedanmark, Infrabel, Jernbaneverket (JBV), Trafikverket, Finish Transport Agency (FTA), SBB and Vivens (Dutch railway energy procurement cooperative). Eress is a non-profit organisation, jointly owned by its partners, committed to the development, implementation and supply of the energy settlement solution called Erex.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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Eress Forum takes place in Amsterdam on 27 May 2015

On 27 May 2015, the Eress Forum (European Partnership for Railway Energy Settlement Systems) was held in Amsterdam, where experts from railway undertakings, representatives from infrastructure managers, manufacturers, EU and national politicians, journalists and suppliers exchanged their experiences and points of view.

This year the Eress Forum presented the links of energy consumption and measurements and the opening of the railway market, including the best cases in energy improvement facing the mid-term and the targets set by the rail sector facing the climate change policies. In addition, the forum presented the latest experiences in the implementation of on-board energy metering systems.

The conference was opened by Dyre Martin, Director of Eress and Ralph Luijt, Manager of energy and environment of NS. Elisabetta Garofalo, Policy Officer of the European Railway Unit of DG Move provided a keynote speech presenting the 4th Railway Package and the interactions with the market opening.

The first panel introduced the requirements and experiences in measuring electricity consumption. Infrastructure managers and railway undertakings presented challenges and solutions to consolidate metering systems in an open railway market.

The second panel was moderated by Raimondo Orsini, Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation, who introduced rail’s pathways to improvement facing the EU Targets for 2030. Within this frame, UIC presented the experience of the energy data collection from European railways and the principle of dual reporting was delivered by Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor of Energy and CO2.

Furthermore, the panel benefited from the speeches of Ethem Pekin of CER, presenting the new targets of the European rail sector, Harald Jony from OBB, showing best practices in European Energy Management, Valerio Recagno from D’Appolonia, explaining the innovative business model of the Merlin Project and Benoit Bienfait from Alstom, presenting the advantages of ATO systems for reducing energy consumption.

UIC highlighted the methodology and the application of the Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) collecting data from European railways and the requirements to adapt this methodology to the latest standards and trends of the energy market.

Within this framework, the ESRS adopted the conclusions of the Zero Carbon Project, implementing a new dual reporting approach according to the Guidelines of the GHG Protocol. The main objective of the implementation has been to develop a solid and common reporting methodology with a dual approach, including the national production mix and the railway mix, containing the Guarantees of Origin (GOs) purchased by many rail companies.

The Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) collects the energy consumption data of railways, providing as output the aggregated performance of the key energy and carbon indicators of European railways. ESRS is the basis to set and monitor the sustainability targets aligning the methodology of the UIC members. ESRS is the main UIC source to provide environmental information to the IEA-UIC Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions and for the online carbon footprint tools, EcoPassenger and EcoTransIT.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández castanares at uic.org

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ERPC relaunches sustainable procurement

As the global rail community once again starts to look forward, there has never been a better time to send a strong message of sustainability ambition to its global supply chain. Collaborating with suppliers is essential in building resilience in the rail sector and accelerating action to transform rail for a sustainable, decarbonised future. Sustainable procurement is becoming increasingly important to railway purchasing departments and UIC members, and is an essential part of the sector’s strategic direction. The railways are in a position to exert a strong influence on global supply chains and – particularly with regard to sustainability – can send out strong signals to their suppliers and underline the importance of the topic in rail infrastructure procurement.

The UIC European Railways Purchasing Conference (https://uic.org/special-groups/erpc/) special group is relaunching the sustainable procurement working group. The group’s first meeting, to be held on 6 May from 2 to 4 pm CEST, will share members’ insights on best practice in social and environmental sustainability and set the priorities for the year ahead. All sustainability, commercial and procurement professionals interested in collaborating and working with international colleagues to drive sustainability performance with supplier and purchasing power are very welcome to attend.

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton at anderton at uic.org

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EU railway sector declaration

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“One of the biggest single expenditures for operational railways is the power needed to move our trains. So, managing that and understanding where efficiencies can be made is essential. At UIC, our Sustainability Platform has worked on a number of tools that can help the ROC in reaching such efficiency (traction energy consumption and efficiency monitoring: IRS 90930 for Traction Energy Settlement and IRS 90940 for real-time operation optimisation).

Working with a range of our sectoral partners, ALLRAIL, CER, EIM, EPTTOLA, ERFA, FEDECRAIL and NB Rail, we have come together and agreed on the attached ‘EU railway sector declaration on traction energy metering and settlement.’

This sector declaration expresses how the railway sector wants to be compliant with European Regulation (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/868), but also defines the minimum requirements to make energy metering and energy settlement operational and compliant with the Railway Market and Energy Market Directives. Multiple requirements refer to and are described in IRS 90930, newly published after years of work with ADIF, Bane NOR, DB Energie, FTIA, Infrabel, MÁV, NS, ÖBB, SBB, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF and Správa železnic on behalf of UIC’s European members.

The key objective of this declaration is to enable correct traction energy metering and settlement processes to be put collaboratively in place with fewer obstacles, especially for cross-border traffic.

There are some areas where even this well-developed declaration could be improved. For the sake of achieving a sound approach to interoperability, there is a need for clarification from European institutions regarding:

  • Guidance on facilitating the reuse of existing components where it is not possible to demonstrate compliance with EN 50463 or where full compliance cannot be achieved regarding e.g. lower currents or deviating temperatures.
  • Permission to install EMS compliant with LOC&PAS TSI:2014 in projects at an advanced stage of development before June 2020 by January 2026.”

Consult the full declaration here: https://uic.org/europe/IMG/pdf/eu-railway-sector-declaration-on-traction-energy-metering-and-settlement_november-2020.pdf

For further information please contact Simon Fletcher, UIC Director for Europe:

fletcher at uic.org

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EU Transport Commissioner Vălean to speak at the International Railway Summit, supported by UIC

The European Union’s Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, will share Europe’s vision for global sustainable mobility on 24 February at the 10th International Railway Summit, which will be held online. The summit is organised in association with the International Union of Railways (UIC), official partner to the event since 2017.

At the outset of the European Year of Rail, Commissioner Vălean will discuss concrete steps to achieve the EU’s emissions target at the summit’s flagship session: Achieving net-zero mobility by 2050: actions to take right now. The debate will also hear from some of the most influential figures from the transport sector and beyond, including François Davenne, Director General of UIC, Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General of Polis, the network of European cities and regions.

Together, the European Commission and UIC will demonstrate political will for positive change, outline strategies and innovations, and explore avenues for intermodal and international collaboration.

Commissioner Vălean said:
“Railways have a strong history of supporting industrial and technological revolutions. As we seek to transition towards a digital, carbon-neutral society, we are counting on railways to once again play a key role. Railways are unquestionably part of the solution to many of the societal problems we face today – climate change, air pollution, congestion, accessibility. With the European Year of Rail, we want to shine a spotlight on the many benefits of rail transport and accelerate the necessary reforms and investments to ensure we are fit for the new era we are entering.”

Mr Davenne said:
"As the world railway association, UIC has been publishing the technical standards that have framed the modern railways since 1921. 2021 will be both the European Year of the Rail and our centenary. The pandemic and the environmental challenges ahead will require new transport solutions to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050, and rail shall become the backbone of this new mobility. UIC will convene its members on this common purpose and, through this collaborative partnership, will foster innovations that will transform railways into smart interconnected networks.”

The theme of the 10th International Railway Summit will be Reimagining rail: innovation to get society back on (sustainable) track. The most pressing issues, from Covid-19 recovery and sustainable mobility to digital innovation, will be tackled over the course of the four-day summit.

UIC’s Chairman, Gianluigi Castelli, will present during a keynote session on post-Covid recovery, whilst Director Europe, Simon Fletcher, will chair the conference.

Attendees will enjoy further contributions from Covid-19 Taskforce Chairman, Marc Guigon, and Head of Sustainable Development, Lucie Anderton.

The 10th International Railway Summit will provide a platform for national and local governments and rail sector leaders to gather online and share lessons learned, best practice, and visions for the future. The summit will connect live to world-class speakers and site visits from across the globe, and will showcase the latest innovations via bespoke one-to-one business meetings and innovation showrooms.

To find out more about the summit and how to register to attend, please visit www.irits.org/irs10.

For more information, please contact Simon Fletcher, Europe Director at: fletcher at uic.org

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European Management Committee - meeting held virtually on 18 March 2021

The European Management Committee (EMC) meeting was held online on 18 March 2021. All of the members of EMC were present, with CEOs and senior representatives of ADIF, BaneNor, CP, DB, FS Italiane, IP, LDz, ÖBB, MAV, Network Rail, PKP, ProRail, Renfe, RZD, SNCF, CER as well as colleagues from the UIC HQ team.

Francisco Cardoso dos Reis, representing Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and Chair of the UIC Europe Region, together with François Davenne, UIC Director General and Simon Fletcher, UIC Director Europe, welcomed the participants and thanked members for their continuous commitment and collaboration.

The meeting was the opportunity to exchange a number of key messages. François Davenne acknowledged, whilst highlighting the significant engagement of experts from member companies, the work carried out in the various bodies such as the Covid-19 Task Force, reflecting the strong links between UIC and its members and the effort being made to meet members’ needs. With regard to UIC’s strategy and approach, he explained the need to develop regional cooperation by developing projects on a multi-regional basis and having a concerted approach across all railway regions. This is all the more important at the moment as the railway community recovers from the pandemic and tries to restore customer confidence.

Within UIC, he stressed the importance of increasing cross-sectoral activities and synergies throughout 2021. He acknowledged the work carried out to produce the Technical Solutions for the Operational Railway recently published by the UIC (Downloadable here), highlighting that joint efforts, resources and people are essential to delivering a high level of service.

The European Region’s work programme 2021 has a number of core strategic topics. These were updated and received the support and/or endorsement of the EMC as follows:

  • Covid-19: the economic impact and resumption of business
    Marc Guigon, Passenger Director & Coordinator of the COVID Task Force, spoke about the lessons learned by the railways, new trends, the new normal and the economic impact on the railways. A White Paper on the new normal is due to be released by the summer in collaboration with consultancy firm Roland Berger. He strongly encouraged members to share ideas and feedback in all areas and in particular how they see the future of railways.
  • European Year of Rail
    Marie Plaud-Lombard, Communications Director, explained how UIC intends to participate in the European Year of Rail, the events it will organise, how it will communicate and how members can contribute and share their rail success stories. As part of the European Commission’s events, UIC plans to work with CER to organise the TEN-T train from Lisbon to Ljubljana in June-July. Members were invited to share their ideas for the year and to include them in the repertoire that is being built up on the UIC’s European Year of Rail webpage: https://uic.org/year-of-rail/.
  • Sustainable Development
    Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development, presented the role of the railway sector in the context of the EU Green Deal and how the technical work undertaken by the UIC can support the Green Deal targets. She also gave an update on COP26, scheduled to be held from 1 – 12 November in Glasgow, and ideas of how to promote railways and public transport as the backbone of a sustainable mobility system.
  • Financial Issues
    Aline Wego, Head of Project Management Office, and Thierry Bera, Chief Financial Officer, updated the meeting on the substantial about new and ongoing projects programme. Part of the kick start post pandemic is the introduction of a fast track process for getting projects, considered as urgent, up and running quickly.
  • Standardisation
    Célia Levy, UIC Chief Standardisation Officer, highlighted the work of the European Standards Management Group. The ESMG, a tripartite group with CER and EIM, is responsible for preparing, considering and coordinating the ROC (Railway Operating Community) contributions to all European bodies related to standardisation issues.
  • Research
    Martin Brennan, Head of Research and Innovation, spoke about the role of UIC in Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, what moving to this successor to the current Shift2Rail involves and the structure and innovation of Europe’s Rail in comparison to Shift2Rail. The EMC was asked to consider the proposal to be put forward for the nomination of the successor to the current Chair of ERRAC (the European Rail Research Advisory Council).
  • Relations with other organisations
    Simon Fletcher briefly referred the meeting to some dialogue that is currently being developed with UEFA as part of a promotional opportunity. There is more still to be considered and the EMC will be updated on progress.

The meeting reaffirmed their support for the work done within the European Region and expressed their views on this positive approach both internal activities and regional development.

In his concluding words, Francisco Cardoso dos Reis reminded the meeting of the many decisions that had been taken and thanked the participants for their comments and involvement. He extended an invitation for the EMC to hold its September meeting in Lisbon, if the situation permits.

The next meeting of the European Management Committee is planned to be held on 6 July 2021.

For further information about the EMC please contact Simon Fletcher, UIC Director Europe: fletcher at uic.org

To consult the UIC Technical Solutions document: (https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/20201126_uic_technical_solutions.pdf),

To consult UIC’s European Year of Rail webpage: https://uic.org/year-of-rail/

To share you rail success stories please contact eNewsteam at uic.org

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European rail freight companies double their ambitions to fight climate change

At the Katowice climate conference on 14 December, Rail Freight Forward, a coalition of rail freight companies and federations from across Europe, committed to help save up to 290 million tons of C02 transport emissions over the next decade.

With 275 million tons of C02 emissions a year, freight transport represents almost a third of total transport emissions, passenger transport included. At an estimated growth rate of 30% by 2030, the climate impact of freight transport is expected to increase substantially over the coming years.

To avoid this increase, Rail Freight Forward aims to boost the share of rail in overall freight transport from 18% to 30% by 2030. With rail freight emitting 9 times less CO2 than road freight, this modal shift from road to rail is a crucial step to help the transport industry reach its climate targets as defined in the Paris Accord.

The signatories committed to transforming their sector and offering innovative and highly competitive rail products, while urging policymakers and partners to create the necessary external conditions to enable a modal shift from road to rail freight.

European rail freight coalition launches urgent call to step up efforts
While participants from around the globe discuss the urgent actions needed to accelerate efforts against climate change, the coalition outlines the clear ambition of the European rail freight industry to step up its efforts and become a key contributor to a more climate-friendly freight sector. With rail freight emitting 9 times less C02 and causing 8 times less air pollution than road freight, the coalition urges policymakers to recognize and act on its potential to help realize the Paris Climate Accord targets.

Freight transport: a key economic activity with a major climate footprint
Freight transport accounts for 6% of European GDP, with over 19 billion tons of goods being transported every year. While the contribution of the whole sector to the economy is positive, it has a substantial impact on the environment. With currently 75% of all freight transport done by road, the sector has an estimated yearly emission of 275 million tons of C02. This represents 30% of total transport emissions (i.e. all freight and passenger transport).

30% growth of freight transport by 2030 will come at a huge cost
By 2030, freight transport is expected to grow by 30%. That is roughly the size of the entire German freight transport market or 1 million trucks added on European roads in the coming decade. Looking at the stringent goals of the Paris Accord for the transport sector, it is simply not a sustainable option to keep relying heavily on road freight.

A modal shift for a more sustainable future: rail freight companies commit to an ambitious modal share of 30%
Today’s signatories of Rail Freight Forward are convinced that rail has a crucial role to play in building a more sustainable freight sector, that will help Europe realize its climate ambitions. An increase of the modal share of rail freight from currently 18% to 30% by 2030 can largely absorb the expected growth in freight transport and minimize its climate impact.

The 30% target is ambitious, but the European rail freight sector is determined to deliver the sustained efforts needed to achieve it. The members of Rail Freight Forward are committed to work together to transform and modernize the rail freight industry, by driving efficiency and standardization, improving cost-effectiveness and accelerating technological innovation. Each company will step up its efforts to offer competitive products that convince customers to choose rail for its quality, frequency, reliability, flexibility, price and service.

Calling on all stakeholders to enable modal shift to rail
At the same time, Rail Freight Forward calls upon policymakers and key stakeholders to work together in implementing the external conditions needed for a successful modal shift.

Firstly, the development of a competitive rail offering goes hand in hand with that of a rail infrastructure which makes running a train through Europe as easy as running a truck. This requires a clear mandate for infrastructure managers to deploy a network that is easy to access, well-managed and reliable.

Secondly, national and EU authorities are called upon to provide a transparent and solid regulatory framework for infrastructure managers to realize this network. The coalition further asks that the authorities equalize taxes, administrative costs, infrastructure access charges… for the different modes of transport, thereby levelling the playing field for trains and trucks.

Countries taking measures to provide a clear regulatory framework and fair competition, such as Austria (32%) and Switzerland (37%), clearly show a larger modal share of rail.

Noah’s Train: raising awareness for a common goal
To mark their climate commitment and win hearts and minds in support of the modal shift, the members of the Rail Freight Forward coalition have chosen Katowice to officially launch Noah’s Train. This train will travel through Vienna (14/1), Berlin (24/1), Paris (5/2) and Brussels (20/2). In each city, prominent local street artists will gradually transform the train into the world’s longest mobile artwork, inspired by the oldest tale of environmental activism.

For more information on the Rail Freight Forward Coalition, its “Vision 2030” or Noah’s Train, visit www.railfreightforward.eu or contact press at railfreightforward.eu

About Rail Freight Forward
Rail Freight Forward is a coalition of European rail freight companies that are committed to drastically reducing the negative impact of freight transport on the planet and mobility through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix.

The coalition has the ambition to increase the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030 as the macro-economically better solution for European growth. It strives to engage railway undertakings, infrastructure managers and policymakers across Europe in acting to realise this modal shift.

Rail Freight Forward is a broad and continuously expanding coalition composed of rail freight operators and supported by the sector associations CER, UIC, ERFA and VDV.

Current members of the Rail Freight Forward coalition are BLS Cargo, CD Cargo, CFL Cargo, DB Cargo, GreenCargo, Lineas, LTE Group, Mercitalia, Ost-West Logistik, PKP Cargo, Rail Cargo Group, SBB Cargo, SNCF Logistics, ZSSK Cargo.

For further information please contact Sandra Géhénot, UIC Freight Director:

gehenot at uic.org

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European Year of Rail: Connecting Europe Express now leaving the station

The ’Connecting Europe Express’, a special train put together as part of the European Year of Rail 2021, will pull out of Lisbon station on 2 September. It will stop in more than 100 towns and cities during its five-week journey, before arriving in Paris on 7 October, connecting the Portuguese, Slovenian and French Presidencies of the Council of the EU.

European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean said: “Rail has shaped our rich, common history. But, rail is also Europe’s future, our route to mitigating climate change and powering economic recovery from the pandemic, as we build a carbon-neutral transport sector. Over the coming weeks, the Connecting Europe Express will become a rolling conference, laboratory and forum for public debate on how to make rail the transport mode of choice for passengers and businesses alike. Please give us a warm welcome when we stop at a railway station near you.

The Connecting Europe Express is the result of unique cooperation between the European Commission and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European rail operators, infrastructure managers and numerous other partners at EU and local level. Along the route, various events are planned to welcome the train at railway stations across Europe. Rail enthusiasts can also follow debates happening on board as well as conferences on EU infrastructure policy and the role of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), that will be livestreamed via the event website from Lisbon, Bucharest, Berlin and Bettembourg.

CER will also welcome the train in Gdansk, where rail CEOs will gather for the CER annual General Assembly, kindly hosted by Polish State Railways (PKP). Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the organisation Erasmus by Rail have also been invited to join an event in Strasbourg during plenary week, organised in collaboration with SNCF, which will focus on the topics of youth, rail and sustainability.

CER Chair and CEO of Austrian Federal Railways, Andreas Matthä emphasised the significance of the joint project: “The Connecting Europe Express is impressive proof of the success of the European Year of Rail, at the same time it points out our joint challenges ahead. CER members are committed to make the Green Deal a success. A strong European railway sector is vital for achieving the EU climate targets. Currently there are too many technical barriers in cross-border rail transport and it is very complex to run a train across national borders in Europe. We need to continue to shift freight from road to rail, provide efficient services for daily commuters and expand international long-distance passenger rail transport with day and night services. I am convinced that the Connecting Europe Express will raise awareness of these challenges. I would like to thank all colleagues and partners who made this project possible and wish the Connecting Europe Express a good journey.”

Background
The Connecting Europe Express was made possible by partners from the European railway sector and institutions on EU, national and local level joining forces. Due to the different gauge widths in Europe, the Connecting Europe Express will comprise, in reality, three trains – the Iberian train, the Standard train and the Baltic train – that will meet along the route. The project is a reminder of the lack of interoperability between some parts of Europe’s rail network, but it will also demonstrate the very good cooperation in place between railway undertakings and infrastructure managers.

The coaches have been provided by different European railway companies. One of them, provided by MAV (Hungary), will host a mobile exhibition organised by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking. It will showcase the many existing technologies and innovations improving the rail experience, and show how the EU supports infrastructure projects. A conference coach (provided by SNCF, France), two standard seating coaches (DB, Germany and SBB, Switzerland), a dining coach (FS, Italy) and a sleeper coach (ÖBB, Austria) will complete the standard train. The Iberian train travelling between Portugal and Spain has been provided by Spanish operator Renfe, while Lithuanian LTG is operating the Baltic train.

In the context of the ongoing pandemic, safety has been prioritised in the organisation of all activities around the Connecting Europe Express. Some events will be livestreamed, and train enthusiasts are encouraged to welcome the train in certain stations.

For more information
Route and timetable of the Connecting Europe Express
Frequently asked questions on the Connecting Europe Express
Partners of the Connecting Europe Express
Facts and Figures at a glance
European Year of Rail 2021

UIC is pleased to participate to this operation.

(Source: CER)

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Factsheet on the Emission Trading Systems (ETS) financial impact for the European Rail Sector

A factsheet on the costs of the Carbon Emission Trade System (ETS) of electricity for the rail sector in Europe includes the main conclusions of a joint survey on energy and ETS costs for the European railways. Given that EU railway companies are amongst the major users of electricity, rail is an ETS sector.

The survey analysed different carbon price scenarios. Taking the average European Emission Allowance (EUA) cost of 8 euros per tonne of CO2 and the total CO2 tonnes emitted from EU rail electricity traction, the total ETS bill for rail for is estimated to be € 114 million per year. This cost is approximately 4% of rail’s electricity costs. In case the carbon market reaches the envisaged price for ETS ’phase 4 for 2020-2030’ of € 25 per tonne of CO2, the indirect ETS costs for railway companies might reach a level of € 370 million per year.

This factsheet contains information obtained from the joint survey performed by UIC and CER on the economic impact of the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions for EU railways.

The survey, internally distributed for members, also demonstrates that energy consumption is an important financial driver for the European railways operating costs. The total amount of energy costs at EU sector is estimated to be 8.40% of total operating costs, corresponding to around € 6 billion. The share of operating costs coming from energy consumption depends on the profile of the analysed company, whilst infrastructure managers tend to have lower operating costs (between 0.5% and 2.5%), energy costs impact is higher for railway undertakings (between 7% and 29%).

The factsheet is available at the following link: http://www.cer.be/publications/latest-publications/eu-ets-reform

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

Or Ethem Pekin: ethem.pekin at cer.be

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Finance Platform plenary meeting held on 10 June

The annual Finance Platform plenary meeting was held on 10 June, chaired by Stefano Pierini of FS Group, Chair of the Finance Platform, and assisted by Thierry Béra, UIC CFO.

In his opening speech, UIC Director General François Davenne stressed the importance of the Finance Platform, noting its potential and the need to ensure that it is given greater visibility in the coming years. Mr Davenne announced the upcoming publication of the UIC Activity Booklet, which will feature the Finance Platform. He also noted the current momentum for rail, which is being promoted by the EU by placing rail at the forefront of sustainability and mobility. There is a recognition, supported at all levels, of modal shift to rail as a must for the future. The Finance Platform is looking forward to playing its part. Upcoming topics for discussion within the Platform will include, among others, public-private partnerships, OSDM and sustainable finance. Ideas for mobilising financing instruments will be very welcome.

Stefano Pierini agreed with Mr Davenne that the role of the Finance Platform is to promote various financing tools, such as sustainable finance, and announced that the Platform was to be opened up to other stakeholders from different countries and regions.

Presentations included reports from the moderators of the various groups:

  • PATRIC (passenger audit – participant group), during which the speaker presented the 2021 audit campaign,
  • RCF 1 (Accounting and financial regulations – passenger working party), noting that OSDM and the Tax Group are to be part of the 2021-2022 programme,
  • RCF 2 (Accounting and financial regulations – freight working party), noting work completed in respect of IRS 30304,
  • RCF 3 (Financial relations between railways undertakings – principles and terms of application), with a report on the group’s work with the ODC (Office of Debt Clearance) and the need to migrate UIC Leaflet 311 to an IRS,
  • The ODC (Office of Debt Clearance) outlined levels of indebtedness and work undertaken to contact the main debtors,
  • The moderator of the Taxation Group explained the aims of the group and noted the creation of a Carbon Taxation Group,
  • The Statistics Group (participant group) presented its work, key projects, programme and publications for 2021,
  • The Legal Group Chair reported on ongoing topics, such as the MERITS system and UIC statutes,
  • Guest topics included sustainable finance, presented by Lucie Anderton, UIC Head of Sustainability, and a presentation on green bonds by Stefano Peirini, as well as the Open Sales Distribution Model (OSDM), presented by David Sarfatti, Senior Passenger Advisor.

For more information on the Finance Platform, please contact Thierry Béra, bera at uic.org or Maria Lafont, lafont at uic.org

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First coordination meeting of the recently appointed Chair and Vice Chair of the UIC Latin American Region

Last 13 July 2021 the first coordination meeting of the new Chair and Vicechair of LATAM region was held online.

During the meeting it was present Marc Guigon, Director of the Passenger Department and Coordinator of the Latin American Region as well as José Villafañe, new Chair of the Region, Joubert Flores, new Vicechair of the Region and Vanessa Perez Miranda, Senior Advisor for the Passenger Department and for the Latin American Region.

During the meeting Marc Guigon welcomed and congratulated Mr. Villafañe and Mr. Flores for their new position. Both of them expressed also their satisfaction and their willing to cooperate in the development of the UIC Latin American Region.

During the meeting it was highlighted several times the importance of developing the region. Mr. Guigon explained that the first action would be to better know the needs of the region in general and of potential members in particular.

Mr. Villafañe explained that a meeting with ALAF members will be organize in the following weeks to listen to their needs and expectations regarding UIC. He also invited Mr. Flores to participate in these meetings.

Mr. Flores added that we will get in touch with passengers’ operators but also with freight operators in Brazil. He also suggested to reinforce the link with other international organizations and stakeholders of the region.

Mr. Guigon clarified that there is also the need to explain what it the added value of begin part of the UIC as international association with actions in all the important issues related to railways from the passengers, freights, sustainability, rail system infrastructures, etc…. UIC has also the capacity to bring together international experts in all the areas.

The participant agreed on the idea of working on the strategic vision of the region on the Horizon 2050 and to work together in concrete actions to be developed in short term like the workshop already organized in July 2021 and the one to be organized 25 November.

For more information please contact Vanessa Perez Miranda, Senior Advisor for the Passenger Department and for the Latin American Region at perez at uic.org

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François Davenne participated in the Movin’ On Connect Summit on 3 June 2021

UIC Director General François Davenne joined Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF, as well as speakers from the maritime and aviation industries at the Movin’On Connect summit, a world summit on sustainable mobility, on 3 June.

The speakers debated the pathway to #decarbonisation for the transport sector, with a clear consensus on the need to work together as a “freedom-providing” mobility system.

Mr Davenne said: “The priority for our sector is to choose to finance transformational projects for railways at regional and global level. Transformational projects are those that have a major impact on efficiency in the short term, such as digitalisation, seamless interconnection with other modes and capacity increase on existing infrastructure. These projects will drive modal shift to rail and public transport so that we can achieve the objectives of the UN SDGs quickly enough”.

Jean-Pierre Farandou said: “20 years later, the house is still burning, but now we are acting to fix the fire. We are mobilised to enable green mobility and combine transportation with protecting the planet”.

As part of the Movin’on 2021 trade fair, of which L’Express is a partner, François Davenne gave an interview:

Watch the video :

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Free Online Course for Rail Users and Professionals

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  • An opportunity to study online at the time and place that suits you.
  • Join our growing community of over 17000 learners from 132 countries.

You may not be using train services as much as you used to at the moment, but considering the challenges ahead, why not take this opportunity to gain new insights into the underlying engineering and operational complexity behind a daily train ride?

This free online course from the Delft University of Technology offers train users and professionals around the world the opportunity to explore the science, engineering and technology behind the exciting world of rail.

“Millions of people use the train every day, so our research and education teams are continuously working to find ways to overcome the complex mobility challenges we face on a regional, national and international scale in a sustainable way. In this short online course, through the use of practical and familiar examples, we explain in an attractive and visual way the systems’ underlying complexity. We want to give participants an insight into all that happens behind their daily commute,” said Joris van Dijk, designer of this online course.

Broaden your knowledge of railway systems
Join us and learn what is needed to create and maintain a robust railway system and get trains on the correct platform at the scheduled time, as well as how to deal with disturbances and improve services over time.

With an increasing number of people using railways year on year, capacity challenges are a big priority. Using an accessible way of learning, this course helps you understand how to optimize the traffic flow to meet the demands of the user from an integrated approach, from both an engineering and operations point of view.

“In this course we talk about common problems that challenge railway infrastructure. We also cover the network components, different types of tracks and trains and the effects of interaction between them, as well as the importance of monitoring techniques, maintenance strategies and the decisions that come into play. Other aspects discussed are how to deal with and how to adapt the schedule in the event of a disturbance, how traffic flows influence the use and design of stations and how the railway network affects its environment (and vice versa),“ said Rolf Dollevoet, Professor of Railway Engineering.

Participants from over 130 countries
Since this course was launched, more than 17000 people from over 130 countries have joined. To make it valuable for international learners, we analyze differences and similarities of rail networks in different countries and use the diverse approaches to learn from each other. The course makes use of interactive images, animations and mini-lectures (knowledge clips) to explain complexity in a visual and understandable way.

Play and learn
The course also includes a purpose-built Serious Game, to guide learners through the decision-making process while they build their own railway network, which needs to be operated and maintained over time. The idea is to connect cities in an increasingly complex situation requiring learners to deal with wear, capacity, developments and disturbances. Participants will have to make choices and set priorities to influence the performance of the railway system under ever-changing circumstances.

"It was great to find these online courses in railway engineering as they are not available in my country. The interaction with peers from all over the world was invaluable in terms of looking at concepts from various perspectives. The courses provided me the opportunity to refresh my knowledge,” said Khalid Saleem, a participant from Australia.

Enroll for free at: http://www.tudelft.nl/rail-mooc

Watch our introduction video: https://youtu.be/qXW4eXT4ydA (2 min)

If you need more information please contact Eduardo Landin e.landin at tudelft.nl from TU Delft Online Learning.

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Germany: DB Schenker reduces greenhouse gas intensity by at least 40 percent by 2030 with CO2-neutral growth

DB Schenker will reduce its specific greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% relative to its 2006 figures. Thanks to this pledge, the logistics company will play a key role in the DB Group’s mission to reach its new climate targets, which entail the specific reduction of greenhouse gases by at least 50% in the same time period. At present, DB Schenker is the source of almost two-thirds of the Group’s total emission figures. By delivering reductions in its sector, the logistics service provider will make a commensurate contribution to the Group’s overall goals.

“Moving away from fossil fuels will be the greatest challenge. Following the example of rail services and their ever-growing sourcing of green energy, road haulage now has to make the energy transition – and is successfully at that. Air and ocean freight need to explore new technologies. We monitor their development and will support their introduction with our possibilities”, says Andrea Dorothea Schön, who heads up DB Schenker’s climate protection program. “What we need here is full coordination between all the actors in the supply chain and the world of politics.”

At the start of 2017, DB Schenker pledged that its growth in the coming decade would be CO2 neutral. As a result, it increased its specific annual goals for overland and air freight by up to 3% per annum from 2020 onwards. Additional reductions are planned for ocean freight as well, despite the fact that a specific reduction of 62% has been achieved already since 2006. “Given the massive continued expansion expected for international container shipping, we are also committed to CO2-neutral growth in this sector,” says Andrea Schön.

Some 95% of CO2 emissions at DB Schenker are due to service providers, which comprise approximately 40,000 companies around the world. DB’s logistics subsidiary uses its national branches to help contract partners by researching new technology, pilot projects, and providing help with accessing support programs.

DB Schenker inaugurated 2018 by its switching distribution activities in Paris to electrically powered vehicles. “Our scheme in Paris makes us one of the first companies to make a clear commitment to CO2-free transportation,” says Tariel Chamerois, sustainability manager at DB Schenker in France and Vice President of European logistics association CLECAT. Similarly, DB Schenker already runs some 800 vehicles in Sweden on sustainably produced biofuels – this way, the company has replaced close to one-third of its diesel consumption with a renewable energy source.

(Source: DB Schenker)

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Germany: Fifty percent less CO2 emitted by 2030

DB sets new climate protection target ahead of UN Climate Change Convention in Bonn

DB’s CEO Lutz: “Rail travel equals climate protection”

Deutsche Bahn has set itself a new, ambitious climate protection target. “By 2030 we will have reduced specific CO2 emissions worldwide by at least fifty percent. This is a major step toward becoming a completely climate-neutral group, which we will be in 2050,” said Dr. Richard Lutz, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Deutsche Bahn, in Berlin ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Bonn on November 6-17, 2017. “Rail travel equals climate protection. Rail is already the most climate-friendly mode of transport and we are continuing to expand this environmental advantage. Nothing less than the future of successive generations is at stake. That is why we are amplifying our efforts and responding actively to climate change and its impact.”

The next milestone is being targeted by DB Long Distance, in that every passenger will travel using 100 percent renewable power on and after January 1, 2018. As a result, some 140 million passengers annually will travel entirely CO2-free. Previously, this was only the case for holders of BahnCards or monthly and annual passes and passengers who had paid an additional euro for green energy on each leg of their journey. Since 2013, DB Long Distance has invested around 100 million euros in sustainable wind and hydroelectric power purchased in addition to regular energy. Deutsche Bahn intends to increase the share of power it uses from renewable sources in all of its rail operations (local, regional, long distance and freight), from 42 percent currently to 70 percent by 2030.

It was already a goal under the DB2020+ Group strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions by 30 percent by 2020, relative to 2006 levels. The tangible and constant increase in renewable energy’s share in the traction current mix in particular is expected to lead to further reductions.

Deutsche Bahn has now launched the “Das ist grün” ("This is green") marketing campaign. More than 100 projects, addressing such wide-ranging topics as green long distance travel, biodiversity conservation and biodegradable workwear, are being presented in publications, at stations and on trains. By these means, DB is demonstrating the ecological nature of its products and services in all their diversity for the first time.

(Source: DB)

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Germany: Fifty percent less CO2 emitted by 2030

DB sets new climate protection target ahead of UN Climate Change Convention in Bonn

DB’s CEO Lutz: “Rail travel equals climate protection”

Deutsche Bahn has set itself a new, ambitious climate protection target. “By 2030 we will have reduced specific CO2 emissions worldwide by at least fifty percent. This is a major step toward becoming a completely climate-neutral group, which we will be in 2050,” said Dr. Richard Lutz, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Deutsche Bahn, in Berlin ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Bonn on November 6-17, 2017. “Rail travel equals climate protection. Rail is already the most climate-friendly mode of transport and we are continuing to expand this environmental advantage. Nothing less than the future of successive generations is at stake. That is why we are amplifying our efforts and responding actively to climate change and its impact.”

The next milestone is being targeted by DB Long Distance, in that every passenger will travel using 100 percent renewable power on and after January 1, 2018. As a result, some 140 million passengers annually will travel entirely CO2-free. Previously, this was only the case for holders of BahnCards or monthly and annual passes and passengers who had paid an additional euro for green energy on each leg of their journey. Since 2013, DB Long Distance has invested around 100 million euros in sustainable wind and hydroelectric power purchased in addition to regular energy. Deutsche Bahn intends to increase the share of power it uses from renewable sources in all of its rail operations (local, regional, long distance and freight), from 42 percent currently to 70 percent by 2030.

It was already a goal under the DB2020+ Group strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions by 30 percent by 2020, relative to 2006 levels. The tangible and constant increase in renewable energy’s share in the traction current mix in particular is expected to lead to further reductions.

Deutsche Bahn has now launched the “Das ist grün” ("This is green") marketing campaign. More than 100 projects, addressing such wide-ranging topics as green long distance travel, biodiversity conservation and biodegradable workwear, are being presented in publications, at stations and on trains. By these means, DB is demonstrating the ecological nature of its products and services in all their diversity for the first time.

(Source: DB)

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Global investment in rail not sufficient to reach climate goals

UIC has just released a paper analysing the development of global investment in rail infrastructure, differentiating by region and rail type. Subsequently, current investment in rail is compared with estimates by the International Energy Agency for the investment required to achieve the climate change “Beyond-2-Degree Scenario” (B2DS) of holding the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C and striving for 1.5°C.

The analysis of investments yielded several important insights, such as the following:

  • Globally, almost 1500 rail infrastructure projects worth at least $ 2.1 trillion are planned or under construction (not including about $ 80 billion for current rolling stock procurement projects), amounting to a total of 140’000km.
  • Out of this, over 500 heavy rail projects account for 57,000km of track under construction (or expansion/renewal) 65,000km of track planned and $ 1.2 trillion of announced investments. The overwhelming share (85%) of both current and future developments falls on low and middle-income countries, particularly in Asia (almost 50%).
  • China dominates current track under construction with 37% of all heavy rail, 61% of high-speed, 66% of metro and 21% of light rail track being built there.
  • Cost per km of track under construction varies considerably by region, rail type and project status. Interestingly, heavy rail (excl. high-speed) and light rail projects in planning stage on average budget a lower cost per km than those already under construction (globally -50% and -21%, respectively). But the reverse is true for high-speed (+120%) and metro projects (+42%). This tendency can be observed across all regions, although the exact figures vary strongly.

Despite some impressive developments, particularly of high-speed rail in China, the comparison with the IEA’s “Beyond-2-Degrees-Scenario” indicates that a massive increase in railway infrastructure investment is needed to achieve this ambitious target. While investments in high-speed and metro networks are already going in the right direction, there appears to be a significant lack of investment for regular heavy rail, particularly commuter rail. The investment gap is especially large for low- and mid-income countries with quickly urbanising societies, which would strongly benefit from high-capacity commuter rail systems to ease congestion and other transport related challenges. Early and strategic planning to integrate commuter rail into public transport systems is advisable, to avoid increasing costs as cities and economies develop.

The analysis was conducted in cooperation with International Railway Journal (IRJ), who provided their IRJ Pro database for analysis.

http://uic.org/IMG/pdf/analysis_of_global_rail_infrastructure_investment.pdf

For further information please contact Linus Grob:

grob at uic.org

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Global investment in rail not sufficient to reach climate goals

UIC has just released a paper analysing the development of global investment in rail infrastructure, differentiating by region and rail type. Subsequently, current investment in rail is compared with estimates by the International Energy Agency for the investment required to achieve the climate change “Beyond-2-Degree Scenario” (B2DS) of holding the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C and striving for 1.5°C.

The analysis of investments yielded several important insights, such as the following:

  • Globally, almost 1500 rail infrastructure projects worth at least $ 2.1 trillion are planned or under construction (not including about $ 80 billion for current rolling stock procurement projects), amounting to a total of 140’000km.
  • Out of this, over 500 heavy rail projects account for 57,000km of track under construction (or expansion/renewal) 65,000km of track planned and $ 1.2 trillion of announced investments. The overwhelming share (85%) of both current and future developments falls on low and middle-income countries, particularly in Asia (almost 50%).
  • China dominates current track under construction with 37% of all heavy rail, 61% of high-speed, 66% of metro and 21% of light rail track being built there.
  • Cost per km of track under construction varies considerably by region, rail type and project status. Interestingly, heavy rail (excl. high-speed) and light rail projects in planning stage on average budget a lower cost per km than those already under construction (globally -50% and -21%, respectively). But the reverse is true for high-speed (+120%) and metro projects (+42%). This tendency can be observed across all regions, although the exact figures vary strongly.

Despite some impressive developments, particularly of high-speed rail in China, the comparison with the IEA’s “Beyond-2-Degrees-Scenario” indicates that a massive increase in railway infrastructure investment is needed to achieve this ambitious target. While investments in high-speed and metro networks are already going in the right direction, there appears to be a significant lack of investment for regular heavy rail, particularly commuter rail. The investment gap is especially large for low- and mid-income countries with quickly urbanising societies, which would strongly benefit from high-capacity commuter rail systems to ease congestion and other transport related challenges. Early and strategic planning to integrate commuter rail into public transport systems is advisable, to avoid increasing costs as cities and economies develop.

The analysis was conducted in cooperation with International Railway Journal (IRJ), who provided their IRJ Pro database for analysis.

http://uic.org/IMG/pdf/analysis_of_global_rail_infrastructure_investment.pdf

For further information please contact Linus Grob:

grob at uic.org

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Global Rail and Energy Workshop jointly held by the IEA and UIC on 24 September 2018 in Paris

Following a decision by the IEA (International Energy Agency) and UIC to publish a new report in January 2019 entitled The Future of Rail which aims to analyse existing railway and energy use, as well as support the transition to a cleaner energy and transport system, the two organisations hosted a joint workshop on 24 September at UIC headquarters in order to combine and consolidate the strategic guidance and technical input of decision-makers and experts from across the globe.

The workshop aimed to reflect on the current state-of-play for railways in different countries and review possible drivers and bottlenecks to enhance rail’s future role, with a special focus on rail transport development in India.

Attending the event were around 80 participants representing the railways, transport authorities, EU institutions, industry and academia.

The workshop was opened by the Executive Director of the IEA, and Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said that environmental issues and sustainable mobilty are embedded in the core functions of UIC and form part of its values.
He said: “It is UIC’s responsibility to promote innovation and new developments, provide space for exchanging experience and best practice – this is why we are here today.”
Mr Loubinoux thanked the IEA for helping to organise the workshop and said that international cooperation is the only way to achieve the demanding goals we have set for ourselves.

The IEA gave an initial overview of the day’s workshop, which consisted of four themed sessions, followed by question-and-answer opportunities in between, addressing primarily:

  • The current role of rail transport
  • The future of rail – drivers and bottlenecks
  • Opportunities and challenges for increasing the role of rail
  • The role of rail for India’s development objectives

In Session 1, representatives from Italy, Japan, Switzerland and Russia identified the role that rail transport plays today in their countries and described their goals, strategies and projects to support transport and energy policy. They stressed that rail development is vital for overall growth in mobility and that it is important to address the challenges of investing in rail infrastructure and creating the right incentives.

In Session 2, representatives from Europe, South Africa and Korea looked at rail’s outlook, how it can satisfy future demand for passenger and freight transport and overcome the challenges of future deployment. The speakers highlighted the key drivers for the rail industry, notably with regard to urbanisation and environmental concerns. To overcome future challenges, they mentioned technical solutions to reduce energy consumption, developments in energy management to improve the energy efficiency of urban transport networks, how to increase rail capacity, offering door-to-door transport chains, and how to improve passenger experience.

Session 3 featured representatives from the UK and a number of European countries. The speakers talked about how we can help increase the role of rail in the transport system of the future. Among the examples mentioned was that of the commuter and regional business in terms of passenger volumes and efficiency in urban areas. They also mentioned the various market segments, comparing high speed rail with aviation and how rail transport can be a real alternative in terms of cost, safety, comfort, time efficiency and environmental performance. The challenges evoked, however, included investment in infrastructure, flexibility and convenience.

In the fourth and final session focusing specifically on the case of India, representatives spoke about key opportunities and bottlenecks for a cleaner and more inclusive Indian railway system. Among the points raised were rail versus road, the passenger and freight business, network capacity enhancement, investment, IT developments and urban rail. With regard to mobility and land planning strategies, projects included high speed rail lines which would make better use of land and be more energy efficient. The issue of the transport sector’s role in carbon emission reduction in India was also addressed, as well as future strategies for increasing rail’s market share.

The sessions concluded with a round-the-table discussion chaired by the IEA of the key issues and messages that should be included as advice to policy makers in the forthcoming IEA/UIC publication. These included the areas of freight productivity, sustainability targets and emissions forecasting, infrastructure funding, marketing issues, customer service, modal integration, societal changes, and government-backed policies.

The meeting ended with a few words by the UIC panel, who thanked the participants for attending and the IEA for their co-organisation.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Global Rail and Energy Workshop to be held on 24 September 2018 at UIC in Paris headquarters

Railways are an important means of transport. At a global level, they cover nearly 7% of annual passenger and freight volumes. Many emerging economies in particular are looking increasingly at railways to further support travel activity; since 2000, global passenger volumes have grown by nearly 50% to more than three trillion passenger-kilometres, primarily driven by China and India. The related energy use is modest in comparison; only around 2% of transport fuel use is in rail, primarily consisting of oil and electricity. This makes rail transport one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport today.

Railways have the potential to play an even more important role for satisfying growing future needs for transport, and in a potentially more energy-efficient and cleaner way than other modes. The theoretical scope is vast: rail can satisfy urban passenger mobility needs at low speed just as well as inter-urban travel demand at very high speed; similarly, rail can satisfy demand for the transport of commodities and goods. This is why the International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have decided to work together on a new publication that aims to analyse the current state of railway and energy use, as well as its future prospects to support the transition to a cleaner energy and transport system.

As part of this study, the IEA and UIC are hosting a high-level workshop to bring together decision makers and experts from around the world to provide strategic guidance as well as technical input. The goal of the workshop is to reflect on the current state of play for railways in different countries and the existing enabling frameworks; a review of possible drivers and bottlenecks for enhancing the future role of railways; relevant considerations for railway transport towards a cleaner and more inclusive global transport sector; and a deep dive into the case of India and the unique opportunities for the country’s development that could emerge from expanding railway transport.

The workshop follows the Chatham House Rule: participants are free to use the information received, but without attribution to specific speakers or participants.

Participation is by invitation only. For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Global Rail and Energy Workshop to be held on 24 September 2018 at UIC in Paris headquarters

Railways are an important means of transport. At a global level, they cover nearly 7% of annual passenger and freight volumes. Many emerging economies in particular are looking increasingly at railways to further support travel activity; since 2000, global passenger volumes have grown by nearly 50% to more than three trillion passenger-kilometres, primarily driven by China and India. The related energy use is modest in comparison; only around 2% of transport fuel use is in rail, primarily consisting of oil and electricity. This makes rail transport one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport today.

Railways have the potential to play an even more important role for satisfying growing future needs for transport, and in a potentially more energy-efficient and cleaner way than other modes. The theoretical scope is vast: rail can satisfy urban passenger mobility needs at low speed just as well as inter-urban travel demand at very high speed; similarly, rail can satisfy demand for the transport of commodities and goods. This is why the International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have decided to work together on a new publication that aims to analyse the current state of railway and energy use, as well as its future prospects to support the transition to a cleaner energy and transport system.

As part of this study, the IEA and UIC are hosting a high-level workshop to bring together decision makers and experts from around the world to provide strategic guidance as well as technical input. The goal of the workshop is to reflect on the current state of play for railways in different countries and the existing enabling frameworks; a review of possible drivers and bottlenecks for enhancing the future role of railways; relevant considerations for railway transport towards a cleaner and more inclusive global transport sector; and a deep dive into the case of India and the unique opportunities for the country’s development that could emerge from expanding railway transport.

The workshop follows the Chatham House Rule: participants are free to use the information received, but without attribution to specific speakers or participants.

The event is free of charge – please register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-rail-and-energy-workshop

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Global Rail and Energy Workshop to be held on 24 September 2018 at UIC Paris headquarters

Railways are an important means of transport. At a global level, they cover nearly 7% of annual passenger and freight volumes. Many emerging economies in particular are looking increasingly at railways to further support travel activity; since 2000, global passenger volumes have grown by nearly 50% to more than three trillion passenger-kilometres, primarily driven by China and India. The related energy use is modest in comparison; only around 2% of transport fuel use is in rail, primarily consisting of oil and electricity. This makes rail transport one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport today.

Railways have the potential to play an even more important role for satisfying growing future needs for transport, and in a potentially more energy-efficient and cleaner way than other modes. The theoretical scope is vast: rail can satisfy urban passenger mobility needs at low speed just as well as inter-urban travel demand at very high speed; similarly, rail can satisfy demand for the transport of commodities and goods. This is why the International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have decided to work together on a new publication that aims to analyse the current state of railway and energy use, as well as its future prospects to support the transition to a cleaner energy and transport system.

As part of this study, the IEA and UIC are hosting a high-level workshop to bring together decision makers and experts from around the world to provide strategic guidance as well as technical input. The goal of the workshop is to reflect on the current state of play for railways in different countries and the existing enabling frameworks; a review of possible drivers and bottlenecks for enhancing the future role of railways; relevant considerations for railway transport towards a cleaner and more inclusive global transport sector; and a deep dive into the case of India and the unique opportunities for the country’s development that could emerge from expanding railway transport.

The workshop follows the Chatham House Rule: participants are free to use the information received, but without attribution to specific speakers or participants.

The event is free of charge – please register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-rail-and-energy-workshop

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Global Rail and Energy Workshop to be held on 24 September 2018 at UIC Paris headquarters

Railways are an important means of transport. At a global level, they cover nearly 7% of annual passenger and freight volumes. Many emerging economies in particular are looking increasingly at railways to further support travel activity; since 2000, global passenger volumes have grown by nearly 50% to more than three trillion passenger-kilometres, primarily driven by China and India. The related energy use is modest in comparison; only around 2% of transport fuel use is in rail, primarily consisting of oil and electricity. This makes rail transport one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport today.

Railways have the potential to play an even more important role for satisfying growing future needs for transport, and in a potentially more energy-efficient and cleaner way than other modes. The theoretical scope is vast: rail can satisfy urban passenger mobility needs at low speed just as well as inter-urban travel demand at very high speed; similarly, rail can satisfy demand for the transport of commodities and goods. This is why the International Energy Agency (IEA) and UIC have decided to work together on a new publication that aims to analyse the current state of railway and energy use, as well as its future prospects to support the transition to a cleaner energy and transport system.

As part of this study, the IEA and UIC are hosting a high-level workshop to bring together decision makers and experts from around the world to provide strategic guidance as well as technical input. The goal of the workshop is to reflect on the current state of play for railways in different countries and the existing enabling frameworks; a review of possible drivers and bottlenecks for enhancing the future role of railways; relevant considerations for railway transport towards a cleaner and more inclusive global transport sector; and a deep dive into the case of India and the unique opportunities for the country’s development that could emerge from expanding railway transport.

The workshop follows the Chatham House Rule: participants are free to use the information received, but without attribution to specific speakers or participants.

The event is free of charge – please register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-rail-and-energy-workshop

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce gets to work

The Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce met for the second time last week, chaired by Patrice Couchard, Director of General Stations at SNCB/NMBS and moderated by Lucie Anderton, Head of the UIC Sustainability Unit. This new taskforce, with representation from Asia-Pacific, North America, the Middle East and Africa, has begun work to create a global vision for 2030, setting out the role of the railways in getting on track to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

François Davenne, UIC Director General, gave an opening speech highlighting the growing momentum of the taskforce and noted that the current period is an important one in co-creating a common narrative for rail as the backbone of mobility, including freight. At the upcoming COP26, “We have to make the case for rail ourselves”, he urged.

Philip Turner, Head of Sustainable Development at UITP, also took the floor and spoke about the process for event space application at the COP26 event, stressing the importance of playing a role as a sector. He explained the importance of organisations coming together with similar messages.

Very interesting presentations were then given by Balaji Bashyam, Digital Transformation in Travel, Transportation and Hospitality, Tata Consulting, who presented the digital megatrends driving change in mobility, and Marc Guigon, UIC Passenger Director and Coordinator of the UIC Covid-19 Taskforce, who spoke about the UIC study on the “new normal”. Mr Guigon presented an overview of mobility megatrends affected by the Covid-19 crisis, particularly in relation to high-speed infrastructure development, market liberalisation, sustainability and social concerns, public financing and evolution of mobility behaviour.

The taskforce then set to work to develop the new common vision of rail for 2030, focusing on four main themes:

  • Cities and land planning: the role of railways in transforming cities and planning of land use
  • Energy, technology and innovation: our part in the renewables revolution, phasing out diesel and zero-carbon stations
  • Intermodality and seamless connection: physical and digital connectivity with other modes for a door-to-door service and greater system resilience
  • Customer experience: cultural transformation of rail toward a more customer-focused service to meet the needs of freight and passengers

This new vision will be used for UIC’s targeted communications and events in the lead-up to and at COP26 in Glasgow in November this year. The next meeting of the Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce will be held on 9 September.

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, at anderton at uic.org

See the full article

Green corridors: the UIC Sustainable Land Use Sector presents the TRISTRAM final report

Sustainable land management plays a major role in reducing negative impacts on the environment, but can also offer benefits in terms of operational safety and weather resilience. The railways occupy, own and manage a large and diverse estate, and the way this land is managed can make a big difference to safe and reliable services, as well as the wildlife that lives on and near the land. Neglecting railway vegetation management poses potential risks for the track structure, as well as operational and personal safety.

This new report describes trends and alternative methods to conventional, chemical herbicide-based treatments used in traditional vegetation control, as well as future perspectives and opportunities. It also provides detailed information on the regulatory framework and the need for transformation in vegetation control in European railways.

The UIC Sustainability Unit and its members commissioned IZT GmbH to produce the TRISTRAM report on the current state of the art. It was developed on the basis of an online survey on the TRISTRAM project website with the active engagement of members and steered by UIC’s Vegetation Management Working Group. This comprehensive report on the current status and the future of vegetation control has been approved by European railways.

Target audience

The report will be useful to anyone interested in railway maintenance, and lineside vegetation management in particular. It will also be useful for EU and national policy-makers involved in sustainable land use, representatives of railway companies and vegetation management specialists, as well as other interested parties such as suppliers, environmental NGOs or citizens who wish to know more about why and how the railways need to manage vegetation on their tracks.

Key elements for a sustainable lineside

Updating and taking forward the recommendations of the UIC Strategy on Future Vegetation Control published in 2020, the findings from TRISTRAM indicate that rather than a single solution, there is a need to adopt a more integrated, flexible, multi-approach method. It is clear that a more environmentally-sensitive holistic strategy is required for vegetation control. With this in mind, the strategy comprises the following key steps:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standards
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • Digital tools

The final TRISTRAM report, entitled Future Vegetation Control of European Railways – State-of-the-Art Report, sets the main goal for European railways as “avoiding the use of chemicals wherever possible and minimising environmental impacts and risks to human health”. The report states that European railways are a pioneering sector in the transition from widespread herbicide use to herbicide-free land use management. Railway digitalisation also plays a role in vegetation control methods, and the report highlights some examples of the use of highly-automated technical solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

The report calls on the European Commission to foster technical research on environmentally friendly technologies for vegetation management methods and to improve a number of alternative methods for railways. The new initiatives following Shift2Rail should cover this environmental topic.

Railways will continue to research cost-effective measures to ensure their competitiveness. This report highlights the urgent need to make railways more sustainable and remain open to any innovative new approaches that may arise. In the coming year, members of the UIC Sustainable Land Use Sector will aim to further improve their overall environmental performance, with a special focus on sustainable land use in general integrated vegetation control, biodiversity, and soil and water quality.

Access the report

The report is presented on the project website: https://uic.org/projects/article/tristram and can be consulted at https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/uic_future_vegetation_control_of_european_railways.pdf

For more information on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Sector’s ongoing activities, please visit https://uic.org/sustainable-development/sustainable-land-use/

For further information, please contact Pınar Yılmazer: yilmazer at uic.org

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Heading to Climate Conference COP23 – UIC took the “Train to Bonn”

A UIC delegation was invited to board the “Train to Bonn” dedicated train, coordinated by Deutsch Bahn on 4 November 2017. UIC was represented by a small delegation including its Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.

The event welcomed on board politicians such as Dr Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as well as DB employees, non-profit organisations and representatives of the private sector as well as international organisations like UIC. The “Train to Bonn” was organised with different coaches with a specific conference area in the centre. Throughout the day speakers from different countries took the floor in front of an active audience.

Dr Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, presented DB commitments to fight climate change, including: fifty percent less CO2 emitted by 2030 and long-distance transport to use 100% renewable power starting in 2018. “There is one mother earth, take action now”, he said.

Apart from transport commitments, the train was also the opportunity to raise awareness about oceans – the important theme this year under the Fiji presidency of COP23, in the presence on board of Tafue Lusama, President of Red Cross society of Tuvalu and Frances Namoumou, from the Pacific Church Council. Representatives of the Fiji islands and spokespersons from the Pacific islands presented their views on the urgency of actions to fight climate change and prevent the rise of sea levels.

Topics from effects of climate change to resilience, mitigation and adaptation were debated, as well as corporate and public partnerships, and insurance aspects and actions on the ground, in the face of climate change in developed and developing countries.

UIC took the opportunity during this trip to emphasise UIC’s global perspective on the importance of railways in the fight against climate change. UIC acknowledged the announcement as well regarding DB setting new ambitious climate protection targets ahead of COP23. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, General Director of UIC said about this news: “that those targets are a perfect fit and compliment the UIC targets.” UIC declared major collaborations in 2017, one with the International Energy Agency with the annual publication of the Railway Handbook and the collaboration with the International Railway Journal for a Global Register of Modal Shift projects. After stressing the importance of investment in rail, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux reminded the audience of the successful work of UIC in the discussion around mitigation and especially adaptation with dedicated workshops in London, Beijing and Agadir in 2017.

UIC Director General concluded his speech by wishing a successful two weeks to all negotiators for this COP23 “where the interests of all the people of the world come together”.

UIC at COP23
The conference of parties is taking place from 6 – 17 November in Bonn. As in previous editions, UIC is actively participating as an accredited organisation by the United Nations.

On the 9 November, UIC will participate in the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation side event from 3pm to 4.30pm in the Bonn zone. Nicholas Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit will contribute to the high-level panel on measuring adaptation.

On 10 November, UIC will host a side event with Eurelectric (Union of the Electricity Industry) and UITP (International Union of Public Transport) in the Bonn Zone from 4.45pm to 6.15pm: Bright Future: The Value of Electricity for a Decarbonised Economy and Transport Sector. The event will bring together representatives from electricity and sustainable transport sectors, industry, investors and civil society, to engage on value of electrification for sustainable global development.
Speakers will present strategic low-carbon electricity projects showing potential of electrification in sustainable transport.

UIC will strongly contribute to the Transport Thematic Day on 11 November in the Bonn Zone from 9am to 16.45pm. Global Climate Action (GCA) Transport Thematic Day will take stock of recent developments and through a combination of plenary and more in-depth sessions on specific topics arrive at recommendations for countries, and other stakeholders that can guide the transport sector in the development of effective actions on transport and climate change. UIC will coordinate sessions on Sustainable Freight at 11.30am and Adaptation at 13.45. The full programme can be found here:

http://unfccc.int/files/paris_agreement/application/pdf/gca_cop23_detailed_programme.pdf

On 13 November, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC will participate in the High-Level Event Global Climate Action Agenda in the session: Creating Green and Inclusive Transport for Liveable and Resilient Cities. This event will focus on sustainable transport development opportunities as envisaged by the sustainable development goal 11.2. The whole High-Level event will show how the engagement of Human Settlements stakeholders has shifted into an implementation phase since the adoption of the Paris Agreement (PA) and the Sustainable Development Goal on Cities and Human Settlements (SDG11). The different sessions will highlight efforts to mainstream activities into a one action agenda. Transport plays a significant role in shaping cities and as the urgency to develop liveable and resilient cities grows, it is increasingly important to implement green and inclusive transport measures.

Follow us on Twitter for the last updates on COP23: RailSust-UIC @SustRail

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Heading to Climate Conference COP23 – UIC took the “Train to Bonn”

A UIC delegation was invited to board the “Train to Bonn” dedicated train, coordinated by Deutsch Bahn on 4 November 2017. UIC was represented by a small delegation including its Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.

The event welcomed on board politicians such as Dr Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as well as DB employees, non-profit organisations and representatives of the private sector as well as international organisations like UIC. The “Train to Bonn” was organised with different coaches with a specific conference area in the centre. Throughout the day speakers from different countries took the floor in front of an active audience.

Dr Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, presented DB commitments to fight climate change, including: fifty percent less CO2 emitted by 2030 and long-distance transport to use 100% renewable power starting in 2018. “There is one mother earth, take action now”, he said.

Apart from transport commitments, the train was also the opportunity to raise awareness about oceans – the important theme this year under the Fiji presidency of COP23, in the presence on board of Tafue Lusama, President of Red Cross society of Tuvalu and Frances Namoumou, from the Pacific Church Council. Representatives of the Fiji islands and spokespersons from the Pacific islands presented their views on the urgency of actions to fight climate change and prevent the rise of sea levels.

Topics from effects of climate change to resilience, mitigation and adaptation were debated, as well as corporate and public partnerships, and insurance aspects and actions on the ground, in the face of climate change in developed and developing countries.

UIC took the opportunity during this trip to emphasise UIC’s global perspective on the importance of railways in the fight against climate change. UIC acknowledged the announcement as well regarding DB setting new ambitious climate protection targets ahead of COP23. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, General Director of UIC said about this news: “that those targets are a perfect fit and compliment the UIC targets.” UIC declared major collaborations in 2017, one with the International Energy Agency with the annual publication of the Railway Handbook and the collaboration with the International Railway Journal for a Global Register of Modal Shift projects. After stressing the importance of investment in rail, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux reminded the audience of the successful work of UIC in the discussion around mitigation and especially adaptation with dedicated workshops in London, Beijing and Agadir in 2017.

UIC Director General concluded his speech by wishing a successful two weeks to all negotiators for this COP23 “where the interests of all the people of the world come together”.

UIC at COP23
The conference of parties is taking place from 6 – 17 November in Bonn. As in previous editions, UIC is actively participating as an accredited organisation by the United Nations.

On 9 November, UIC will participate in the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation side event from 3pm to 4.30pm in the Bonn zone. Nicholas Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit will contribute to the high-level panel on measuring adaptation.

On 10 November, UIC will host a side event with Eurelectric (Union of the Electricity Industry) and UITP (International Union of Public Transport) in the Bonn Zone from 4.45pm to 6.15pm: Bright Future: The Value of Electricity for a Decarbonised Economy and Transport Sector. The event will bring together representatives from electricity and sustainable transport sectors, industry, investors and civil society, to engage on value of electrification for sustainable global development.
Speakers will present strategic low-carbon electricity projects showing potential of electrification in sustainable transport.

UIC will strongly contribute to the Transport Thematic Day on 11 November in the Bonn Zone from 9am to 16.45pm. Global Climate Action (GCA) Transport Thematic Day will take stock of recent developments and through a combination of plenary and more in-depth sessions on specific topics arrive at recommendations for countries, and other stakeholders that can guide the transport sector in the development of effective actions on transport and climate change. UIC will coordinate sessions on Sustainable Freight at 11.30am and Adaptation at 13.45. The full programme can be found here:

http://unfccc.int/files/paris_agreement/application/pdf/gca_cop23_detailed_programme.pdf

On 13 November, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC will participate in the High-Level Event Global Climate Action Agenda in the session: Creating Green and Inclusive Transport for Liveable and Resilient Cities. This event will focus on sustainable transport development opportunities as envisaged by the sustainable development goal 11.2. The whole High-Level event will show how the engagement of Human Settlements stakeholders has shifted into an implementation phase since the adoption of the Paris Agreement (PA) and the Sustainable Development Goal on Cities and Human Settlements (SDG11). The different sessions will highlight efforts to mainstream activities into a one action agenda. Transport plays a significant role in shaping cities and as the urgency to develop liveable and resilient cities grows, it is increasingly important to implement green and inclusive transport measures.

Follow us on Twitter for the last updates on COP23: RailSust-UIC @SustRail

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Heading to Climate Conference COP23 – UIC took the “Train to Bonn”

A UIC delegation was invited to board the “Train to Bonn” dedicated train, coordinated by Deutsch Bahn on 4 November 2017. UIC was represented by a small delegation including its Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.

The event welcomed on board politicians such as Dr Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as well as DB employees, non-profit organisations and representatives of the private sector as well as international organisations like UIC. The “Train to Bonn” was organised with different coaches with a specific conference area in the centre. Throughout the day speakers from different countries took the floor in front of an active audience.

Dr Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, presented DB commitments to fight climate change, including: fifty percent less CO2 emitted by 2030 and long-distance transport to use 100% renewable power starting in 2018. “There is one mother earth, take action now”, he said.

Apart from transport commitments, the train was also the opportunity to raise awareness about oceans – the important theme this year under the Fiji presidency of COP23, in the presence on board of Tafue Lusama, President of Red Cross society of Tuvalu and Frances Namoumou, from the Pacific Church Council. Representatives of the Fiji islands and spokespersons from the Pacific islands presented their views on the urgency of actions to fight climate change and prevent the rise of sea levels.

Topics from effects of climate change to resilience, mitigation and adaptation were debated, as well as corporate and public partnerships, and insurance aspects and actions on the ground, in the face of climate change in developed and developing countries.

UIC took the opportunity during this trip to emphasise UIC’s global perspective on the importance of railways in the fight against climate change. UIC acknowledged the announcement as well regarding DB setting new ambitious climate protection targets ahead of COP23. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, General Director of UIC said about this news: “that those targets are a perfect fit and compliment the UIC targets.” UIC declared major collaborations in 2017, one with the International Energy Agency with the annual publication of the Railway Handbook and the collaboration with the International Railway Journal for a Global Register of Modal Shift projects. After stressing the importance of investment in rail, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux reminded the audience of the successful work of UIC in the discussion around mitigation and especially adaptation with dedicated workshops in London, Beijing and Agadir in 2017.

UIC Director General concluded his speech by wishing a successful two weeks to all negotiators for this COP23 “where the interests of all the people of the world come together”.

UIC at COP23

The conference of parties will end on 16 November in Bonn, Germany. As in previous editions, UIC actively participated as an accredited organisation by the United Nations. UIC also signed a partnership agreement with UNFCCC for COP23 and this document was signed by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux in person along with Alain Flausch, Secretary General of UITP during COP23.

On 9 November, UIC participated in the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation side event the Bonn zone. Nicholas Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit contributed to the high-level panel on measuring adaptation. On 10 November, UIC host a side event with Eurelectric (Union of the Electricity Industry) and UITP (International Union of Public Transport) in the Bonn Zone. Bright Future: The Value of Electricity for a Decarbonised Economy and Transport Sector. The event brought together representatives from electricity and sustainable transport sectors, industry, investors and civil society, to engage on value of electrification for sustainable global development. Speakers presented strategic low-carbon electricity projects showing potential of electrification in sustainable transport.

UIC actively contributed to the Transport Thematic Day on 11 November in the Bonn Zone. Global Climate Action (GCA) Transport Thematic Day took stock of recent developments and through a combination of plenary and breakout sessions on specific topics to reach at recommendations for countries, and other stakeholders that can help and support the transport sector in the development of effective actions on transport and climate change. UIC coordinated the sessions on sustainable freight and adaptation of infrastructure. The outcome for the freight session were as follows:

  • Freight emissions are projected to overtake passenger emissions, requiring urgent attention
  • Cooperation and partnerships are vital to support multimodal solutions particularly for international freight/shipping/logistics
  • Modal shift is an important part of the solution, e.g. to increase inter alia rail and cycling
  • We need strong political frameworks to set the right incentives and strong standards and we need companies to implement them and governments to back them, e.g. for fuel efficiency standards
  • We need full and transparent disclosure of carbon emissions form the whole logistics chain

For the adaptation session the outcome was as follows:

  • The transport & climate change policy and funding need better balance between adaptation and mitigation
  • There is an emerging transport adaptation knowledge base, with ports & inland waterways, road and rail taking the lead, this can help governments to deliver their NDCs and raise ambition
  • We need to better quantify the risks and benefits relating to adaptation, (concerning social, environmental and economic aspects) in order to enable better decision making
  • Adaptation must be mainstreamed into every-day infrastructure management and maintenance – it is not a special project
  • International co-operation, e.g. the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation, has an important role to play in supporting capacity building
  • Governments have an important role to play in supporting co-ordination between transport modes & other stakeholders (e.g. power supply, etc.) to ensure coherence & whole-system thinking, this could be included in future revisions of NDCs

UIC would like to thank all participants and speakers as well as the International Transport Forum (ITF), the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) and the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) for the fruitful collaboration in preparation for COP23.

To provide stronger political leadership necessary to spearhead the transformation of transport a new Transport Decarbonisation Alliance (TDA) was established on 11 November. This new multi-stakeholder alliance will help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport by coordinating action and outreach between leading countries, cities and companies in their peer group communities in particular in the UNFCCC process.

On 13 November, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC participated in the High-Level Event Global Climate Action Agenda in the session: Creating Green and Inclusive Transport for Liveable and Resilient Cities. The event focused on sustainable transport development opportunities as envisaged by the sustainable development goal 11.2. The different sessions highlighted efforts to mainstream activities into a one action agenda. Transport plays a significant role in shaping cities and as the urgency to develop livable and resilient cities grows, it is increasingly important to implement green and inclusive transport measures. “We all have to work together on sustainable, connected, integrated transport. Accessibility of stations is key for profitability of public transport” said Jean-Piere Loubinoux, Director General of UIC.

On the evening of the 13th, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux participated in the PPMC Talk show at the DHL Post Tower along with Pierpaolo Cazzola, Senior Energy and Transport Analyst, IEA and Lucila Capelli, Advisor, Ministry of Transport, Argentina. The Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) is organising daily talk shows about transport and climate change during the Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn. The talk shows are live-streamed on SLoCaT’s Facebook page from November 7 to 16 at 18:15 CET. The Talk Shows on Transport and Climate Change give updates on relevant negotiations at COP23 and discuss specific topics in detail with several experts. The sessions are moderated by Tracy Raczek.
http://bit.ly/2moWpAb

Follow us on Twitter for the lastest updates on COP23: RailSust-UIC @SustRail

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Hop on the Connecting Europe Express

UIC is very pleased to be able to play a prominent role in the European Year of Rail. We share the European Commission’s perspective that this a mechanism that will be able to support the delivery of the European Green Deal objectives.

A clear objective for the railways is the continued task of putting rail front and centre in people’s perspectives as the land transport mode of choice and promoting it as the backbone of future sustainable mobility.

Under the leadership of regional Chair Francisco Cardoso dos Reis, the European membership of the UIC has agreed that it is really important to ensure, especially after the past year, that we are attracting people of all generations and journey reasons back into our trains after the pandemic. The shape that future mobility will take is a core topic for the immediate future and te UIC is working within all our regions to ensure that the necessary ambition and vision is high on the agenda.

UIC is pleased to be putting together a really dynamic programme of events during the year, more details of which can be found here: uic.org/year-of-rail

The Connecting Europe Express, one of the European Year of Rail 2021’s most emblematic initiatives, was presented on 29 March during the official European Year of Rail kick-off conference, organised in cooperation with the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU. The event took on the eve of an informal meeting of EU transport ministers focusing on different ways to accelerate a modal shift to rail.

As of September, the Connecting Europe Express will travel across the EU and stop in most European capitals to promote the many benefits of rail - for passengers, freight and the environment. The project will also raise awareness of the importance of financing sustainable infrastructure such as rail, and EU support for such investment, including through the recently agreed new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), worth €33.7 billion, as part of the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027. The train’s journey is possible thanks to good cooperation between European rail operators and infrastructure managers.

Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “The Connecting Europe Express will be a real, tangible example of the power of rail to connect. At each of the almost 40 stops, events will bring together the rail sector at large, as well as civil society organisations, local and regional authorities, and the wider public, to discuss the benefits of rail, as well as what still has to be done so that rail can become the number one option for passengers and business.”

Strong efforts to further integrate and modernise the European railway network are key to rail playing its decisive role in driving a modal shift – that is to say, to encourage more people and businesses to use rail as one way in which to decarbonise transport. This would help the EU meet its ambitious carbon-neutrality objectives, as set out in the EU Green Deal and the European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. This potential is also why rail has such a central place within the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy.

Joined forces
The European Commission is teaming up with partners at EU and national level to explore ways to encourage the use of rail by both citizens and businesses, and to contribute to the EU Green Deal goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050. All events and other activities planned at local level are going to take into account local COVID-19 measures.

The Connecting Europe Express is unique in many ways. For example, railway companies from different EU Member States are providing rolling stock to configure this train. Coordinated by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Managers (CER), the project will be run not only in cooperation with European rail operators, but also infrastructure managers.

CER Chair and CEO of Austrian Federal Railways Andreas Matthä emphasised the significance of the joint project: "The Connecting Europe Express shows a strong commitment of the European Union and the European Member States reflecting the importance of the railway sector. Only by consistently shifting freight traffic to rail and expanding international long-distance passenger rail services will Europe be able to achieve its climate targets and make the European Green Deal an overall success.

Why rail
Modern railways are more relevant than ever for our sustainable and digital mobility transformation, and for regaining passengers’ trust in collective transport; this has been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rail is not only sustainable: it is also safe and innovative; it connects people, cities and regions all across the European Union.

It also has a strong European dimension: the EU has one of the most dense railway networks worldwide, and our rail industry and companies are world champions and a valuable source of jobs and growth in Europe.

European funding reflects rail’s key role for the future of transport. In the period 2014-2020, CEF Transport contributed to the decarbonisation of the European economy by investing heavily in environmentally friendly transport modes, including 266 railway actions across the EU. The CEF funding allocated to railway actions accounts for €16.3 billion, 72% of the total CEF Transport funding.

Organisations interested in organising an event or activity along the route are invited to share their ideas with the organising team via info at connectingeuropeexpress.eu

For regular updates on the Connecting Europe Express, visit https://www.connectingeuropeexpress.eu

(Source: https://ec.europa.eu/)

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In October, UIC will board the “Climate Train”, the first event in France to reach out to different audiences in the lead up to COP21

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UIC is pleased to announce that from 6 – 25 October 2015 it will board the “Climate Train” ("Train du Climat"), a travelling exhibition within city centres launched by Trains Expo Evénements SNCF, the events subsidiary of SNCF, which regularly runs themed trains such as the TV Train, Chocolate Train, Historic Train, etc. This train is supported by the French Ministry of Education in partnership with UNESCO.
Each stop made by the train in one of the 19 towns and 13 regions across France will be an opportunity to bring together all the economic, political and associative stakeholders around the issue of climate change.

The “Climate Train”, endorsed by the COP21 Intergovernmental Committee, will be a national event as part of France’s Science Day, taking place from 7 – 11 October 2015. Three coaches will be dedicated to partner companies or organisations, including UIC.

The train will be able to hold 4000 to 10,000 visitors a day. School groups will also be welcome on board. The 350 metre-long train, will be composed of 14 coaches, three of which will be dedicated to a fun and educational exhibition developed by scientists and researchers, and three “Village” coaches, where partners involved in climate issues will be able to showcase their initiatives in the fight against climate change to preserve the planet. These include Armonia, AXA, Cirad (French agricultural research and international cooperation organisation), CNES (National Centre for Space Studies), eGreen, Génius, Lehning Laboritories, Lucibel, Michelin, the Union of Chemical Industries, as well as the International Union of Railways.

For UIC, which will coordinate a synchronised network of trains across Europe, Asia and Russia just before the start of the COP21 negotiations under the global campaign known as “Train to Paris”, the “Climate Train” is a way of reaching out to the French public and showing that UIC has been committed to the climate change issue for several years now, by leading long-term initiatives to develop sustainable transport systems at global level. This event will also serve as an opportunity for UIC to meet the school sector, which is less familiar with UIC’s activities, and to foster an educational dialogue with future generations, for which climate change is also a relevant issue.

“Train to Paris”: UIC’s global campaign

At the end of November, trains are scheduled to depart from Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt, Brussels, Rotterdam, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Lisbon, Moscow, Beijing and Ulan Bator. These trains, which will bring delegations to the COP21 negotiations in Paris, are intended to highlight the importance of developing sustainable transport systems, forming part of the solution to climate change. This meeting of trains on 28 November 2015 will take place on the weekend preceding the COP21 negotiations. Among the events linked to this “Train to Paris”, UIC is planning to organise a unifying and symbolic event with high-level representation from the United Nations, the French government, the European Commission and the main stakeholders from the rail transport community, comprising both the private and public sectors.

Practical Information about the “Climate Train” – from 6 to 25 October 2015, France

Free unrestricted access – open to the public during the day (see opening hours on the website)

Follow the event on social media: #trainduclimat

Find out more about Trains Expo

Since 1972
In almost 40 years of business, Trains Expo Evénements SNCF has

  • Launched nearly 280 Trains Expo themed trains
  • Converted some 3000 coaches

Distance travelled
The Trains Expo themed trains have covered over 1 000,000 km of the French and European rail network

Logistics of an operation
A standard operation involves around 15 ports of call, around a dozen coaches and covers approximately 5000 km

Trains Expo website: www.trains-expo.fr – @TrainsExpo

To find our more about the UIC “Train to Paris” worldwide campaign – 28 November 2015

“Train to Paris” website: http://traintoparis.org/

Twitter: @trainCOP21

UIC website: www.uic.org

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International Green Transport Week tells the story of action in rail to turn mobility green

The International Green Transport Week has given us the opportunity to shout about how green trains really are. UIC kicked off the week with an article jointly penned with its partner, the International Union of Public Transport. The article conveys just how passionate we all are about the role of rail and public transport not only in decarbonising our economies but also in making our cities more liveable and mobility more accessible to greater numbers of people.

Read the article:

In a short animation, UIC, in partnership with Alstom, sets out a vision for rail travel in 2030. In the decade ahead, UIC and its members will undertake transformational projects; rail will be integral to this fourth industrial revolution and will embrace this new paradigm as a digital and renewable energy innovator. Train travel and logistics will be better connected and greener than ever and will transport more people and goods than ever before. UIC collates annual energy and emissions data from 70 passenger and freight railway companies and has seen sustained reductions in all measured emissions and a total reduction in energy consumption of 35% since 1990. The short videos shared on Wednesday and Thursday give some examples of how our members are already leading on decarbonisation and transforming their resource management processes from linear to circular.

This year’s EU Green Week topic of zero emissions has given us an opportunity to highlight our work in noise and vibration emissions. The Green Week also coincided with the biggest event in the United Nations Environment Programme – World Environment Day – on Saturday 5 June. This year the UN chose to focus on ecosystem restoration, which is wholeheartedly supported by UIC. The area around railway tracks is home to hundreds of rare animal and plant species, largely due to the lack of public access. Railways occupy, own and manage a large and diverse estate, and the way this land is managed can make a big difference to safe and reliable services, as well as the wildlife that lives on and near the land. Because of its linear, interconnected nature, rail-side habitats provide important corridors for wildlife, enabling movement of plants and species amongst often fragmented wildlife sites and making those sites more resilient. This habitat therefore represents an important biodiversity resource. A short video, shared on Friday 4 June, highlights two UIC projects on this topic: TRISTRAM and REVERSE.

The United Nations also recognises the role of public transport in halting biodiversity loss and has chosen to share this short video. Members are invited to use this UN message on digital media at stations and onboard trains.

In the lead-up to COP26 in November, UIC will work together with its partners and members to continue making the case for climate action with public transport.

UIC welcomes your support in spreading its message and conveying its collaborative efforts through your social media channels. Please do not hesitate to use the #InternationalGreenTransportWeek hashtag.

For more information, please visit our website: https://uic.org/events/international-green-transport-week

  • Rail event – Train journey of the future:
  • Rail event – Railways are becoming a better neighbour: a focus on noise and vibration:
  • Rail event – Railways: leading the transition toward zero-carbon mobility:
  • Rail event – Working towards a zero-waste railway: a focus on circular economy:
  • Rail event – Railways connecting wildlife as well as people and goods: a focus on biodiversity:

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton at anderton at uic.org

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Interview with Dr Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Mobility Division, Siemens AG

As a railway supplier, what impact does COP21 have on your development strategy?

It’s important that the G7 has agreed on global decarbonisation and that this consensus will be emphasised by a global agreement in Paris. To help decarbonise the world economy, Siemens Mobility will contribute with electrification, modal shifts and energy efficiency.

In order to reach decarbonisation goals, more and more rail traffic will have to be electrified – and the power will have to come from renewable sources. There will have to be an increase in modal shifts from road to rail, both for passenger and freight – and around the globe. These two factors present new markets and business opportunities for us. Of course, this also means having more variants to address the regionally differing markets. Energy cost is already a key buying factor for our customers today. So our intensified R&D efforts for increasing energy efficiency will undoubtedly pay off.

Energy efficiency has long been a central topic for us, and our Mobility location in Krefeld, Germany, offers a good example of what can be achieved. We have invested around four million euros there in things like a combined heat and power plant, and building automation and energy management systems. These measures have paid for themselves after just four years.

http://www.siemens.com/press/pool/de/feature/2015/corporate/2015-09-co2-neutral/infographic-four-steps-e.jpg

To illustrate the importance of climate protection for Siemens, we are proud of having achieved the highest possible score in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for the transparency of the Siemens’ reporting on the opportunities and risks associated with climate change.
By 2030, Siemens intends to become the world’s first major industrial concern to attain a neutral CO2 balance.

In your research and development strategy, what actions are specifically influenced by the objectives of sustainable development and climate change?

We have identified two major trends that drive the mobility business: urbanisation and demographic change. Both would lead to a major increase in energy consumption – unless we do something about it. Our efforts have begun with our rolling stock. We are steadily reducing the weight of car bodies and bogies, which makes them more energy-efficient and at the same time increases their payload. One good example here is our Desiro City train for the Thameslink line in Greater London. Through lightweight construction and intelligent systems, we were able to reduce the train’s weight by 25 percent – which makes it more energy-efficient. In fact, the trains use up to 50% less energy than comparable existing platforms.

http://www.siemens.com/press/pool/de/pressebilder/2014/infrastructure-cities/rail-systems/300dpi/soicrl201416-02_300dpi.jpg

http://www.siemens.com/press/en/feature/2015/mobility/2015-09-icx.php

Similarly, in our new ICx train, sophisticated innovations such as the combined use of lightweight trailer bogies with inside bearings and weight-optimised power bogies help reduce weight and energy consumption. The ICx uses up to 30% less energy per passenger than the ICE 1 and has a superior weight-to-seat ratio.

What cooperation do you expect from rail operators in this context to ensure the success of trains in the future?

It has always been our goal to comply with our customers’ wishes and to deliver the products they want. In our experience, railway operators care deeply about the future success of trains, and they know best what’s needed to ensure that success. So we listen to them, and when it comes to the sustainable operation of trains, they tell us that two things are key: increased throughput and increased capacity.

Our goal, then, is to innovate according to our customers’ wishes. One key factor in increasing a system’s capacity and throughput is digitalisation. Modern, fully automated CBTC-based train control systems, increase throughput and transport capacity for existing as well as new metro lines. And on mainline train operation, the Driver Advisory System (DAS) helps drivers by continually provided them with recommendations for improving their train’s operation. In the end, this improves the energy efficiency. In our Thameslink trains, for instance, which for the first time use a train control system combining ETCS level 2 and ATO, the DAS can combine wayside data such as permitted maximum speed, stations, and timetable data; and on the basis of this data, it calculates the optimal speed of a train and accordingly advises the driver visually and in real-time. The objective is to have each train driven on each route at an optimal speed in order to reduce energy consumption and wear on the trains. DAS achieves energy savings of around 15 percent.

We are convinced we have come nowhere near exhausting the potential of digitalisation in our business. Digitalisation offers unprecedented opportunities to make rail even more competitive and ecofriendly.

Biography

Dr Jochen Eickholt is CEO of Siemens Mobility Division (effective 1 October 2014).

Eickholt started his professional career in 1989 at Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology. In 1999 he joined Siemens, starting as CEO of Siemens Elektropristroje s.r.o. in the Czech Republic. After several executive positions within the sales and supply chain management of the Siemens Communications Business and as Board Member of BenQ Mobile International, Eickholt was appointed CEO of the Siemens Home and Office Communications GmbH in 2006. From 2009 – 2012 he served as CEO of the Rail Automation, Mobility & Logistics Division, Infrastructure & Cities Sector.

Eickholt studied electrical engineering at the Rhine-Westphalia University of Technology in Aachen in Germany and at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London.

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Interview with François Davenne, Director General of UIC

François Davenne, UIC Director General, tells us about the future of rail, the UIC Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge and the way mobility will be reshaped for the new generation.

To attract young people to the railways, we need to paint a clear picture to show that ten years from now mobility will be totally reshaped. By taking a partnership-based approach with public transport and local and national authorities, transport will become seamlessly connected, taking away the need for young people to own their own car. The key issue will be changing behaviour and transport usage by making it clear that a form of frugality must become a key principle if we want to achieve the challenging goal of decarbonation. Rail is part of the solution since it is currently the more frugal mode of transport in term of emissions, land use and life cycle, and will remain so for at least the next 15 years”.

Read his interview in the EYR newsletter: https://bit.ly/3DtVfXs

or here: https://bit.ly/3ytBqfi

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Interview with Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Executive Vice President, Alstom

As a railway supplier, what impact does COP21 have on your development strategy?

Let me begin by saying that, at Alstom, we adhere completely to the UNFCCC max. 2°C objective and are convinced that rail, as the most environmentally-friendly means of public transport, has a major role to play in achieving it. We also support fully the UIC’s “Low carbon rail transport challenge” and its inherent targets.

We have been focused for some years on the main issue of COP 21 – the reduction in CO2. We have achieved over the past decade reductions of up to 20 % in the energy consumption of our solutions (and therefore in the associated CO2 emissions) and a similar level of improvement in the energy intensity of our operations (factories, offices, etc.). Recently we committed to further reductions by 2020: -20% in our solutions and -10% in our operations (c.f. 2014 levels).

We are seeing a reinforcement of the trend towards environmental issues in general, and energy consumption in particular, having increased weight in the evaluation of tenders for train supply. We are convinced that our innovations in this area will give us competitive advantage.

Focusing on energy consumption is a win-win as it brings down the operation costs for our customers – the operators – whilst also reducing our own manufacturing costs.

So, Alstom’s strategy to combat climate change is to continuously improve our environmental performance, both in our operations and our offerings, through innovation and collaboration. We are focusing increasingly on opportunities with customers who put a realistic value on the environmental impact of the products and solutions that we offer to them.

In your research and development strategy, what actions are specifically influenced by the objectives of sustainable development and climate change?

Everything we do has an eye towards sustainable development and climate change. We apply an eco-design policy which takes these issues into account right through from the conceptual design phase; through manufacture; installation; operation; to the end of life phase where recyclability and recoverability are important issues.

A key to our strategy is to deploy the best available technologies. To mention just a few recent innovations, we are of course constantly looking to reduce energy consumption by reducing train weight; improving the efficiency of traction motors; providing driver assistance systems; optimising the auxiliaries. We have collaborative programmes in place with a selection of our customers which are helping us to understand better the energy consumption patterns of our trains and trams.

Alstom is currently developing entirely new types of trains, one example being a new regional train for Germany equipped with a fuel cell drive, a device that converts the energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction. Such trains will be completely emission-free and their noise level will be drastically reduced.

Furthermore, with electrical mobility in mind, we have developed SRS, which is a system to allow the rapid recharging of Trams with on-board energy storage at the station-stops using an underground connection system. This system can also be applied to electric buses.

Alongside this, we are working to take full advantage of the digital revolution by using smart real time data in order to optimise the operation of train fleets; match transport supply to demand; and make seamless the interface between transport modes. Each of these, and others besides, seek to reduce energy consumption whilst improving the passenger experience.

What cooperation do you expect from rail operators in this context to ensure the success of trains in the future?

Of all the energy-related CO2 emissions created by the transport sector, rail consumed only 3% whilst carrying 9% of the passengers and freight. So it is clear that rail has a major role to play as the least emitting means of mass public transport.

We are looking to work with our customers the operators in order to i) improve the attractiveness of rail (passenger comfort; matching supply to demand; seamless links to other modes; connectivity and information flow; network expansion etc.) ii) increase the rail network-km by accessing new financing sources iii) reduce further the environmental impact and the costs of rail. In particular, we welcome collaboration with the operators in order to pilot new technologies. We are looking for operators to express their sustainability requirements strongly in their requests for tender and to promote and reward innovations.

With the global population and road congestion rising; with the trend towards increased urbanisation; with the necessary focus of climate issues; we are convinced that the rail sector has a great future as a key element of global sustainable transport systems.

Biography

Henri Poupart-Lafarge has been Executive Vice President of Alstom since 2011. He was also President of Alstom Transport from 2011 until November 2015, at which time Alstom refocused on transport.

In 2010, Henri was appointed Executive Vice-President and President of Alstom Grid. From October 2004 to June 2010, he was Chief Financial Officer of Alstom and Member of the Executive Committee. From 2000 to 2004, he was Senior Vice President Finance for the Transmission and Distribution Sector. Henri joined Alstom in 1998.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge started his career in 1992 at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., before joining the French Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1994.

Born in France in 1969, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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Interview with Lutz Bertling, President of Bombardier Transportation

As a railway supplier, what impact does COP21 have on your strategy?

COP21 is exemplary to the fact that governments are taking climate change and environmental protection seriously. Given the high contribution of the transport segment on environmental matters, COP21 will emphasize the importance of sustainable modes of transport to respond to the challenges of global climate change – and rail transport as a real provider of e-mobility will be in the focus. The discussions at COP21 will impact transportation policies and regulations, as governments and cities are facing increased public pressure to take action. As a consequence, we expect support for a modal shift towards rail combined with incentives for all railway suppliers to continue to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption.

Bombardier, as a global leader in rail technology, has put a clear emphasis on these two areas and has been leading the way for many years. So, I clearly see COP21 confirming and possibly accelerating our strategy.

It is indeed our utmost priority to support our customers and other stakeholders reaching global climate goals and increasing the attractiveness of rail. We are committed to delivering the most environmentally friendly mobility solutions in order to connect people while preserving our planet. We are increasingly investing in innovative and eco-friendly technologies to reach our ambitious target. This is embedded in our ECO4 initiative – built on the four cornerstones of energy, efficiency, economy and ecology – which aims to reduce overall energy consumption by up to 50% compared to current solutions and to lower emissions by up to 80%.

In your research and development strategy, what actions are specifically influenced by the objectives of sustainable development and climate change?

At Bombardier, we are continuously pushing the boundaries. Environmental sustainability is a competitive differentiator for us and therefore an integral part of our product development and EcoDesign approach. As mentioned earlier, we significantly invest in research and technology to implement increasingly performing eco-friendly solutions throughout the rail sector. Close collaboration along the whole value chain is needed to reach global climate goals. From the early stages of our product development, we are working closely with public authorities, cities and rail operators to fulfil their demands and provide the most eco-efficient and sustainable products. More than ever, we work hand in hand with all our stakeholders to drive the modal shift from road to rail.

We also play a key role in Railsponsible, an industry initiative focusing on sustainable procurement practices. To meet our ambitious environmental targets, we will continue to strengthen our long-term partnerships with suppliers as well as universities to foster intensive research and successful collaboration in support of our innovation strategy. Already today, more than 95% of the materials in our rail vehicles are recoverable while recyclability of our products amounts to 93%. We will continue to use renewable resources and materials that are easier to separate and disassemble for a second life, as specified in our EcoDesign approach. Let me give you a few concrete examples:

Bombardier is the driving force in developing intermodal e-mobility solutions, helping operators to eliminate CO2 emissions and reduce operating costs. Our PRIMOVE inductive charging and energy storage technology, which has been developed for trams and light rail vehicles, is now being successfully implemented in buses and is about to become a standard in the car industry.

We are also setting new standards in reducing energy consumption for locomotives. Take our multi-engine diesel locomotives. Instead of one big engine and generator, we are using four smaller ones, but we are using only as many engines in operation as needed at a certain point in time, which brings energy consumption down to a totally different level. Our highly innovative generation of TRAXX AC locomotives features both a traction battery and a support diesel engine as part of its ‘Last Mile’ capability. This innovative technology enables the locomotive to run on non-electrified sections, completely independent of catenary or the support of diesel shunting locomotives, which means greater efficiency due to time and cost savings.

With our FLEXXTronic Bogie family, we increase the capacity of existing infrastructure and reduce noise, vibration and particle emissions while ensuring 30% reduction in mass compared with a conventional bogie.

So, thinking out of the box and questioning existing concepts are essential in making gradual changes in environmental friendliness combined with economic advantages.

What cooperation do you expect from rail operators in this context to ensure the success of trains in the future?

Ensuring the success of trains in the future, or ‘The Evolution of Mobility’ as we say at Bombardier, is about innovation and technology, but also about partnership and collaboration.

Rail operators are expecting value for their money, and they all have specific needs. At Bombardier, we are committed to delivering innovative products that are based on proven platforms and can be tailored to perfectly suit the individual needs of each of our customers. We build and maintain efficient mobility solutions that lower overall lifecycle costs and offer our customers the most competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) approach. The more the customers employ a TCO approach in selecting their products for the future, the more environmentally friendly solutions will find their way into operation. Environmental friendliness and economic operations can be brought together perfectly in a TCO approach.

The future of mobility clearly needs thought leadership to properly address tomorrow’s challenges. Digitalisation will definitely help our industry to become more efficient and more eco-friendly. It requires an increased cooperation between rail operators and rail manufacturers.

For several years now, we have shifted our business proposal to rail operators from a pure train manufacturer into a solutions provider, engaging in long-term partnerships to drive together the improvements that are expected in terms of performance and eco-friendliness. Digitalisation, shared real-time access to data generated by the train in operation, and a resulting transformation of this data into information by data pattern recognition will allow us to continue to make significant progress in these areas.

Digitalisation will further allow us to move more towards automated train operation, thus increasing capacity significantly based on the existing infrastructure.

It is also key that we start our cooperation with rail operators, city planners, public authorities and other stakeholders at the earliest stages possible in order to identify and create the most sustainable mobility solutions.

Biography

Lutz Bertling has been President of Bombardier Transportation since June 2013 when he joined the company. He is also Chairman of the European Rail Industry Association UNIFE.

Prior to joining Bombardier, Mr Bertling accumulated a wealth of experience working for global aerospace and transportation businesses. Between 2006 and 2013, he held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer at Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters). Mr Bertling moved to Eurocopter in 2003 as Executive Vice President Governmental Helicopters. Before and since 1999, he has been Vice President Augsburg Plant and Aerostructure Programs in EADS’ Military Aircraft Business Unit (now part of Airbus Defence and Space).

Between 1993 and 1999, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Adtranz and DaimlerChrysler Rail Systems GmbH, today part of Bombardier Transportation, finally as Vice President System Development and Production Unit Carbody.

Mr Bertling studied Mechanical Engineering at Technical University (TU) Braunschweig, Germany. Upon completion of his studies in 1988, he joined the academic staff until he received his doctorate in 1993.

Mr Bertling is a member of the Presiding Board of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, Senator of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and a member of the Atlantik Brücke association. Furthermore he is a Chevalier of the French Légion d’Honneur, honorary professor of the Tongji University Shanghai and a fellow of the Royal British Aeronautical Society.

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Invitation to a free webinar on the circular economy in the railway sector – challenges and opportunities

Sustainable use of resources has received growing attention in the railway sector in recent years. With this in mind, UIC has launched the REUSE project to address the challenges associated the ever-increasing consumption of natural resources, as well as management of waste, waste flows, end-of-life materials and related emissions and pollution in the coming decades.

Although worn-out materials and equipment may be considered a problem in some cases, they are now increasingly being recognised as a resource. This change of perspective has been addressed in the context of the REUSE project to show that decreasing the environmental footprint of resources is not only beneficial to our ecosystem, but can also result in significant cost savings if carefully planned and implemented.

The findings from the REUSE project will be presented and discussed in an interactive online workshop gathering sustainability experts to ensure that the widest possible range of practices and cases are covered for the benefit of all UIC members.

Workshop highlights:

  • What is the circular economy?
  • Circular economy best practices in the railway industry
  • Key performance indicators and tendering processes
  • Group discussion
  • Next steps

Speakers and target audience:

  • REUSE project partners
  • UIC members’ experts in the circular economy
  • Sustainability directors and experts from amongst UIC’s members
  • External stakeholders

To register for the event, please complete the form available at: https://bit.ly/3bePX5U

We look forward to seeing you at our webinar!

To find out more, please contact Isabelle de Keyzer at: dekeyzer at uic.org

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Invitation to participate in a survey on mainstreaming biodiversity in transport infrastructure: maturity, gaps and needs in European countries

The H2020 BISON research project has launched a questionnaire on mainstreaming of biodiversity in national transport infrastructure development for all transport modes. The questionnaire aims to identify the level of maturity, gaps and needs of European member states at policy, legislative and implementation levels.

The European Union relies on two strategies to halt the loss of biodiversity and promote the restoration of ecosystem services: the EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which is part of the European Green Deal.

In 2021, the H2020 BISON research project was launched by a consortium of 39 organisations to identify opportunities and synergies in achieving the objectives of these strategies by mainstreaming biodiversity in transportation infrastructure.
In this context, the BISON project will develop:

  • state-of-the-art good practices and technologies and emerging trends
  • the strategic research and deployment programme (SRDA)
  • a roadmap for the integration of green and grey infrastructure in EU member states

To assess the level of maturity, gaps and needs of the European Union member states at political, legislative and implementation level, the BISON project is launching a broad questionnaire on mainstreaming of biodiversity and infrastructure greening in the development of national transport infrastructure for all modes of transport.

You are invited to respond to the strategic and/or technical questions in accordance with your expertise. The questionnaire allows you to provide input gradually by saving submitted responses. Thus, different people from the same organisation can answer with one voice.

To respond to the strategic part of the questionnaire, please provide information on yourself and your institution and click on Strategy and Planning Aspectsestimated response time: 20 minutes.

This part of the questionnaire aims to assess the level of maturity of EU member states at policy, legislative and implementation level regarding the mainstreaming of biodiversity and green infrastructure in the development of national transport infrastructure for all modes of transport.

To respond to the technical part of the questionnaire, please provide information on yourself and your institution and click on Technical and Project Management Aspectsestimated response time: 20 minutes.

This part of the questionnaire concerns good practices/tools and innovations in project management and integration of an “Avoid-Mitigate-Compensate” strategy from the early study stage to the construction and management stages.

To access the entire questionnaire, please click here. You are free to navigate between the strategic part and the technical part – estimated time requirement: 40 minutes.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101006661.

For information on BISON activities, please click here

For further information, please contact Pınar Yılmazer at yilmazer at uic.org and visit https://uic.org/projects/article/bison

Details on the consortium and on the contents of the project are available on the BISON website: https://bison-transport.eu/

See the full article

Invitation to workshop entitled « The End of Fossil Fuels » to be held on 13 November 2019 in Zürich

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the next workshop “The End of Fossil Fuels” that will be held on 13 November 2019 hosted by SBB in Zürich.

Background
Following the previous workshop that addressed the role of the infrastructure managers in traction energy transition, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by all stakeholders to push rail to full decarbonisation of traction energy.

It will therefore discuss alternatives to diesel traction and in particular, the hydrogen fuelling and battery charging innovations and their best combination with the railway network and rolling stock.

Ample time will also be dedicated during the day to exchanges and discussions between the speakers and the participants.

Workshop highlights:
11:00 – 17:00, Lunch: 12:35, Coffee Break 15:25

  • RZD and DB will talk about Biofuels
  • DB, SNCF and the Norwegian Railway Directorate about Future trains & alternatives for electrification
  • SBB about Energy storage
  • InfraBel and SNCF about tools/analyses to decide technology implementation
  • Dutch Ministry of Water, Traffic and Environment (Rijkswaterstaat (RWS))’s Government point of view

Registration and draft agenda
The draft agenda, practical information and registration form are available here:
https://events.uic.org/the-end-of-fossil-fuels

For more information contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Invitation to workshop entitled « The End of Fossil Fuels » to be held on 13 November 2019 in Zürich

]

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the next workshop “The End of Fossil Fuels” that will be held on 13 November 2019 hosted by SBB in Zürich.

Background
Following the previous workshop that addressed the role of the infrastructure managers in traction energy transition, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by all stakeholders to push rail to full decarbonisation of traction energy.

It will therefore discuss alternatives to diesel traction and in particular, the hydrogen fuelling and battery charging innovations and their best combination with the railway network and rolling stock.

Ample time will also be dedicated during the day to exchanges and discussions between the speakers and the participants.

Workshop highlights:
11:00 – 17:00, Lunch: 12:35, Coffee Break 15:25

  • RZD and DB will talk about Biofuels
  • DB, SNCF and the Norwegian Railway Directorate about Future trains & alternatives for electrification
  • SBB about Energy storage
  • InfraBel and SNCF about tools/analyses to decide technology implementation
  • Dutch Ministry of Water, Traffic and Environment (Rijkswaterstaat (RWS))’s Government point of view

Registration and draft agenda
The draft agenda, practical information and registration form are available here:
https://events.uic.org/the-end-of-fossil-fuels

For more information contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Invitation to workshop entitled « The End of Fossil Fuels » to be held on 13 November 2019 in Zürich

]

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the next workshop “The End of Fossil Fuels” that will be held on 13 November 2019 hosted by SBB in Zürich.

Background
Following the previous workshop that addressed the role of the infrastructure managers in traction energy transition, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by all stakeholders to push rail to full decarbonisation of traction energy.

It will therefore discuss alternatives to diesel traction and in particular, the hydrogen fuelling and battery charging innovations and their best combination with the railway network and rolling stock.

Ample time will also be dedicated during the day to exchanges and discussions between the speakers and the participants.

Workshop highlights:
11:00 – 17:00, Lunch: 12:35, Coffee Break 15:25

  • RZD and DB will talk about Biofuels
  • DB, SNCF and the Norwegian Railway Directorate about Future trains & alternatives for electrification
  • SBB about Energy storage
  • InfraBel and SNCF about tools/analyses to decide technology implementation
  • Dutch Ministry of Water, Traffic and Environment (Rijkswaterstaat (RWS))’s Government point of view

Registration and draft agenda
The draft agenda, practical information and registration form are available here:
https://events.uic.org/the-end-of-fossil-fuels

For more information contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Invitation to workshop entitled « The End of Fossil Fuels » to be held on 13 November 2019 in Zürich

]

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the next workshop “The End of Fossil Fuels” that will be held on 13 November 2019 hosted by SBB in Zürich.

Background
Following the previous workshop that addressed the role of the infrastructure managers in traction energy transition, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by all stakeholders to push rail to full decarbonisation of traction energy.

It will therefore discuss alternatives to diesel traction and in particular, the hydrogen fuelling and battery charging innovations and their best combination with the railway network and rolling stock.

Ample time will also be dedicated during the day to exchanges and discussions between the speakers and the participants.

Workshop highlights:
11:00 – 17:00, Lunch: 12:35, Coffee Break 15:25

  • RZD and DB will talk about Biofuels
  • DB, SNCF and the Norwegian Railway Directorate about Future trains & alternatives for electrification
  • SBB about Energy storage
  • InfraBel and SNCF about tools/analyses to decide technology implementation
  • Dutch Ministry of Water, Traffic and Environment (Rijkswaterstaat (RWS))’s Government point of view

Registration and draft agenda
The draft agenda, practical information and registration form are available here:
https://events.uic.org/the-end-of-fossil-fuels

For more information contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Invitation to workshop entitled “The End of Fossil Fuels” to be held on 13 November 2019 in Zürich

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the next workshop “The End of Fossil Fuels” that will be held on 13 November 2019 hosted by SBB in Zürich.

Background
Following the previous workshop that addressed the role of the infrastructure managers in traction energy transition, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by all stakeholders to push rail to full decarbonisation of traction energy.

It will therefore discuss alternatives to diesel traction and in particular, the hydrogen fuelling and battery charging innovations and their best combination with the railway network and rolling stock.

Ample time will also be dedicated during the day to exchanges and discussions between the speakers and the participants.

Workshop highlights:

  • Biofuels
  • Future trains & alternatives for electrification
  • Energy storage
  • Tools/methodology to select the appropriate technology
  • Government’s point of view

Registration and draft agenda
The draft agenda, practical information and registration form are available here:
https://events.uic.org/the-end-of-fossil-fuels

For more information contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

IRS 70723: Technical aspects of vegetation control and tree risk management awarded in the “Proficiently Developed” category

With IRSs gradually replacing UIC leaflets, the Infrastructure Sector within the UIC Rail System Forum and the Sustainable Land Use Sector within the Sustainability Platform collaborated to provide recommendations and clarification with regard to the conversion of UIC Leaflet 723 into IRS 70723.

Vegetation management within and alongside the track, as well as on other property owned by railway companies, must be adapted to expected future demands. The railway sector often separates railway corridors into several different areas to reflect the various vegetation control measures applied. IRS 70723 on vegetation control and tree risk management summarises the corresponding methods to improve safe and efficient operation on the railways while reducing the overall impact on the environment. The new IRS 70723 has been developed as part of the HERBIE Project, with the final report available from the UIC ETF Shop.

Providing guidance and recommendations reflecting the current state of the art on technical aspects of vegetation control and tree risk management for railway applications, and investigating vegetation control methods currently implemented or being researched by UIC members, the objectives of IRS 70723 are:

  • to assist railway infrastructure management and staff in addressing the issue of vegetation and tree risk control on the railways,
  • to provide UIC members with a single source of information on vegetation and tree risk management,
  • to enable infrastructure managers to identify affordable and effective solutions for railway vegetation managers.

IRS 70723 is directed at those responsible for planning and implementing vegetation and tree risk management within and adjacent to operational railway corridors. It has been prepared in recognition of the wide variety of vegetation types, the management issues associated with them, and the specific solutions that apply to the global railway network regionally and nationally. Thus, IRS 70723 is likely to be of interest to all those involved in keeping the railway track area plant-free, as encroaching vegetation can hinder safe passage and braking during train operations, as well as safe and efficient functioning of the control-command and signalling system.

UIC is truly grateful for the valuable encouragement and discussions at the UIC Track Experts Group (TEG) and Sustainable Land Use (SLU) meetings attended by both UIC members and staff.

As a result of this collaboration, which has led to the publication of a globally recognised, high-quality standard, IRS 70723 was awarded as one of the best new IRSs in the “Proficiently developed” category by the UIC Standardisation Platform on 16 March.

Michael Below, Chair of the SLU Sector, thanked his SLU Co-Chair, Thomas Schuh, and colleagues within the SLU for their valuable contributions, and Felix Gerhardt from the DB infrastructure group for the relevant information provided.

Bernhard Knoll, Chair of the TEG, thanked UIC for the award and the members of the TEG involved in developing this new IRS over the past number of years.

To find out more about the new IRS 70723, please visit the UIC ETF Shop:

IRS 70723 EN: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/technical-aspects-of-vegetation-control-and-tree-risk-management-guidance-and-recommendations.html

HERBIE Report: https://www.shop-etf.com/fr/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways

TRISTAM Report – Future Vegetation Control of European Railways – State-of-the-Art Report: https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/uic_future_vegetation_control_of_european_railways.pdf

For further information, please contact Pinar Yilmazer, Sustainable Land Use Sector Senior Advisor: yilmazer at uic.org, or David Mirayo, Infrastructure and TTI Senior Advisor: mirayo at uic.org

See the full article

Italy: Sustainability Engineering: FS Italiane at RemTech Expo

]

22 September 2020

Mobility tailored to people and places: this is the focus of the panel on the sustainability of integrated mobility by FS Italiane at RemTech Expo, an international event exploring issues relating to climate, sustainability and infrastructure, taking place until 25 September as part of the Festival of Sustainable Development.

As highlighted by Lorenzo Radice (FS Italiane) and Nicoletta Antonias (Italferr) during the session dedicated to infrastructure sustainability, the FS Group’s strategy focuses on quality of life through the creation of integrated transport works and services capable of enhancing people and places. With this in mind, FS Italiane has adopted a model of governance that effectively translates its idea of sustainability: infrastructure designed not only in accordance with the principles of traditional engineering, but also supported by engineering sustainability, a new model oriented towards environmental sustainability, economic compatibility and social innovation.

Infrastructures thus become active components of landscape structuring and urban regeneration processes so as to respond to the needs of the community and generate value by triggering new dynamics of social and economic development.

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

]

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

]

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

]

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: The future is green

]

An article was published on 30 May in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, under the headline La Freccia Verde, dedicated to the “Triumph of the train, clean and resilient in times of crises” and the environmental challenge launched by Italian State Railways: “97%-recyclable convoys, one-third energy savings, agreements with Research Centres and companies for sustainable mobility.”

“The FS Italiane Group’s watchword is sustainability,” understood in the triple sense of environmental, economic and social, applied to increasingly green mobility. “In 2017, the company joined the UN Global Compact,” whilst the Group’s strategy is entirely focused on green engagement, one of the pillars of the 2019-2023 Business Plan. There are three “long-term goals: to reach zero mortality events (for travellers and staff) by 2050; to become carbon neutral (by 2050, reducing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, with 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, down 1.6% from 2018); and finally - with the item Sustainable Mobility - the objective of a 5% shift from private vehicle to shared and low-impact public transport by 2030 (15% by 2050) compared with 2015, for 50-50 road and train transport for goods by 2050 (for distances greater than 300 km).”

As FS Chief Executive Officer Gianfranco Battisti confirms, “It is essential to make sustainable action the true driver of development and the creation of value for all stakeholders and for the national system.” In a moment of rebirth post Covid-19, Italian State Railways has put in place “an accelerated investment plan, to enhance collective and low-impact mobility”, also through digital transformation.
“Now, the challenge is to replicate the success of high speed in regional transport as well,” with the fleet to be renewed within five years. The Rock and Pop trains exactly meet the Group’s strategic sustainability objectives, being recyclable up to 97% and with energy savings of one-third less than trains of the previous generation.

“In Italy, high-speed travel has produced similar effects along the Turin-Naples line and now that the Frecciarossa trains are reaching as far as Reggio Calabria the first time, these effects will extend even further south,” continues the Corriere. This is also confirmed by the words of CEO Battisti, who stresses that “the arrival of Frecciarossa will contribute to the restart and revival of the economy and tourism sector of Calabria and the entire South Italy.”

The FS Group is increasingly projected towards international markets and in the expansive investment project, “they play an important role in the green bond (issued in 2019 at a value of 700 million euro), financing the purchase of new passengers and freight trains in full respect of the sustainability objectives.”

Set to arrive soon are hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines and able to switch from electrical power to the combustion engine, reducing consumption.

With 2020 being the European Year of Rail under the EU’s green agenda, the Corriere concluded by sharing that declared by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Valean: “There’s no doubt that railway transport means huge benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety, even speed, once it’s organised and engineered according to 21st-century principles.”

(Source: FS)

See the full article

Italy: Zero impact railway stations thanks to the GreenHub project

Zero impact railway stations with the GreenHub project. The objective is to combine environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, innovative technology and new services for travellers and visitors.

GreenHub is a pilot project aimed at making stations of the future a unique green space in which innovative technologies studied by Italian and international start-ups will coexist both inside and outside the building.

In September 2018, Rapallo will be the first GreenHub railway station and will become a case study for technicians and industry experts. The station will in fact host the multi-source Dynamo installation, developed by start-up Verde 21 in collaboration with three other new companies, which will offer new services to passengers using energy produced from renewable sources.

Travelers will have benches with integrated sockets for charging tablets and smartphones as well as an access point with Wi-Fi connectivity. Geolocalized information will be available through specific displays. Furthermore, in the near future, recharging stations for electric bicycles and electric scooters will be installed in areas outside the station.

Dynamo integrates technological products from various Italian start-ups. Verde 21 will accumulate and supply the renewable energy collected by traditional photovoltaic panels and by special transparent photovoltaic panels produced by start-up Glass To Power. For the accumulation of additional electricity, adopting the same technology in different permutations, the area will be paved with walkable photovoltaic panels made by start-up Platio. With start-up U-Earth’s technology, air will be monitored and purified in real time. The integrated approach will thus allow the development of a new technological concept that generates synergies between large and small companies.

As evidence of the FS Italiane Group’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility, Dynamo will be the fulcrum of a true green area, given that the space in which it is rising will be characterized by the use of recycled and recyclable materials. Travelers in transit will appreciate the versatility of the pyramid-shaped establishment, in perfect harmony between sustainability, technology and aesthetics. Among the materials used, wood, aluminium and steel stand out.

The innovative GreenHub technology project, on which the FS Italiane Group is working, through its companies Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and Italferr, and in collaboration with Sirti, as part of Elis Consortium’s Open Italy 2018, is a programme that aims to combine the need for innovation from large companies with the need for growth of start-ups.

(Source: FS)

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ITF organised the event “Decarbonising Transport in Europe – Project results, scenarios feasibility and policy implications” on 10 and 11 December 2020

On 10 and 11 December 2020, ITF organised the event “Decarbonising Transport in Europe – Project results, scenarios feasibility and policy implications”. At this event, ITF presented two scenarios for decarbonising transport in Europe, discussed their implementation feasibility and evaluated the policy implications with a wide range of stakeholders. The event featured the results to date of the three-year Decarbonising Transport in Europe project (DTEU), funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme.

The DTEU project aims to help the European Union achieve its CO2 reduction ambitions for the transport sector. The project will provide European policy makers with better quantitative evidence on the actual impact of CO2 mitigation measures.

ITF has developed a suite of advanced models of transport activity in Europe as part of the project. This will allow decision makers to select the most effective policy measures and identify realistic pathways towards decarbonising transport by 2050.

During the first day, the results, feasibility and policy implications of urban transport were discussed. On the second day, the results, feasibility and policy implications for non-urban passenger transport were presented by a range of speakers. Ms Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability at UIC, took the floor during the non-urban freight session on results, feasibility and policy implications.

She explained that the UIC saw the railways as the backbone of a sustainable and resilient logistics chain. In its work as part of the Rail Freight Forward coalition, UIC welcomed discussions today on how to best achieve the necessary modal shift to rail in non-urban freight. The ITF report and dialogues today underlined the need for all modes to work together in the most efficient and connected way. Digitalisation would be an important tool in creating a smoother intermodal connectivity.

She mentioned that the issue of externalities in freight should not be overlooked and that much could be gained from a better understanding of both environmental and social impacts, as well as the value derived from investing in public transport and sustainable mobility. UIC called for evidence-based policy and truly international thinking to set a clear direction. Mrs Anderton concluded by saying that measures had to set a level playing field that would incentivise the modal shift and growth of rail freight, such as reviewing track access charges, reducing the administrative burden for rail, and introducing carbon taxing.

Source: ITF

For further information within ITF, please contact Francisco Furtado at: Francisco.Furtado at itf-oecd.org

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Joint WCO-OTIF-OSJD statement on responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on cross-border railway transport

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://www.wcoomd.org/-/media/wco/public/global/pdf/media/press-release/2020/wco-otif-osjd_joint_statement.pdf?db=web

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Joint WCO-OTIF-OSJD statement on responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on cross-border railway transport

]

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

See the full article

Joint WCO-OTIF-OSJD statement on responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on cross-border railway transport

]

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

See the full article

Joint WCO-OTIF-OSJD statement on responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on cross-border railway transport

]

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

See the full article

Joint WCO-OTIF-OSJD statement on responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on cross-border railway transport

]

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

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Key messages not to forget from the rail sector

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While the COP21 discussions are still underway, here’s a reminder to remember the key messages of the worldwide campaign “Train to Paris” coordinated by UIC on behalf of its members.

You can find these messages and more information on the contribution of rail as a solution in the fight against climate change on the site “Train to Paris”: http://traintoparis.org/

You will find among others:

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Kicking off the study for the management of noise from parked and stationary trains in Europe

Rail is the most sustainable form of mass transport for both passengers and freight and must be promoted if climate goals are to be met. Via the Green Deal, Europe is taking action, and railway is being promoted as an environmentally friendly means of transportation. To enable this planned modal shift from cars and lorries, rail infrastructure and fleet must expand, and rail traffic must increase. The rail sector must be prepared to address any issues that may arise from the increased traffic frequency and fulfil its regulatory obligations.

The issue of noise from running trains in operational service has been well explored, and huge progress in noise reduction has been made over the years, as detailed in the UIC Noise and Vibration (NV) Sector’s latest report on Railway noise in Europe. However, an increasing number of complaints are now being received from lineside neighbours about other noise sources from trains, even when the trains are parked or stationary. Modern multiple units (EMU/DMU) are equipped with many different mechanical parts (compressors, HVAC, power converters, traction units, etc.), which have been causing noise disturbances for close-by residents. Consequently, work is under way to find solutions to reduce noise pollution from parked or stationary trains. UIC and its members are reacting to this emerging issue within the NV Sector. A new study will investigate in detail whether this situation is the same for stationary trains (e.g. trains idling in stations or at signals) and parked trains (e.g. in a depot or at a terminus), while simultaneously collecting information and data from UIC members, updating the existing information shared in the UIC Managing Noise from Parked Trains report (published in 2014), and informing the sector of the latest best practice.

Collaboration with VibraTec

The UIC Sustainability unit has developed cooperative links with various stakeholders dealing with the main global challenges facing the world today. Within the NV Sector, UIC and its members decided to prepare a preliminary report describing the management of idling, parking, and stationary train noise for European railways.

Successful implementation of noise mitigation and future legislation requires knowledge of the acoustic source characteristics, measurement techniques and knowledge gaps. This was first addressed in 2014, when the UIC NV Sector released its first technical report on parked train noise. In 2021, the UIC NV Sector has secured the collaboration of VibraTec (https://www.vibratecgroup.com/) with a contract to draft a technical report on managing noise from parked and stationary trains in Europe. As a result, UIC is pleased to announce that work on a new scope study for managing noise from stationary and parked trains has started, with the aim of publishing a technical report in autumn 2022. The study aims to assist all stakeholders in meeting the challenges faced by the sector, by analysing and collating the information to be gathered from the relevant members. The final deliverable will be disseminated at the UIC Railway Noise Days in 2023.

What will UIC and VibraTec work on?

The new study aims to update and expand the existing information gathered by UIC and reported in 2014, and to analyse the data collected and work undertaken by European railways to date. The project’s objectives have been set to:

  • Acquire a representative picture of the management of noise from idling, stationary or parked trains in Europe and to prepare a proposal to determine the next steps and make suggestions for the global railway community;
  • Provide an evidence basis regarding the management of noise from idling or stationary trains in Europe for UIC participation in European Commission meetings discussing expected revisions of noise legislation (i.e. TSI NOI).

In order to achieve the objectives of this activity, UIC has established a steering expert group which will lead the work within the sector while working closely with VibraTec. Surveys will be required to collect information during this study, and UIC will invite railway companies to participate and share information from their networks through desktop research, literature reviews and online surveys.

For further information, please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Sector: yilmazer at uic.org

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Korean rail environment experts visit UIC to share railway environment research & technology development

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On 21 June 2011, a team of Korean railway researchers led by Dr JUNG Woo-Sung, head of Eco Railroad Research at KRRI, visited UIC HQ, and exchanged knowledge on state-of-the-art technology and research in the field of railway environment.

Dr LEE Jae-Young, Senior Researcher at KRRI, along with Mr HWANG In-Hwan, Senior Researcher at KRNA, presented on-going research projects applying novel methodologies to calculate the carbon footprint during the course of railway construction and minimise subsequent CO2 emissions.

From UIC, Mr Henning Schwarz, Head of Sustainable Development, Mr Alex Veitch, Senior Advisor, and Mr Paolo Contestabile, Senior Advisor, presented a number of UIC-coordinated European projects including ECO-Passenger, ARISCC and INFRAGUIDER.

During two pre-arranged consecutive meetings, both parties agreed to exchange knowledge on state-of-the-art methodologies and technologies, and promote further collaboration and projects including expert meetings.

UIC Asia appreciates all contributions from speakers and participants, and welcomes the development of regional and inter-regional collaborations.

For more information please contact Ho Kwon CHO, UIC Senior Advisor for Institutional Relations: cho at uic.org

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Last chance to register for the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” from 15 – 16 November 2018 in Warsaw

Register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

The UIC International Rail Research Board (IRRB) and Instytut Kolejnictwa – the Polish Railway Research Institute (IK) are jointly organising an international event entitled “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” to be held from 15 – 16 November 2018, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Warsaw City Centre, Poland.

The International Railway Research Board (IRRB) is one of UIC’s working bodies in which UIC members from all over the world participate along with renowned research institutes and academia. One of the key elements and primary goals of the IRRB activities has been the development of a high-level document, “A Global Vision for Railway Development” – or in short the “GVRD”. This GVRD will be updated and published by the end of 2019.

Each year, a substantial number of conferences and other events are being organised in the area of rail transport. Those dealing with research mainly consist of presenting the results of previous and ongoing research. The IRRB has taken the initiative to plan and organise this future oriented event: the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society”.

The aim of this event is to stimulate an “out-of-the-box” discussion on transport needs and the ideal transport system in 2050 and the role of railways/guided transport systems therein.

The Debate will focus on the following areas:

  • New mobility system concepts
  • Towards an integrated transport system
  • IT – new opportunities and threats
  • Competitiveness of transport stakeholders
  • Sustainability and resilience of the transport system

The Global Debate will be launched by an opening ceremony, featuring presentations by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux – UIC Director General, Prof Boris Lapidus – IRRB Chairman (RZD) and Dr Andrzej Żurkowski – IRRB Vice-Chairman and Director of IK.

Following the official opening, five keynote speeches will be given, linked to each of the five areas mentioned above. The afternoon session will be split into five thematic parallel debates focused on these areas.

At the beginning of the second day, the conclusions of these parallel debates will be presented by their moderators. It will be followed by the general debate, the main element of the event. The conclusions of this final main debate will be summarised by Prof. Boris Lapidus, IRRB Chairman.
Plenary sessions will be simultaneously interpreted into English, Russian and Polish. Five parallel thematic sessions will be held in English only.

It is our expectation that the outcome from this Global Debate, using a wide range of transport research results as well as multifaceted insights from around the world, will also constitute a crucial input in to the update of the Global Vision for Railway Development document.

For further information please contact Dennis Schut, UIC Research Manager:

schut at uic.org

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Latest documents and updates in Energy Efficiency and Carbon Performance

The monitoring of progress towards the UIC-CER Sustainable Mobility targets was published last week. The document ‘2016 Report’ of the ‘Environmental Strategy Reporting System’ includes a full monitoring of the indicators on Climate Protection, Energy Efficiency and Exhaust Emissions.

This monitoring process was possible thanks to the contributions of the UIC members and the active involvement of the Energy Efficiency and CO2 experts’ network and the technical support of the Sustainable Development Foundation based in Rome.

In terms of the main results, the specific energy consumption has been reduced by 20.4% in the passenger sector and by 25.9% in the freight sector from 1990 to 2014 matching the linear trend to reach the 2030 targets.

Regarding the specific CO2 emissions, the passenger sector presents a results in a Market-based approach of 45% reduction in the period 1990-2014, while they decreased by 37% according to the Location-based approach. Both the performances are in line with the target, being below the expected “linear” value for 2014 (-35%).

In the case of the freight sector, specific CO2 emissions decreased by 50% from 1990 to 2014 considering the market-based approach, and by 46% considering the location-based approach. Both of them correspond to a higher reduction than the expected “linear” value for 2014 (35%).

Regarding exhaust emissions, total particulate matter (PM) emissions have been reduced by about 30% in 2014 from the 2005 baseline, which is about 15% more than the linear performance expected in 2014, and total nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions have been reduced by 40% in 2014 from the 2005 baseline, 26% more than the expected linear performance.

The report is available for members of UIC Extranet at this link:

http://extranet.uic.org/index.php?tg=addon%2F42%2Flogin&msg=You+must+be+logged+in+to+access+this+page.&err

This information has been used to update the Eco-Passenger environmental impacts calculator (http://ecopassenger.org/bin/query.exe/en?L=vs_uic), which launched the new updated version of the methodology and implemented the latest data from railway environmental performance.

The latest update of the tool including a version for smart-phones operatives systems, allows improves the usability for 25% of users visiting EcoPassenger.org from mobiles and tablets. The users of the tool include 60% of visitors aged between 18 and 35 years and one third of visitors are from the Netherlands and Italy. The layout and usability update performed in November 2015 enables four times as many users to visit the website (see eNews 493 for further details).

In addition, a new UIC report on “Technologies and Potential Developments for Energy Efficiency and CO2 reduction in Rail Systems” has been published on the UIC website:http://uic.org/IMG/pdf/_27_technologies_and_potential_developments_for_energy_efficiency_and_co2_reductions_in_rail_systems._uic_in_colaboration.pdf

The report, produced by UIC with the technical support of the Spanish Railways Foundation (FFE), includes the main measures and actions available to improve energy and carbon efficiency in the railways.

The document highlights the potential of making energy improvements in the mid-term, including a revision of the latest research on energy reduction. The document also analyses the best practices carried out by rail companies to encourage energy efficiency.

According to all the possible actions to improve energy efficiency, the study concludes by stating that the 2030 rail sector as a whole has potential in using existing technologies to make improvements of 20 to 30% of energy consumptions and carbon emissions.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor of Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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Luxembourg: Climate-friendly bonds: Deutsche Bahn honored as green company

Luxembourg Stock Exchange includes Group in new window for particularly eco-friendly issuers - DB CFO Holle: “It gives our investors certainty that we are a reliable partner for sustainable mobility”

Taking the train protects the climate. As does investing in the rail company’s bonds. Deutsche Bahn is the only German company to be included on the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) in a new window for particularly climate-friendly issuers that was unveiled today by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. “We feel very honored to have been selected. It will give our investors certainty that DB is a green company and a reliable partner for sustainable mobility,” said DB’s CFO Dr. Levin Holle.

The new window of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange is called “LGX Climate Aligned Issuer” and was developed by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange together with the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). At its launch, it featured 24 companies with particularly sustainable business models, including the French rail company SNCF, for example. Within the new window, DB is rated at the highest level ("fully aligned"), with a green factor of 99%. This means that portfolio managers will be allowed to classify 99% of their investments in DB bonds as “green” moving forward. “We appreciate the way the Luxembourg Stock Exchange makes a thorough assessment of an issuer’s sustainability profile. This rating means a great deal to us and our investors, as it makes us even more appealing to the rapidly growing group of investors focusing on sustainability,” said Holle.

The new window is part of the Luxembourg Green Exchange, which was founded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in 2016. The platform is the first one in the world to be dedicated exclusively to green, social and sustainable financial instruments. The burgeoning, green stock exchange is today regarded as the global market leader in this sector, being home to almost half of all listed green bonds. Luxembourg’s stock exchange is also a pioneer in the certification of sustainable financial products. Deutsche Bahn is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange represented by its financing company Deutsche Bahn Finance GmbH.

International rankings regularly confirm DB’s role as a protector of the environment, most recently in December 2020:

https://ir.deutschebahn.com/en/db-group/sustainability/cdp

(Source: DB AG)

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Meeting of the Working Group to update UIC Leaflet 930

On 23 and 24 May, the Working Group on the Update of UIC Leaflet 930 held a two-day meeting at Adif offices in Madrid, aiming to adapt the document to the latest progress on the topic of energy consumption information exchange.

UIC leaflet 930 “Exchange of data for cross-border railway energy settlement” was published in November 2009, within the framework of the Energy Billing Project.

The main purposes of UIC leaflet 930 are to:

  • Describe the processes and protocols used for the exchange of energy consumption data between Infrastructure Managers, which by respecting existing national systems thereby contribute to an improvement in European railway sector interoperability.
  • Define the technical requirements for the checking and verification of this data.
  • Allow Railway Undertakings to identify their genuine energy consumption and therefore pay exactly what is consumed; associate the consumption of each train to the bill and the energy price (including existing models) which will finally lead to energy savings.

Over 30 participants, representing main European railways, joined the two-day meeting discussing the possible options for updating the digital language used for communications, the role model included in the leaflet and other topics related to the exchange of information on electricity consumption in tunnels and borders.

The working group set a plan for the next meetings analysing the different aspects of the update and the possibilities of converting the leaflet into an International Railway Standard (IRS).

More information of the leaflet and Energy billing is available on the UIC website.

For further information about next meetings please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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Meetings with Stefano Pierini, Chair of Finance Platform

Together with a number of UIC experts, UIC Director General François Davenne held a number of meetings in April with Stefano Pierini, FS Group, Chair of the UIC Finance Platform.

The topics for discussion included sustainable finance and the related work underway, led by Lucie Anderton, Manager of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit. Discussion focused on the SDG Rail Index, a benchmarking and data tool to enable members to demonstrate sustainable credentials and thus have better access to sustainable finance products such as green bonds. The index is currently being developed, and members are now welcome to test the beta online reporting tool.

Sustainable procurement was also discussed, with the ERPC working group being relaunched on 6 May. A further item on the agenda was a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank and regional investment and development banks, as well as potential future work: the UIC Taxation Working Group is currently examining carbon taxation. Participants noted the working group’s expertise and UIC’s capacity to promote lobbying and green bond financing and enhance the standardisation process.

Further topics included discussions with Marc Guigon, UIC Passenger Director and Covid-19 Taskforce Coordinator, on financial support in the railway sector for recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Mr Guigon explained the UIC Covid-19 taskforce, impacts on costs, the revenue crisis (passenger and freight) and economic support measures. The participants examined potential actions and the possibility of supporting UIC members by helping them to launch the OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model), which aims to substantially simplify the booking process for public transport customers and lower complexity and distribution costs for distributors and carriers. Participants also noted the possibility of further development of public-private partnerships at UIC, the current status of activities and potential development.

The Finance Platform plenary meeting will be held on 10 June.

For further information on the Finance Platform, please contact Thierry Béra at bera at uic.org

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Message by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, following congratulations received after his nomination as Member of the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to advise and provide recommendations on Sustainable Transport

‘Dear Members, Colleagues and Friends,

Since the information was released last summer about my nomination as member of the High- Level Advisory Group to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have received so many messages from all of you. With this open answer I want to thank you collectively. This is indeed a very prominent recognition of the role that UIC can play in the promotion of rail and sustainable transport in modern societies at global level. I feel honoured by this nomination and honoured by your recognition. You can rest assured that on top of all the other activities and responsibilities that UIC is organising and facing for you, I will dedicate myself to represent the rail sector in the best way at the service of our community worldwide. Most cordially to all of you and see you very soon. ’

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Message of thanks from the “Train to Paris” team

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Last Saturday, “Train to Paris” climaxed at UIC HQ and throughout Europe as trains arrived bringing delegations to the COP21 negotiations.

Numerous stakeholders have been involved and UIC would like to thank in particular the organisational team, the UIC staff, speakers involved in the high-level event discussions, our sponsors ERA and UNIFE.
This campaign would not have been possible without the support and hard work of the railways involved: DB, NS, Thalys, FS, CP, RZD as well as major French transport actors, SNCF and RATP.

The high-level event at UIC was a success thanks to the contribution of various providers: Mahola, Digital Essence, Images Pro, EV Corp, Antoine Jézéquel et Philippe Fraysseix, Julie Boileau, Marc Fauvelle, Axiom-Graphic, Arum, Thierry Marx and Cuisine mode d’emploi, the Pullman Paris Eiffel Tower hotel.

Special thanks to our media partners and journalists: Neoplanète, Eurailmag, Jura, la Vie du Rail, Minirex AG, Railway Gazette international, Railway Pro, The RZD partner international, The Verb, Think railways, Via Libre, For Jernbane, Valeurs vertes, IRJ, as well as Pierre Tessier who embarked on the Transsiberian journey.

We wish the COP21 negotiations every success and take this opportunity to express our deepest thanks to UNFCCC and UNEP for their role in this campaign that continues with COP21 and beyond. We wish to continue acting together in the future, to promote rail as a one of the solutions to fight climate change.

Let’s continue our journey, let’s build a more sustainable future! On the low carbon track!

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Modus at Agency Research Team (ART) workshop on passenger-centred mobility

A workshop on passenger-centred mobility was held from 14 to 17 June, organised by EUROCONTROL’s Agency Research Team (ART), the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) Working Group on Mobility, the Institute for Sustainable Society and Innovation (ISSNOVA) and the Horizon 2020 Coordination and support Action for Mobility in Europe: Research and Assessment (CAMERA) team. The objective of the workshop was to bring organisations together to review progress toward the Flightpath 2050 mobility goals, with a specific focus on the passenger’s perspective.

The Modus (Modelling and assessing the role of air transport in an integrated, intermodal transport system) project was represented by Annika Paul of Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Coordinator of Modus, and by Andrew Cook of the University of Westminster and the Modus project.

The objectives of the Modus project are to analyse ways of optimising the performance of the overall European transport system by considering the entire door-to-door journey holistically and examining air transport with an integrated, intermodal approach.

Annika Paul and Andrew Cook presented the synergies between air transport and other transport modes and the status of mobility research capturing multimodal performance in Europe. They shared some Modus research results on:

  • passenger needs and expectations:
    • Drivers of multimodal passenger demand
    • Selected passenger demand drivers: social, economic, political, technological, environmental, mobility
  • expert assessment of future mobility solutions
  • impact on the future transport system

The insights presented by Annika Paul were the result of literature research, surveys and workshops organised at the beginning of 2021 with the participation of air and rail experts.

Andrew Cook outlined choices and trade-offs with regard to key performance indicators currently being developed within the project:

  • Indicator qualities and challenges: what the indicators should do and difficulties encountered
  • Current frameworks comparing air and rail in an intermodal context
  • Capturing multimodal performance in transformation and resilience
  • The Modus modelling context, proposing scenarios and use cases
The Modus project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme on the topic SESAR-ER4-10-2019 ATM Role in Intermodal Transport under grant agreement No 891166. It started in June 2020 and will run until November 2022.

To find out more about the Modus project or to contact the project group, please use one of the following channels:

For further information, please contact Vanessa Perez at perez at uic.org

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Moving low-carbon transportation forward at COP24

One focus area of discussions at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice (COP24, 2-14 December) will be on the importance of swiftly transitioning to low-carbon transport to address the impact of climate change.

The transportation sector has seen faster emissions growth than any other over the last 50 years. Transport is responsible for 23% of the global energy-related carbon emissions and is a major source of air pollution. Research from C40 Cities shows that the improvement of public transport could prevent the premature deaths of nearly one million people per year from air pollution and traffic fatalities worldwide.

The sector has a huge opportunity to promote solutions to climate change and leaders will be showcasing best practices at COP24. For example, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the International Union of Railways (UIC) will advocate for more and better public transport and sustainable rail mobility.

E-mobility will also be one of the main topics under discussion at COP24. Ahead of the conference, Michał Kurtyka, President of COP24, presented the “Driving Change Together Partnership”, a new initiative for the development of zero-emission transport.

A modal shift to fight climate change
Poland has already gathered experience in implementing legislation and projects linked to electromobility, including through a program implemented by UITP. Since 2013, the global network of public transport stakeholders has coordinated the “Zero Emission Urban Bus System” (ZeEUS), aimed at testing electrification solutions at the heart of urban bus system networks through live demonstrations.

This year, the project organizers shared their results in the Polish capital and nine other cities. In Warsaw, it was demonstrated that electric buses are fully substitutable for their diesel counterparts on the same route, bus line 222, which passes through the congested center as well as the historic part of the city. Local bus operator MZA aims to keep pursuing the zero-emission path started with the program by expanding its fleet to 30 electric buses in 2018 and purchasing 130 e-buses between 2019 and 2020.

ZeEUS and other projects demonstrate UITP’s support to national commitments and implementation on public transport which will allow countries to be more ambitious on climate change in support of the Paris Agreement. By signing UITP’s Declaration on Climate Leadership, the sector has committed to support the doubling of the market share of public transport by 2025 and pledged over 350 projects to climate action in over 80 cities around the world.

Rail transportation on the low carbon track
UIC, a worldwide rail organisation with 240 members spanning five continents, already demonstrated climate leadership by launching its Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge at COP21 in 2015.

Total worldwide rail activity generates less than 5% of energy-related carbon emissions from transport, which shows that rail can also be a key part of the solution to the climate challenge.

During COP24, PKP, Poland’s railway operator and a member of UIC, will present an exhibition at the train station of Katowice to demonstrate ecological solutions available on its railway, such as electric vehicle charging stations, a hybrid locomotive and a mobile charging station.

“2018 brought great opportunities and partnerships for the railway sector around innovation to lower rail’s environmental impact and door to door solutions to support a modal shift. It also brought encouraging results as UIC members happen to be well ahead of our time to answer great challenges faced by the industry such as lower greenhouse gas emissions” said UIC Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux. “Let’s hope this 2018 Conference of Parties will be a great opportunity to further increase rail attractiveness and show how rail is one of the most sustainable modes of transport.”

UITP and UIC events at COP24
UITP and UIC will take part in the following events on public transportation and sustainable development in the rail sector:

  • “Global Climate Action – Action Event: Transport” / December 7th / 15:00-18:00 / GCA Action Hub
  • “Policy Pathways for Decarbonising Transport” / December 7th / 18:30-20:00 / Pieniny

In parallel, UITP and UIC will also participate in the COP 24 Transport Day, jointly organized by the European Commission’s CIVITAS Initiative, Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) on behalf of the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC), and hosted and supported by the City of Katowice:

  • Transport Day COP24 - Breakout Session 1A: “Electrification of Public Transport” & Breakout Session 1C: “Adaptation: Adapting to new climate in the transport sector” / December 6th / 11:30-12:45 / Miejski Dom Kultury”, ul. Markiefki 44a, 40-213 Katowice

UITP will also conduct a public awareness campaign at COP24 in partnership with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to highlight the role that public transportation can play to protect the health of urban populations.

“UITP will continue to work with our members, sectoral colleagues and all interested parties to advocate for sustainable mobility. Public transport needs three to four times less energy (per passenger) than individual cars and moves people in greater numbers. Thus, we can reduce emissions and fight climate change together. UITP looks ahead to COP24 to work with our partners in making the case for the role of public transport in climate action”, said UITP Secretary General, Mohamed Mezghani.

About partnerships between UN Climate Change and non-Party stakeholders
The partnership with UITP and UIC is part of a series of partnerships between UN Climate Change and relevant stakeholders to support climate action. The partnerships for COP24 promote increased involvement of non-Party stakeholders as foreseen in the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA).

The MPGCA was a launched at COP22 by the Conference of the Parties, explicitly welcoming climate action of all non-Party stakeholders, including the private sector, to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement. All entities of society and business are strongly encouraged to scale up their efforts and support actions to reduce emissions, as well as to build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.

More information is available here https://unfccc.int/about-us/partnerships

(Source: UNFCCC)

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Negotiators arrive in Paris by train as part of the “Train to Paris” international campaign in view of COP21

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a message to the railway sector

The international rail sector hands over the “Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge” signed by 66 railways as an initial contribution to the COP 21 negotiation process

On 28 November several trains carrying representatives and special guests to the COP21 Climate Conference arrived in Paris from several countries including China, Mongolia, Russia and various European countries that were part of the international “Train to Paris” campaign coordinated by UIC on behalf of the worldwide railway community.

This campaign, backed by UNFCCC and UNEP, is personally supported by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who delivered a video message to the worldwide railway community, saying that:

I commend the organisers of the Train to Paris project for bringing government representatives, and business and civil society leaders to Paris using sustainable, low carbon rail transport. We have come across Asia and Europe for one common purpose: to forge a meaningful, durable agreement to limit climate change and strengthen resilience to this impact."

The “Train to Paris” campaign marks the contribution of the railway sector to the issue of climate change. This initiative is to publicly demonstrate that rail transport is a solution for a sustainable and carbon free mobility.
On the same day, a high level panel was held at the Paris headquarters of the International Union of Railways with a number of participants and speakers representing international organisations and institutions, UIC Member Railways, associations, the rail supply industry, media,...

The main aim of the event was the handing over of the “Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge”, as a concrete commitment from the railway community signed by 66 railways worldwide. The Pledge was handed over by UIC Director General Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux to Mr Nicolas Hulot, Special Envoy to the President of the French Republic for the Protection of the Planet, as an initial contribution by the railway sector, prior to the start of the negotiations of the United Nations COP21 Climate Conference.

The “Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge”

COP 21 presents the rail sector with an important opportunity, to highlight rail as an energy efficient transport mode and also to demonstrate how investing in rail and increasing rail market share are an essential part of the solution to climate change.

At COP 21, UIC will build upon its success at the UN Climate Summit in 2014 where it was launched the UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge. In a message to the 86th UIC General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon applauded the contribution of UIC Members to the Climate Summit, acknowledged that sector actions can make a measurable difference and urged to accelerate efforts.

I challenge all railways, especially the major ones, to commit to reporting your progress in an open, transparent manner. The UIC’s systems are ideally placed to take this step toward creating a better future"


said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge refers to the “UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge”, approved by Members in the UIC 2014 General Assembly, and presented in New York UN Climate Summit in September 2014, highlighted by Ban Ki-moon as one of the 3 “key “initiatives for transport”.

The Pledge will represent a practical step of the Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge and show the real commitment of railway companies towards the climate targets.

All technical aspects related to the effectiveness and feasibility of the Challenge have been investigated in the document “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge – Technical Report” that can be downloaded at www.uic.org/low-carbon-rail-challenge

Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge

On the low carbon track!

The worldwide railway community is aware that a shift towards sustainable transport is essential to achieve the internationally agreed goal of limiting climate change to a rise in average global temperature of no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

The rail sector is the most emissions efficient transport mode, but as a major transport mode we acknowledge our responsibility and that further improvement is needed. This pledge sets out ambitious but achievable goals for the sectors contribution towards the solution to climate change.

As a member of the worldwide community of railway operators and infrastructure managers, I commit to take a leading role in the actions to prevent climate change, by reducing my company’s carbon footprint and supporting a shift towards a more sustain¬able balance of transport modes.

In order to achieve this, I pledge to:

  1. reduce my company’s specific energy consumption and CO2 emission, and through this contribute to the “UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” and its global 2030/2050 targets, pre¬sented in 2014 at the UN Climate Summit;
  2. stimulate modal shift to rail in national and international markets, by working in partnership with key stakeholders;
  3. actively communicate climate friendly initiatives undertaken by my company during the year 2016 and beyond, in order to raise awareness, acceptance and recognition of the role of sustainable transport as a part of the solution to climate change;
  4. report data on my company’s specific energy consumption and CO2 emissions to UIC on a regular basis, in order to promote and demonstrate the continuous improvement of railway sector at international level.

High Level Panel on Rail as a solution to climate change

The high-level panel was welcomed by UIC Director General and was composed of speakers representing the United Nations, governments, international and European institutions, UIC Member Railways, the railway supply industry. Mrs Sharon Dijksma, Secretary of State of Infrastructure and Environment, the Netherlands, Mr Jean-Daniel Tordjman, representing International Diplomacy in France, Mr Mikil Akulov, CEO Federal Passenger Company, Russian Railways, Mr José Viégas, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum, ITF, OECD, Mr. Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director, European Railway Agency, ERA, Mr Andy Doherty, ERRAC Chairman, Director Network Rail, Mr Alberto Mazzola, International Affairs Senior Vice President, FS Italian Railways, Mr Henry Marty-Gauquié, Director in France of EIB Group (European Investment Bank), Mrs Sabiha Derbel, President Director General of SNCFT (Tunisian Railways), Mr Henri Poupart-Lafarge, President of ALSTOM Transport and Member of the Board of the Supply industry UNIFE.

In his opening address, UIC Director General Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said:

UIC born in 1922, has been involved for a quite long time in the history of climate change negotiations starting with an Earth Summit in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the COP 15 in 2009, where UIC organized the “Train to Copenhagen” and the UN Rio+20 Summit in 2012 where the UIC family broadened its commitment with the Declaration of Sustainable Mobility and finally, in 2014, appointment of UIC to UN High Level Advisory Group for Sustainable Transport and in the same year the new commitment announced by UIC at the UN Climate Summit of Low carbon transport challenge."

To finish he mentioned Montesquieu:

To be successful in life, you have to think big, to dream far, and to act quickly."

He followed by a Chinese proverb:

To get out of the dark, we just need to light up one candle."

And then

We hope that with “Train to Paris” we have modestly contributed to think, dream, act and to light up one candle in the world."

Mr Niclas Svenningsen, Head of the Sustainable United Nations (SUN) Programme at the United Nations, representing Mrs Chistiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, as a keynote speaker, said:

Christiana Figueres asked me to convey to you the spirit that she would like to bring to all of you and that we are trying to being to COP21. Today, something fantastic happened. Trains from all over Europe brought people to COP21 safely, soundly and climate neutrally. And that is a fantastic thing because Train to Paris is climate neutral, it has a zero carbon footprint, and that is a fundamental objective of COP21. One figure that we need to remember for COP21 is two – two degrees Celsius – that is what we are trying to keep climate change below."

Mr Nicolas Hulot said:

We could rest on our laurels – but the fact is that railway companies are making the commitment to sign the pledge. We can consider Paris a success already because the Heads of State will be here from tomorrow which shows the great importance of this issue. Climate is an issue that conditions all issues and I congratulate you on this commitment. Paris has paved the way for this commitment. Things are moving forward."

This panel provided an opportunity for all high level speakers to convey their messages to the worldwide railway community on how to make the most of the advantages of Rail transport for the benefit of society.

This “Train to Paris” campaign is part of long term cooperation strategy between UIC and the United Nations and its specialist bodies. This cooperation is part of UIC’s commitment and work within the UN High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport and other bodies dealing with sustainable development.

Main highlights and main messages from the several speakers are available on the Train to Paris website: http://traintoparis.org

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For more information, please contact the UIC Communications Department: com at uic.org, Paul Véron: veron at uic.org, Marie Plaud: plaud at uic.org

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Network Rail becomes the 35th railway leader to sign the UIC Climate Declaration, with European railways already exceeding their 2030 carbon targets

UIC is pleased to have its 35th member sign the Climate Declaration, with Network Rail joining a growing group of railway leaders committed to targets in line with the Paris Agreement and taking decisive taking action to achieve decarbonisation before 2050.

This declaration reiterates the ambition set out by Network Rail last year when it became the first railway in the world to commit to the most challenging science-based targets for carbon reduction. This ambition is part of Network Rail’s newly launched Environmental Sustainability Strategy, setting out a blueprint for a path to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 in line with UK government targets. The strategy defines the company’s main priorities: run a low-emission railway, provide a reliable service to passengers that is resilient to climate change, improve biodiversity across the network, and ensure sustainable use of materials with minimal waste.

Martin Frobisher OBE, director of safety, technical and engineering at Network Rail, said:

We’re delighted to be joining a number of like-minded organisations from around the world in committing to the UIC Climate declaration. It’s a great opportunity to work alongside international partners, share best practice and work collaboratively towards the common goal of decarbonising rail.

“We’re making terrific progress and of course, rail has good credentials as an emissions-friendly form of mass transport, but there is still a lot more we have to do in the coming years to leave a positive environmental legacy for future generations and enable rail to playing a leading role in driving green economic growth.

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris, said:

Cleaner, greener railways will be an integral part of delivering net-zero transport network by 2050.

I am proud to see Network Rail working internationally to share expertise and innovation, and ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader with our work towards carbon reduction.

François Davenne, director general of International Union of Railways (UIC) said:

With 2021 marking UIC’s centenary, the commitment of our members to the UIC pledge becomes increasingly important and structured. Network Rail is one of the most innovative infrastructure managers and will give its full commitment to this process.

I am struck by the fact that among our members there is an increasingly strong sense of urgency. As we know, we have 10 years to demonstrate that rail is the solution to implement a paradigm shift for a low-carbon transport sector.”

In the Race to Zero, it is important to also understand mid-term targets. Since 2008, UIC has been working in partnership with CER and EIM to achieve a commitment on CO2 from train traction-related activities for the European railways, with a target of specific emission reduction. By 2030, the European railways will aim to:

  • reduce their specific final energy consumption from train operation by 30% compared to the base year (1990) measured per passenger-km (passenger service) and gross tonne-km (freight service)
  • reduce their specific average CO2 emissions from train operation by 50% compared to the base year (2005) measured per passenger-km (passenger service) and gross tonne-km (freight service)
  • reduce their total CO2 emissions from train operation by 30% in absolute terms compared to the base year (2005)
  • reduce their total exhaust emissions of NOx and PM10 by 40% in absolute terms, even with projected traffic growth compared to the 2005 base year

UIC collects and carefully checks data in its Energy and Environmental Database each year. This data is collected in a harmonised manner from 70 companies based in 34 countries across Europe, including Russia and Turkey. The data shows continuous improvement in performance across the region. Reduced energy and total carbon emissions were once again observed in 2019. The 2030 goal of reducing total CO2 emissions from train operation by 30% in absolute terms compared to 2005 has been already exceeded, with the reduction now standing at 40%.

The railways will play a critical role in mitigating climate change as the backbone of a decarbonised and sustainable mobility system and in a green recovery from the pandemic. Rail is the most sustainable form of mass transport, but we cannot be complacent; we must continue to strive to innovate and collaborate across the transport sector.

The UK holds the COP26 presidency, with the conference taking place in Glasgow in November this year. This event serves as an opportunity for the global rail community to highlight rail’s important contribution to decarbonisation and the creation of sustainable lifestyles and economies.

For further information please contact Lucie Anderton at anderton at uic.org

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New tools and insights to optimise infra-capacity, deal with disturbances and improve train services

Apply the skills and knowledge needed to deal with the multifaceted aspects of railway systems. Join this online programme and improve your strategies and decision making in the design, operation and performance of both infrastructure and rolling stock | Special discount for UIC members.

To keep trains running, improve services over time and offer faster and more comfortable travel, the rail industry needs professionals with the knowledge and skills to support innovation and provide sustainable and low-cost solutions. This entails the smart use of resources and the ability to meet the demands and requirements of all stakeholders involved. To do this successfully, professionals in and around the rail sector need not only to master their own area of specialisation, but be able to understand railway operations from a broader systems perspective.

A systems approach
Using an accessible and flexible way of learning, this online programme helps you understand how all the interfaces relate, affect each other and influence the system, so that you can deploy more efficient ways of planning and implementing operational and maintenance strategies. This will ultimately have an impact on your daily work, your projects and your decisions regarding investment, innovation and optimisation.

This programme, developed by leading researchers from the Delft University of Technology and industry experts, was launched in 2019 and continues to be endorsed by industry leaders and railway professionals worldwide.

With this unique programme rail professionals learn to apply an integrated railway systems approach to help them implement the appropriate innovations required to optimise maintenance time, costs and safety.” Taco Sysling, Head of Civil Engineering, Department of Asset Management at ProRail, Netherlands.

In railway related companies the overview of the whole railway system often and easily gets lost because of its sheer complexity. Innovation needs the full picture, I enrolled in this programme to get this comprehensive knowledge in a short time span.” Marco Langwadt, Bogie Equipment Innovation Engineer, Germany

Special Discount – Year of Rail
This year, in the context of the European Year of Rail, UIC members are entitled to a €100 discount on the full programme starting on 1 September. Join us and experience this new, interactive approach to online professional education. Use the discount code railX100 to enrol.

For more information or to enrol go to: tudelft.nl/rail-online

Online Programme: 4 career-oriented courses – Starting on 1 September

  1. Track and Train Interaction - Download syllabus
  2. Real Time Operations - Download syllabus
  3. Performance over Time - Download syllabus
  4. Capstone Project - Individually guided project that integrates the knowledge and skills gained from the first three courses.

With an on-demand and weekly workload of 4-5 hours, you can follow this programme wherever you are, alongside your job or studies.

For further information, please contact Eduardo landin at e.landin at tudelft.nl e.landin at tudelft.nl

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New UIC Circular Economy Sector holds its kick-off meeting on 27 May

By popular demand, a new Circular Economy Sector has been launched as part of the UIC Sustainability Platform. This new sector complements the four existing technical groups focusing on energy and CO2, air quality, sustainable land use and noise and vibration.

The new sector brings together member experts in resource efficiency and waste management, all looking to embed circularity into their business processes to save on costs and carbon. The group will follow up on the REUSE project, taking stock of circular economy practices implemented in railways.

The sector’s kick-off meeting was opened by UIC Sustainability Advisor Isabelle De Keyzer, who gave the floor to Christine Vanoppen, Reputation, Engagement and Governance Manager at Lineas and Chair of the Sustainability Platform. In her welcome speech, Ms Vanoppen reminded the participants of the vital importance of sustainable resource management and the opportunities it presents for the railways.
As the Circular Economy Sector is open to all UIC members participating in the Sustainability Platform, the UIC Europe and Asia-Pacific Regional Assemblies were also represented at this inaugural meeting. A total of 24 companies from 17 countries attended the meeting, representing railway operators, freight operators, infrastructure managers, other associations and researchers.

Sebastjan Meza, Researcher at the Slovenian National Institute for Building and Civil Engineering (ZAG), the research institute contracted by UIC to draft the final REUSE report, presented a preview of the outputs from the REUSE project to be published this summer.

The group set out key objectives and priority topics for the sector in an interactive session. Participants were keen to challenge technical standards that limit the rollout of circular economy practices and would like further support for research and innovation on the topic, taking advantage of funding from international institutions such as Horizon Europe Research.

The UIC work programme for 2022 was also examined with the presentation of an opt-in project, ”Zero Waste”, which offers the opportunity for new sector members to take part in best practice workshops to be held once or twice a year starting from January 2022. The aim of the workshops will be to share circular economy best practices and forge new partnerships with the entire supply chain.

Katy Beardsworth, Environmental Strategy Manager at Network Rail, was elected as Chair of the Sector, and Ilse de Vos van Eekeren, Programme Manager, Circular Business at Dutch Railways (NS), applied for the position of co-chair.

Further meetings have been scheduled for 21 September and 24 November.

For further information, please contact Isabelle De Keyzer at dekeyzer at uic.org

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New UIC noise flyer published

UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) has issued a new noise flyer, developed by its members during the 13th International Workshop on Railway Noise held from 16 to 20 September in Ghent, Belgium.

The flyer is an update of the “state of the art” report on noise published in 2016 by UIC NNV. The aim of the document is to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

To learn more about the NNV’s studies and to read the flyer, please visit our website: https://uic.org/sustainable-development/noise-and-vibration/

The IWRN 13 event provided a unique opportunity for high-level speakers to enhance understanding of numerous problems relating to railway noise and vibration and to build a scientific foundation for reducing the environmental impact of air-borne, ground-borne and structure-borne noise and vibration.

158 delegates from 23 countries across four continents registered for the workshop, and most of the UIC NNV members and guests, including Austria (ÖBB), Belgium (Infrabel), France (SNCF), Germany (DB), The Netherlands (Prorail/NS), Norway (Bane NOR), Sweden (Trafikverket), Switzerland (SBB), the United Kingdom (HS2), and Denmark (Banedanmark), presented posters and presentations at this international event.

Participants discussed the following topics during the conference:

  • High-speed rail and aerodynamic noise
  • Interior noise
  • Policy, regulation and perception
  • Predictions, measurements, monitoring and modelling
  • Rail roughness, corrugation and grinding
  • Squeal noise
  • Structure-borne noise and ground-borne vibration
  • Wheel and rail noise
  • Bridge noise and vibration

The UIC network expert meeting on noise and vibration will be held on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht, hosted by NS and ProRail.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor for Network Noise and Vibration:

yilmazer at uic.org

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New UIC Report: “Carbon Footprint of Rail Infrastructure”

The new UIC report, “Carbon Footprint of Rail infrastructure” analyses the main existing reports and methodologies in the field and provides guidelines, recommendations and best practices for the calculation of the carbon content of all phases of rail services including infrastructure construction.

The report firstly makes a qualitative comparison with ten existing previous studies to gauge how each methodology can be compared and used for other purposes, in terms of calculation approaches, boundaries, standardisation, applicability, etc.

Following such in-depth review of the existing literature, the second phase of the study quantitatively calculates the effect of the methodology on the results. Three typical corridors representative of three most relevant types of rail traffic (high speed, suburban and freight) have been selected. The three selected examples come from different geographical countries and contexts, such as a suburban line in the Netherlands, a high-speed corridor in Japan and freight services in Sweden.

For each corridor, the most relevant methodologies have been applied to quantify the carbon footprint of everyone, explaining the different results among the methodologies and analysing the methodology most suitable to be implemented in different cases and scenarios.

After performing the analysis, the IFEU study (Matthias Tuchschmid et al, 2010) appears as the most accurate, transparent and transposable methodology to be used for most corridors, giving accurate and reliable results with a reasonable amount of data needed.

The report “High Speed Rail and Sustainability” and the accompanying background “Carbon Footprint of High Speed Rail Lines” produced by UIC and Systra, which take four case studies of high-speed rail lines (two in Europe and two in Asia) and carries out a transparent, robust assessment of carbon emissions for each route, including the planning, construction (track and rolling stocks) and operation phases is identified as one of the most robust methodologies for double electrified, high-speed lines.

The report “Carbon Footprint of Rail Infrastructure” also calculates the payback time required to compensate the CO2 emissions due to the rail infrastructure construction, thanks to the modal shift from more carbon-intensive competitor modes (road or planes). For all three cases studies, the CO2 emissions payback time (less than 15 years) is much shorter than the average lifetime of the infrastructure.

Building new rail infrastructure saves CO2 after one to three decades depending on traffic as a the main key factor for a quick payback, so accurate traffic estimations must be performed during the planning phase of a new railway infrastructure to know the payback of the construction in terms of carbon footprint, and for other relevant KPIs.

As the main conclusions of the report and to engage further carbon emission mitigation when building new or maintaining railway infrastructure, this report also advises the inclusion of Carbon Arbitration Funds into the procurement of new railways. The Carbon Arbitration Funds would engage the bidders to perform detailed carbon emissions inventories, and more importantly deliver on lowering carbon emissions during the construction phase of the railway infrastructure. Precedents in some European countries show a great potential to mitigate carbon embedded into the infrastructure in the most cost efficient way.

Another relevant conclusion is that including carbon footprint of railway infrastructure in the Eco-Tools information would reward those making an effort to mitigate carbon emissions over the construction, re-construction and re-building of the line by using more carbon efficient procedures. It would create a win-win situation, where the rail sector reinforces its sustainability lead, and where infrastructure and railway operators are further engaged to mitigate CO2 emissions, evaluating possible advantages of investments in railways as a solution to reduce carbon footprint in transport.

To download the report, please click on the following link. In addition, all the main related previous studies are available at: http://uic.org/Carbon-Footprint-and-Sustainability

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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New UN study points to ways to create sustainable inland transport

According to a new study from the United Nations, Europe has managed to decouple the increase in motorisation and death on roads in the last several decades.

The new study “Transport for Sustainable Development – The case of Inland Transport” which has been launched today (23 February 2016) on the occasion of the 78th Annual Session of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) was developed by the five Regional Commissions of the UN in cooperation with key inland transport stakeholders and spearheaded by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The study examines issues, progress and challenges in global efforts to achieve the transition to sustainable inland mobility for both people and freight and is the first of this kind to take on a global perspective and examine best practices and challenges form every corner of the globe.

Among other findings, the study shows that some regions such as Latin America and Western Asia have managed to slow down the rate of increase of road fatalities in spite of an increase in the level of motorisation. However, most other regions of the world have experienced a simultaneous increase in both indicators. European experience however shows that decoupling between two trends is likely due to several factors, such as the strong embrace of road safety measures and their enforcement, coupled with uniform high safety regulations for cars and systematic education of drivers.

European countries were also able to reduce CO2 per capita emissions from transport in the decade 2001-2011, though they are responsible for roughly 50 per cent of the total emissions, so further progress is needed, according to the same study.

With the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the end of 2015, there has been another strong impetus to shift the transport sector towards a more sustainable model. This study identifies where the various regions of the world are at the beginning of the march towards Sustainable Development Goals for transport.

Transport is clearly indispensable for any society to grow economically and socially as well as to connect it with markets and the rest of the world. In order to achieve any sustainable development, the transport sector must be economically efficient, safe, secure and environmentally-friendly.

However, its obvious negative impacts such as road crashes, air and noise pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, could be mitigated, as the study show-cases through a wealth of good and best practices. Furthermore, the study also identifies the main challenges and opportunities to accelerate transition to sustainability.

The in-depth study highlights the five defining dimensions of sustainable transport – accessibility, affordability, safety, security and environmental performance.

For example, accessibility and affordability of public transport allows people in rural and urban environments to access employment, education and medical services, thereby contributing to the stability of the economic and social environment and allowing for growth. A lack of access to passenger or freight transport isolates individual sections of society creating and perpetuating stagnation and desolation.

The study looks at theoretical insights and best practices from all regions of the world mapping similarities and differences among countries of different income groupings and geographical regions in their efforts to create more sustainable transport sector. A common element globally is that transport is central in shifting to sustainable low carbon societies but a high level of political will is needed to decouple its growth from impacts like air pollution, traffic accidents and climate change.

This study, which is now available online on the UNECE web site, is the result of cooperation among the five Regional Commissions of the United Nations, i.e. ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA and key global stakeholders, particularly, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Union of Railways (UIC). It also benefited from case study contributions by Communications Company Kapsch.

(Source: UNECE)

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Now is the time to take responsibility for action on climate change

In December the world’s governments are expected to sign a landmark legal agreement in Paris at the United Nations COP21 Climate Change negotiations. Without more sustainable transport, it will not be possible to achieve the COP21 target of limiting the global temperature rise to two degrees.

For this reason COP21 presents the rail sector with an important opportunity, to highlight rail as an energy efficient transport mode and also to demonstrate how investing in rail and increasing rail market share are an essential part of the solution to climate change. At COP21, UIC will build upon our success at the UN Climate Summit in 2014 where we launched the UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge. In a message to the 86th UIC General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon applauded the contribution of UIC members to the Climate Summit, acknowledged that your actions can make a measurable difference and urged us to accelerate our efforts.

“I challenge all railways, especially the major ones, to commit to reporting your progress in an open, transparent manner. The UIC’s systems are ideally placed to take this step toward creating a better future,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

In response to this challenge by the UN Secretary General, and as a key component of the rail sector contribution to the COP21 Lima Paris Action Agenda, UIC has designed the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge which mentions global targets for the entire railway sector on energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

The UIC members FS, CFR Calatori, CHSRA, HZ Cargo, VNR and ZSSK Cargo have pledged their commitment. We invite the CEOs of all other UIC members to follow their example, act on the decision taken at the 86th UIC General Assembly and sign the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge. This positive action by your company will be presented to the United Nations during the Train to Paris high-level event on the evening of 28 November.

The pledge and the required information were sent on 27 August to all CEOs and assistants of UIC members.

For further information please contact Aurelia Kollros: kollros at uic.org

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Number of visits to EcoPassenger website has quadrupled

The UIC EcoPassenger website, which was re-launched last November, has received four times the number of visits since the updating process in comparison to the website’s previous statistics.

The figures provided by the website’s tracking system show a strong increase following the implementation of new functionalities which analysed the visits over the last year. The website receives over 4,000 visits per month and displays over 23,000 pages.

The main factor contributing to this increase is the possibility of implementing a widget on other websites, which extends the possibility of performing calculations with EcoPassenger and shows the relevance of personal choices in energy consumption, carbon emissions and local air pollution.
The addresses required to implement the widgets can be found below in the various languages:

In addition, the new EcoPassenger version has improved usability for smart phones and tablets with a new mobile version completely compatible with all operative systems.

UIC invites you to check the emissions of your trips at www.ecopassenger.org

For further information please contact Aymeric Boniou, Webmaster: boniou at uic.org

UIC Communications Department: com at uic.org

Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

Official launch of the European Year of Rail 2021

Dear all,

The official launch of the European Year of Rail 2021, co-organised by the European Commission and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, will take place on Monday 29 March from 14:00 to 17:00 (CET), and will be streamed live from Lisbon.

This virtual event is expected to attract a wide audience, from professionals to citizens who are passionate about rail, with contributions from a broad range of stakeholders on various rail-related topics. Moreover, UIC will be represented by Chairman of the UIC Europe Region Francisco Cardoso dos Reis (IP).

Please feel free to join this event next Monday and inform your networks!

The link to connect will be communicated here nearer the date.

Consult the programme of the afternoon’s presentations and debates.
More information on the European Year of Rail can be found on:

Best regards,

The UIC Communications Team

For further information, please contact: enewsteam at uic.org

See the full article

One week to go before the Sustainable Railways in Asia-Pacific online webinar on 17 March 2021

Continuing and expanding upon dialogue from the 13th EST Forum of the United Nations Centre for Regional Department held on 10-11 November 2020, UNCRD and UIC are holding a joint seminar focusing on the railways.

Railways: the backbone of sustainable urban mobility and regional connectivity in Asia

As a continuation of UIC’s collaboration and meetings with international partners in the region, railway experts are invited to join and learn more about the work of the International Union of Railways in the field of sustainability.

The webinar will provide an opportunity to hear about best practices in sustainability from the Asia-Pacific region and to discuss the shared challenges facing the region’s railways in relation to decarbonisation.

The webinar will include a discussion to identify opportunities for rail to help accelerate a green and just recovery from the pandemic.

This online seminar will be useful for both policymakers and railway operators alike and will serve as an opportunity to collaborate more closely as a railway community.

Attendance is open to all.

The event will be held via Zoom on 17 March from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Paris time)/4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Nagoya time). Connection details will be sent prior to the event, upon registration.

Agenda

Moderator: Mr Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative

Welcome (8.00-8.15)

Mr François Davenne, Director General, UIC

Mr Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, Secretariat of the Regional EST Forum in Asia, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)

1.0. UIC introduction (8.15-8.35)

Introduction to UIC and the UIC Asia-Pacific Region
Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations and Coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Region

Opportunities to work with the UIC Sustainability Platform
Ms Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability, UIC

2.0. UIC Asia-Pacific members’ best practices (8.35-9.30)

3.0. Round table: The challenges of becoming carbon neutral and how to make rail integral to a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic (9.45-10.25)

4.0. Cooperation between UIC and UNCRD and their respective members (10.25-10.45)

Summary and closing remarks (10.45-11.00)

Register here

Marie-Luz Philippe, UIC Senior Advisor, Sustainability and Middle East Region, philippe at uic.org

Béatrice Segeral, UIC Senior Advisor, Institutional Relations and Asia-Pacific, segeral at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online Questionnaire for Ground Borne Noise: UIC Network Noise and Vibration

]

The UIC Network meeting on Noise and Vibration was organised by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) on 23 and 24 October in Utrecht. Participants discussed the EU developments for noise and vibration issues, technical measurements for acoustic track parameters and other EU organisations and projects.

Trafikverket in Sweden gave some information about their study which is being conducted to establish national guideline values for ground-borne noise from railway traffic in tunnels at night-time.

As agreed by members, to get a broader picture before deciding on what indicators and values to use, the online questionnaire has been prepared on the UIC website for all noise and vibration experts.

Please complete the questionnaire at the link below before 14 November.

https://events.uic.org/questionnaire-for-ground-borne-noise

The results of the questionnaire and the outcome will be communicated and discussed at the next noise and vibration meeting. The next meeting will be held on 11-12 March 2020 in Berlin.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

For all matters related to the UIC Network Noise and Vibration, please contact Pınar Yılmazer:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

Online UIC TopRail meeting held on 23 June

The members of UIC TopRail met online on 23 June. The meeting was opened by Carles Casas, Chairman of TopRail and Marc Guigon, UIC Passenger Director, who shared a number of key messages regarding the UIC Passenger Department, the calendar for the next year and the General Assembly, which will take place on 8 July.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Russia, Iran, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Japan and the European Federation of Trams and Tourism Trains.

The key issues during the discussion included initiatives linked to the European Year of Rail, feedback from the ETOA broadcast masterclass and further steps. In addition, participants shared news from their networks.

The topics discussed included:

  • trends and current perspectives on tourism and sustainable travel – Daria Snigir, UIC
  • safety of tourism trains in Iran – Abdollahi Ali, RAI
  • Nightjets (synonymous with night trains in Europe) – Christoph Hinterleitner, ÖBB
  • recovery plans and the situation in Switzerland – Jörg Ostwald, SBB
  • marketing of tourist trains in Barcelona – Carles Casas, FGC
  • the new premium travel service in Italy: La dolce vita – Sandra Pansini, Trenitalia
  • Planet Budapest 2021 Sustainability Expo and Summit – Agnes Orosz, MÁV-Start
  • Tohoku destination campaign in Japan – Miki Tomosada, JR East

TopRail during the European Year of Rail

The European Year of Rail is an EU initiative which provides an opportunity for greater visibility and amplification of messages regarding the importance of rail tourism.

UIC TopRail is organising several actions in the context of the European Year of Rail:
A broadcast and masterclass with the theme “Connecting Tourism and Rail: Sustainability, Challenges and Business Opportunities” was held on 18 May in cooperation with the European Tourism Association, with more than 300 views on YouTube and 100 online participants.

A photo competition with the theme “My Secret Rail Spots” is also being organised. The aim of the competition is for railway employees to act as ambassadors for their railways and to share their favourite rail spots in order to inspire passengers to hop on a train and get to know these places once it becomes possible to travel again.

More information is available at https://uic.org/events/uic-toprail-photo-competition-2021-themed-around-my-secret-rail-spots

In addition, TopRail members are working on the “Music and trains bring people together” initiative with the aim of creating a single promotional video by mixing TopRail members’ products and musicians playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from different rail locations of interest to tourists.

The upcoming third TopRail Forum, “Railways and tourism: a cultural perspective”, which will be held online on 26 October in cooperation with the RailtoLand European Erasmus project partners, was also discussed during the meeting. The key issue to be addressed during this workshop is the landscape as a tourist resource, and how to connect cultural tourism and railways.

Concluding the meeting, it was noted that the next TopRail Meeting will be held on 27 September, which is International Day of Tourism.

What is TopRail?

TopRail is a UIC project that actively promotes railway tourism products by increasing the visibility of service offerings. This is accomplished by fostering close collaboration between stakeholders and their customers to encourage railway tourism opportunities. Railway tourism offers a wide range of tourism alternatives combining exclusivity, technology, luxury and sustainability whilst contributing to supporting local economies.

The next TopRail Forum will be held online on 26 October.

For further information on TopRail, please contact Vanessa Pérez, Senior Advisor, Passenger Department, at perez at uic.org

See the full article

Online workshop on work train decarbonisation held on 18 March

UIC held a two-hour online workshop on 18 March with a focus on strategies, experience and projects to reduce or phase out the use of internal combustion engines and fossil fuels in work trains and machinery for track maintenance.

The workshop was split into two sessions. During the first session, infrastructure managers gave insights into their policies on climate neutrality and the challenges they are facing.

Reinout Wissenburg of ProRail opened the workshop and provided an overview of decarbonisation in the Dutch railway sector and the challenges involved in decarbonising work trains, suggesting that international cooperation is needed to move forward effectively.

Hakan Johansson of Trafikverket then took the floor and presented the road and rail sector in Sweden and its average annual emissions. He also talked about the Swedish Transport Administration’s goals for climate neutrality and incentivising policies for reduction of CO2 emissions in procurement.

Jonathan Brown of Ricardo gave the third presentation, outlining challenges for infrastructure managers in delivering zero carbon emissions by 2050 and explaining that accurate forecasts for technology evolution need to be part of decision-making. In his concluding statements, Mr Brown described decarbonisation as a disruptive force re-shaping all transport sectors.

The final insights during this first session came from Marco Meier of SBB, who provided important facts on work trains and requirements engineering. Wrapping up his presentation, he noted that new procurements need to use renewable energies and that renewable fuels were the last choice.

The second hour-long session was dedicated to contractors, suppliers and machine manufacturers. They demonstrated their commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of their services and the possibilities they can offer, as well as the obstacles they are facing. They underlined their efforts with regard to:

  • electrification of machinery,
  • overall reduction of CO2 emissions in works,
  • smart maintenance,
  • sustainability in fleet renewal,
  • harmonisation of the sector’s needs.

Time was set aside during each session to allow for questions and discussion.
The presentations and the recording of the workshop will soon be available at https://uic.org/events/decarbonisation-of-work-trains

Upcoming workshops on best practice:

  • Hydrogen train best practice workshop to be held online on 12 May
  • Battery train best practice workshop to be held online on 19 May

For further information, please contact Philippe Stefanos: stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Only three weeks until the Workshop on “Energy Efficient Rail Infrastructures” to be held on 2 July 2018 in Paris

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop on “Energy efficient Infrastructures” that will be held in Paris on 2 July 2018 in Paris, in the direct vicinity of UIC Headquarters.

Background
After Eco-driving, eco-stabling and measuring energy consumption, other energy saving potentials have been identified by the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network in the energy management of railway infrastructures.
Therefore, this new workshop will focus on the following topics:

Workshop topics

  • Lighting of platforms, shunting/stabling areas and maintenance shops
    • Use of virtual reality
    • Design tools for lighting of railway infrastructure
  • Switch heating: sharing of technologies and experiences from infrastructure managers
  • Installations for preheating and smart stabling
  • Integration of renewable energy in railway infrastructure
    • Energy efficiency in the railway electricity networks (e.g. internal networks on higher voltage level, purchasing battery chargers and transformers with reduced losses, limiting the amount of different voltages, …)
  • Discussion and sharing of good practices

Programme
The draft programme will be available soon.

Venue
Practical information will be available soon.
The workshop will be held in the direct vicinity of UIC HQ.

Registration
Register your participation by filling in the form via https://events.uic.org/uic-invites-you-to-a-workshop-on-energy-efficient-infrastructures?var_mode=calcul

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor - Environment and Sustainable Development:

keyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Opportunities for Railways in Digital Platforms

]

Register here: https://bit.ly/2GWBEqo

The full integration between different mobility services can be realised using Mobility-as-a-Service Platforms (MaaS Platform).

MaaS Platforms offer the capability to smoothly combine multiple mobility solutions from origin to destination (train legs included) and pay for the entire journey with a single transaction. The platforms have the added benefit of real-time information along the journey that reacts instantly in times of disruption and delay, providing alternative routes.

In order to make the necessary shift away from road and combustion engines, it is essential that more passengers find rail and other public transport easy to use and convenient.

In a post-Covid world we have the opportunity to #buildbackbetter and build confidence in public transport again with the travelling public. How can MaaS help rail to meet this challenge?

Agenda

Welcome speech 11.30AM
Goals and perspectives of the events

Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability Unit, UIC
Raimondo Orsini, Sustainable Development Foundation Director

Opening session 11.50AM
MaaS technology for a more sustainable transport and its role for transport decarbonisation

Piia Karjalainen, MaaS Alliance – 10min (confirmed)
UITP (invited)
Juan José Montero Pascual, EU Commission, EUI & UNED – FSR Scientific

Committee - 10 min (confirmed)

Q&A 10 min

12.30-2.00PM - Digital lunch break

Session 1 - 2PM
Moderator: Raimondo Orsini

Best practices and success stories inspiring future opportunities
Rail companies and MaaS provider will give an overview about their solutions, experiences and challenges in the field of Mobility as a Service; the session will present as well an overview of MaaS solutions already launched and on-site.

Speakers from UIC Members including SBB, SNCF, FS, NS, etc.
Names to be announced soon

Q&A 10 min

Session 2 - 3.45PM
Railway as a backbone of sustainable transport system for the future of urban mobility
Moderator: Vanessa Perez, UIC

Speakers from UIC Members including Networkrail, JR, ViaRail, EFE, etc.
Names to be announced soon

Q&A: Open debate between participants

Conclusion - 5.30PM
UIC and the Foundation

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor-Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region: philippe at uic.org

Visit the dedicated webpage: https://uic.org/events/the-opportunities-for-railways-in-digital-platforms

See the full article

Partnership formed with Copernicus Climate Change Service and Secteur project for RailAdapt Workshops to be held in London

London, 27 – 28 April 2017 hosted by RSSB – Save the Date

Climate is changing and railroads are vulnerable to these changes. Climate change will have a wide range of threads for railroads such as rising sea levels, increase risk of flood, and heat waves. Railway stakeholders need to plan for the impact and challenges that our changing climate will bring, and having the appropriate tools and data to make evidence-based decisions is essential.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides information to help society and business sectors improve decision-making and planning regarding climate mitigation and adaptation. C3S is based on a combination of science and data and an advanced understanding of the market needs. The entry point to this European Project will be the Climate Data Store, whose first version will be accessible in the middle of the year 2017.

The SECTEUR project (Sector Engagement for Copernicus Climate Change Service; Translating European User Requirements) works with businesses and other organisations to understand their requirements, in terms of weather and climate data to support decision-making. This project is funded by the Reading-based European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) on behalf of Copernicus, the European Commission’s Earth observation and monitoring programme. Working with users in each sector will place the focus on technical feasibility, market needs and gaps that could be filled with additional research. The ultimate aim of this project is to translate these user requirements into services for the C3S Sectoral Information System (SIS) and the Climate Data Store.

SECTEUR is engaging and interacting with a wide number of stakeholders across six sectors (including transport infrastructure) through surveys, workshops and interviews to establish an inventory of existing policy needs and user requirements in terms of climate data and climate impact indicators.

This projects is aligned with RailAdapt, a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements (COP21 and Sustainable Development Goals), and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21 2015) and Marrakech (COP 22 2016), where the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing RailAdapt workshops during 2017. The first workshop will be hosted by RSSB in London on 27 and 28 April (A second will be organised in Beijing in June, but the exact date and location have to be confirmed). On the afternoon of the 28th RailAdapt will partner with SECTEUR to develop a workshop in which it will be possible to obtain in-depth knowledge of what climate information will be released through Climate Data Store and how this information can be acquired and processed to assist decision making processed in the railway sector.

UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what data are needed to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services. The findings of the London workshop will provide inputs for the final design of the C3S and CDS. So participating in this workshop will enable these tools to be better tailored to the needs of each organisation.

UIC therefore invites the people in your organisation who understand disruption and how to cope with it, and those who can make a difference. They could be regional asset engineers, local operations managers or very senior national directors, or those responsible for long term planning, economics and finance or those that are interested in corporate risks, like risk to reputation. It’s more than having emergency plans, it’s about willingness to take responsibility: for preparedness, investment, building awareness and capacity.

These key personnel could help us by showing willingness to work at different levels and sharing their experiences and advice at our London workshop and engaging with us as things develop further.

For more detail about RailAdapt, see the flyer:

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/railadapt.pdf

For more detail about Secteur, visit the webpage: http://www.the-iea.org/projects/secteur/

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Postponed: 2nd UIC Door-to-Door Solutions Workshop in Rome

We wish to inform you that the 2nd UIC Door-to-Door Solutions Workshop, due to be held on 26 June 2019, has been postponed until autumn 2019.

Please note that only the workshop is postponed and not the 3rd National Conference on Shared Mobility.

Thank you for your understanding.

See the full article

Presentation of the ESRS in Eurostat’s Working Group on Rail Transport Statistics

The meeting of Eurostat’s Working Group on Rail Transport Statistics was held on 1 and 2 October at the Eurostat Headquarters in Luxembourg.

Representative members of the EU countries and international organisations involved in railways statistics such as UNECE, ITF, ERA, CER and UIC attended the meeting to discuss the main regulations and improvements in data collection of the EU rail sector.

In this framework, UIC presented its Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS). Gabriel Castañares Hernández, UIC Senior Advisor in Energy and CO2, presented the UIC experience on the energy consumptions data collection for the European UIC members included in this system. Next, a description was given of the website and the main process on collecting the data introduced by the train operating companies.

A relevant part of the presentation focused on the integration of different data sources such as the case of the energy mix of electricity consumed by railways. The dual reporting of CO2 emissions, including the market based approach, with the Guarantees of Origin for green electricity defined by the EU legal frame, and the national production mix for the location based approach, allows the same methodology to be used to calculate the CO2 emissions from electricity of the companies included in the ESRS.

The development of the UIC Zero Carbon Project and its conclusions were also been highlighted as a way to adopt a common methodology, avoiding differences in the source of data used to calculate the CO2 produced by railways.

The cooperation and the exchange of indicators and methodology on this topic between Eurostat and UIC for CO2 emissions in rail services, using the ESRS methodology, will improve the existing indicators, conversion factors and data provided by Eurostat.

The ESRS is the system used by UIC to collect information on energy consumption and CO2 emissions, including a dedicated website to upload the information and a policy for external communication of information. The ESRS is the basis to monitor the trend of carbon emissions and energy efficiency performance in railways facing the UIC targets for 2020, 2030 and 2050. The data collection process of the ESRS for 2015 is the first one including the indicators for dual reporting.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

Presentation of the UIC Zero Carbon Project at the RECs Market Meeting

On 29 April 2015, the RECs Market Meeting was held in Oslo to present the most relevant experiences about the latest developments in renewable energies, electricity tracking mechanisms, carbon accounting and disclosure systems. The conference also brought together high-level speakers to discuss European energy strategy and how a demand-driven renewable market will be a key issue for the next future. Furthermore, the most up-to-date and relevant information about the European renewable electricity market was showcased at the conference.

In this context, UIC participated in the panel on “Zero Carbon Trains in Europe”, moderated by Preben Munch of ECOHZ, where Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor of Energy and CO2, presented the development of the UIC Zero Carbon Project. Furthermore, this panel included speeches by Margrethe Sagevik of NSB and Remco Faas of the Eneco power company based in the Netherlands and which is involved in electricity origin projects with NS. All of them analysed the contributions of rail to sustainable transport and a low carbon economy through implementing renewable energies using green certificates markets and standards for reporting.

During this panel the speakers highlighted the need for the rail sector to stay ahead as the most environmentally-friendly mode of transport, with a clear reporting methodology avoiding green washing. Railways therefore have to increase their energy efficiency and renewable energy purchasing. The panel underlined the potential of rail transport as a huge consumer of electricity, able to change the market for renewable electricity and create genuine consumer-driven demand. In some local markets rail even has the opportunity to choose the type and location of renewable energy production.

Gabriel Castañares Hernández introduced the main gaps and inconsistencies detected in renewable energy reporting in the UIC Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) and how the development of the Zero Carbon Project has delivered commonly accepted rules to provide UIC members accepted ways of sourcing zero carbon products, allowing them to increase the use of renewable electricity and communicate it to customers.

The Zero Carbon Project develops the reporting of Guarantees of Origin (GOs) according to the GHG Protocol guidelines within the UIC Environmental Strategy to reduce CO2 with targets for 2030 and a vision for carbon-free rail by 2050. Renewable Energy is an important part of the strategy, and many railways already source a proportion of their energy from renewable sources. This project aims to avoid concerns by external stakeholders about accounting this energy as zero carbon with a solid accountability system. It is a subject that is politically and strategically important for UIC and its members.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández castanares at uic.org

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Programme for the third International Railway Standardisation Conference

The third International Standardisation Conference will take place as a video conference from 10.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 16 March. The topic of the conference is: “How can standardisation help to evolve a sustainable railway?”. UIC members will exchange their experience and practices around sustainable mobility.

Sustainability has moved from being a “nice-to-have” to a strategic imperative, and companies and authorities have evolved accordingly in their approach.

  • How can UIC members address sustainable development challenges?
  • How does standardisation help?
  • How can railway companies and industries use standards to attain sustainable goals?
  • What standards are used?

The topics to be discussed include hydrogen, low-carbon fuels and climate change, amongst others.

Speakers:

  • Kenji Murasaki, Deputy Director, JR-East HQ
  • Sirous Sayyah Saharkhiz, Iranian Railways
  • Name to be confirmed, RZD
  • Theresa Romanosky, Assistant General Counsel, Association of American Railroads (AAR)
  • Lucie Anderton, Chief Sustainability Officer, UIC

View the full programme at
https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference#Programme

Registration
https://uic.org/events/3rd-international-railway-standardisation-conference#Registration

For further information, please contact: standardisation at uic.org.

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Proposal for guidelines to assess the environmental impact of railway infrastructure successfully introduced

The InfraGuidER EU FP7 coordinated action held its dissemination milestone event today in the shape of the Final Conference at the “Arts and Sciences Academy” in Brussels.

As the designated organisation in charge of the InfraGuidER consortium’s dissemination activity, UIC succeeded in bringing together a diverse range of participants from Europe and beyond (e.g. the European Commission, procurement directors, senior purchasers, maintenance process managers, R&D specialists, environmental advisors, etc.). The conference offered an opportunity to gain an interesting one-day insight into this European railway infrastructure EU FP7 coordinated action, presenting the achievements on railway network asset management from an environmental sustainability viewpoint.

For two years, the work coordinated by NITEL, the Italian university pool for Transport & Logistics, has involved exchanging views and know-how and implementing a solution tool-box ranging from solid transparent methodology for innovative eco-procurement processes, caveats and guidelines for the introduction/enhancement of environmental management schemes (based on ISO14000 series) for railway infrastructure managers, to material accounting and decision support expertise. Overall they represent environmental specifications for railway infrastructure, including a recommended set of indicators and some reference requirement values.

The InfraGuidER project, with the involvement of Central, North and Eastern European infrastructure managers, academia and the supply industry, has led to a mature ambitious proposal for improving ‘business as usual’ tendering processes by integrating it with new eco-procurement criteria. One of the main outcomes is that policy priorities should be placed in the following order: “Prevent and limit”, followed by “Management and control” and finally “Remediation”. This sequence can be assumed considering that the respective order of magnitude cost increases tenfold from the first to the last. The challenge remains to broadly adopt such policy whilst maintaining economic and social activity.

New criteria were designed in the proposed network materials procurement methodology, aiming at minimising material life cycle-related risks such as the negative impact of climate change, natural resources depletion and hazardous substances handling. Is it time to rethink policy and processes, phase-out selected materials, set up environmental management scheme reviews, use the best available technologies, maintain better collaborative links with the supply industry, promote R&D and compound solution patterns? Simple business changes could constitute low hanging fruits.
The partners have created an up-to-date tool-box with technical and managerial recommendations which will be delivered in full and made publicly available at: www.infraguider.eu by January 2011.

InfraGuidER partners also benefited along the way from some inspiring external contributors as the new procurement scheme set up by the Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail – “CO2 performance ladder” – which is being implemented by tender practitioners, applying award advantages to virtuous suppliers and the Norwegian Infrastructure Manager’s (JBV) valuable business experience in procurement.

A dynamic and inclusive approach in tackling issues has enabled the InfraGuidER partners to successfully deliver a tool-box for railway infrastructure managers, supporting them in decision-making, and keeping the railway sector green, strong and competitive.
The InfraGuidER project constitutes a stimulus for further European harmonisation in railway infrastructure material procurement and management, enhancing rail’s current environmental performance.

For more information please contact Paolo Contestabile: contestabile at uic.org

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Prospective study on the strategy for railway development in Africa: first ad hoc committee workshop held on 30 June

UIC Africa has launched a prospective study on the strategy for railway development in Africa. The objective of the study is to draw a roadmap for this vital sector, making the railways a key lever for inclusive and sustainable growth while taking into consideration the challenges and major changes brought about by the pandemic.

The ad hoc committee’s first workshop was held on 30 June, moderated by Thierry Béra, UIC CFO and Coordinator of the African region. The committee comprises experts representing various stakeholders including the African Union of Railways, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, donors, African railway networks and UIC experts from the Passenger and High-Speed Department, Operations and the Covid-19 Taskforce.

Louis Napo, UIC Consultant and Said Chandid, Head of the UIC African Regional Bureau in Rabat, presented an assessment of the African environment and dynamics, the impact of Covid-19, and an overview of railway management and development in Africa.

As a next step, the ad hoc committee will collaborate to develop a forward vision for the railways and the key elements of this vision between now and 2063 to determine how the rail sector can contribute effectively to achieving the goals and aspirations set out in Agenda 2063 while taking into account major trends and factors of change, as well as drivers of mobility.

For more information on UIC Africa activities, please contact Thierry Béra, bera at uic.org or Maria Lafont, lafont at uic.org

See the full article

Race to Zero: Achieving net zero emissions by 2050

]

The Race to Zero Dialogues are a series of virtual events convened by the High-Level Champions for Global Climate Action and taking place between 9 and 19 November. The Dialogues will chart how entire sectors are already rapidly transitioning to a zero-carbon future, as defined in the Climate Action Pathways. The Race to Zero Dialogues will also serve as critical input to the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues from 23 November to 4 December, which are advancing work governing the rules of the Paris Agreement.

Transport Dialogue on 11 November
The Transport Dialogue will be held on 11 November. The virtual meeting is co-organised by the International Transport Forum, the SLOCAT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport, the Mission Possible Platform, the World Economic Forum, the Global Maritime Forum, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Climate Group, Said Business School and Oxford University, and Resilient 40.

By November 2020, the Marrakech Partnership Climate Action Pathways will be enhanced in detail to encourage discussion across all sectors of the global economy. The goal is to catalyse collaboration around the Climate Action Pathways, guided by science, and to accelerate action.

UIC is a proud official supporter of Race to Zero, the campaign that seeks to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonised economy ahead of COP26. Marking one year until we come together in Glasgow for COP26, Race to Zero is hosting a series of special dialogues. As part of its role in the Marrakesh Partnership, UIC has been working with other transport authorities to create the transport climate action pathway. Help shape the pathway and join the Transport Dialogues on 11 November.

For further information please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit: anderton at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor-Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region: philippe at uic.org

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Rail to the COP

UIC is supporting the dedicated Climate Train that will be taking delegates to this year’s United Nations Conference of the Parties 26 in Glasgow. This special service, provided by ProRail, NS, Eurostar and AVANTI, will travel from Amsterdam to Glasgow on Saturday 30 October, stopping in Rotterdam, Brussels and changing in London. With the support of SNCF, a second Eurostar train will connect from Paris, meeting the Amsterdam train in London so that delegates can meet and travel the last leg of the journey to Glasgow together.

You are all invited to apply for your spot onboard NOW! Tickets go on sale on Monday 30 September at Rail to the Cop.

Postponed by 12 months, this important COP will be a milestone in securing action to mitigate climate change. The recent IPCC report issued a ‘Code Red’ to the leaders of the world on behalf of the scientific community and stressed the ever-clearer urgency to act.

As evidenced by the UIC climate declaration, signed by 35 members, railways are already taking innovative action to achieve net zero before 2050. Furthermore, rail is already the greenest form of transport and must be ready to take a bigger share of passengers and freight by the end of the decade if we are to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. UIC representatives, as official COP Observers, will act as the voice of the global rail community at COP and promote the importance of rail in mitigating climate change.

For these important reasons, the ‘Rail to the COP’ train is the perfect way for delegates to travel to the conference. This dedicated train will celebrate rail and its sustainability credentials and there will be an exciting onboard programme of interactive workshops and activities to get involved in.

Join us and spread the word!

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, at anderton at uic.org

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Rail transport and environment: new CER and UIC booklet provides facts and figures

Rail is one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport and generates significantly lower CO2 emissions than other modes. Increasing the modal share of rail in line with 2011 Transport White Paper targets would result in an estimated reduction of 238 million tonnes of CO2 a year, equivalent to 19% of EU27 transport emissions in 2010. That is just one striking figure in the new booklet on rail and environment released today by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the International Union of Railways (UIC).

2015 is a big year for climate change policy, for which transport still presents a major challenge. The new booklet, jointly published by CER and UIC, aims to support decision makers with comprehensive data on the environmental impact of the different transport modes. It demonstrates that rail is an enabling factor for sustainable mobility because

  • Travelling by rail is on average 3-10 times less CO2 intensive compared with road or air transport
  • Rail’s share of transport energy consumption is less than 2% despite a market share of over 8.5%
  • Land use per passenger-km for rail is about 3.5 times lower than for cars
  • Rail’s average external costs (i.e. the costs of the negative effects of transport, such as air pollution, that are not paid by the users themselves but borne by the society at large) are more than four times less than road’s for passenger services, and more than six times less for freight services

In order to drive continued improvement of rail’s environmental footprint, CER and UIC’s European members have agreed targets until 2030 and a vision for sustainable mobility until 2050. These targets, adopted in 2010, have now been updated with increased ambition for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are presented in the booklet.

The booklet can be downloaded at this link:

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/facts_and_figures_2014_v1.0-2.pdf

UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux commented:

This booklet contains data and analysis of the European rail sector’s performance. It charts the primary role that rail has in sustainable development and clearly illustrates the unrivalled efficiency of the European rail system. In his message to the July 2015 UIC General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban-ki Moon emphasised the importance of reporting data in an open and transparent manner. In response to this we are proud to present the highest quality data, provided by the European rail operating community and collected using the UIC Environmental Strategy Monitoring System.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said:

Rail contributes to reducing the transport users’ environmental burden on society with its exceptionally low total external costs. However, very limited progress has been made at EU level in addressing internalisation of external costs across all transport modes. CER looks forward to the Road Package for measures towards full and mandatory internalisation of external costs for road as for rail transport as advocated by the 2011 Transport White Paper.

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshop held on 19 and 20 June 2017 in Beijing

UIC and China Railways jointly organised the two-day RailAdapt workshop on 19 and 20 June in Beijing. Over 60 delegates registered to attend the workshop and discuss approaches to weather resilience and adaptation with speakers drawn from over 15 countries. RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Indeed building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC invited members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline the support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services.

In his opening remarks Mr HE Huawu, Chief Engineer for China Railway, remarked that "The issue of climate change, i.e. global warming and increase of extreme weather events, is now a critical issue of common concern in the world, which might not only influence the people’s living environment and sustainable development of economy and society, but also impact the safety, reliability and durability of important infrastructure like transportation and energy."
He also explained the wide range of climatic zones and environments that China Railways operates within ‘Beijing-Guangzhou HSR crossing over different climate zones, the Harbin-Dalian HSR, the first HSR built in seasonal permafrost area, Hai’nan round island HSR built in tropical zone and the Lanzhou-Urumqi HSR crossing Gobi desert frequently suffering from sandstorms.’

Mr Loubinoux Director General of UIC observed "At a high level this project responds to discussions and on adaptation with the United Nations. This is an emerging topic that is not yet fully mature. We aim to build a bridge, to translate these high-level policy discussions into practical considerations for the operational railway.’ and ‘It is through meeting such as today that we will raise our understanding of how to manage adaptation. To develop a common vocabulary and a vision for the resilient railway for the future. It is our responsibility to articulate this vision. To make sure that we are ready for a discussion on the long term resilience of the railway. We need to lead this discussion when talking to Ministries, regulators, investors and insurance companies."

A number of distinguished speakers presented a broad range including detailed examples of how railways the manage adverse impacts of extreme weather on railway operations and opportunities for improving resilience at low or marginal cost through renewal processes. It was agreed that a significant challenge remains to mainstream adaptation and weather resilience throughout the many relevant departments of railway companies.

The RailAdapt project is seeking to develop a network of experts working on adaptation and welcomes UIC members to contact the project team.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshop held on 19 and 20 June 2017 in Beijing

UIC and China Railways jointly organised the two-day RailAdapt workshop on 19 and 20 June in Beijing. Over 60 delegates registered to attend the workshop and discuss approaches to weather resilience and adaptation with speakers drawn from over 15 countries. RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Indeed building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC invited members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline the support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services.

In his opening remarks Mr HE Huawu, Chief Engineer for China Railway, remarked that "The issue of climate change, i.e. global warming and increase of extreme weather events, is now a critical issue of common concern in the world, which might not only influence the people’s living environment and sustainable development of economy and society, but also impact the safety, reliability and durability of important infrastructure like transportation and energy."
He also explained the wide range of climatic zones and environments that China Railways operates within ‘Beijing-Guangzhou HSR crossing over different climate zones, the Harbin-Dalian HSR, the first HSR built in seasonal permafrost area, Hai’nan round island HSR built in tropical zone and the Lanzhou-Urumqi HSR crossing Gobi desert frequently suffering from sandstorms.’

Mr Loubinoux Director General of UIC observed "At a high level this project responds to discussions and on adaptation with the United Nations. This is an emerging topic that is not yet fully mature. We aim to build a bridge, to translate these high-level policy discussions into practical considerations for the operational railway.’ and ‘It is through meeting such as today that we will raise our understanding of how to manage adaptation. To develop a common vocabulary and a vision for the resilient railway for the future. It is our responsibility to articulate this vision. To make sure that we are ready for a discussion on the long term resilience of the railway. We need to lead this discussion when talking to Ministries, regulators, investors and insurance companies."

A number of distinguished speakers presented a broad range including detailed examples of how railways the manage adverse impacts of extreme weather on railway operations and opportunities for improving resilience at low or marginal cost through renewal processes. It was agreed that a significant challenge remains to mainstream adaptation and weather resilience throughout the many relevant departments of railway companies.

The RailAdapt project is seeking to develop a network of experts working on adaptation and welcomes UIC members to contact the project team.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshop to be held from 19 – 20 June 2017 in Beijing

Context

RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services. The findings of the workshop will provide timely input to the reviewed EU strategy on Adaption and associated EU Staff Working Document due to be published in 2018.

For more details about RailAdapt, see the flyer

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/railadapt.pdf

Participants
Regional asset engineers, local operations managers, senior national directors, responsible for long term planning, economics and finance or those interested in corporate risks.

Language
English

Location
Beijing

Do not hesitate to register here http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-beijing

Please know that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshop to be held from 27 – 28 April 2017 in London

Context

RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services. The findings of the workshop will provide timely input to the reviewed EU strategy on Adaption and associated EU Staff Working Document due to be published in 2018.

For more details about RailAdapt, see the flyer

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/railadapt.pdf

Participants

Regional asset engineers, local operations managers, senior national directors, responsible for long term planning, economics and finance or those interested in corporate risks.

Language
English

Location
RSSB
London

Do not hesitate to register here http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-london

Please know that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshop to be held from 27 – 28 April 2017 in London

Context

RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) and Marrakech (COP 22), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services. The findings of the workshop will provide timely input to the reviewed EU strategy on Adaption and associated EU Staff Working Document due to be published in 2018.

For more details about RailAdapt, see the flyer

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/railadapt.pdf

Participants

Regional asset engineers, local operations managers, senior national directors, responsible for long term planning, economics and finance or those interested in corporate risks.

Language
English

Location
RSSB
London

Do not hesitate to register here http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-london

Please know that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

RailAdapt Workshops to be held in London and Beijing

London, 27 – 28 April 2017 hosted by RSSB – Save the Date
Beijing, June exact date and location to be confirmed (organised in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Regional Assembly)

RailAdapt is a UIC initiative aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements (COP21 and Sustainable Development Goals), and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. Building resilience in transport has been given a boost since the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21 2015) and Marrakech (COP 22 2016), where all of the world governments agreed to develop adaptation plans. Railways will play no small part in this.

Weather resilience and climate change have impacts on both the cost and reputation of the rail sector. Cities and regions rely on modern rail transport both internally and as links to elsewhere and therefore the disruption caused by extreme weather is acutely felt both economically and socially. The failure of a critical piece of infrastructure can cost millions of dollars to replace in an emergency. The economic and reputational damage to the regions and companies involved cost millions more. The WEATHER project estimated that railway damage costs to Europe alone are an average of €300 million per year, with the largest part (€175 million) borne by operators, and that 80% of the damage is due to major floods. It’s more than paying for fixing ‘insurable’ risks after the event – it’s about reputational damage and the confidence of customers in our system.

UIC is supporting its members by arranging a series of fact-finding and briefing workshops during 2017. The first workshop will be hosted by RSSB in London. A second will be organised in Beijing in June (exact date and location to be confirmed). UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services. The findings of the London workshop will provide timely input to the reviewed EU strategy on Adaption and associated EU Staff Working Document due to be published in 2018.

UIC therefore invites the people in your organisation who understand disruption and how to cope with it, and those who can make a difference. They could be regional asset engineers, local operations managers or very senior national directors, or those responsible for long term planning, economics and finance or those that are interested in corporate risks, like risk to reputation. It’s more than having emergency plans, it’s about willingness to take responsibility: for preparedness, investment, building awareness and capacity,

These key personnel could help us by showing willingness to work at different levels and sharing their experiences and advice at our London workshop and engaging with us as things develop further.

For more detail about RailAdapt, see the flyer: http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/railadapt.pdf

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Or Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railroad Sustainability Symposium in Crotonville (New York)

The Fifth Annual Railroad Sustainability Symposium was held last week at GE’s Crotonville campus outside of New York City. This year’s sponsors included the Association of American Railroads (AAR), BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad and GE Transportation. More than 60 participants shared insights on such issues as carbon markets, sustainability reporting and communication, sustainable sourcing or alternative fuel locomotives, and they represented railroad operators, manufacturers and environmental stakeholders from the US and Canada.

On the first day of the symposium, UIC presented its strategy on energy efficiency and climate protection in the panel discussion “GHG and Carbon Markets”, moderated by John Lovenburg, Environmental Vice President at BNSF Railway. Additionally, Gabriel Castañares Hernández, UIC Senior Advisor in Energy and CO2, presented the UIC experience on energy data collection and sustainability reporting, highlighting the relevancy of companies’ contribution inside the Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS), and the UIC strategy and targets for the medium and long term.

A relevant part of the presentation focused on the integration of Guarantees of Origin and Green Certificates in the electricity procurement and the dual reporting based in the conclusions of the UIC Zero Carbon Project. One of the main goals of the panel was to show the impacts of Carbon Markets (as the EU ETS for electricity) have within railway strategies on sustainability topics, highlighting the possibility for railways to implement renewable energies in the procurement of electricity by implementing green certificates.

The presentation introduced the Train to Paris campaign and the relevancy of the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge, approved on 6 July at the UIC General Assembly. The goal was to show the international stakeholders the railway community’s engagement for reducing GHG emissions, facing the next COP21 to be held at the end of the year in Paris. The latest video of the campaign was presented in the dedicated app of the symposium for mobiles phones.

On the second day of the session, a panel of experts from GE Transportation, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, moderated by Bob Toy of Union Pacific discussed the latest Tier 4 EPA standards and its impact on the American railroads, including the development of new technological solutions based in alternative fuels

This was the symposium’s fifth anniversary. It was established in 2011 when Norfolk Southern Corporation and GE Transportation recognised an opportunity to increase the dialogue about energy conservation and sustainable practices within the industry.

For further information please contact Jessica Taylor of GE Transportation: Jessica.Taylor at ge.com

Or Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

Railsponsible signs a partnership agreement with the UN Environment Sustainable Public Procurement Programme

Railsponsible brings together a network of seven companies including both the railway supply industry and operators: Alstom, Bombardier Transportation, SNCF, Deutsche Bahn, Knorr Bremse, Nederlandse Spoorwgen (NS), and SKF. On 25 January 2017 the non-profit organisation was welcomed, in Paris, as partner of the 10 Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) of UN Environment.

This UN programme is “a global multi-stakeholder platform that supports the implementation of SPP around the world. The Programme builds synergies between diverse partners to achieve the Sustainable development goals target on SPP.” (Source: UN Environment Secretariat)

Railsponsible perfectly echoes this programme as its members have newly approved a multi-year 2020 strategy focusing on raising awareness among internal entities about the crucial role of sustainable procurement, developing programmes in collaboration with suppliers from the rail supply chain and expanding the network to new significant stakeholders. The partnership agreement will give the Railsponsible initiative greater visibility on the global stage.

The Membership Certificate was granted by Farid Yaker, Sustainable Public Procurement Programme Officer at UN Environment, to Olivier Baril, Chairman of Railsponsible and Chief Procurement Officer at Alstom. Olivier Baril said: “Today, we are very pleased to join the 10YFP Sustainable Public Procurement Programme which will allow us to share best practices with other industries, public organisations and academic institutes.”

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was invited to represent UIC as a key stakeholder and facilitator in the process as this ceremony was a direct output of the 13th UIC Sustainability Conference held in Vienna in October 2016. He said: “The broad experience of the 10YFP SPP programme partners and sector specific knowledge of the Railsponsible initiative represents a perfect marriage.”

Mr Sanjay Kummar of Indian Railways played a significant part in presenting and bringing together the sustainable procurement network and the 10YFP Sustainable Public Procurement Programme. His role was warmly acknowledged by speakers.

Find out more about the 10YFP SPP Programme here:

http://web.unep.org/10yfp/programmes/sustainable-public-procurement

Find out more about Railsponsible here:

http://railsponsible.org

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region: philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railway Climate Declaration – New 2019 Pledge

Following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a number of UIC members railways, UIC has decided to make a further commitment by launching a communications campaign to update the sector’s commitments.

UIC invites its our community of railway operators and infrastructure managers to take a lead role in the actions to mitigate climate change by signing the new pledge at its General Assembly on 11 December. The pledge will of course be available to be signed after this date for those who are unable to attend the event.

For further information please visit the dedicated page:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge

Moreover, you can follow the pledge campaign on UIC’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Feel free to share the posts.

For further information about signing the pledge please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railway Climate Declaration – New 2019 Pledge

]

Following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a number of UIC members railways, UIC has decided to make a further commitment by launching a communications campaign to update the sector’s commitments.

UIC invites its our community of railway operators and infrastructure managers to take a lead role in the actions to mitigate climate change by signing the new pledge at its General Assembly on 11 December. The pledge will of course be available to be signed after this date for those who are unable to attend the event.

For further information please visit the dedicated page:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge

Moreover, you can follow the pledge campaign on UIC’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Feel free to share the posts.

For further information about signing the pledge please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railway Climate Declaration – New 2019 Pledge

]

Following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a number of UIC members railways, UIC has decided to make a further commitment by launching a communications campaign to update the sector’s commitments.

UIC invites its our community of railway operators and infrastructure managers to take a lead role in the actions to mitigate climate change by signing the new pledge at its General Assembly on 11 December. The pledge will of course be available to be signed after this date for those who are unable to attend the event.

For further information please visit the dedicated page:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge

Moreover, you can follow the pledge campaign on UIC’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Feel free to share the posts.

For further information about signing the pledge please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railway Climate Declaration – New 2019 Pledge

]

Following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a number of UIC members railways, UIC has decided to make a further commitment by launching a communications campaign to update the sector’s commitments.

UIC invites its our community of railway operators and infrastructure managers to take a lead role in the actions to mitigate climate change by signing the new pledge at its General Assembly on 11 December. The pledge will of course be available to be signed after this date for those who are unable to attend the event.

For further information please visit the dedicated page:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge

Moreover, you can follow the pledge campaign on UIC’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Feel free to share the posts.

For further information about signing the pledge please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Railway Climate Declaration – New 2019 Pledge

]

Following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a number of UIC members railways, UIC has decided to make a further commitment by launching a communications campaign to update the sector’s commitments.

UIC invites its our community of railway operators and infrastructure managers to take a lead role in the actions to mitigate climate change by signing the new pledge at its General Assembly on 11 December. The pledge will of course be available to be signed after this date for those who are unable to attend the event.

For further information please visit the dedicated page:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge

Moreover, you can follow the pledge campaign on UIC’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Feel free to share the posts.

For further information about signing the pledge please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Register now for the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” from 15 – 16 November 2018 in Warsaw

Register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

The UIC International Rail Research Board (IRRB) and Instytut Kolejnictwa – the Polish Railway Research Institute (IK) are jointly organising an international event entitled “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” to be held from 15 – 16 November 2018, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Warsaw City Centre, Poland.

The International Railway Research Board (IRRB) is one of UIC’s working bodies in which UIC members from all over the world participate along with renowned research institutes and academia. One of the key elements and primary goals of the IRRB activities has been the development of a high-level document, “A Global Vision for Railway Development” – or in short the “GVRD”. This GVRD will be updated and published by the end of 2019.

Each year, a substantial number of conferences and other events are being organised in the area of rail transport. Those dealing with research mainly consist of presenting the results of previous and ongoing research. The IRRB has taken the initiative to plan and organise this future oriented event: the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society”.

The aim of this event is to stimulate an “out-of-the-box” discussion on transport needs and the ideal transport system in 2050 and the role of railways/guided transport systems therein.

The Debate will focus on the following areas:

  • New mobility system concepts
  • Towards an integrated transport system
  • IT – new opportunities and threats
  • Competitiveness of transport stakeholders
  • Sustainability and resilience of the transport system

The Global Debate will be launched by an opening ceremony, featuring presentations by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux – UIC Director General, Prof Boris Lapidus – IRRB Chairman (RZD) and Dr Andrzej Żurkowski – IRRB Vice-Chairman and Director of IK.

Following the official opening, five keynote speeches will be given, linked to each of the five areas mentioned above. The afternoon session will be split into five thematic parallel debates focused on these areas.

At the beginning of the second day, the conclusions of these parallel debates will be presented by their moderators. It will be followed by the general debate, the main element of the event. The conclusions of this final main debate will be summarised by Prof. Boris Lapidus, IRRB Chairman.
Plenary sessions will be simultaneously interpreted into English, Russian and Polish. Five parallel thematic sessions will be held in English only.

It is our expectation that the outcome from this Global Debate, using a wide range of transport research results as well as multifaceted insights from around the world, will also constitute a crucial input in to the update of the Global Vision for Railway Development document.

For further information please contact Dennis Schut, UIC Research Manager:

schut at uic.org

See the full article

Register now for the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” from 15 – 16 November 2018 in Warsaw

Register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

The UIC International Rail Research Board (IRRB) and Instytut Kolejnictwa – the Polish Railway Research Institute (IK) are jointly organising an international event entitled “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” to be held from 15 – 16 November 2018, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Warsaw City Centre, Poland.

The International Railway Research Board (IRRB) is one of UIC’s working bodies in which UIC members from all over the world participate along with renowned research institutes and academia. One of the key elements and primary goals of the IRRB activities has been the development of a high-level document, “A Global Vision for Railway Development” – or in short the “GVRD”. This GVRD will be updated and published by the end of 2019.

Each year, a substantial number of conferences and other events are being organised in the area of rail transport. Those dealing with research mainly consist of presenting the results of previous and ongoing research. The IRRB has taken the initiative to plan and organise this future oriented event: the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society”.

The aim of this event is to stimulate an “out-of-the-box” discussion on transport needs and the ideal transport system in 2050 and the role of railways/guided transport systems therein.

The Debate will focus on the following areas:

  • New mobility system concepts
  • Towards an integrated transport system
  • IT – new opportunities and threats
  • Competitiveness of transport stakeholders
  • Sustainability and resilience of the transport system

The Global Debate will be launched by an opening ceremony, featuring presentations by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux – UIC Director General, Prof Boris Lapidus – IRRB Chairman (RZD) and Dr Andrzej Żurkowski – IRRB Vice-Chairman and Director of IK.

Following the official opening, five keynote speeches will be given, linked to each of the five areas mentioned above. The afternoon session will be split into five thematic parallel debates focused on these areas.

At the beginning of the second day, the conclusions of these parallel debates will be presented by their moderators. It will be followed by the general debate, the main element of the event. The conclusions of this final main debate will be summarised by Prof. Boris Lapidus, IRRB Chairman.
Plenary sessions will be simultaneously interpreted into English, Russian and Polish. Five parallel thematic sessions will be held in English only.

It is our expectation that the outcome from this Global Debate, using a wide range of transport research results as well as multifaceted insights from around the world, will also constitute a crucial input in to the update of the Global Vision for Railway Development document.

For further information please contact Dennis Schut, UIC Research Manager:

schut at uic.org

See the full article

Register now for the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” from 15 – 16 November 2018 in Warsaw

Register here:

https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

The UIC International Rail Research Board (IRRB) and Instytut Kolejnictwa – the Polish Railway Research Institute (IK) are jointly organising an international event entitled “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society” to be held from 15 – 16 November 2018, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Warsaw City Centre, Poland.

The International Railway Research Board (IRRB) is one of UIC’s working bodies in which UIC members from all over the world participate along with renowned research institutes and academia. One of the key elements and primary goals of the IRRB activities has been the development of a high-level document, “A Global Vision for Railway Development” – or in short the “GVRD”. This GVRD will be updated and published by the end of 2019.

Each year, a substantial number of conferences and other events are being organised in the area of rail transport. Those dealing with research mainly consist of presenting the results of previous and ongoing research. The IRRB has taken the initiative to plan and organise this future oriented event: the “Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society”.

The aim of this event is to stimulate an “out-of-the-box” discussion on transport needs and the ideal transport system in 2050 and the role of railways/guided transport systems therein.

The Debate will focus on the following areas:

  • New mobility system concepts
  • Towards an integrated transport system
  • IT – new opportunities and threats
  • Competitiveness of transport stakeholders
  • Sustainability and resilience of the transport system

The Global Debate will be launched by an opening ceremony, featuring presentations by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux – UIC Director General, Prof Boris Lapidus – IRRB Chairman (RZD) and Dr Andrzej Żurkowski – IRRB Vice-Chairman and Director of IK.

Following the official opening, five keynote speeches will be given, linked to each of the five areas mentioned above. The afternoon session will be split into five thematic parallel debates focused on these areas.

At the beginning of the second day, the conclusions of these parallel debates will be presented by their moderators. It will be followed by the general debate, the main element of the event. The conclusions of this final main debate will be summarised by Prof. Boris Lapidus, IRRB Chairman.
Plenary sessions will be simultaneously interpreted into English, Russian and Polish. Five parallel thematic sessions will be held in English only.

It is our expectation that the outcome from this Global Debate, using a wide range of transport research results as well as multifaceted insights from around the world, will also constitute a crucial input in to the update of the Global Vision for Railway Development document.

For further information please contact Dennis Schut, UIC Research Manager:

schut at uic.org

See the full article

Reimagining rail – UIC facilitates debates at 10th International Railway Summit

Adina Vălean, the European Union’s Commissioner for Transport, Christian Kern, Former Federal Chancellor of Austria, Gianluigi Castelli, Chairman of UIC and Italian State Railways (FSI) and François Davenne, Director General of UIC, were amongst the influential decision-makers to address the 10th International Railway Summit.

The four-day summit, supported by UIC, took place online for the first time following previous successful events in Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Prague, Frankfurt, New Delhi and Warsaw. Simon Fletcher, UIC’s Director Europe, Marc Guigon, Passenger Director, and Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development, chaired the summit’s conference programme, welcoming delegates from around the world to each of the sessions. The exclusive networking event, which featured a full conference programme, bespoke one-to-one business meetings and a variety of ways to form new friendships and partnerships, concluded on 26 February.

After a year in which connecting with colleagues and counterparts had become more difficult and more important than ever, the event provided a platform to share best practice and propose solutions to current problems. “This summit has always been important for our industry,” Mr Castelli said, “but this year it’s even more significant”. Across 20 high-level sessions delivered by world-class speakers, the summit asked the big questions: how can rail recover from the pandemic? How can the sector leverage positive trends in sustainable mobility, innovation and collaboration? What role can rail play in improving society?

Sustainable mobility: “Rail must become the first option for the passengers”

The railways’ environmental credentials were at the forefront of the summit programme. Making a keynote address on Day 2, the European Union’s Commissioner Vălean stressed the gravity of the climate challenge facing transport and the importance of rail in achieving the dream of an emission-free system.

Having declared 2021 as the European Year of Rail, the European Commission is investing significantly in rail infrastructure and focusing its energies on moving passengers and freight to rail. “The challenge for me this year is to see rail become the driving force it once was”, Commissioner Vălean said. “Rail is one unsung hero of clean, efficient transport and our objectives, as outlined in our strategy, are to increase rail freight by 50% and to double high-speed rail by 2030”.

Mr Davenne echoed the Commissioner’s words. The railways are “definitely part of the solution” to global warming and “should become the backbone of sustainable mobility”.

Acknowledging the scale of the challenge, Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, reminded the summit that “we need to make every mode of transport cleaner”, as moving all passengers and freight to rail is simply not possible.

Earlier on Day 2, delegates had heard from Monika Heiming, Executive Director, European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on how operators and infrastructure owners could secure green transport finance.

Day 3 tackled the power of sustainability in attracting passengers and freight customers to rail. Bertrand Minary, Chief Industry and Innovation Officer, SNCF Rail Logistics Europe, Kurt Bauer, Head of High-Speed and Long-Distance Services, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), and UIC’s Lucie Anderton were amongst the speakers looking at strategies to achieve modal shift.

Post-pandemic recovery: seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

Before the journey toward sustainable mobility can be resumed, the first step for the rail sector is to recover from the serious impact of Covid-19. With this in mind, the keynote session on Day 1 of the summit was ”Predict and prepare: strategies to exit the long Covid tunnel”.

Sharing their experiences were Gianluigi Castelli, Silvia Roldán, CEO of Madrid Metro, Philippe Citroën, Director General, Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), and Marc Guigon, who heads UIC’s Covid-19 Taskforce.

Regaining passenger confidence, keeping trains and stations safe, and the possibility of vaccine passports to stimulate international travel were among the topics explored. How can we predict passenger behaviour in an unpredictable world and prepare as best we can for an uncertain future?

The oldest startup in the world is still innovating

On Day 2, Christian Wältermann, Principal at advisory firm goetzpartners, called the railway system “the oldest startup in the world”. In the beginning, it was one track that stretched through the plains to the horizon, grew into a network, and took a risk to explore and speed its way to progress.

One of the recurring themes of the conference was the need to keep innovating, to remain vibrant and technologically nimble.

Elisabeth Werner, Director of Land Transport at the European Commission, outlined the key elements of the European Year of Rail strategy, many of which involved innovation – increasing digitalisation, making rail more affordable and accessible, integrating networks and ticketing and expanding high-speed rail infrastructure.

Carlo Borghini, Executive Director of the Shift2Rail research and innovation programme, announced that the European Commission had just adopted a proposal for the establishment of Shift2Rail’s successor, ’Europe’s Rail’.

The importance of digitalisation and remote connectivity is now clear to all of us. Watching the world go by through windows now has a different meaning. A variety of sessions looked at how predictive maintenance for infrastructure and rolling stock and closely monitoring passenger flow can improve operational efficiency and reduce the need for onsite support. Rolf Härdi, Chief Technology and Information Officer at Deutsche Bahn, presented the solutions adopted on the German network to save time, money and lives.

Collaboration is the key to growth

Innovation needs connectivity. Of course, the railways need to be connected, and connections mean collaboration.

There was widespread agreement amongst the speakers that transport needs greater collaboration to thrive. Rail is now widely recognised as the backbone of this framework of collaboration but, as Andreas Schwämmlein, Founder of FlixBus, said, “no backbone works without a lot of other bones...a backbone alone won’t be sufficient”.

For this reason, the summit included essential contributions from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), and non-profit organisations campaigning for better quality of life through environmental justice and digital accessibility.

Intermodal connection through ticketing, data sharing and combined mobility options would give passengers and freight customers visibility, flexibility and ease of travel. Nick Brooks, Secretary General, Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe (ALLRAIL), called for ”impartial, transparent multimodal booking platforms” and broad sharing of data between all stakeholders, whether private or public, to make seamless mobility a reality.

In the session on ‘What will come after the 4th Railway Package?’, Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director, EU Agency for Railways (ERA) and Alberto Mazzola, Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), presented the Europe-wide regulations, standards and systems that could enable clarity and interoperability.

Dan Mandoc, UIC’s Head of FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) explained the benefits to safety of a new standardised international communications system and the obstacles to implementation.

Top takeaways from the summit

  1. Rail is best placed to lead a sustainable future for mobility – modal shift is imperative
  2. Regaining passenger confidence and swift post-pandemic recovery will benefit all of society
  3. Fearless innovation and openness will help transport providers and public alike

The 10th International Railway Summit took place online from 23 to 26 February. The on-demand videos of the sessions will be available from www.irits.org/irs10 in the coming days and a selection of sessions with UIC’s involvement will be available shortly on UIC’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/8cC03djphYI

The next edition of the summit is scheduled to take place in Berlin from 16 to 18 February 2022.

Organisations interested in learning more about the International Railway Summit and the summit’s IRS rail webinars series can visit www.irits.org or contact the organisers, IRITS Events.

For further information, please contact Simon Fletcher at: fletcher at uic.org

See the full article

REMINDER – The MERLIN Project is holding its mid-term conference in Antwerp on 17 June 2014!

Think about registering to secure your place for this important event!

UNIFE, UIC and the MERLIN project Consortium are pleased to invite you to attend the MERLIN Project Mid-Term Conference that will be held on Day 1 of the UIC Energy Efficiency Days 2014, a two-day major event co-organised by UIC, SNCB and INFRABEL and hosting the Eress Forum, comprising plenary sessions, and workshops providing an insight into the latest development of railways in the field of energy efficiency at a global, national and local level.

The MERLIN Project, partly funded through the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) of the European Commission, aims to investigate and demonstrate the viability of an integrated management system to achieve a more sustainable and optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems.

Why should you attend?

Targeted at energy management experts and researchers from the rail transport sector, the conference will take stock of the research work performed so far, and will look ahead at the future tasks to be undertaken. It will also be the opportunity for participants to network and exchange on the project’s achievements at mid-term.

Conference highlights:

The topics dealt with at the conference will be the following:

  • The needs of railway operators in terms of energy management;
  • The five MERLIN Scenarios and their objectives;
  • The MERLIN Railway Energy Management System;
  • The links between EU Energy legislation and the railways;
  • MERLIN’s contribution to standardisation.

Ample time will also be devoted to discussion and exchange with the project participants.

The draft programme of the event is available here:
http://energy-efficiency-days.org/spip.php?article

Do not hesitate to circulate this information around you.

We look forward to meeting you in Antwerp.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you are registered and that your hotel room is booked early!!

For more information on the UIC Energy Efficiency Days 2014, please visit http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org/ and to register for the MERLIN Mid-Term Conference, click here: http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org/spip.php?article8

For more information on the MERLIN project please visit http://www.MERLIN-rail.eu or contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Reminder - 6th annual UIC workshop on Railway Freight Noise Reduction “Bringing things together” (Paris, 23 November 2010)

UIC promotes silent railways. In a series of annual workshops UIC reports on progress, in particular in terms of the freight rolling stock with composite brake blocks. The speakers will address issues such as the EU policy and planned incentives such as noise related track access charges and how the railways are reacting on these initiatives. A major point will also be the current state of the art of K- and LL-block homologation and how the railways are dealing with the technical problems that have been encountered like e.g. the equivalent conicity issue and how these problems is foreseen to be solved within different UIC projects as e.g. the EuropeTrain project.

Further issues will be a presentation on the TSI Noise revision and presentations on other noise and vibration issues in order to keep the scope large and bringing things more together. Within this scope UIC is happy to announce that we this year will have a presentation by Cynthia Lulham, Councilor for the City of Westmount, Quebec, who has extensive experience and knowledge of the Proximity Initiative in Canada partnering the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Cynthia Lulham has over the last eight years acted as the first FCM Co-chair and as the current Program Manager, which has giving her a unique perspective of the on-going noise issues in Canada facing both railways and municipalities issues.
The project programme foresees ample time for discussion and the coffee and lunch breaks will allow many opportunities for networking with colleagues from the railway sector as well as government and industry.

The agenda of the workshop and online registration can be found on UIC homepage: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2500.

The deadline for registration is Friday 12th November 2010
The language of the workshop will be held in English and is free of charge.

For more information please contact Lisette Mortensen: mortensen at uic.org

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Reminder: 11th UIC Noise Workshop to be held on 14 November 2017 at Paris UIC Headquarters

UIC will hold the 11th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 14 November 2017.

Registration is still possible, so do not hesitate to join us.

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons & ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought.

Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation.

Moderator: Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

Speakers include:
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General UIC
Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV
Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV
Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA
Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER
Michael Müller, Euro Fleet Mang. DB Cargo
Martin van den Berg, Chiaramonte Noise and Transport Consult & WHO noise working group
Paul de Vos, Satis
Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra
Alf Ekblad, Trafikverket and chair of the UIC Vibration Expert Network
Baldrik Faure, SNCF
Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University

The registration link is http://events.uic.org/11th-uic-noise-workshop

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

See the full article

Reminder: 11th UIC Noise Workshop to be held on 14 November 2017 at Paris UIC Headquarters

UIC will hold the 11th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 14 November 2017.

Registration is still possible, so do not hesitate to join us.

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons & ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought.

Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation.

Moderator: Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

Speakers include:
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General UIC
Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOV
Marco Paviotti Policy Officer DG ENV
Kamil Pravdík Project Officer ERA
Libor Lochman, Executive Director CER
Michael Müller, Euro Fleet Mang. DB Cargo
Martin van den Berg, Chiaramonte Noise and Transport Consult & WHO noise working group
Paul de Vos, Satis
Pierre Etienne Gautier, Systra
Alf Ekblad, Trafikverket and chair of the UIC Vibration Expert Network
Baldrik Faure, SNCF
Professor Bas Haring, Leiden University

The registration link is http://events.uic.org/11th-uic-noise-workshop

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

See the full article

Results of the RIVAS Project: Final Conference “Vibrations – Ways out of the annoyance” held in Brussels

The RIVAS consortium, under the coordination of UIC, held its Final Conference on 21 November in Brussels bringing together around 100 rolling stock experts, track maintenance specialists, suppliers, railway operators, rolling stock experts, and academics.

RIVAS is a joint research and development project carried out by 27 partners from nine European countries within the 7th European Framework Programme. Since the RIVAS project started in early 2011, it has been seeking to find ways and methodologies to reduce the ground borne vibrations induced by rail traffic. The final conference is therefore the opportunity to know more about the results achieved by the project and on possible ways to address the issue of vibration mitigation.

The topics covered included:

  • Innovative strategies to reduce vibration from rail traffic;
  • Technical solutions for vibration reduction at source;
  • Vibration reduction on the transmission path;
  • Design of vibration mitigation measures for hot-spots;
  • State-of-the-art computer simulations;
  • Harmonisation of requirements and assessment procedures;
  • Priority routes;
  • Recommendations for end-users.

RIVAS aims at reducing the environmental impact of ground-borne vibration from rail traffic while safeguarding the commercial competitiveness of the railway sector. The project’s goal is therefore to provide tools to solve vibration problems for surface lines by 2013.

It therefore aims to contribute to the development of relevant and leading technologies for efficient control of people’s exposure to vibration and vibration-induced noise caused by rail traffic. RIVAS focuses on low frequency vibration from open lines which is a concern mainly for freight traffic. However, RIVAS results will also be applicable to suburban, regional and high-speed operations. RIVAS includes fundamental research, prototype construction, optimisation of pre-existing solutions and field testing under realistic conditions.

The RIVAS project is strongly end-user driven in order to ensure maximum exploitation of results in practice and to prepare an extensive and fast implementation of technical developments.

The key deliverables of the RIVAS project are: assessment of the benefits of mitigation measures in terms of human response and agreed protocol for the evaluation of annoyance and exposure to vibration; agreed measurement protocols to assess and monitor the performance of measures to reduce vibrations; agreed protocol to characterise vibration response properties of soils; guidelines for track and vehicle maintenance geared towards low vibration; mitigation measures for ballasted and slab track; guidelines for the design of transmission mitigation measures under/next to the track.

Mr Philippe Citroën, Director-General of UNIFE gave an opening speech emphasising the “clear need for innovative vibration reduction technologies in the European context. This would help ensure that in the coming years the aspiration of expanding rail transport in the EU is not hindered by public opposition on the grounds of vibration. This need was reflected in the 7th Framework Programme and will be still present in the coming Horizon2020 Calls. Among other activities, UNIFE produced together with UIC the official Newsletter distributed today. I am convinced that the railway industry (including the 5 UNIFE members part of RIVAS) will benefit from the results of RIVAS, in particular thanks to the new technologies to reduce vibration „at source‟ in rail vehicle and track design which will be presented later on today… I am convinced that noise and vibration will be two crucial issues to be included in the agenda of the Shift-2-Rail initiative, an unprecedented commitment to massively enhance the capacity of the European rail system”.

Mr Kersten, Director of UIC Rail System Department gave an introduction to the conference reminding participants that “the 2011 EU Transport White Paper foresees the global freight transport activity to increase, as compared to 2005, by around 40% by 2030 and by little over 80% by 2050. Taking into account this general transport trend, the ERRAC forecast for 2050 fully matches the 2011 Transport White Paper objectives as shown in the table: the rail share of both the freight and passenger markets will double by 2050, at the same time the rail freight and passenger market volumes will more than triple by 2050 as compared to the year 2000.
However, the growth perspectives mentioned above will only become reality if the railways will be able to defend their number one position in terms of sustainability. Noise and vibration are definitely to be perceived as a challenge in rail‟s environmental credentials. As other transport modes, in particular road transport, are currently catching up in terms of sustainability, it is essential for the future of the rail transport mode that this challenge is met effectively, but in view of the intermodal competitiveness also in a most efficient manner.
In former scientific projects and also in previous UIC-activities, a big effort was made to reduce noise from rail traffic. These activities have led to new noise reduction technologies, which are currently being implemented by the railways. Although noise has received this increased attention in terms of research and implementation of mitigation technology, the related issue of ground vibration has not, because noise was more important in the perception. Nevertheless public sensitivity to vibration issues has also increased in recent years. The number of complaints from residents about high levels of vibration is rising particularly at those locations, where efficient noise reduction technologies like noise barriers have been installed. Most of the complaints against high levels of vibration addressed to mainline railways concern freight traffic on surface lines.
Noise and vibration mitigation have been identified as a top priority for UIC members in the dedicated UIC strategy programmes, such as the UIC Environmental and Sustainability strategy.
UIC has accepted the role of coordinator in the RIVAS project since we consider RIVAS as a key element in the railway sector‟s effort to reduce the environmental impact of ground-borne vibrations while safeguarding the commercial competitiveness of the railway sector.
However, as you will see in the presentations of that final conference, the solutions were not simple to find because the problem of vibrations has multiple causes and therefore solutions had to take a wide range of parameters into account. Nevertheless we have managed to come up with innovative solutions and approaches for vibration mitigation technologies to help our end-users mitigate rail-induced ground-borne vibrations.
It is important to note that RIVAS is only aimed at dealing with vibration abatement measures in terms of their technical effectiveness. The extent to which they are also cost-efficient can only be determined after a market has developed for such measures, allowing costs to be assessed. Then it might turn out that a Measure A which might be technically slightly inferior to a Measure B should nevertheless be preferred to B, if A‟s costs are significantly lower than those of B. Even without a detailed cost assessment, however, it can be assumed that some measures will only be economically feasible with newly constructed lines.”

Mr Wolfgang Behr, UIC technical coordinator, explained the problems that the project is willing to solve. First of all the question is complex due to the different trains, different tracks, different soils and different buildings. “The sensitivity of citizens to vibration issues has increased in recent years and opposition to new lines is as much about the effects of vibration as about noise. Besides, vibration mitigation features heavily in the cost of railway infrastructure projects and complaints about vibrations and vibration-induced noise increase where noise barriers have been built. So there is a lack of established solutions for vibration from surface railways.
That is why the aim is to ensure that in the coming years, the expansion of rail transport in the EU is not hindered by public opposition due to vibrations so the rail sector has to find solutions from the vehicles, the tracks and the ground working on innovative solutions for hot-spots, low vibration rolling stock and clear assessment procedures and descriptors.”

http://rivas-project.eu/

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, dekeyzer at uic.org

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RSSB hosting webinar on the Rail Carbon Tool

RSSB Rail Carbon Tool provides the GB Rail industry a tool for infrastructure projects to measure, manage and ultimately reduce the GB railway carbon footprint. Embodied carbon emissions represent a significant proportion of whole life carbon for railway assets.

RSSB is hosting a free webinar on the Rail Carbon Tool. The invitation extended to international railway counterparts as a unique opportunity for anyone who is interested in the functionality of the tool. They can attend the demonstration and gain a better insight of the tool that RSSB is promoting for use within GB rail industry.

The demonstration is to share learning as the Rail Carbon Tool is licenced by RSSB for GB rail activities which means that RSSB is unable to register any organisations or users outside of the GB rail industry on the tool. For further information and to register please visit: http://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/rssb-and-the-rail-industry/events

For further information please contact Michelle Papayannakos:

Michelle.Papayannakos at rssb.co.uk

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Save the Date for the 13th UIC Sustainability Conference to be held on 12, 13 & 14 October 2016 in Vienna

The 13th UIC Sustainability conference will be held in Vienna in partnership with OBB from 12 to 14 October 2016 – Save the Date!

Much has happened in the four years since the worldwide railway sustainability community gathered in Venice for the last UIC Sustainability Conference.

In many ways 2015 was a defining year for sustainable development due to two landmark international agreements: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals) & the COP21 Climate Change Accord. In 2016 the attention of the world’s governments and civil society will shift to the implantation and realisation of these agreements. Whilst transport is an accepted enabler of economic growth, the role of sustainable transport is gaining recognition as an enabler of sustainable development. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-moon’s Five Year Action Agenda specifically includes transport as one of the six building blocks for the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. This was followed up by a message from UN Secretary General to the UIC General Assembly of July 2015 concerning the major role of railways to build a low carbon future.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, comprising the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) sets out the framework for development policy and investments agreed by all member States of the United Nations. Sustainable transport can be viewed as an enabler for all 17 of the SGDs. However, there are a sub-group of targets that offer the railways a good opportunity to demonstrate to national governments how they can make a substantive contribution, for example; energy efficiency (Goal 7), resilient infrastructure (Goal 9) and access to sustainable transport (Goal 11), resilience to climate-related hazards (Goal 13), promote environmentally sound technologies & multi-stakeholder partnerships (Goal 17). Together, these goals cover main dimensions of sustainability relating to railways, such as energy efficiency, adaptation to climate change, sustainable mobility and stakeholder integration.

The Climate Change COP21 negotiations successfully concluded at the end of 2016. Notably an increased level of ambition (1.5 degrees) was included in the final outcome. Rail companies have an opportunity to demonstrate how increasing rail market share can help to reduce transport emissions and through this help to achieve the governmental commitments set out in the ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs) and also support greater ambition for the 5 year revision of the NDC. In this frame, the UIC campaign ‘Train To Paris’ successfully showed the rail sector commitment and the major role as an alternative solution to climate change in the transport sector.

At the European level the rail sector must respond to the EU Transport Paper White mid-term review & implementation report. Effective steps are needed to turn the ambitious objectives into reality, including modal shift / emissions targets and internalisation of external costs. Rail freight noise remains a politically sensitive issue. Energy & CO2 have a high profile following COP21 and a growing recognition of the need to break the EU dependence on imported fossil fuels. This is reflected by recent developments in the EU ETS, renewable energy directive and proposed energy union. The conference will highlight how modal shift to rail has a key role in reducing both transport carbon emissions and the dependency on imported oil.

In addition to the global issues the conference will consider sustainability from the railway practitioners’ point of view, with deeper dives into energy management, sustainability reporting for the rail sector, and climate change adaptation, amongst other issues.

Further details regarding the conference will be announced in the coming months.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

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Save the Date: 11th UIC Noise Workshop to be held on 14 November 2017 at Paris UIC Headquarters

UIC will hold the 11th UIC Noise Workshop in Paris on 14 November 2017.

This event will focus on the latest issues at European level for the management of railway noise and vibration. Topics will include application of the Noise TSI to existing wagons & ‘silent sections’, funding and progress for retrofitting, REFIT of the Environmental Noise Directive & forthcoming guidance on noise from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and appropriate noise metrics in addition to the new UIC State of the Art report for the Management of Railway Vibration.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought.
Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation.

Moderator: Jakob Oertli, Chairman of the UIC Noise Expert Network & SBB

  • Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director-General UIC
  • Libor Lochman, Executive Director Community of European Railways
  • Marco Paviotti, Policy Officer DG ENV
  • Marcin Wojcik, Policy Officer DG MOVE

The registration link will soon be available.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

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Save the Date: 13th UIC Sustainability Conference in Vienna, 12, 13 & 14 October 2016

Following the success of previous editions held in London in 2008, Madrid in 2010 and Venice in 2012, UIC is jointly organising the 13th edition of the UIC Sustainability Conference with Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB. This year, the conference will take place in the imperial city of Vienna at the famous Hofburg International Congress and Event Centre and this forthcoming event in Vienna is an example of ÖBB’s active participation in the work and challenges of UIC.

The conference will bring together high-level speakers from international organisations along with senior leaders from the railway sector and an audience of over 200 delegates to discuss a sustainable future for the railway sector by examining the key issues of how sustainability can give rail a competitive advantage, attract investment whilst reducing costs and risk.

  • The first day, 12 October, will deal with the strategic dimension, giving the floor to high level speakers from the United Nations, World Bank, EU Commission, Austrian government, railway companies from different countries, EU transport institutions, followed by a gala dinner.
  • The second day, 13 October, will be more focused on technical aspects: Numerous Parallel sessions will deal with key sustainability issues affecting the rail sector including energy, noise, carbon, sustainability reporting, climate change adaptation, sustainable mobility, recycling and sustainable procurement, sustainability for maintenance activities.
  • The third day, 14 October, will be dedicated to technical visits.

A programme outline is available on the dedicated website and will be updated regularly over the coming months.

Please register on the website here.

There is no charge to attend this event; however places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Website: http://uic-environment.org/

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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Save the date: UIC organising a full week to focus on the role of rail and public transport in a sustainable mobility system between 31 May and 5 June

The International Green Transport Week will coincide with the United Nations World Environment Day on 5 June and the European Union Green Week within the framework of the European Year of Rail.

By means of daily themed messages, UIC will showcase the sustainability credentials of rail, as well as its members’ ambitious plans to lead in a green and just recovery and tackle global environmental challenges.

A video and information will be uploaded to the event webpage at noon each day: https://uic.org/events/international-green-transport-week

Monday will see the launch of the International Green Transport Week with a vision for rail in 2030: on track for a decarbonised and sustainable transport sector. UIC and UITP will publish a joint message on the central role of public transport in this “decade of action”.

On Tuesday, messages will focus on the EU Green Week theme of zero pollution and UIC’s and members’ work to reduce noise and vibration emissions.

The focus on Wednesday will be on rail as an energy-efficient and low-carbon form of mass transport, highlighting what the industry is doing to make it even greener and to lead the transition to a decarbonised world.

On Thursday, best practices in relation to the circular economy in rail companies will be shared, revealing some impressive resource efficiency.

On Friday, in support of the UN World Environment Day on 5 June, messages will focus on the topic of biodiversity and ecosystem restoration, showcasing UIC projects that will contribute to this important topic.

Don’t hesitate to follow the International Green Transport Week each day on the event webpage and on social media:
https://uic.org/events/international-green-transport-week
https://www.linkedin.com/company/496364/admin/
https://twitter.com/uic
https://www.instagram.com/uicrail/

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton at anderton at uic.org

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SAVE THE DATE: Webinar on UIC Technical solutions for the operational railway

UIC is glad to invite you to participate in the webinar on UIC Technical solutions for the operational railway (please use Chrome to access this link) to be held on 05 February, from 12 pm to 3 pm (CET time).

As the main technical body serving not only railway operators, but the entire community of railway stakeholders, including research centres and universities, UIC is a natural forum for bringing together all stakeholders and for developing collaborative global solutions.

“UIC Technical solutions for the operational railway”, ranging from architecture to financial arrangements, provides an overview of the main achievements and developments in UIC. Depending on one’s different interests, it will give a summary description of operational solutions suited to market needs.

During this webinar, UIC will present a number of solutions with global reach, in the fields of Telecom and modelling, Passengers, Freight, Safety & Security, Sustainable development, by inviting a UIC representative as well as giving the floor to one of UIC’s Members as well as to a partner.

The webinar will be accessible only by registering on the button registration on this invitation.

A Zoom link will be sent to you prior the event.

You will find the program here: https://bit.ly/2YjgQhY

Registration: https://bit.ly/2YnC0LO

For further information, do not hesitate to contact Barbara Mouchel at: mouchel at uic.org

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Sector Stakeholder Statement on International Rail Passenger Services

UIC, together with the European rail sector, supports the work of the International Rail Passenger Platform to improve international rail passenger services. Rail must become the backbone for international travel for passengers: improvements to the availability and online distribution of tickets, travel information, onboard services and better support during disruption are required.

In this context, UIC has already developed or is currently developing international and multimodal passenger cross-border products and services, such as:

  • UIC MERITS, a timetable database used to provide information and sell tickets. This tool is designed for multimodality.
  • The UIC Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) developed in cooperation with railway undertakings and ticket vendors. This initiative delivers comprehensive specifications for an open, plug-and-play IT framework for ticket sales and rail ticket reservation and price distribution and enables through ticketing and multimodality. https://unioninternationalcheminsdefer.github.io/OSDM/
  • The UIC electronic Ticket Control Database (eTCD ) is a service provided as Software as a Service (SaaS) which vastly improves railway companies’ capacity to issue and control rail passenger tickets across multiple countries.
  • The UIC Flexible Content Barcode (FCB) is a standard for offering paperless options on all transport modes. The FCB can contain multiple rail products and offers multimodal possibilities (bus, metro, etc.) and ancillary services (parking codes, meals, newspapers, etc.)
  • The Public Key Management Website (PKMW) is a tool in which rail companies can store and distribute public keys used by controllers or smartphone applications in order to read and validate barcode tickets. https://railpublickey.uic.org/
  • In partnership with IATA, Air+Rail integrates rail and air distribution, allowing access to a global network of online and traditional travel agents and additional international sales opportunities.
  • The Door-to-Door project integrates tickets between rail and other surface transport services such as local public transport, buses, car parking and car/bike sharing.

UIC will continue to support stakeholders in order to meet the sector’s challenges and actively achieve the overarching targets for the development of international rail passenger services.

General

The European Rail Sector stakeholders [1] support the work of the International Rail Passenger Platform and the willingness of its members to improve international rail passenger services. They commit to contribute to the ongoing work of the Platform and to advise on the way forward for a European agenda for the development of international rail passenger services.

The rail sector realizes that the status quo is not an option: the international transport systems of Europe need to be adapted to face the challenges of the ongoing and accelerating climate crisis. An interconnected and competitive network of rail passenger services will underpin the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of our continent. It will advance realisation of the Green Deal, securing modal shift whilst enhancing sustainable mobility; strengthen European cohesion by reinforcing connectivity and fair development, not only in the most densely populated areas but also with less well-connected regions.

The rail sector is aware that improvements are imperative in the way international rail services are offered, marketed, and performed. Rail should become the backbone for international travel for passengers: improvements to the availability and online distribution of tickets, travel information, onboard services and better support during disruptions are required. Additionally, a fully integrated and harmonized infrastructure network is needed, ensuring frequent high speed passenger services connecting key passenger hubs.

Rail plays a key role in the delivery of Europe’s goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing air pollution, and relieving congestion. The sector will support the European Commission and the Member States in achieving the goal of the European Green Deal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. We emphasise that railway undertakings have already developed international passenger cross-border products and services and we commit to work collaboratively in a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory way, and to take an active role in the further developments to achieve the mutually beneficial goals in the international rail passenger area. We are also committed to the full achievement of the Single European Railway Area. All parties involved have a key role to play in removing the barriers that exist related to digitalization, infrastructure, rolling stock, and legislation.

Looking at the short to medium term, the Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for reappraisal of the whole transport sector, and the particular contribution that rail can make to building back better. The Covid-19 pandemic produced from its earliest stages a real shock for the transport sector with a massive reduction of transport volumes, resulting in heavy losses in revenue. The rail sector was also hit hard [2], and it will take several years to get back to former levels of ridership. Adequate, flexible, and non-discriminatory support to railway undertakings, infrastructure managers and ticket vendors will be needed throughout the European Union without distorting competition, taking into account the specificities of the railway sector commensurate with the revenue loss in 2020, 2021 and beyond due to the expected slow recovery, is needed to support the development of the international railway passenger transport market and the competitiveness of the sector vis-à-vis other modes of transport. Even so, rail demonstrated its vital role in ensuring resilient, reliable, and safe transport of both rail passengers and freight. Building on this foundation, and by responding innovatively to new market opportunities, the railway sector can be at the heart of sustainable mobility and cross-border connectivity in a greener Europe.

Specific

1. Making international passenger rail the preferred mode of transport
The development of more attractive and new concepts for international services and their connectivity must first be based on sound market analysis to inform estimates of their long-term viability and therefore sustainability. The sector is ready to work with Member States and European institutions in undertaking this essential work. In addition, the sector supports the European Commission’s intention to have 15 pilots operational by 2030 and is ready to work with all relevant stakeholders to achieve their successful implementation. We support the ambitions set out in the Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy (SSMS), especially its targets to double and triple high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and 2050 respectively, as well as to use the full potential of economically sustainable night trains for international train passengers.

For rail to increase its market share, services must be tailored to the needs of users. The sector is ready to seize the opportunities to replace short-haul flights and medium-distance road journeys by attracting passengers to rail and offering convenient links between key passenger hubs. To provide easy access to simple, reliable, and comprehensive information to customers, digitalisation will be an enabler (through an increased use of e-ticketing and a better access to dynamic travel information for instance). There is a need for action at European level to ensure transparency and to create a level playing field between Railway Undertakings and third-party vendors or Mobility as a Service providers, for selling tickets on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commercial principles. In order to tap the full potential of this increased digitalisation, all market players, from railway companies to third-party ticket vendors or trip planners, should have access to the same quality of static and dynamic data through FRAND agreements. At the same time, it is important to avoid, through adequate EU action, market asymmetries, current and potential, or for any player to establish themselves as gatekeepers.

Rail’s safety, sustainability, reliability, comfort, convenience, connectivity, and affordability, together with shorter travel times, will make its services more attractive to passengers, encouraging significant modal shift. The sector is ready to cooperate more closely with the air sector with the aim of integrating air-rail journeys. Finally, it is acknowledged that further improvements have to be made on passenger rights. We therefore commit to explore common principles of a multimodal framework for passenger rights that is simplified, and harmonised.

Concretely, the rail sector commits to:

  • be the backbone of a seamless and integrated multimodal transport system in close cooperation with the other transport modes, in particular by linking major urban centres with high-speed rail connections and connecting peripheral urban areas with city centres;
  • implement e-ticketing for all passenger services, provide dynamic travel information, with the aim of completing digitalization in rail transport and provide easy access to simple, reliable, and comprehensive information to customers of rail services, whichever distribution channel they have chosen to buy their tickets;
  • promote technological innovation and the implementation of new digital solutions for providing better services and attract new passengers;
  • implement the existing regulation and obligations for all railway undertakings together with taking concrete steps to implement the ongoing sector-based initiatives such as Open Sales Distribution Model (OSDM)/Full Service Model (FSM) [3];
  • support initiatives based on the digital markets act, digital services act and the sustainable and smart mobility strategy at European level to ensure transparency and to create a level playing field between Railway Undertakings and third-party vendors or MaaS services’ providers, for selling tickets (international and national services) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commercial principles, and cooperate actively with the European Commission for the preparation of such initiative;
  • increase the booking horizon for international passengers in order to be competitive with air transport;
  • develop more rail-through tickets and promote the use and awareness of journey continuation agreements with all the rail sector actors, which assist passengers who have missed a connection due to delay or cancellation of the previous train;
  • cooperate more strongly with the air sector with the aim of integrating air-rail journeys and promoting rail as an attractive low-carbon alternative for many journeys;
  • support measures aiming at strengthening rail passengers’ rights.

2. Providing good quality infrastructure and capacity
Enhancing interoperability, coherent timetabling, and capacity management as well as completion of missing links and removal of bottlenecks are prerequisites for seamless cross-border journeys.

The TEN-T network is the basis for most international rail passenger services which addresses the above-mentioned points. Its further development shall contribute to better interconnection of the existing international passenger network. Therefore, the timely completion of the TEN-T Network by 2030 and 2050 is a priority as well as contributing to the cohesion of the European Union.

Looking at the TEN-T network beyond 2030, the development of a high-speed network connecting all EU capitals and major cities will be important to further increase international passenger services and reach the targets indicated in the SSMS.
Capacity management related activities– timetable-based capacity dimensioning, planning and safeguarding - will help railway infrastructure managers to accommodate forecasts of growing market demand. Initiatives such as ‘Eurolink’ or the Timetabling and Capacity Redesign (TTR) process will play a vital role in this regard. The sector commits to support the TTR process which will allow for a more flexible planning of railway infrastructure capacity while at the same time increasing its quality.

3. Making railways more competitive vis-à-vis air and road transport
In order to deliver the economic and consumer benefits of competition, a fair level playing field is essential. Creating a level playing field for all international passenger transport modes by implementing user-pay and polluter-pay charging, e.g., abolition of VAT on international train tickets in all Member States and with an equal treatment of fuel taxation will make pricing more transparent and railways more competitive. For this reason, we commit to pursuing the internalisation of our external costs and call on the Member States and European institutions to put in place an alignment of tax treatment between competing transport modes together with the development of additional measures likely to meet the objectives of the Green Deal. We call the legislators to help us create this level playing field with other modes of transport, by applying internalization of external costs for all modes of transport and harmonizing VAT on rail tickets.

The rail sector also calls upon the Member States and European Commission to carry out the homogenous [4] implementation and enforcement of the existing relevant legislation across Europe, including further work to develop common principles governing passenger rights across different modes, to remove market barriers and to ensure the full establishment of the Single European Rail Area.

4. Investments in railways
Targeted smart investments in accordance with the market and societal needs are crucial for the successful realization of the international rail passenger network as they result in infrastructure improvements, interoperable rolling stock, and power and signalling systems, creating opportunities for more international destinations connected with long-distance trains. We strongly support the intention to explore all possibilities and financial resources that will back up interoperable and seamless cross-border rail connections and services.

Long-term investment planning and coordinated infrastructure maintenance and development are needed to provide high quality international rail passenger services all over Europe. A stable and long-term financial framework is key for the railway industry in this regard. It is essential to speed up the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects by making use of the existing financial tools and incentives. Public investment into TEN-T and rail infrastructure, consistent deployment of ERTMS, homogenous electrification, long distance interoperable rolling stock financing, 5G deployment and enabling a high frequency European high speed rail network connecting major urban centres is essential to realise international rail passenger services.

Public investment into collaborative research initiatives (e.g. Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking within Horizon Europe) is key for the delivery of new technologies/solutions that will contribute significantly to the attractiveness and competitiveness of rail transport. The Sector looks forward to working with the public authorities in consolidating Europe’s leading position in rail research and innovation through the new Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking.

5. Conclusions
The sector’s stakeholders look forward to working collaboratively with authorities, Ministries and European institutions to achieve the completion of the Single European Railway Area, supporting market opening and ensuring interoperability. This achievement will provide the backbone of sustainable, interoperable long-distance connections that will ensure climate neutral collective transport for journeys up to 800 km by 2030.
The sector will continue working closely in the International Rail Passenger Platform to achieve the overarching targets for the development of the international rail passenger services.


[1] Encompassing representatives of railway undertakings (CER/ALLRAIL/UIC/CIT) and infrastructure managers (EIM/CER/UIC), railway suppliers (UNIFE), passenger and consumers’ organizations (EPF/BEUC), travel companies (EU Travel Tech/ECTAA) and distributors (EU Travel Tech/ALLRAIL)

[2] The estimated loss of turnover in rail passenger services in EU27 for 2020 appears to be close to EUR 24.5 billion or -42% compared to 2019. In December 2020, the estimated average loss reached the record amount of more than EUR 550 million per week or -50% compared to the turnover of December 2019.

[3] OSDM/FSM is the Open Sales Distribution Model and Full Service Model, developed by the railway undertakings, ticket vendors and UIC. This initiative delivers exhaustive specifications for an open, plug-and-play IT framework for ticket sales, reservation and price distribution of rail tickets.

[4] E.g., different national rules for Covid-19, language requirements, interoperability rules, and taxation.

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SLoCaT has developed 10 messages on raising ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

With contributions from many international stakeholders including UIC, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), has launched 10 messages encouraging more ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the centre of the Paris Agreement and represent the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, countries must renew or increase their commitments by the end of 2020, by amending their 2015 NDCs. In the transport sector, targets are not ambitious enough yet.

This is why SLoCaT is today sharing a set of crucial recommendations for countries to scale up transport ambition in their NDCs.

In that context, following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a large number of UIC railway Members, UIC has decided to update the railway sector’s commitments by committing to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing companies’ carbon footprint even further and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

“The recommendations have been compiled by the SLOCAT Partnership in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), following an open consultation with additional contributions from: Alstom, the Climate Group, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Walk 21.”

Sources: https://slocat.net/our-work/policy-and-engagement/ndcs/; https://unfccc.int/



See the full article

SLoCaT has developed 10 messages on raising ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

]

With contributions from many international stakeholders including UIC, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), has launched 10 messages encouraging more ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the centre of the Paris Agreement and represent the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, countries must renew or increase their commitments by the end of 2020, by amending their 2015 NDCs. In the transport sector, targets are not ambitious enough yet.

This is why SLoCaT is today sharing a set of crucial recommendations for countries to scale up transport ambition in their NDCs.

In that context, following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a large number of UIC railway Members, UIC has decided to update the railway sector’s commitments by committing to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing companies’ carbon footprint even further and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

“The recommendations have been compiled by the SLOCAT Partnership in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), following an open consultation with additional contributions from: Alstom, the Climate Group, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Walk 21.”

Sources: https://slocat.net/our-work/policy-and-engagement/ndcs/; https://unfccc.int/



See the full article

SLoCaT has developed 10 messages on raising ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

]

With contributions from many international stakeholders including UIC, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), has launched 10 messages encouraging more ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the centre of the Paris Agreement and represent the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, countries must renew or increase their commitments by the end of 2020, by amending their 2015 NDCs. In the transport sector, targets are not ambitious enough yet.

This is why SLoCaT is today sharing a set of crucial recommendations for countries to scale up transport ambition in their NDCs.

In that context, following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a large number of UIC railway Members, UIC has decided to update the railway sector’s commitments by committing to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing companies’ carbon footprint even further and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

“The recommendations have been compiled by the SLOCAT Partnership in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), following an open consultation with additional contributions from: Alstom, the Climate Group, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Walk 21.”

Sources: https://slocat.net/our-work/policy-and-engagement/ndcs/; https://unfccc.int/



See the full article

SLoCaT has developed 10 messages on raising ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

]

With contributions from many international stakeholders including UIC, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), has launched 10 messages encouraging more ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the centre of the Paris Agreement and represent the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, countries must renew or increase their commitments by the end of 2020, by amending their 2015 NDCs. In the transport sector, targets are not ambitious enough yet.

This is why SLoCaT is today sharing a set of crucial recommendations for countries to scale up transport ambition in their NDCs.

In that context, following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a large number of UIC railway Members, UIC has decided to update the railway sector’s commitments by committing to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing companies’ carbon footprint even further and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

“The recommendations have been compiled by the SLOCAT Partnership in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), following an open consultation with additional contributions from: Alstom, the Climate Group, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Walk 21.”

Sources: https://slocat.net/our-work/policy-and-engagement/ndcs/; https://unfccc.int/



See the full article

SLoCaT has developed 10 messages on raising ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

]

With contributions from many international stakeholders including UIC, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), has launched 10 messages encouraging more ambition for transport in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the centre of the Paris Agreement and represent the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, countries must renew or increase their commitments by the end of 2020, by amending their 2015 NDCs. In the transport sector, targets are not ambitious enough yet.

This is why SLoCaT is today sharing a set of crucial recommendations for countries to scale up transport ambition in their NDCs.

In that context, following the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed in 2015 by a large number of UIC railway Members, UIC has decided to update the railway sector’s commitments by committing to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing companies’ carbon footprint even further and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

“The recommendations have been compiled by the SLOCAT Partnership in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), following an open consultation with additional contributions from: Alstom, the Climate Group, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Walk 21.”

Sources: https://slocat.net/our-work/policy-and-engagement/ndcs/; https://unfccc.int/



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SLoCaT Partnership welcomes Maruxa Cardama as the New Secretary General

SLoCaT is pleased to announce the appointment of Maruxa Cardama as the new Secretary General of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT). Maruxa has been selected by the SLoCaT Board after an extensive, international search of strong candidates and is starting her tenure on 1 October 2018.

Maruxa offers a strong vision for the future of SLoCaT, building on the successful trajectory of its founding Secretary General, Cornie Huizenga, and Holger Dalkmann, who led the organisation during the recent interim period after Cornie stepped down earlier in the year. Looking forward, Maruxa will continue to work closely with SLoCaT members and partners to leverage the Partnership’s mission to promote sustainable transport in global policies on sustainable development and climate change.

In 2017, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was appointed new Board Member of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT).

UIC has developed a close partnership with SLoCaT over the last few years, seeking to
promote sustainable transport in worldwide policies on climate change and sustainability.

(Source: SLoCaT)

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SLoCaT releases a new publication entitled “Sustainable transport: a critical driver to achieve the sustainable development goals”

The SLoCaT Partnership has just released a new report, “Sustainable Transport: A Critical Driver to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” to summarise how transport has been reflected in the first quadrennial voluntary national reviews reporting cycle from 2016 – 2019.

Since the first United Nations High Level Political Forum in 2016, SLoCaT has been assessing transport references in the VNRs submitted each year. The assessment aims to:

• Provide a useful resource for policy-makers to better understand the role of transport in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
• Outline recommendations to policy-makers on goal-setting, implementing and reporting on sustainable transport progress
• Help the transport community (and other relevant sectors e.g. energy, health) better understand the pattern, gaps and opportunities in reporting sustainable transport in the VNR process

Throughout the lifespan of the HLPF, countries have been reporting on transport as a vital sector to implement SDGs, showcasing on-the-ground implementation and best practices. Through the VNRs, countries contribute to offer leverage and momentum for the transport sector to move along a more sustainable path.
As part of the report’s recommendations, SLoCaT also proposed a framework with a step-by-step methodological approach to assist transport sector policy-makers in translating SDGs in national sector plans, strategies and budgets; designing policy interventions to target resources at root bottlenecks; and providing coordinated and pooled policy support for sustainable transport development.

You can download the full report here: http://bit.ly/VNRreport

A short summary of the key observations can be found at www.slocat.net/vnr

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

SNCF and DB step up their partnership on technical and digital innovation

On Thursday 25 February, SNCF AND DB renewed their cooperation agreement on technical and digital innovation for a further three-year period. The two companies will thus contribute to building Europe’s future rail system, which will be characterised by a reduced environmental footprint.

After four years of cooperation on digital technologies between SNCF and German rail group Deutsche Bahn (DB), the CEOs of both companies, Jean-Pierre Farandou and Richard Lutz, as well as SNCF’s Group Technology, Innovation and Projects Director, Pierre Izard, and DB’s Digitalisation and Technology Director, Sabina Jeschke, signed a new cooperation agreement on Thursday 25 February for a period of three years.
SNCF and DB will increasingly join forces on research and innovation in seven different areas and will work together on new standards to help shape Europe’s future rail system. In particular, the aim of the partnership is to improve customer service quality and rail transport performance and attractiveness through innovation.

Cooperation for the benefit of all aspects of railway activity
Collaboration between SNCF and DB is currently focused on the architecture of the future European rail system and its various technological components, which include autonomous trains, satellite train tracking, future rail communication systems based on 5G, and smart railway operations encompassing simulation methods and artificial intelligence.
SNCF and DB want to make more rapid progress in key areas such as digital freight, including the development of automatic coupling systems for wagons, cross-border exchange of data and information, and passenger directions via mobile apps and in stations. They are also keen to progress more rapidly with regard to data modelling of railway installations (BIM).

Making rail even more environmentally friendly
Though rail is already the greenest transport mode in terms of environmental protection, the cooperation between SNCF and DB will also focus on areas such as decarbonisation and energy management so as to reduce its environmental footprint even further. The two companies have thus agreed to share their respective experience in relation to alternative energy sources such as biofuel, hydrogen, hybrid technologies and battery systems. They will also work together on “green stations”, with more efficient energy management and greater reuse of construction materials.
SNCF and DB will collaborative in order to accelerate the implementation of new solutions and meet the objectives of the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality within the European Union by 2050.

Jean-Pierre Farandou said: “We must help to shape the future, design better services for customers and create the foundations for a more efficient and robust rail system. This new partnership between our two countries means that we can strengthen our innovation and technology programmes for the benefit of the industry”.

(Source: SNCF)

See the full article

SNCF International Forum on Mobility

On 28 October 2015 SNCF (French Railways) organised the 1st International Forum on Sustainable Mobilities to find solutions to fight against Climate Change.

Representatives of 21 countries reviewed sustainable mobilities.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, participated in the event through a video message available here:

The video of the event is available here:

See the full article

Social media campaign based on UIC- UNIFE -UITP Joint Statement: Giving public transport a central place in the world of tomorrow

UIC, UITP and UNIFE issued on 3 June 2020 a joint statement highlighting public transport’s central place in the world of tomorrow.

Following the launch of this joint statement, UIC, together with UITP and UNIFE, produced a series of illustrations to promote rail and public transport on social media.

Rail and public transport are part of the solution to a more sustainable future.

These illustrations were published during the week of 8 to 12 June 2020 on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.

#RAILsilience #EUGreenDeal #Covid19 #ClimateChange

To read the Joint Statement:

https://bit.ly/2MTwACJ

Please find these illustrations below:

See the full article

Social media campaign based on UIC- UNIFE -UITP Joint Statement: Giving public transport a central place in the world of tomorrow

]

UIC, UITP and UNIFE issued on 3 June 2020 a joint statement highlighting public transport’s central place in the world of tomorrow.

Following the launch of this joint statement, UIC, together with UITP and UNIFE, produced a series of illustrations to promote rail and public transport on social media.

Rail and public transport are part of the solution to a more sustainable future.

These illustrations were published during the week of 8 to 12 June 2020 on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.

#RAILsilience #EUGreenDeal #Covid19 #ClimateChange

To read the Joint Statement:

https://bit.ly/2MTwACJ

Please find these illustrations below:

See the full article

Social media campaign based on UIC- UNIFE -UITP Joint Statement: Giving public transport a central place in the world of tomorrow

]

UIC, UITP and UNIFE issued on 3 June 2020 a joint statement highlighting public transport’s central place in the world of tomorrow.

Following the launch of this joint statement, UIC, together with UITP and UNIFE, produced a series of illustrations to promote rail and public transport on social media.

Rail and public transport are part of the solution to a more sustainable future.

These illustrations were published during the week of 8 to 12 June 2020 on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.

#RAILsilience #EUGreenDeal #Covid19 #ClimateChange

To read the Joint Statement:

https://bit.ly/2MTwACJ

Please find these illustrations below:

See the full article

Social media campaign based on UIC- UNIFE -UITP Joint Statement: Giving public transport a central place in the world of tomorrow

]

UIC, UITP and UNIFE issued on 3 June 2020 a joint statement highlighting public transport’s central place in the world of tomorrow.

Following the launch of this joint statement, UIC, together with UITP and UNIFE, produced a series of illustrations to promote rail and public transport on social media.

Rail and public transport are part of the solution to a more sustainable future.

These illustrations were published during the week of 8 to 12 June 2020 on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.

#RAILsilience #EUGreenDeal #Covid19 #ClimateChange

To read the Joint Statement:

https://bit.ly/2MTwACJ

Please find these illustrations below:

See the full article

Social media campaign based on UIC- UNIFE -UITP Joint Statement: Giving public transport a central place in the world of tomorrow

]

UIC, UITP and UNIFE issued on 3 June 2020 a joint statement highlighting public transport’s central place in the world of tomorrow.

Following the launch of this joint statement, UIC, together with UITP and UNIFE, produced a series of illustrations to promote rail and public transport on social media.

Rail and public transport are part of the solution to a more sustainable future.

These illustrations were published during the week of 8 to 12 June 2020 on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.

#RAILsilience #EUGreenDeal #Covid19 #ClimateChange

To read the Joint Statement:

https://bit.ly/2MTwACJ

Please find these illustrations below:

See the full article

Spain: Adif begins 2021 with spectacular footage

2021 is the European Year of Rail, an initiative from the European Commission as part of the EU’s efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 under the European Green Deal. This initiative will highlight the benefits of rail as a sustainable, smart and safe means of transport.

As part of activities to put rail in the spotlight across the continent throughout 2021, Adif has begun the year with some spectacular footage of load testing on the Teixeiras (Ourense) double-track viaduct on the Madrid-Galicia high-speed line.

View the footage:

Don’t hesitate to send your initiatives for the European Year of Rail to eNewsteam at uic.org, we will be pleased to publish them in UIC eNews.

See the full article

Station Managers Global Group (SMGG) meeting held from 26 – 27 February 2020 at UIC Paris

On 26 and 27 February 2020, UIC was pleased to welcome the Station Managers Global Group members for the first meeting of the year. Taking the opportunity as host of this event, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, took part as well to debate the future of the stations and the working group: “railway stations are a very important part of the railway system”. Moreover, Mr Davenne highlight the need to deal with the green deal and modal shift in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Railway stations are the platform of economic, social and mobility interaction between the city and the rail transport, thus, the collaboration with the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is required to develop a smooth intermodal shift based on the “Mobility as a Services” (MaaS) model.

After an overview of members’ perspective, UIC and members pointed out the crucial role of stations in the context of the open market which was debated for three hours during the quarterly debate of the working group. The Open Market of rail transport in Europe will considerably transform European railway stations for many reasons:

  • Due to the multiplication of railway operators
  • Requirement to offer a broad panel of services depending on operators’ expectations
  • Influence of multicultural operators
  • Impact on the space by the duplication of ticket vending machines, assistance desk, people with mobility services, waiting rooms, information display systems

The first objective of the open market is to attract more people to rail. To achieve this, stations must be ready to accommodate more passengers and users, which means finding concrete and effective solutions to the issue of capacity in a restricted environment.

The second part of the meeting was focused on the ongoing project “Long-Term Development of Railway Stations”. On this occasion, members discussed smart solutions for railway stations. The deliverable of this work package will be a website of a smart solutions catalogue where members can find solutions with the potential to solve issues. This library will be available for UIC members, station operators and private companies who want to propose their solutions (with restricted access). This platform, similar to the Rail Security Hub promoted by our colleagues of the Security Division, will offer new opportunities to members. This package is in collaboration with the Fundamental Values department (Security Division and Sustainable Unit) in order to integrate as much as possible an overview of societal and sustainable solutions.

The third work package of LTDRS concerns the Transit-Oriented Development. To manage his package, SNCF – Hubs & Connexion took the lead. According to the topic, SMGG and SNCF invited one student team from Paris Science Politique to present their approach about “Smart Transit-Oriented Development”.

The final work package, stations of the future, was debated as well to define the framework. The form of the package and the deliverable are not yet defined by the members.

The Station Managers Global Group recorded two very important decisions, the first concerns the frequency of the meeting. In order to set up a smooth collaboration with the members and improve the quality of its functions, a conference call will be organised between each physical meeting.

The second decision concerns the future of the sector. To better meet companies’ needs, members approved the launch of a process of restructuring. Thus, SMGG will be transformed to welcome more dedicated working groups to be compliant with the members’ daily station activities. Therefore, the new form of the sector will be proposed for approval by the Global Passenger Forum Steering Committee and for endorsement during the Global Passenger Forum Plenary Meeting in July.

UIC reiterates that no company has expressed any interest yet to host the 2021 UIC nextstation conference. This conference (https://nextstation.org/), fully dedicated to station matters, is a magnificent platform to interact with international experts from companies, industries and universities. Thus, any company who is interested in hosting the 8th conference is kindly invited to contact the UIC passenger department or the UIC communications department.

For further information please contact Clément Gautier, Project Manager - Passenger Department, Passenger Railway Stations:

gautier at uic.org

See the full article

Station Managers Global Group (SMGG) meeting held from 26 – 27 February 2020 at UIC Paris

]

On 26 and 27 February 2020, UIC was pleased to welcome the Station Managers Global Group members for the first meeting of the year. Taking the opportunity as host of this event, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, took part as well to debate the future of the stations and the working group: “railway stations are a very important part of the railway system”. Moreover, Mr Davenne highlight the need to deal with the green deal and modal shift in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Railway stations are the platform of economic, social and mobility interaction between the city and the rail transport, thus, the collaboration with the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is required to develop a smooth intermodal shift based on the “Mobility as a Services” (MaaS) model.

After an overview of members’ perspective, UIC and members pointed out the crucial role of stations in the context of the open market which was debated for three hours during the quarterly debate of the working group. The Open Market of rail transport in Europe will considerably transform European railway stations for many reasons:

  • Due to the multiplication of railway operators
  • Requirement to offer a broad panel of services depending on operators’ expectations
  • Influence of multicultural operators
  • Impact on the space by the duplication of ticket vending machines, assistance desk, people with mobility services, waiting rooms, information display systems

The first objective of the open market is to attract more people to rail. To achieve this, stations must be ready to accommodate more passengers and users, which means finding concrete and effective solutions to the issue of capacity in a restricted environment.

The second part of the meeting was focused on the ongoing project “Long-Term Development of Railway Stations”. On this occasion, members discussed smart solutions for railway stations. The deliverable of this work package will be a website of a smart solutions catalogue where members can find solutions with the potential to solve issues. This library will be available for UIC members, station operators and private companies who want to propose their solutions (with restricted access). This platform, similar to the Rail Security Hub promoted by our colleagues of the Security Division, will offer new opportunities to members. This package is in collaboration with the Fundamental Values department (Security Division and Sustainable Unit) in order to integrate as much as possible an overview of societal and sustainable solutions.

The third work package of LTDRS concerns the Transit-Oriented Development. To manage his package, SNCF – Hubs & Connexion took the lead. According to the topic, SMGG and SNCF invited one student team from Paris Science Politique to present their approach about “Smart Transit-Oriented Development”.

The final work package, stations of the future, was debated as well to define the framework. The form of the package and the deliverable are not yet defined by the members.

The Station Managers Global Group recorded two very important decisions, the first concerns the frequency of the meeting. In order to set up a smooth collaboration with the members and improve the quality of its functions, a conference call will be organised between each physical meeting.

The second decision concerns the future of the sector. To better meet companies’ needs, members approved the launch of a process of restructuring. Thus, SMGG will be transformed to welcome more dedicated working groups to be compliant with the members’ daily station activities. Therefore, the new form of the sector will be proposed for approval by the Global Passenger Forum Steering Committee and for endorsement during the Global Passenger Forum Plenary Meeting in July.

UIC reiterates that no company has expressed any interest yet to host the 2021 UIC nextstation conference. This conference (https://nextstation.org/), fully dedicated to station matters, is a magnificent platform to interact with international experts from companies, industries and universities. Thus, any company who is interested in hosting the 8th conference is kindly invited to contact the UIC passenger department or the UIC communications department.

For further information please contact Clément Gautier, Project Manager - Passenger Department, Passenger Railway Stations:

gautier at uic.org

See the full article

Station Managers Global Group (SMGG) meeting held from 26 – 27 February 2020 at UIC Paris

]

On 26 and 27 February 2020, UIC was pleased to welcome the Station Managers Global Group members for the first meeting of the year. Taking the opportunity as host of this event, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, took part as well to debate the future of the stations and the working group: “railway stations are a very important part of the railway system”. Moreover, Mr Davenne highlight the need to deal with the green deal and modal shift in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Railway stations are the platform of economic, social and mobility interaction between the city and the rail transport, thus, the collaboration with the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is required to develop a smooth intermodal shift based on the “Mobility as a Services” (MaaS) model.

After an overview of members’ perspective, UIC and members pointed out the crucial role of stations in the context of the open market which was debated for three hours during the quarterly debate of the working group. The Open Market of rail transport in Europe will considerably transform European railway stations for many reasons:

  • Due to the multiplication of railway operators
  • Requirement to offer a broad panel of services depending on operators’ expectations
  • Influence of multicultural operators
  • Impact on the space by the duplication of ticket vending machines, assistance desk, people with mobility services, waiting rooms, information display systems

The first objective of the open market is to attract more people to rail. To achieve this, stations must be ready to accommodate more passengers and users, which means finding concrete and effective solutions to the issue of capacity in a restricted environment.

The second part of the meeting was focused on the ongoing project “Long-Term Development of Railway Stations”. On this occasion, members discussed smart solutions for railway stations. The deliverable of this work package will be a website of a smart solutions catalogue where members can find solutions with the potential to solve issues. This library will be available for UIC members, station operators and private companies who want to propose their solutions (with restricted access). This platform, similar to the Rail Security Hub promoted by our colleagues of the Security Division, will offer new opportunities to members. This package is in collaboration with the Fundamental Values department (Security Division and Sustainable Unit) in order to integrate as much as possible an overview of societal and sustainable solutions.

The third work package of LTDRS concerns the Transit-Oriented Development. To manage his package, SNCF – Hubs & Connexion took the lead. According to the topic, SMGG and SNCF invited one student team from Paris Science Politique to present their approach about “Smart Transit-Oriented Development”.

The final work package, stations of the future, was debated as well to define the framework. The form of the package and the deliverable are not yet defined by the members.

The Station Managers Global Group recorded two very important decisions, the first concerns the frequency of the meeting. In order to set up a smooth collaboration with the members and improve the quality of its functions, a conference call will be organised between each physical meeting.

The second decision concerns the future of the sector. To better meet companies’ needs, members approved the launch of a process of restructuring. Thus, SMGG will be transformed to welcome more dedicated working groups to be compliant with the members’ daily station activities. Therefore, the new form of the sector will be proposed for approval by the Global Passenger Forum Steering Committee and for endorsement during the Global Passenger Forum Plenary Meeting in July.

UIC reiterates that no company has expressed any interest yet to host the 2021 UIC nextstation conference. This conference (https://nextstation.org/), fully dedicated to station matters, is a magnificent platform to interact with international experts from companies, industries and universities. Thus, any company who is interested in hosting the 8th conference is kindly invited to contact the UIC passenger department or the UIC communications department.

For further information please contact Clément Gautier, Project Manager - Passenger Department, Passenger Railway Stations:

gautier at uic.org

See the full article

Station Managers Global Group (SMGG) meeting held from 26 – 27 February 2020 at UIC Paris

]

On 26 and 27 February 2020, UIC was pleased to welcome the Station Managers Global Group members for the first meeting of the year. Taking the opportunity as host of this event, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, took part as well to debate the future of the stations and the working group: “railway stations are a very important part of the railway system”. Moreover, Mr Davenne highlight the need to deal with the green deal and modal shift in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Railway stations are the platform of economic, social and mobility interaction between the city and the rail transport, thus, the collaboration with the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is required to develop a smooth intermodal shift based on the “Mobility as a Services” (MaaS) model.

After an overview of members’ perspective, UIC and members pointed out the crucial role of stations in the context of the open market which was debated for three hours during the quarterly debate of the working group. The Open Market of rail transport in Europe will considerably transform European railway stations for many reasons:

  • Due to the multiplication of railway operators
  • Requirement to offer a broad panel of services depending on operators’ expectations
  • Influence of multicultural operators
  • Impact on the space by the duplication of ticket vending machines, assistance desk, people with mobility services, waiting rooms, information display systems

The first objective of the open market is to attract more people to rail. To achieve this, stations must be ready to accommodate more passengers and users, which means finding concrete and effective solutions to the issue of capacity in a restricted environment.

The second part of the meeting was focused on the ongoing project “Long-Term Development of Railway Stations”. On this occasion, members discussed smart solutions for railway stations. The deliverable of this work package will be a website of a smart solutions catalogue where members can find solutions with the potential to solve issues. This library will be available for UIC members, station operators and private companies who want to propose their solutions (with restricted access). This platform, similar to the Rail Security Hub promoted by our colleagues of the Security Division, will offer new opportunities to members. This package is in collaboration with the Fundamental Values department (Security Division and Sustainable Unit) in order to integrate as much as possible an overview of societal and sustainable solutions.

The third work package of LTDRS concerns the Transit-Oriented Development. To manage his package, SNCF – Hubs & Connexion took the lead. According to the topic, SMGG and SNCF invited one student team from Paris Science Politique to present their approach about “Smart Transit-Oriented Development”.

The final work package, stations of the future, was debated as well to define the framework. The form of the package and the deliverable are not yet defined by the members.

The Station Managers Global Group recorded two very important decisions, the first concerns the frequency of the meeting. In order to set up a smooth collaboration with the members and improve the quality of its functions, a conference call will be organised between each physical meeting.

The second decision concerns the future of the sector. To better meet companies’ needs, members approved the launch of a process of restructuring. Thus, SMGG will be transformed to welcome more dedicated working groups to be compliant with the members’ daily station activities. Therefore, the new form of the sector will be proposed for approval by the Global Passenger Forum Steering Committee and for endorsement during the Global Passenger Forum Plenary Meeting in July.

UIC reiterates that no company has expressed any interest yet to host the 2021 UIC nextstation conference. This conference (https://nextstation.org/), fully dedicated to station matters, is a magnificent platform to interact with international experts from companies, industries and universities. Thus, any company who is interested in hosting the 8th conference is kindly invited to contact the UIC passenger department or the UIC communications department.

For further information please contact Clément Gautier, Project Manager - Passenger Department, Passenger Railway Stations:

gautier at uic.org

See the full article

Station Managers Global Group (SMGG) meeting held from 26 – 27 February 2020 at UIC Paris

]

On 26 and 27 February 2020, UIC was pleased to welcome the Station Managers Global Group members for the first meeting of the year. Taking the opportunity as host of this event, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, took part as well to debate the future of the stations and the working group: “railway stations are a very important part of the railway system”. Moreover, Mr Davenne highlight the need to deal with the green deal and modal shift in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Railway stations are the platform of economic, social and mobility interaction between the city and the rail transport, thus, the collaboration with the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is required to develop a smooth intermodal shift based on the “Mobility as a Services” (MaaS) model.

After an overview of members’ perspective, UIC and members pointed out the crucial role of stations in the context of the open market which was debated for three hours during the quarterly debate of the working group. The Open Market of rail transport in Europe will considerably transform European railway stations for many reasons:

  • Due to the multiplication of railway operators
  • Requirement to offer a broad panel of services depending on operators’ expectations
  • Influence of multicultural operators
  • Impact on the space by the duplication of ticket vending machines, assistance desk, people with mobility services, waiting rooms, information display systems

The first objective of the open market is to attract more people to rail. To achieve this, stations must be ready to accommodate more passengers and users, which means finding concrete and effective solutions to the issue of capacity in a restricted environment.

The second part of the meeting was focused on the ongoing project “Long-Term Development of Railway Stations”. On this occasion, members discussed smart solutions for railway stations. The deliverable of this work package will be a website of a smart solutions catalogue where members can find solutions with the potential to solve issues. This library will be available for UIC members, station operators and private companies who want to propose their solutions (with restricted access). This platform, similar to the Rail Security Hub promoted by our colleagues of the Security Division, will offer new opportunities to members. This package is in collaboration with the Fundamental Values department (Security Division and Sustainable Unit) in order to integrate as much as possible an overview of societal and sustainable solutions.

The third work package of LTDRS concerns the Transit-Oriented Development. To manage his package, SNCF – Hubs & Connexion took the lead. According to the topic, SMGG and SNCF invited one student team from Paris Science Politique to present their approach about “Smart Transit-Oriented Development”.

The final work package, stations of the future, was debated as well to define the framework. The form of the package and the deliverable are not yet defined by the members.

The Station Managers Global Group recorded two very important decisions, the first concerns the frequency of the meeting. In order to set up a smooth collaboration with the members and improve the quality of its functions, a conference call will be organised between each physical meeting.

The second decision concerns the future of the sector. To better meet companies’ needs, members approved the launch of a process of restructuring. Thus, SMGG will be transformed to welcome more dedicated working groups to be compliant with the members’ daily station activities. Therefore, the new form of the sector will be proposed for approval by the Global Passenger Forum Steering Committee and for endorsement during the Global Passenger Forum Plenary Meeting in July.

UIC reiterates that no company has expressed any interest yet to host the 2021 UIC nextstation conference. This conference (https://nextstation.org/), fully dedicated to station matters, is a magnificent platform to interact with international experts from companies, industries and universities. Thus, any company who is interested in hosting the 8th conference is kindly invited to contact the UIC passenger department or the UIC communications department.

For further information please contact Clément Gautier, Project Manager - Passenger Department, Passenger Railway Stations:

gautier at uic.org

See the full article

Staying on the right track: EU-funded project TER4RAIL highlights essential role of rail for sustainable mobility

]

When discussing public transport as the backbone of urban mobility, rail deserves an honorary mention. Considered by many to be the heart of public transit, rail has proven one of the most sustainable, comfortable and safe modes of transport available to us. Our railways enable economic development and create employment – they connect places and people.

Partners of the EU-funded TER4RAIL project fully recognise the essential role rail plays in ensuring sustainable, connected and liveable cities.

Funded under the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking, TER4RAIL seeks to reinforce co-operation between rail-related stakeholders to improve the efficiency of research in the rail sector, in order to facilitate emerging innovative ideas and the cross-fertilisation of knowledge from other disciplines. TER4RAIL is coordinated by EURNEX and consists of seven partners from five EU countries.

To further support its aim, consortium partners of the TER4RAIL project also form the central stakeholders of ERRAC, the European Rail Research Advisory Council. ERRAC’s primary objective is to deliver the common railway sector vision of research and innovation to EU institutions and important stakeholders, to help shape a favourable funding landscape for railway research and innovation.
The TER4RAIL project partners recently published a new report entitled “European Rail success stories”.

The report includes ‘real world’ examples showing efficient and effective implementation of rail services in Europe, providing a great demonstration of the positive potential rail can have in shaping the future of the transport system, be it public transport, mainline or freight.

The report takes the cities of Vienna and Nantes as examples of successful urban rail development in Europe. Vienna exemplifies harmonic co-operation between metro and LRT transport, while Nantes is the first French area that has managed to reduce its market share of cars thanks to a consistent and co-ordinated policy of continuously developing and encouraging the use of the LRT network since the tram was re-introduced in 1985.

Other success stories include the Madrid – Barcelona HSR line, the ‘Marathon Train’ between Lyon and Nimes, and the TIGER (Transit via Innovative Gateway) Dry Port, which is the maritime industrial distribution system of choice for major European sea ports. You can read the full report here.

Recognising research as an essential pillar for improving the urban rail market, we are currently following the developments of the new Partnership for rail research, which advocates the needs of urban rail operators. We have actively contributed to the development of “Transforming Europe’s Rail System”, a document which has been provided as input to the European Commission for the preparation of the Partnership.

Under the coordination of Shift2Rail and together with UNIFE (European Rail Industry), CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies), EIM (European Rail Infrastructure Managers), EURNEX (EUropean rail Research Network of Excellence) and ERRAC, the Partnership aims to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative technologies and deliver on European Green Deal objectives by improving the competitiveness of rail and supporting European technological leadership in rail. You can read the proposal here.

This project has received funding from the Shift2Rail JU under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under Grant Agreement 826055.

For further information, please contact Giuseppe Rizzi at at uitp.org'>giuseppe.rizzi at uitp.org or Christine Hassoun at UIC at uic.org'>hassoun at uic.org

See the full article

Successful meeting on soil pollution and remediation held in Riga, Latvia (14-15 October 2010)

On 14 and 15 October, the UIC Expert Group on Polluted Soils and Remediation held a two-day seminar in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The meeting was hosted by Latvijas Dzelzceļš (LDZ, Latvian Railways). Almost 50 participants from various European railways were welcomed by Mr. Măris Riekstiņŝ, LDZ Director of Development.

In his opening statement Mr. Riekstiņŝ gave an overview of the developments LDZ is undergoing, as well as the difficulties it is encountering. One of these is the question of contaminated soils on railway property. He welcomed the opportunity to cooperate closely with UIC and with individual railways, more specifically the chance to exchange information and experiences.

Since 2007, the UIC Expert Group on Polluted Soils and Remediation has actively sought to place polluted soils on the railways’ agenda. Furthermore, the objective of the Expert Group is to promote the exchange of specific know-how in this field. One of the main objectives of the meeting in Riga was to draw attention to the potential impact of soil pollution, not only on train operations but also on companies’ financial position and reputation in society.

Polluted soils are as old as the railways themselves. Most of the pollution we face nowadays has its roots in the steam age. In those days railways, like any other business at that time, paid scant regard to the potential consequences on the ecological environment of dumping oil and waste. Nowadays we know better and, although the majority of railway companies have taken action to remediate the most urgent sites and prevent further contamination, there still are huge problems. These problems occur when railway land has to be transferred to new owners or when the land is set to be used for other purposes.

At the meeting in Riga, participants received input from several points of view.
First the governmental perspective, in which legislation and policy implementation were highlighted by Mr. Roland Bebris (Latvian Ministry of the Environment) and Mr. Ton Honders (Dutch Ministry of the Environment). The consequences of legislation and an overall risk management approach were also presented by the Dutch government.

In a meeting like this, the financial perspective is a vital consideration. Polluted soils can be part of corporate property and it is clear that the possession of such property can represent a high risk, with significant negative effects on the financial position of the company. Based on their respective experiences, Mr. Bertil Grundfelt and Mr. Erhard Robold (both consultants in this field) clearly showed the audience how to deal with the involved risks.

The afternoon session focused mainly on the sharing of best practices. Three cases were presented by:

  • Mr. Mads Dige Toft, RAMBØLL (Banedanmark), who highlighted the typical practical issues of handling polluted soil that are associated with both project planning and project execution.
  • Ms. Patrizia Gregori (SNCF), who presented SNCF’s 2008 – 2015 programme to improve and renew the fuel filling installations on the rail network, while simultaneously remediating contaminated sites for a total cost of € 60 million.
  • Ms. Inăra Krumiņa (LDZ) gave an overview of the ongoing work in Daugavpils, which is located in southern Latvia. On this site the groundwater is severely contaminated with diesel and oil from the mass storage facilities and is undergoing remediation.

The last point of view presented concerned the prevention of soil pollution. Mr. Paolo Contestabile, the UIC representative in the InfraGuider project, presented the ambitions and scope of this project to set guidelines for the purchase of sustainable rail infrastructure systems and components. His view was supported by Malin Kotake, who shared with participants some experiences at Trafikverket (Sweden) in this field.

Finally, the meeting ended with a brief look at the future development of UIC’s work in the area of sustainable land use.

The various presentations from the seminar can be downloaded from the UIC homepage, http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2635

The second day was devoted to a visit to a LDZ rolling stock service point where the filling station has been renewed. The final part of the excursion was a visit to the Latvian Railway History Museum in Riga, where the manager of the museum was presented with the official seminar poster – so if you ever come to Riga and visit the Railway History Museum you may see the poster hanging on the wall.

For further information please contact Lisette Mortensen: mortensen at uic.org

See the full article

Successful MERLIN Mid-Term Conference hosted by the 5th “UIC Energy Efficiency Days” (EED 2014) 2014 in Antwerp

“Energy and the Railways – Smart Friends”

The MERLIN Mid-Term Conference, the EU co-funded project dealing with the investigation on the viability of an integrated management system to achieve an optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems, and comprising 18 partners, is currently held in Antwerp.

This Conference, hosted by the UIC Energy Efficiency Days 2014, bringing together around 70 participants, is devoted to the presentation of the intermediate outcomes of the European project; MERLIN. In this EU-funded project, UIC leads the dissemination tasks and plays a supporting role in the work package dealing with Recommendations, Market Uptake and Standardisation. UIC furthermore brings its expertise by bringing together the MERLIN Rail Reference Group that has been set up to take into account operators and Infrastructure Managers in developing the outcome of MERLIN.

Franco Cataldo, Technical Affairs Manager at UNIFE and MERLIN Project Manager, gave an overview of the project. He highlighted the importance of the MERLIN project, evidenced by the strong participant of the key actors from the sector. He said: “Energy management is a key issue for railway systems MERLIN will propose the architecture for future smart energy management systems.”

Mr Hans Günther Kersten, Director of the Rail System Department of UIC, said:

Amongst research and development projects, MERLIN is a good example of the long and fruitful technical collaboration between UIC, UNIFE and other partners. With this background of successful collaboration, UIC in its capacity as representative of the railway operators, wishes to highlight that this project has been conceived to help us not only to improve our environmental friendliness but also to enable us to be cost effective. As regards energy efficiency, the usual conflict between ecology on the one hand and profitability on the other hand does not exist. Here, both vectors are pointing in the same direction, as every amount of energy saved with the same performance output is a plus for both the environment and the economic profit. Thus leading to a classic win-win situation to which the results of MERLIN will no doubt contribute. It is therefore of utmost importance that the industry and the railway companies share the same vision of the market that is represented by the customers travelling by railway or using it to transfer goods. Once all stakeholders will share this vision, a renaissance of the railway transport will be possible, if not we may miss a lot of important opportunities.”

Monica Pelegrin of ADIF gave a presentation on “The Needs of Railway Operators in terms of Energy Management”, which gave the opportunity to present the five MERLIN Scenarios and their objectives; Ruth Arregui (CAF) gave an introductory presentation to the architectures of the MERLIN railway energy management system, with Roberto Palacin going into more detail with regard to the strategic decision making tool, followed by an in-depth presentation on the operational energy management system by Valerio Recagno (D’Appolonia).

At the end of the day, Franco Cataldo and Eduardo Prieto (FFE) gave a presentation on the legislative and standardisation interactions that MERLIN will intend to have. The MERLIN steering board chairman brought the conference to an end with concluding remarks that summarised the day’s event.

All panel sessions gave rise to a very rich exchange between speakers and participants raising relevant issues about smarter use of energy in the railway system.

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer: dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

Successful UIC Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform the concept into reality.

In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC organised a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels attended by over 100 participants of 17 different nationalities. Among them, representatives from UIC members, UIC partner railway associations, European institutions, universities, local authorities as well as from the economy.

Simon Fletcher, Coordinator of the UIC European Region, delivered UIC Director General François Davenne’s message as an introduction to the event: given the current rate of global warming, making modal shift desirable should be a priority. He added that railways should be attractive to the end user and using railways should become second nature.

Click here to read the full speech:

https://bit.ly/2uM8Z1o

Keynote speakers included: Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP, Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS and Judit Sandor, Programme Manager for the Cross-Cutting Activities, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The first roundtable, moderated by Simon Fletcher, addressed the topic of the initiatives already taken towards low carbon mobility. Speakers included Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East, Saïd Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications of Moroccan Railways (ONCF), Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail and RailToCOP26) and Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”.

The second roundtable, moderated by Carole Escolan-Zeno from SNCF Voyageurs, explored how to make modal shift desirable by rediscovering the virtue of frugality. Speakers included: Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division / Fret (SNCF), Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome, Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy (CER) and Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie.

Speakers’ insightful presentations brought to the audience’s attention that modal shift must go hand-in-hand with the use of low greenhouse gases emitting modes of transport like public transport, walking and biking and that individual cars, including electric ones, cannot be the solution to reduce congestion and space scarcity in urban areas.

Moreover, developing sustainable solutions requires political will and audacity: cities must regulate and move from a reactive to a proactive approach considering economic as well as social aspects and involve citizens in the process. Regulating is not an option anymore for local authorities, whether this is for polluting vehicles like SUVs in cities or for airlines. Systemic and administrative barriers should be broken down to facilitate a real shift.

Furthermore, railway research, innovation and digitisation can support modal shift and contribute to energy efficiency and increase rail attractiveness both for passenger and freight transport. Innovating together, for regions like the European Union, is also an important way to move forward and put an end to a strong intra-sector competition. There is for example an unused capacity in rail freight and digitisation could be a great tool to optimise modal shift and move from air or road to rail.

Tools such as MAAS (mobility as a service) can increase sustainable travel and lower dependence on private cars by promoting micro-mobility and shared mobility in public spaces especially for the first and last miles. Speaking of the key topic of space in urban, countries like Japan elaborate great projects such as developing stations as hubs – key elements for MAAS solutions – with added value to stations and, hence revitalising urban areas.

Additionally, the example of developing a high-speed line from Tangier to Casablanca in Morocco not only shows a great example of digitisation meeting sustainability but also demonstrates how rail can take passengers from road to rail, improving safety and security in the country.

Nevertheless, innovation was questioned during the event as innovating can cause rebound effects that can prevent the railway and the transport sector to curb greenhouse gases emissions. This should not be forgotten by transport actors and decision makers.

Modal shift is indeed desirable for the reasons listed above, but what the event showed is that we also need a change in mindset to make not only transport but also people rediscover some kind of frugality in their transport use such as maximising capacity and use the assets we already have.

Rethinking our transport needs – including for major events like COP – is not to be postponed, for if we do not act fast, modal shift might not be enough to be part of the solution to climate change. Many aspects seen as negative, challenging or discouraging for railways should be opportunities to improve and policy decision makers should encourage the creation of funding schemes for sustainable transport using revenue from more polluting modes of transport – based on the polluter pays principle – to fund sustainable modes.

Key messages from the event in Brussels will be used to create a statement from the railways, to be taken to COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development team:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Successful UIC Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform the concept into reality.

In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC organised a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels attended by over 100 participants of 17 different nationalities. Among them, representatives from UIC members, UIC partner railway associations, European institutions, universities, local authorities as well as from the economy.

Simon Fletcher, Coordinator of the UIC European Region, delivered UIC Director General François Davenne’s message as an introduction to the event: given the current rate of global warming, making modal shift desirable should be a priority. He added that railways should be attractive to the end user and using railways should become second nature.

Click here to read the full speech:

https://bit.ly/2uM8Z1o

Keynote speakers included: Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP, Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS and Judit Sandor, Programme Manager for the Cross-Cutting Activities, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The first roundtable, moderated by Simon Fletcher, addressed the topic of the initiatives already taken towards low carbon mobility. Speakers included Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East, Saïd Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications of Moroccan Railways (ONCF), Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail and RailToCOP26) and Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”.

The second roundtable, moderated by Carole Escolan-Zeno from SNCF Voyageurs, explored how to make modal shift desirable by rediscovering the virtue of frugality. Speakers included: Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division / Fret (SNCF), Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome, Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy (CER) and Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie.

Speakers’ insightful presentations brought to the audience’s attention that modal shift must go hand-in-hand with the use of low greenhouse gases emitting modes of transport like public transport, walking and biking and that individual cars, including electric ones, cannot be the solution to reduce congestion and space scarcity in urban areas.

Moreover, developing sustainable solutions requires political will and audacity: cities must regulate and move from a reactive to a proactive approach considering economic as well as social aspects and involve citizens in the process. Regulating is not an option anymore for local authorities, whether this is for polluting vehicles like SUVs in cities or for airlines. Systemic and administrative barriers should be broken down to facilitate a real shift.

Furthermore, railway research, innovation and digitisation can support modal shift and contribute to energy efficiency and increase rail attractiveness both for passenger and freight transport. Innovating together, for regions like the European Union, is also an important way to move forward and put an end to a strong intra-sector competition. There is for example an unused capacity in rail freight and digitisation could be a great tool to optimise modal shift and move from air or road to rail.

Tools such as MAAS (mobility as a service) can increase sustainable travel and lower dependence on private cars by promoting micro-mobility and shared mobility in public spaces especially for the first and last miles. Speaking of the key topic of space in urban, countries like Japan elaborate great projects such as developing stations as hubs – key elements for MAAS solutions – with added value to stations and, hence revitalising urban areas.

Additionally, the example of developing a high-speed line from Tangier to Casablanca in Morocco not only shows a great example of digitisation meeting sustainability but also demonstrates how rail can take passengers from road to rail, improving safety and security in the country.

Nevertheless, innovation was questioned during the event as innovating can cause rebound effects that can prevent the railway and the transport sector to curb greenhouse gases emissions. This should not be forgotten by transport actors and decision makers.

Modal shift is indeed desirable for the reasons listed above, but what the event showed is that we also need a change in mindset to make not only transport but also people rediscover some kind of frugality in their transport use such as maximising capacity and use the assets we already have.

Rethinking our transport needs – including for major events like COP – is not to be postponed, for if we do not act fast, modal shift might not be enough to be part of the solution to climate change. Many aspects seen as negative, challenging or discouraging for railways should be opportunities to improve and policy decision makers should encourage the creation of funding schemes for sustainable transport using revenue from more polluting modes of transport – based on the polluter pays principle – to fund sustainable modes.

Key messages from the event in Brussels will be used to create a statement from the railways, to be taken to COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development team:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Successful UIC Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform the concept into reality.

In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC organised a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels attended by over 100 participants of 17 different nationalities. Among them, representatives from UIC members, UIC partner railway associations, European institutions, universities, local authorities as well as from the economy.

Simon Fletcher, Coordinator of the UIC European Region, delivered UIC Director General François Davenne’s message as an introduction to the event: given the current rate of global warming, making modal shift desirable should be a priority. He added that railways should be attractive to the end user and using railways should become second nature.

Click here to read the full speech:

https://bit.ly/2uM8Z1o

Keynote speakers included: Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP, Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS and Judit Sandor, Programme Manager for the Cross-Cutting Activities, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The first roundtable, moderated by Simon Fletcher, addressed the topic of the initiatives already taken towards low carbon mobility. Speakers included Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East, Saïd Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications of Moroccan Railways (ONCF), Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail and RailToCOP26) and Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”.

The second roundtable, moderated by Carole Escolan-Zeno from SNCF Voyageurs, explored how to make modal shift desirable by rediscovering the virtue of frugality. Speakers included: Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division / Fret (SNCF), Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome, Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy (CER) and Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie.

Speakers’ insightful presentations brought to the audience’s attention that modal shift must go hand-in-hand with the use of low greenhouse gases emitting modes of transport like public transport, walking and biking and that individual cars, including electric ones, cannot be the solution to reduce congestion and space scarcity in urban areas.

Moreover, developing sustainable solutions requires political will and audacity: cities must regulate and move from a reactive to a proactive approach considering economic as well as social aspects and involve citizens in the process. Regulating is not an option anymore for local authorities, whether this is for polluting vehicles like SUVs in cities or for airlines. Systemic and administrative barriers should be broken down to facilitate a real shift.

Furthermore, railway research, innovation and digitisation can support modal shift and contribute to energy efficiency and increase rail attractiveness both for passenger and freight transport. Innovating together, for regions like the European Union, is also an important way to move forward and put an end to a strong intra-sector competition. There is for example an unused capacity in rail freight and digitisation could be a great tool to optimise modal shift and move from air or road to rail.

Tools such as MAAS (mobility as a service) can increase sustainable travel and lower dependence on private cars by promoting micro-mobility and shared mobility in public spaces especially for the first and last miles. Speaking of the key topic of space in urban, countries like Japan elaborate great projects such as developing stations as hubs – key elements for MAAS solutions – with added value to stations and, hence revitalising urban areas.

Additionally, the example of developing a high-speed line from Tangier to Casablanca in Morocco not only shows a great example of digitisation meeting sustainability but also demonstrates how rail can take passengers from road to rail, improving safety and security in the country.

Nevertheless, innovation was questioned during the event as innovating can cause rebound effects that can prevent the railway and the transport sector to curb greenhouse gases emissions. This should not be forgotten by transport actors and decision makers.

Modal shift is indeed desirable for the reasons listed above, but what the event showed is that we also need a change in mindset to make not only transport but also people rediscover some kind of frugality in their transport use such as maximising capacity and use the assets we already have.

Rethinking our transport needs – including for major events like COP – is not to be postponed, for if we do not act fast, modal shift might not be enough to be part of the solution to climate change. Many aspects seen as negative, challenging or discouraging for railways should be opportunities to improve and policy decision makers should encourage the creation of funding schemes for sustainable transport using revenue from more polluting modes of transport – based on the polluter pays principle – to fund sustainable modes.

Key messages from the event in Brussels will be used to create a statement from the railways, to be taken to COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development team:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Successful UIC Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform the concept into reality.

In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC organised a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels attended by over 100 participants of 17 different nationalities. Among them, representatives from UIC members, UIC partner railway associations, European institutions, universities, local authorities as well as from the economy.

Simon Fletcher, Coordinator of the UIC European Region, delivered UIC Director General François Davenne’s message as an introduction to the event: given the current rate of global warming, making modal shift desirable should be a priority. He added that railways should be attractive to the end user and using railways should become second nature.

Click here to read the full speech:

https://bit.ly/2uM8Z1o

Keynote speakers included: Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP, Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS and Judit Sandor, Programme Manager for the Cross-Cutting Activities, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The first roundtable, moderated by Simon Fletcher, addressed the topic of the initiatives already taken towards low carbon mobility. Speakers included Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East, Saïd Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications of Moroccan Railways (ONCF), Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail and RailToCOP26) and Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”.

The second roundtable, moderated by Carole Escolan-Zeno from SNCF Voyageurs, explored how to make modal shift desirable by rediscovering the virtue of frugality. Speakers included: Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division / Fret (SNCF), Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome, Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy (CER) and Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie.

Speakers’ insightful presentations brought to the audience’s attention that modal shift must go hand-in-hand with the use of low greenhouse gases emitting modes of transport like public transport, walking and biking and that individual cars, including electric ones, cannot be the solution to reduce congestion and space scarcity in urban areas.

Moreover, developing sustainable solutions requires political will and audacity: cities must regulate and move from a reactive to a proactive approach considering economic as well as social aspects and involve citizens in the process. Regulating is not an option anymore for local authorities, whether this is for polluting vehicles like SUVs in cities or for airlines. Systemic and administrative barriers should be broken down to facilitate a real shift.

Furthermore, railway research, innovation and digitisation can support modal shift and contribute to energy efficiency and increase rail attractiveness both for passenger and freight transport. Innovating together, for regions like the European Union, is also an important way to move forward and put an end to a strong intra-sector competition. There is for example an unused capacity in rail freight and digitisation could be a great tool to optimise modal shift and move from air or road to rail.

Tools such as MAAS (mobility as a service) can increase sustainable travel and lower dependence on private cars by promoting micro-mobility and shared mobility in public spaces especially for the first and last miles. Speaking of the key topic of space in urban, countries like Japan elaborate great projects such as developing stations as hubs – key elements for MAAS solutions – with added value to stations and, hence revitalising urban areas.

Additionally, the example of developing a high-speed line from Tangier to Casablanca in Morocco not only shows a great example of digitisation meeting sustainability but also demonstrates how rail can take passengers from road to rail, improving safety and security in the country.

Nevertheless, innovation was questioned during the event as innovating can cause rebound effects that can prevent the railway and the transport sector to curb greenhouse gases emissions. This should not be forgotten by transport actors and decision makers.

Modal shift is indeed desirable for the reasons listed above, but what the event showed is that we also need a change in mindset to make not only transport but also people rediscover some kind of frugality in their transport use such as maximising capacity and use the assets we already have.

Rethinking our transport needs – including for major events like COP – is not to be postponed, for if we do not act fast, modal shift might not be enough to be part of the solution to climate change. Many aspects seen as negative, challenging or discouraging for railways should be opportunities to improve and policy decision makers should encourage the creation of funding schemes for sustainable transport using revenue from more polluting modes of transport – based on the polluter pays principle – to fund sustainable modes.

Key messages from the event in Brussels will be used to create a statement from the railways, to be taken to COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development team:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Successful UIC Conference on “Low carbon mobility: making modal shift desirable” held on 13 February 2020 in Brussels

]

UIC actively promotes at international level a multimodal vision shared with public transport and supply chain stakeholders.

Based on its members’ expertise, UIC is developing the technical enablers to transform the concept into reality.

In order to share the initiatives already taken and to find the ways to make modal shift desirable, UIC organised a one-day conference on 13 February 2020 in Brussels attended by over 100 participants of 17 different nationalities. Among them, representatives from UIC members, UIC partner railway associations, European institutions, universities, local authorities as well as from the economy.

Simon Fletcher, Coordinator of the UIC European Region, delivered UIC Director General François Davenne’s message as an introduction to the event: given the current rate of global warming, making modal shift desirable should be a priority. He added that railways should be attractive to the end user and using railways should become second nature.

Click here to read the full speech:

https://bit.ly/2uM8Z1o

Keynote speakers included: Francesco Dionori, Chief of Transport Networks & Logistics Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Umberto Guida, Senior Director for Knowledge & Innovation, UITP, Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS and Judit Sandor, Programme Manager for the Cross-Cutting Activities, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The first roundtable, moderated by Simon Fletcher, addressed the topic of the initiatives already taken towards low carbon mobility. Speakers included Omi Iryo, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Planning Headquarters, JR East, Saïd Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications of Moroccan Railways (ONCF), Thomas Möhring, Policy Advisor Environment & Sustainability & Eva Dijkema (ProRail and RailToCOP26) and Paul Hegge, Director Public Affairs & CSR, Lineas, Vision “30 by 2030”.

The second roundtable, moderated by Carole Escolan-Zeno from SNCF Voyageurs, explored how to make modal shift desirable by rediscovering the virtue of frugality. Speakers included: Bertrand Minary, Chief Innovation & Digital Officer Rail Freight & Multimodal Division / Fret (SNCF), Enrico Stefàno, President of the Committee for Mobility of the City Council of Rome, Dr Stefan Tobias, Head of Economics and Tax Policy (CER) and Laurent Castaignède, BCO2 Ingénierie.

Speakers’ insightful presentations brought to the audience’s attention that modal shift must go hand-in-hand with the use of low greenhouse gases emitting modes of transport like public transport, walking and biking and that individual cars, including electric ones, cannot be the solution to reduce congestion and space scarcity in urban areas.

Moreover, developing sustainable solutions requires political will and audacity: cities must regulate and move from a reactive to a proactive approach considering economic as well as social aspects and involve citizens in the process. Regulating is not an option anymore for local authorities, whether this is for polluting vehicles like SUVs in cities or for airlines. Systemic and administrative barriers should be broken down to facilitate a real shift.

Furthermore, railway research, innovation and digitisation can support modal shift and contribute to energy efficiency and increase rail attractiveness both for passenger and freight transport. Innovating together, for regions like the European Union, is also an important way to move forward and put an end to a strong intra-sector competition. There is for example an unused capacity in rail freight and digitisation could be a great tool to optimise modal shift and move from air or road to rail.

Tools such as MAAS (mobility as a service) can increase sustainable travel and lower dependence on private cars by promoting micro-mobility and shared mobility in public spaces especially for the first and last miles. Speaking of the key topic of space in urban, countries like Japan elaborate great projects such as developing stations as hubs – key elements for MAAS solutions – with added value to stations and, hence revitalising urban areas.

Additionally, the example of developing a high-speed line from Tangier to Casablanca in Morocco not only shows a great example of digitisation meeting sustainability but also demonstrates how rail can take passengers from road to rail, improving safety and security in the country.

Nevertheless, innovation was questioned during the event as innovating can cause rebound effects that can prevent the railway and the transport sector to curb greenhouse gases emissions. This should not be forgotten by transport actors and decision makers.

Modal shift is indeed desirable for the reasons listed above, but what the event showed is that we also need a change in mindset to make not only transport but also people rediscover some kind of frugality in their transport use such as maximising capacity and use the assets we already have.

Rethinking our transport needs – including for major events like COP – is not to be postponed, for if we do not act fast, modal shift might not be enough to be part of the solution to climate change. Many aspects seen as negative, challenging or discouraging for railways should be opportunities to improve and policy decision makers should encourage the creation of funding schemes for sustainable transport using revenue from more polluting modes of transport – based on the polluter pays principle – to fund sustainable modes.

Key messages from the event in Brussels will be used to create a statement from the railways, to be taken to COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development team:

environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Sustainability Workshops to be held on 27 and 29 October

On 27 October, UIC will organise the second Workshop on the Implementation of the new G4 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for rail companies, moderated and supported by Glenn Frommer, member of the GRI Working Group on Content and Materiality (GRI G3), the GRI Working Group on Disclosure of Management Aspects and assisted in drafting the newly released GRI G4 Guidelines.

The GRI’s mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice for all companies and organisations. Its framework is a reporting system that provides metrics and methods for measuring and reporting sustainability-related impacts and performance. The aim of the new G4 Guidelines is to increase user-friendliness and accessibility.

This workshop will be the second and last, after the kick-off in April and will provide a handbook containing final guidelines for the implementation of the GRI G4 according to relevant railway experiences and previous UIC indicators.
To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/events/spip.php?article3438

In addition, on 29 October, a Sustainable Mobility Workshop followed by a network meeting will be held at UIC HQ in Paris.

Rail is often quoted as one of the most sustainable means of transport. While a modal shift and an increase of rail is expected on railway networks in the coming years, the good management of railway sustainability is of major importance, as it is a key determining factor in consumer choices. Therefore the rail sector needs to learn the best approach to offer targeted options for the consumer.

  • The first session “Integrated Sustainable Mobility” will provide best practices into Integrate Sustainable Mobility. The audience will hear from the most innovative door-to-door solutions.
  • The second session “Railways and Green Tourism” will provide insight into how the digital market can help combining rail offers with a more customised demand.
  • The third session “Relations with costumers and stakeholders on environmental topics” will focus on how communications departments convey corporate sustainability initiatives to internal and external stakeholders.
  • The fourth and last session “Railways and Green Growth Approach: the benefits of investing in railways” will emphasise the importance of investing in railways and the reasons why the sector is in an advantageous position for driving shift towards sustainable transport.

This workshop will be a special opportunity for the managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experiences on best practices of the main interfaces and progress on these topics. The outcome of this workshop will shape projects and activities of the Sustainable Mobility Network for 2016-2018.
The workshop will have relevant speakers from external companies and institutions such as ESG Matters, Behavioural Insights and the Climate Bonds Initiative.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/events/spip.php?article3439

We look forward to seeing you in Paris for these two events.

For further information regarding the GRI G4 Workshop please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

For further information regarding the Sustainable Mobility Workshop please contact Andrea Braschi: braschi at uic.org

See the full article

Sustainable Land Use: Herbie project deliverable starting to take shape

On 16 May, the Sustainable Land Use Expert meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, at the kind invitation of Deutsche Bahn. At the meeting, Michael Below (DB AG) and Thomas Schuh (ÖBB-Infra AG) were elected new co-chairmen of the expert network. Thomas Schuh is an ecologist at Obb-Infra AG and is in charge of Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. Michael Below is an Engineer of horticulture and is head of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity at DB.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use network is composed of experts in biodiversity, vegetation management and soil remediation.

The expert group now manages the “Herbie” project which deals with all aspects of vegetation management on all the different railway properties. The project was triggered by difficulties encountered in the European Union during the process to renew market authorisation of Glyphosate, the most commonly used active agent in herbicides. Chemical weed control is the most effective and cost-efficient maintenance technique to ensure weed free infrastructure. However, there is growing pressure at both the regulatory and political levels to impose tighter restrictions on the use of Glyphosate. The UIC technical expertise is aligned with the position paper recently issued by CER on this topic.

The Herbie project kicked off in March 2017 and will end in spring 2018. A set of Guidelines for Vegetation Management in Railway application has been drafted and is now under revision by the group. The project will deliver in summer a State of the Art of Weed Control. The knowledge has been built on a comprehensive survey launched by UIC in the spring of 2017 and technical experts on this topics are encouraged to answer the questionnaire. The project will also deliver in late 2017 a socio economic and ecological assessment of vegetation control and vegetation management scenarios (herbicide use scenarios and non-herbicide use scenarios and their related cost to infrastructure maintenance).

The final report containing also an outlook on future Methods and Technologies will be issued by the end of the year. After the positive experience of the two International Workshops on Vegetation Management organised by UIC in 2016 and 2013, a final dissemination workshop will be organised in spring 2018.

Technical experts on this topic are invited to join the group and to get in contact with the Sustainable Development Unit at UIC.

For further information please contact Andrea Braschi, Environmental Advisor:

braschi at uic.org

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Sustainable Land Use: Herbie project deliverable starting to take shape

On 16 May, the Sustainable Land Use Expert meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, at the kind invitation of Deutsche Bahn. At the meeting, Michael Below (DB AG) and Thomas Schuh (ÖBB-Infra AG) were elected new co-chairmen of the expert network. Thomas Schuh is an ecologist at Obb-Infra AG and is in charge of Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. Michael Below is an Engineer of horticulture and is head of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity at DB.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use network is composed of experts in biodiversity, vegetation management and soil remediation.

The expert group now manages the “Herbie” project which deals with all aspects of vegetation management on all the different railway properties. The project was triggered by difficulties encountered in the European Union during the process to renew market authorisation of Glyphosate, the most commonly used active agent in herbicides. Chemical weed control is the most effective and cost-efficient maintenance technique to ensure weed free infrastructure. However, there is growing pressure at both the regulatory and political levels to impose tighter restrictions on the use of Glyphosate. The UIC technical expertise is aligned with the position paper recently issued by CER on this topic.

The Herbie project kicked off in March 2017 and will end in spring 2018. A set of Guidelines for Vegetation Management in Railway application has been drafted and is now under revision by the group. The project will deliver in summer a State of the Art of Weed Control. The knowledge has been built on a comprehensive survey launched by UIC in the spring of 2017 and technical experts on this topics are encouraged to answer the questionnaire. The project will also deliver in late 2017 a socio economic and ecological assessment of vegetation control and vegetation management scenarios (herbicide use scenarios and non-herbicide use scenarios and their related cost to infrastructure maintenance).

The final report containing also an outlook on future Methods and Technologies will be issued by the end of the year. After the positive experience of the two International Workshops on Vegetation Management organised by UIC in 2016 and 2013, a final dissemination workshop will be organised in spring 2018.

Technical experts on this topic are invited to join the group and to get in contact with the Sustainable Development Unit at UIC.

For further information please contact Andrea Braschi, Environmental Advisor:

braschi at uic.org

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Sustainable Railways in Asia-Pacific 17 March 2021 Online webinar

Continuing and expanding upon dialogue from the 13th EST Forum of the United Nations Centre for Regional Department held on 10-11 November 2020, UNCRD and UIC are holding a joint seminar focusing on the railways.

Railways: the backbone of sustainable urban mobility and regional connectivity in Asia

As a continuation of UIC’s collaboration and meetings with international partners in the region, railway experts are invited to join and learn more about the work of the International Union of Railways in the field of sustainability.

The webinar will provide an opportunity to hear about best practices in sustainability from the Asia-Pacific region and to discuss the shared challenges facing the region’s railways in relation to decarbonisation.

The webinar will include a discussion to identify opportunities for rail to help accelerate a green and just recovery from the pandemic.

This online seminar will be useful for both policymakers and railway operators alike and will serve as an opportunity to collaborate more closely as a railway community.

Attendance is open to all.

The event will be held via Zoom on 17 March from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Paris time)/4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Nagoya time). Connection details will be sent prior to the event, upon registration.

Agenda

Moderator: Mr Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative

Welcome (8.00-8.15)

Mr François Davenne, Director General, UIC

Mr Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, Secretariat of the Regional EST Forum in Asia, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)

1.0. UIC introduction (8.15-8.35)

Introduction to UIC and the UIC Asia-Pacific Region
Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations and Coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Region

Opportunities to work with the UIC Sustainability Platform
Ms Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability, UIC

2.0. UIC Asia-Pacific members’ best practices (8.35-9.30)

3.0. Round table: The challenges of becoming carbon neutral and how to make rail integral to a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic (9.45-10.25)

4.0. Cooperation between UIC and UNCRD and their respective members (10.25-10.45)

Summary and closing remarks (10.45-11.00)

Register here

Marie-Luz Philippe, UIC Senior Advisor, Sustainability and Middle East Region, philippe at uic.org

Béatrice Segeral, UIC Senior Advisor, Institutional Relations and Asia-Pacific, segeral at uic.org

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Technical visit to the Utrecht Station Project within the frame of the UIC SUSTAIN Project

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On 15 November a meeting followed by a technical visit dedicated to the Utrecht Station Project was held within the frame of the SUSTAIN (Sustainability in Stations) Project of the Stations Managers Global Group (SMGG) of UIC.

ProRail and NS representatives provided a complete description of the main elements of the project, including all the urban planning interfaces and the holistic conception of transport intermodality included in the project. The technical visit included a tour in the station to the most relevant aspects implemented in the project.

The visit highlighted the building developments attached to the rail station, such as the Town Hall and the main commercial centre of the city, making the area the main activity and functional hub of Utrecht, providing transport, commercial and administrative services.

The station design includes other relevant elements for its integration in the city, such as an open space for transit users in order to avoid urban barrier effects for the population, or cycle parking, with a total planned capacity of over 20,000.

This project responds to the requirements of increasing the capacity of the station according to transport demand, which is set to triple by 2030 compared to 2006. The project has been developed thanks to close cooperation between national, regional and local administrations and the rail sector, in addition to the private and commercial sector of the area. The official inauguration of the project will take place next December.

The participants had the possibility to obtain more information about the project’s actions on (among others) energy efficiency and environmental management, such as LED lighting, solar panels, natural ventilation designs, waste management and plans for smart grid implementation.

The Utrecht Station project will be included as the main study case of the SUSTAIN Project, started last May within the Stations Managers Global Group of UIC. The ongoing project is jointly managed by IZT and Macroplan Consulting in close cooperation with the Passenger Department and the Sustainable Development Unit of UIC.

The project is currently at an advanced phase and it has collected the best practices of main stations in Europe and Asia, providing a new Sustainability Impact Assessment Tool through the use of a check list, to measure and compare the sustainability performance of the stations. The best main cases from UIC members and the main development of the SUSTAIN Project were presented last October during the Sustainability Conference of Vienna – presentations are available here:

http://www.uic-environment.org/IMG/zip/sustainable_stations_infrastructures.zip

All additional contributions from members on best cases and experiences are welcome to be included in the project.

For further information and details please contact Marc Guigon, Senior Advisor on Passenger Transport:

guigon at uic.org

Or Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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TEDP webinar on embodying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in professional and HR practices

The Talent & Expertise Development Platform webinar dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and professional/HR practices held on 29 June was attended by participants with a variety of backgrounds (mainly HR, talent, training and sustainable development) and from different regions (Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East).

The purpose of the workshop was to present and discuss the first series of SDG instruments to facilitate the integration of the SDGs into professional rail practices. The research is taking place within the framework of an EU Erasmus + cooperation project (REPAIR: Recognising Emerging Practices Anticipating Industry Renewal) between the UIC Sustainable Development Unit and the UIC Expertise Development Unit in cooperation with partners from Spain (ADIF), Slovenia (SZ), Austria (St Pölten University and IPS) and France (Open Recognition Alliance/Reconnaître).

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Beginning with the Rail Index project, led by the UIC Sustainable Development Unit, the partnership has issued tools (SDG maturity matrix and open badges) designed to be used by rail professionals, individuals, teams and – in particular – HR and training professionals.

Following presentation of the Rail Index and REPAIR projects, interactive sessions were held to obtain feedback from the participants, who were very supportive of the idea of using badges.

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Interested in this topic? Please join the community and claim your badge here

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For more information on open badges, please visit https://openbadges.info/?lang=en

For further information, please contact Nathalie Amirault at amirault at uic.org

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The “Train to Paris” campaign will actively highlight rail as a part of the solution to Climate Change at the COP21 negotiations in Paris at the end of 2015

Launch of “Train to Paris” campaign

In nine months’ time, the UIC co-ordinated campaign “Train to Paris” will bring thousands of delegates including national governments, NGOs, decision-makers and journalists from across Europe and Asia by train to Paris for the COP21 United Nations Conference on Climate Change to be held end of 2015 in Paris. The campaign will highlight rail as the back bone of sustainable transport and raise awareness of the importance of developing more sustainable transport systems.

Towards a universal agreement on climate change

A new global agreement on tackling climate change is expected to be reached on 11 December 2015, imposing limits on the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters. The COP21 negotiations, which will be held from 30 November to 11 December 2015 in Paris, will mark a turning point for post-2020 action and ambition to reduce climate change.


“Train to Paris” campaign

The “Train to Paris” campaign, involving railways from around the world, will include a synchronised network of trains arriving in Paris from across Asia and Europe, with some trains originating from Mongolia, Russia & China. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the important role of sustainable transport, and low carbon rail transport, in the solution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

A series of high-level and media events are scheduled to take place end of November 2015, including a symbolic welcome of delegations on arrival in Paris and discussions during a high-level Round Table.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General of UIC, said:

“The international railway community, represented by UIC, has been committed to sustainable development for many years now – whether through the reduction of greenhouse gases, clean energy research, urban planning or reducing noise pollution. An initial statement at Kyoto has highlighted a desire to take things further, to contribute to the improvement of our sector’s performance levels. Renewed efforts will be made by this community to play an active role in the two-degrees scenario and to achieve considerable energy savings as part of a virtuous circle of developing the railways to help serve transport and mobility as a whole.
The initiative taken by the railway community and approved by our General Assembly was presented at the Climate Summit in New York in 2014, and through these three major commitments, highlights the important role that railways can play, as the backbone of a new mix of transport modes, to comply with the two-degree target.”

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or “UNFCCC”, was adopted during the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. It entered into force on 21 March 1994 and has been ratified by 196 States, which constitute the “Parties” to the Convention – its stakeholders. This Framework Convention is a universal convention of principle, acknowledging the existence of anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change and giving industrialised countries the major part of the responsibility for combating it.

The Conference of the Parties (COP), made up of all “States Parties”, is the Convention’s supreme decision-making body. It meets every year in a global session where decisions are made to meet goals for combating climate change. Decisions can only be made unanimously by the State Parties or by consensus.

The term CMP is also used to refer to the States that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol – with Paris hosting the 11th session. The CMP reviews the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and takes decisions to ensure that it is effectively promoted.

By the end of the Paris’s Conference, and for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, all the nations of the world including the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases will be bound by a legal agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The work achieved at COP20 in Lima has provided solid foundations to reach a set of decisions in December 2015 – above all, an ambitious and binding agreement from all the nations in the world to respond to the challenge of global warming. This action will have an important impact on the transport sector, as this is currently responsible for approximately one quarter of energy related CO2 emissions. Strong action to develop more sustainable transport systems is an essential component of the solution to limit temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius.

Against the backdrop of this worldwide debate, all the railways brought together by the International Union of Railways (UIC) unanimously committed themselves to support the goals of COP21 at one of the association’s General Assemblies held in Portoroz, Slovenia in June 2014. UIC is moreover headquartered in Paris and accredited to the Conferences of the Parties and holds consultative status to the United Nations.

Contents: UIC Sustainable Unit, Nicholas Craven: craven at uic.org
Media: UIC Communications Department, Marie Plaud: plaud at uic.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/trainCOP21
Website: http://traintoparis.org

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The 5th “UIC Energy Efficiency Days” (EED 2014) 2014, organised with SNCB and Infrabel, opened successfully in Antwerp

The 5th edition of the UIC Energy Efficiency Days Conference, jointly organised by UIC, SNCB and Infrabel, is currently being held until 19 June in the historical city of Antwerp in Belgium.

More than 300 participants, from 25 countries – among them UIC Members, environmental experts, major stakeholders of the transport community involved in Sustainable Development at large and more particularly the energy efficiency issue, are discussing this strategic issue for railways. From the first edition of these Energy Days organised in 2000 and bringing together only 30 participants, this issue has now reached the stage of a real revolution, the Energy Revolution. In a world that has been changed, the green economy is an obvious part of the railway business.

This event will cover topics such as Energy Efficiency as a strategic driver for railway business or Trends for 2030 and Beyond, among others.

This International Conference will also give an opportunity to debate many technical topics such as Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency, Tracking the electricity and carbon disclosure.

On 17 June, several addresses were given by UIC, SNCB and Infrabel.

UIC Chairman Mr Vladimir Yakunin delivered a message through a declaration made on his behalf, saying that:

We are all aware that the production and consumption of energy is essential for the existence and development of humankind, but these processes inevitably have a negative impact on the environment. We are faced with a global challenge – the pollution of the environment resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels, which discharges into the atmosphere millions of tons of exhaust gases, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons and highly toxic lead compounds. But there is also another side to the coin – all the energy sources currently in use are finite resources, and at this rate of consumption of coal, oil and gas, within a century the Earth’s population will be embroiled in an energy crisis. That is why the steps to protect the climate, to improve energy efficiency, to cut emissions of exhaust gases and to reduce noise levels are becoming increasingly important”.

Mr Luc Lallemand, CEO of Infrabel, Belgium Infrastructure Manager and Mr Jo Cornu, CEO of Belgium Railway Operator NMBS/ SNCB, as hosts of the Conference, also delivered a welcome speech.

Mr Lallemand said:

The problem of energy efficiency became clear during the oil crisis of the seventies. So it is not something new. However, the challenge to increase energy efficiency doesn’t limit itself to universities or research facilities any more. It has become manifest in public opinion. During the last couple of years, we have experienced a true energy revolution”.

He added:

I do wish to stress three strategic energy targets Infrabel holds dear: First of all, a policy of sustainability cannot be successful without the commitment of the people who have to execute it. As I already mentioned Infrabel invests in developing an organisational culture wherein every member is fully aware of the challenges we face. Furthermore we want to increase awareness among younger generations. Secondly, a story of efficiency implies investing in green and renewable energy. In 2011, Infrabel was the first in Europe to offer its operators an integrated green solution for rail infrastructure when we inaugurated a solar tunnel containing sixteen thousand photovoltaic panels to the north of Antwerp. Every year, we are able to provide four thousand trains with renewable energy! Finally, we must work to reduce our energy consumption on one hand and to make better use of the energy we need on the other.”

Mr Cornu highlighted:

21st century mobility has also been transformed. These days, our clients expect a railway company to offer more than just train service. They feel that the station must also include qualities that are intrinsically complementary to a rail mobility solution. In order to respond to these needs, SNCB has renovated and enhanced many of its stations, and has developed a strategic vision based on 5 pillars: intermodality, accessibility, sustainability, security and the development of activities. To this end, our stations, which welcome approximately 4,750,000 passengers every week (2013 figure), offer our passengers and clients high-quality provisions, parking and business areas, convenient connections to the other modes of public transport (metro, bus), but also alternative and ecological transport solutions, such as bicycles or shared cars and charging terminals, all in a pleasant setting. As concerns energy efficiency and sustainability, it should be pointed out that our station buildings have been insulated in order to prevent wasteful energy consumption. Some of them, moreover, have been equipped with solar panels (for example, at Charleroi Sud, they provide 15% of the required electricity).”

Mr Cornu and Mr Lallemand underlined the excellent cooperation and the work undertaken with the UIC team.

As a global introduction of one of the major events organised by UIC in 2014, the UIC Director General was also pleased to welcome the participants:


In our role as the worldwide professional platform for technical cooperation, it is UIC’s responsibility to promote innovation and new developments, and to provide space for exchanging experience and best practice. We know that we have a strong performance but we know that it is important to keep improving and to retain our environmental leadership. […] The rail sector must further innovate, also in developing effective partnerships with all actors involved, political stakeholders, international organisations, rail manufacturers."

He added:

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Energy Efficiency. It is vital to the rail sector’s future. It is essential for the development of sustainable transport systems. It is a prerequisite for commercial success in the modern world. More important, Energy Efficiency is the foundation of the rail sector’s environmental leadership. This advantage is recognised by the international community. The world needs resource efficient transport to enable sustainable development. I am particularly pleased to announce that last month, we received a message from UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon calling on UIC and our members set ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions. UIC is now developing rail sector targets for energy efficiency and carbon emissions at global level – taking inspiration from the UIC-CER targets for the European Region. At global level we will add a target for modal shift, to emphasise the need for investment in energy efficient, low carbon transport. The proposed global targets represent an excellent response to the call from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the international community. This allows UIC to highlight your efficiency and the potential of modal shift on the world stage.

Mr Loubinoux was also extremely happy to inform all delegates about the “Train to Paris” campaign that UIC is preparing in view of the COP 21 negotiations on Climate Change due to take place in December 2015 in Paris. A high profile campaign steered and coordinated by UIC in association with the international railway community, with the full support of Christiana Figueres, the Executive-Secretary of United Nations’ UNFCCC.

Two additional important parallel events will complete the comprehensive overview on
energy efficiency provided by the conference:

The MERLIN Mid-Term Conference
(http://www.energy-efficiency-days.o...), the EU co-funded project dealing with the investigation on the viability of an integrated management system to achieve an optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems

The 9th edition of the annual ERESS Forum (http://www.eress.eu/), the European partnership between Infrastructure Managers that deals with metering, billing and energy data exchange.

Speeches, presentations and more pictures will be included in the further issue of UIC eNews and available soon at: http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org

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The 5th “UIC Energy Efficiency Days” (UIC EED 2014) 2014, co-organised by UIC, SNCB and Infrabel, ended successfully in Antwerp

The 5th edition of the UIC Energy Efficiency Days Conference, jointly organised by UIC, SNCB and Infrabel, was held from 16 – 19 June in the Congress Centre located on the zoo grounds of the historical city of Antwerp in Belgium.
This event was successfully followed by more than 300 participants and covered important issues on the first day such as Energy Efficiency as a strategic driver for Railway Business and the Voice of Members, where discussions were held on best practices in Energy Efficiency from all over the world.
The presence of several CEOs and of a large number of UIC worldwide members in the session IV “The Voice of Members” who discussed the past and future Energy Efficiency questions launched from the very beginning the success of this 2014 edition of Energy Efficiency Days.

During the first session, Didier Houssin, Director Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology, IEA, Holger Dalkmann, Director, Embarq, WRI and Rie Tsutsumi, Programme Officer, UNEP, emphasised the importance of the common vision towards a modal shift.

During the second session, delegates from DG MOVE and DG CLIMA highlighted priorities and challenges that the European transport sector is facing in achieving the 60% GHG emission reduction target.

In the afternoon session a Panel discussion session was held. During the session, high level representatives of railway companies analysed in an open discussion how energy efficiency management positively influences business drivers such as customer satisfaction (punctuality, pricing, service level) together with a balanced financial output.

The MERLIN Mid-Term Conference, the EU co-funded project, was held in a parallel session, dealing with the investigation on the viability of an integrated management system to achieve an optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems.

The 17 June was dedicated to the technical workshops addressing a wide range of topics: from Green Electricity and Carbon Disclosure, Energy Efficient Rolling Stock, Traffic Management System, Load Factor, to Non Traction Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency in Electric Consumption, Ecodriving and DAS, the Energy Efficiency in Planning, Rules on Track and the Technical Developments Traction Energy Metering.

The ERESS forum, the European partnership between Infrastructure Managers that deals with metering, billing and energy data exchange was held in a parallel session to these technical workshops.

Before the conference concluded, Mr Sebastiaan de Neubourg, Strategic Sustainability Consultant from Greenloop, highlighted a new way of viewing and valuing nature and talked about the three aspects of biomimicry: form, process, and organisation. As a conclusion he stressed that continuing to live sustainably on our planet is not a dream, it is in fact feasible since it has been done for the last 3.8 billion years. All we need is to look at Nature to find solutions.

Mr Willy Bontinck, SNCB and Chair of UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform, concluded this two-day event, thanking all participants, speakers and moderators, ÖBB the Conference diamond sponsor, the organisers of the side events, and all organisers, namely the UIC Team, the SNCB Team, the technicians, and the Zoo Team.
He focused on the concerns, the ideas and the experience shared by all during the conference that has enabled the Energy Revolution to be achieved.

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The 5th edition of UIC Energy Efficiency Days (EED 2014) from 16 – 19 June 2014, to be held in Antwerp!

This major event is jointly organised by UIC, SNCB and Infrabel

The next UIC Energy Efficiency Days conference (http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org/), will be held in two weeks at the conference centre in the zoo of the historical city of Antwerp in Belgium.
The major stakeholders of the railway and transport sectors will come back to discuss Energy Efficiency during this three-day event.

Welcome speeches and the opening will be given by Mr Michel Jadot, General Director Europe, SNCB; Mr Richard Marcelis, Head of Power Engineering Department, Infrabel and Mr Jean Pierre Loubinoux, Director General, UIC.

Day 1 of the conference, strategic and political day

To open the high-level panel session of Day 1 of the conference, Energy Vision and Trends for 2030 and Beyond, will be Mr Didier Houssein, Director of Sustainable Policy and Technology Directorate at the International Energy Agency with a speech highlighting the importance of energy efficiency as “first fuel value for sustainable mobility”.

Contributions of the World Resource Institute, UNEP, UIC, the European Commission with DG Move and DG Energy, CER and UNIFE will follow to address a wide range of topics concerning energy use within the transport and rail sector in particular: from prices to government policy, security of supply, future availability of renewable energy.

In the afternoon a high-level panel session “Let’s do more with less” will bring together top representatives of railway companies from Europe and from across the globe, to discuss the strategic role that energy efficiency might play in everyday railway business..

The debate will be followed by the session “the Voice of Members, best practice on Energy Efficiency from all over the world”, an important appointment where members will have the possibility to share with a large audience what they are doing or planning to do to improve energy efficiency in their companies.

Day 2, Technical issues

This year 12 technical workshops are planned, addressing a wide range of technical topics: from Tracking the electricity and carbon disclosure, Load Factor, Traffic Management System, Energy Efficient Rolling Stock to Non Traction Energy Consumption or Energy Efficiency in Electric Consumption. During the second part of the day, parallel session workshops such as Energy Efficient Diesel Traction, Ecodriving and DAS and Regulation and Standardisation of Energy Billing will be discussed.

The rail system is both a major energy consumer and also one of the most energy-efficient transport modes. It can represent the key solution to the challenge of meeting the increasing demand for transport with a sustainable solution. Investing in energy-efficiency is essential to fulfill this challenge.

Parallel Events: MERLIN Mid -Term Conference and Eress Forum

Two additional important parallel events will complete the comprehensive overview on
energy efficiency provided by the conference: the Mid-term conference of MERLIN
(http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org/spip.php?article3), the EU co-funded project dealing with the investigation on the viability of an integrated management system to achieve an optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems and the 9th edition of the annual appointment of ERESS (http://www.eress.eu/), the European partnership between Infrastructure Managers that deals with metering, billing and energy data exchange.

Day 3, Cultural and technical visits of Antwerp

On the 19th,participants will get the opportunity to go on cultural and technical visits of Antwerp. The first proposal is the visit of Antwerpen-Centraal Station, which shows the railway cathedral and the amazing surroundings. They can also choose the bus tour to see the maintenance workshop for the rolling stock of SNCB, the major Belgian Railway Undertaking and to have a view of the other side of the river. Last but not least, a 30 km bicycle trip is proposed through the railway history of Antwerp, where cycling along
railway constructions and by the photovoltaic plant on the roof of the high speed line to the Netherlands is possible.

Do not miss these important meeting dates with Energy Efficiency:

If you have not yet done so, register at: http://www.energy-efficiency-days.org/spip.php?article8

There is a limited number of places.

For further information please contact Veronica Aneris, Senior Advisor Energy & Environment: aneris at uic.org

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The meetings of the EMCA (European Management Committee of Assistants) and the EGoA (European Group of Assistants) were held virtually on 3 June 2021

The EMCA and the EGoA meetings were held online in the morning and afternoon of 3 June respectively (during Green Transport Week), bringing together the attendance of representatives of member companies, partner organisations and colleagues from the UIC HQ team.

The focus of the discussions was on core topics such as budget, projects, standards, research and innovation and contact and interfaces with a number of new partner organisations.

Opened and moderated by Simon Fletcher, Director UIC Europe, the EGoA started with a debrief from the Board of Directors. UIC Director General François Davenne spoke about the importance of developing inter-regional projects and activities with the aim of developing a consistent and bold narrative for the railways, the need for good accountability, including improving our tools to enable good budget management, as well as ensuring that the right topics are being addressed within UIC, particularly with regard to certain technical areas and in line with the business objectives of the railway operating community.

Finance Director Thierry Béra presented the current budgetary situation and invited the meeting to recommend the approval of the 2020 results, to note the generally balanced financial situation at mid-year and the first elements for the 2022 budget.
He also gave a brief overview of the activities of the Finance Platform, drawing together a wide range of mostly Finance Directors from a range of member companies and explained which colleagues are involved in which sector.

François Davenne presented an initiative that has been developed by Francisco Cardoso dos Reis (IP - Chair of the European Region), to shape future mobility through a multi-regional approach. This will be possible through the coordination of Europe-centric projects within the framework of EU-Rail, the successor to Shift2Rail but also by creating an inter-regional exchange platform to build stronger regional activities around concrete projects.
It is of course essential to ensure that, where relevant, projects are developed and delivered within the parameters and scope of intellectuality. Nevertheless, there should also be the correct level of inclusiveness by creating a coordinated response on behalf of the railways and a catalogue of projects demonstrating that the railway sector is the sustainable backbone of future mobility.

Concerning the (current) 2021 and (future) 2022 Work Programme, Aline Wego, Head of Project Management Office, shared a summary list of the projects which have been started for 2021 and the headlines for the 2022 Work Programme. This included a debrief of the ‘Projects Workshop’ held on 4 May where the full proposed programme for 2022 was presented across all sectors and regions and representing where business needs expressed by member companies had been expressed. The team is now in the phase of collecting expressions of interest and are requesting ‘interest forms’ to have been submitted by mid-June for the topics addressed. François Davenne added a few words about the Optimised process of the UIC projects programme, where the proposal is to organise a fast-track process in exceptional situations for projects that are considered to be urgent and for which the current process is not appropriate in terms of timeline. The European region will act as the test bed for this process before it is rolled out to other regions.

With regard to Standardisation, Chief Standardisation Officer Célia Levy talked about the ESMG (European Standardisation Management Group), a tripartite body established in 2020 to coordinate a consolidated response, on behalf of the railway operating community, to European standardisation topics. Ms Levy gave an update on the ESMG after six months, describing the work plan, the organisation and the first working session, as well as the circulation and development of a paper setting out the added value and achievements to date by ESMG.

In the area of Research & Innovation, Martin Brennan, Head of Research and Innovation, spoke about the EU-Rail Joint Undertaking (the successor of Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking), the MoU with Shift2Rail and the next ERRAC plenary.
Regarding the EU-Rail Joint Undertaking, Mr Brennan explained its structure and governance, membership, the open call system, funding and the specific tasks of the system pillar process, which is focused on the layered functional architecture approach where data can be exchanged through standard interfaces.
François Davenne added that UIC will actively support the System Pillar framework – particularly the operational concept – and fully contribute to its various tasks. He mentioned the various projects and cross-cutting activities where UIC’s role is essential in the EU-Rail Joint Undertaking.
The next ERRAC Plenary is to be held on 30 June online and the agenda was presented to the meeting.

Regarding Sustainable Development, Head of Sustainability Lucie Anderton presented the International Green Transport Week – a series of events in support of the European Year of Rail – an update on COP26, scheduled to be held from 1 – 12 November in Glasgow, where UIC will help coordinate the global voice of rail, with a provisional list of events and partnerships. She also presented members with the ESRS (Environmental Strategy Reporting System), a data reporting system showing the data collected so far and monitoring progress towards 2030 emissions targets.

Freight Director Sandra Géhénot spoke about Rail Freight Forward (RFF), with a short presentation on how RFF alliance is raising awareness about the importance of working as a sector and developing attractive multimodal solutions. Promoting the RFF initiative “30 by 2030”, which aims to shift at least 30% of freight off the roads and on to rail, Ms Gehenot also explained the role of the UIC team in contributing to sector priorities through its involvement in and coordination of a number of core and highly pertinent projects.

Regarding Relations with partner organisations, Passenger Director Marc Guigon, updated the meeting on the three MoUs currently underway, notably with UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), the STA (Smart Ticketing Alliance) – the body promoting the establishment of interoperable smart ticketing in transport services in Europe and elsewhere – and OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model).

In concluding the meetings, Simon Fletcher highlighted the broad range of topics that the meetings had covered and that, despite the ongoing pandemic and uncertainty over the lifting of restrictions, business carries on as usual and at pace.
He announced that the meetings of European Management Committee and Regional Assembly Europe will take place on 6 July 2021. Whilst these meetings in July will be entirely online, he expressed the hope that by the autumn, depending on the easing of travel limitations, it would be possible to organise the next round of meetings with as many people as possible physically present.

For further information about the European region and the work it undertakes, please contact Simon Fletcher, UIC Director Europe:

fletcher at uic.org
Or europe at uic.org

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The MERLIN project held its Mid-Term Conference on 17 June 2014 in Antwerp

“Energy and the Railways – Smart Friends”

The MERLIN Mid-Term Conference, the EU co-funded project dealing with the investigation on the viability of an integrated management system to achieve an optimised energy usage in European mainline railway systems, was held on 17 June in the 19th century heritage premises of Antwerp Zoo.

This conference, hosted by the UIC Energy Efficiency Days 2014, brought together 67 participants, and was aimed at presenting the intermediate outcomes of the MERLIN project.

In his welcome speech Mr Hans Günther Kersten Director of the Rail System Department of UIC highlighted the long and fruitful collaboration between UIC, UNIFE and other partners, illustrated among others by the MERLIN project, and recalled the overall objective of MERLIN that is to help Rail Transport not only to improve its environmental friendliness but also to enable it to be cost effective. It should therefore help the supply industry and the Rail Operating Community to share the same vision of the market; otherwise we run the risk of missing important opportunities.

Franco Cataldo, Technical Affairs Manager at UNIFE and MERLIN Project Manager, gave an overview of the project. He highlighted the importance of the MERLIN project, evidenced by the strong participation of the key actors from the sector. He said: “Energy management is a key issue for railway systems, and MERLIN will propose the architecture for future smart energy management systems.”

The highlights of the conference were the following:

  • the five MERLIN Scenarios and their objectives (Monica Pelegrin, ADIF);
  • the architectures of the MERLIN railway energy management system, (Ruth Arregui, CAF);
  • the strategic decision making tool (Roberto Palacin, Newcastle University);
  • the operational energy management system (Valerio Recagno, D’Appolonia);
  • the legislative and standardisation interactions that MERLIN will intend to have (Franco Cataldo, UNIFE, and Eduardo Prieto, FFE).

All panel sessions gave rise to very lively question and answer sessions between speakers and participants, raising relevant issues about smarter use of energy in the railway system.

In his concluding remarks, MERLIN steering board chairman Daniel Cadet of Alstom, thanked the audience and added that the conference’s strong participation showed the large interest raised by the topics dealt with by the project. He therefore invited the railway operators and infrastructure managers not part of the consortium to join the MERLIN Rail Reference Group to discuss more in detail the ongoing project work and ensure their needs are reflected in the project’s outcomes.

The completed work of the project will be presented at the MERLIN final conference in September 2015.

To know more about the MERLIN project, please visit www.merlin-rail.eu

For further information and to join the MERLIN Rail Reference Group please contact dekeyzer at uic.org

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The opportunities for railways in digital platforms and the future of urban mobility services

Full integration between different mobility services can be achieved using Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platforms.

MaaS platforms offer the capability to smoothly combine multiple mobility solutions from origin to destination (train legs included) and to pay for the entire journey with a single transaction. The platforms have the added benefit of real-time information along the journey that reacts instantly in times of disruption and delay, providing alternative routes.

To make the necessary shift away from road and combustion engines, it is essential that more passengers find rail and other public transport easy to use and convenient.

In a post-Covid world, we have the opportunity to #buildbackbetter and rebuild confidence in public transport with the travelling public. How can MaaS help rail to meet this challenge?

In the opening session, Ms Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainability Unit at UIC, presented UIC’s work and Mr Raimondo Orsini, Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation, presented the project’s background.

The opening session also explored MaaS technology for more sustainable transport and its role in transport decarbonisation. Piia Karjalainen (MaaS Alliance), Daria Kuzmina (Railway Unit Manager, UITP) and Juan José Montero Pascual (Professor at Florence School of Regulation (EUI) & UNED University) discussed the matter during a fruitful panel session.

Session One, moderated by Mr Orsini, provided a great opportunity to present best practices and success stories, inspiring future opportunities. Rail companies and MaaS providers gave an overview of their solutions, experiences and challenges in the field of Mobility as a Service. The session also included an overview of the MaaS solutions already launched and online.

Speakers included:

  • Camille Vedel, MaaS Project Manager, Transdev, France
  • Jean-Baptiste Goujon, SNCF, France
  • Renzo Iorio, CEO, NUGO - FS Group, Italy
  • Rahel Kaenel, SBB, Switzerland
  • Bruno Espinar, Manager of Mobility 4.0 and Digital Innovation, RENFE, Spain
  • Joubert Flores, CEO, ANPTrilhos, Brazil
  • Kees Miedema, Programme Manager Transport Chain Mobility at NS Stations, Netherlands

Session Two was moderated by Vanessa Pérez Miranda, Senior Advisor Passenger Department and project manager of the CRTS (Commuter and Regional Train Services) UIC sector. This session focused on railways as the backbone of a sustainable transport system for the future of urban mobility.

Rail professionals from different parts of the world shared their approach on major topics such as customer experience, services adapted to PRMs (Persons with Reduced Mobility) and the general challenges and opportunities for sustainable mobility in the commuter and regional train services of the future.

Speakers included:

  • Yasunari Nakashima, Japan Railways, Paris Office Director, Japan
  • Catherine Langlais, Senior Advisor in Universal Accessibility, VIARAIL, Canada
  • Christophe Vander Elst, Project Manager Innovation Lab, SNCB, Belgium
  • Theodoros Tolias, Passenger Director, Trainose, Greece

All presentation are available here: https://uic.org/events/the-opportunities-for-railways-in-digital-platforms

For more information please get in touch with Marie-Luz Philippe at: philippe at uic.org or Vanessa Pérez Miranda: perez at uic.org

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The second South East Environment Workshop will be held in Belgrade, Serbia on 6-7 December 2012

Following the success of the first workshop held in September 2011, UIC and Serbian Railways are jointly organising the 2nd South East Environment Workshop in Belgradeon 6 and 7 December.

The workshop will present railway experts of the South East European region practical solutions for their key environmental issues, enable the exchange of best practice, and create a network among experts of the region.

Please see this web page for the Agenda, Information and Online Registration: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3022

Hope to see you in Belgrade!

For further information you can contact Alex Veitch: veitch at uic.org

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The symbolic train journey from Beijing to Paris

As part of the “Train to Paris” campaign, a symbolic journey has been organised from Beijing to Paris to illustrate the cooperation fostered at international level through its actions to tackle climate change.
The “Train to Paris” campaign is a truly international event as on 18 November, a train departed from Beijing with representatives onboard from China and Russia.
After a brief stop in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, two more guests joined the train, which then headed towards Irkutsk!
Welcomed by RZD, Member of UIC and special partner in the campaign, the passengers attended a meeting about sustainability projects within the company.
The train then began the journey to Lake Baikal, to discover Baikal Railways and Siberian Railways, as well as the ecological wonders of the area.

Speaking about this journey, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, said: “This special train, on a mythical route from Beijing to Paris; crossing China, Mongolia, Russia and Europe, is a symbol of the development achieved by the railways since the 19th century.
But, beyond history and memories, this train is also an omen for the role that railways across the world can play in the frame of sustainable mobility.
This train is a message; a pledge to the world leaders, that rail is an important factor, as the backbone of a new transportation mix; of the collective efforts towards the 2 degree scenario.”

The Trans-Siberian journey now continues to Moscow, involving a six-day crossing through the taiga landscape; experiencing daily life on a train with other passengers and staff.

See you on the 28th!

Lake Baikal

636 kilometres long and 1,642 metres deep, Lake Baikal contains roughly 20% of the world’s unfrozen surface fresh water. Baikal’s water remains exceptionally pure, due to the hot springs that rise from its depths and to the presence of some microscopic shells named epischura that filter the water with efficiency. In addition to this purity, Baikal Lake is an ecological wonder: almost two thirds of the vegetal and animal species that live there are totally endemic. The most famous are the nerpa or Baikal seal (pusa sibirica) and the omul (coregonus migratorius), a fish close to the trout or the salmon.

Travelling through the taiga

The taiga or boreal forest is the world’s largest terrestrial biome. It covers most of inland Canada and Alaska, most of Finland, Sweden and Norway, some areas in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Japan, and of course most of Russia, making Russia rank number one for forest surface with more than 800 million hectares – 12 times the area of France! Brazil ranks second with only 520 million hectares; then come Canada, USA and China. Still, let’s not forget that half the world’s forests disappeared during the 20th century; and that almost 250,000 m2 of forest keep disappearing every minute. That’s 34 football fields!

Life on board – from Irkutsk to Moscow

The atmosphere aboard the Trans-Siberian is quiet and peaceful, perhaps because its average speed is only around 60 km/h as it travels the 5 000 kilometres from Irkutsk to Moscow. Whether travelling from one city to another or for thousands of kilometres, people try to act like they’re at home once they’re onboard. They take off their boots and winter clothes to change into sweat suits and sandals, lie down and try to pass the time by eating, making tea with warm water from the samovar, sleeping or watching a film on their phone. And for those who have come unprepared, salesmen are waiting for the passengers at the main stations to sale them pirozhki, smoked fish or winter gloves and chapkas.

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The train and us: a few minutes together discussing the major topics

Gérard Feldzer, renowned expert in the field of transport, follows the progress very closely.

At the question “Which are the innovations that you believe deserve to be developed further?”, he answers:

Well, nowadays, with regard to passenger transport, we are aiming at comfort, obviously safety, and then also connectivity, that is to say that we want to make sure that the travel time – and I mean from home to the workplace – does not impinge either on the health or in terms of wasted time. So these are spaces for living, and that includes the stations themselves: we can see stations that are becoming commercial centres or centres for leisure time. As a result, we are working hard to raise the profile of transport, not as something that adds to our fatigue or makes us waste time, but as a place for living, and that includes the trains themselves. Well, that’s the issue for the short or medium term.

And in the long term, we’re looking at increasing speeds and increasing capacities. We need to double up in almost all areas. And then there’s the technology, to consume less: to consume less energy. Like the box from Alstom, for example, which is on show at COP; they are presenting a patent, a system where the recovery of braking energy can be used to supply stations. And they’re managing to gain 40% of energy, which is a considerable achievement.

In terms of rail, the future, there’s a moment when you want to transport hundreds of millions of passengers, especially in urban and suburban transport, and when you’re transporting from point to point, from town centre to town centre, there is simply no other solution than the train. The routes are saturated, and they will be more and more, etc. There are composite options. You can use the verges, the hard shoulders, to make tramlines or rail tracks. There is considerable scope there for new inventions. But we’re going to try to increase capacities without causing any harm either to the health or to the environment. It is true that when a train crosses France, it does affect millions of people because they can hear the train. From a speed of less than five kilometres an hour, you can hear the train, so it is an inconvenience. It’s different with aircraft, for example: you’re going to annoy millions of persons at the take-off and landing, that’s true, around the airports, but all of the rest of the time it’s cruising. So there are pros and cons on all sides.

And there are some things happening that are quite amusing. In terms of future projects, there is one that quite astonished me, which is a combination of rail and air travel. EPFL, the Federal Polytechnic College of Lausanne, has designed something it calls “Clip Air”. And what exactly is “Clip Air”? It’s actually a plane fuselage, waiting for you in the station in the centre of town. It will then roll and attach itself under a transporter plane. There is one that may come from Gare de l’Est in Paris, another that can come from Lille or from Strasbourg or from Frankfurt, no matter: and the plane can take these three fuselages from the town centre. And the same thing happens in reverse in New York or elsewhere.

You can watch the full interview here:

And more to come regularly in the future!

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The UIC and the InfraGuidER partners announce the InfraGuidER Final Conference

The UIC and the InfraGuidER partners have the great pleasure to invite you to the InfraGuidER Final Conference in Brussels (Belgium) on 24th November 2010.

Do not miss the opportunity to gain a comprehensive, one-day insight into this Coordinated Action research project. Find out the results and achievements on rail infrastructure’s environmentally sustainable management of relevant material, components and services. An innovative eco-procurement model based on good practice in sustainability will be presented. You are invited to come and discuss its possible implementation with the project partners and all stakeholders.

Conference Highlights :

  • Eco-procurement Guidelines for decision makers for seamless integration in regular procurement (including key eco-indicators for material, components and service eco-performance calculating and ranking)
  • Results of analysis and evaluation of main rail infrastructure material flow accounting
  • Recommendations for further developments and research activities after InfraGuidER to continue improving the environmental performance of the rail network

Please register at http://www.uic.org/forms

The online registration will close on 10th November 2010.

For this conference UIC and Resotel Belgium offer a special web application for facilitating your hotel booking : https://plus21.safe-order.net/resotel/forms

Please find all information on the official InfraGuidER website http://www.infraguider.eu

For further information please contact Marina Fracchia, from NITEL: fracchia at nitel.it or Paolo Contestabile, from UIC: contestabile at uic.org

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The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network successfully held “The role of Infrastructure Managers (IMs) in Traction Energy Transition” workshop on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam

Following the previous Workshop on Energy Efficient Infrastructure (https://events.uic.org/workshop-on-energy-efficient-infrastructures), this workshop focused on the projects developed by IMs to improve energy efficiency and decarbonisation of the traction energy and to accompany railway undertakings to reduce the use of diesel traction.

Thus, this workshop also focused on the energy storage innovations and their best combination with the railway network.

Finally, actors from the energy market were also invited to talk about their point of view in the frame of optimising the electricity network with railways for renewable energy.

Attended by more than 50 participants from across the Railway and Energy sectors, the workshop was opened and moderated by Gerald Olde Monnikhof from ProRail, who kindly hosted the event.

The workshop consisted of four themed sessions with opportunities for questions and answers, where participants discussed their experience using the relevant technology.

The first session, which featured presentations by ProRail, Infrabel, Bane NOR and Nexans with SNCF, focused on ways to improve the traction system.
The speakers outlined the technical advance and work to improve power transmission, thus reducing transmission losses and improving energy recovery from braking. The speakers showed the results of switching to a higher voltage in electrified railways and how, for example, it allowed better power management.
The possibility to extend the usage of super-conductive cables to greatly reduce transmission losses was also shown by Nexans.

The second session focused on energy storage, where Eaton, Super-B, SNCF and Infrabel talked about the state of the art in battery technologies and super-capacitors, their applications for substations, and resulting experiences.
Super-B introduced their latest lithium-ion battery for traction application and their container-sized storage solution.

The use of a hybrid supercapacitor and lithium batteries storage was mentioned by Eaton and SNCF as a way to allow high power throughput for optimised responsiveness of the storage system.
Infrabel showed the experience in reversible substations and how to integrate solar panels with it alongside the tracks.

For the third topic, SNCF, SBB and Advanced Energy Technologies talked about the challenges in replacing diesel traction, how to evaluate the worth of electrifying and the feasibility to convert to hydrogen traction.

The final topic of the afternoon was the point of view of Alliander (Dutch DSO) about the integration of renewables in collaboration with railways. An example was given on the installation of wind farms through the railway grid. The speakers highlighted the importance for railways to help grid managers towards an efficient smart grid.

The meeting was concluded by Gerald, who thanked the participants for their interesting discussions.

The topics were interesting enough for discussions to start during the presentations. The room was full, and the audience attentive.

Inviting the Dutch energy grid manager helped remind the audience how important it is, in this context, for collaborative work to be conducted with railways to achieve the smartest energy management.

This workshop was an excellent opportunity to have updated exchange about the possibilities to reduce the carbon footprint of railway infrastructure and integrate renewable energy as efficiently as possible.

Acknowledgements

Thank you for attending this workshop and exchanging interesting information.
Huge thanks to all the speakers (mentioned in the timeline) for their contribution and to:

  • Gerald Olde Monnikhof (first for hosting and managing logistics at ProRail)
  • Chloé Lima-Vanzeler
  • Bart Van der Spiegel

both for their great insight about the suggested topics and preparing the central thread of the workshop.

Documents

You will find the published documents at: (some are still pending approval)
https://events.uic.org/the-role-of-infrastructure-managers-in-traction-energy-transition

For any further information, please contact UIC Energy Advisor Philippe Stefanos:

stefanos at uic.org

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TOPRAIL 3rd Workshop on Sustainable Tourism by Rail held in Paris

The third workshop on sustainable tourism by rail and TOPRAIL meeting was held at UIC Headquarters in Paris on 3 October. It was chaired by Mr Carles Casas (FGC), president of the group. The work session was opened by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General. UIC was also represented by Mrs Vanessa Pérez, Advisor for the Passenger and High Speed Department, Mrs Alexandra Lefebvre, Head of the Mediacentre and Mrs Marie Luz Philippe from the UIC Sustainable Unit.

Representatives from ÖBB, RZD, KORAIL, JR-EAST, MAV-START, FERROVIE DELLO STATO ITALIANE (FS), TRAINOSE, FGC, UNECTO, WATTRAIN and the European Federation of Museums and Tourist Railways (FEDECRAIL) attended the meeting.

UIC, and its TOPRAIL group have recently launched two important documents in support of the United Nations Year of International Sustainable Tourism, 2017.

  • The TOPRAIL Charter on Sustainable Rail Tourism;
  • A set of Guidelines for Reporting on Sustainable Rail Tourism

By signing the Charter TOPRAIL members had showed their commitment to sustainable management by maximising social and economic benefits to their local communities and minimising and minimising negative impact. The Guidelines have been developed as a tool to demonstrate this commitment.

The 3rd workshop on Sustainable Tourism by Rail focused on the practical use of the Guidelines, which have been developed for members to leverage their existing sustainable development activities by using a set of indicators for international reporting.

Future actions of the TOPRAIL group were also discussed during the meeting.
The growing interest of the site, with more than 90,000 visitors during the last months, and the impact of the project in the media were highlighted, as well as the opportunities derived from the use of the social network.

It was agreed to keep on working on some ideas related to customer service and tourism trends to better understand the market, the challenges and the opportunities of the Rail Tourism Worldwide.

To that aim an international conference will be organised in 2018 to bring together the tourism industry and railway operators, as well as other key stakeholders, to analyse and discuss the key challenges of enhancing World Rail Tourism taking into consideration the tourism megatrends and the position of the railway sector to face them.

The next opportunity to join the group will be at the next meeting to be held in Madrid during the third week of January, at the same time as the International Tourism Fair in Spain (Fitur).

For further information please contact Vanessa Perez Miranda, Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department:

perez at uic.org

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TOPRAIL 3rd Workshop on Sustainable Tourism by Rail held in Paris

The third workshop on sustainable tourism by rail and TOPRAIL meeting was held at UIC Headquarters in Paris on 3 October. It was chaired by Mr Carles Casas (FGC), president of the group. The work session was opened by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General. UIC was also represented by Mrs Vanessa Pérez, Advisor for the Passenger and High Speed Department, Mrs Alexandra Lefebvre, Head of the Mediacentre and Mrs Marie Luz Philippe from the UIC Sustainable Unit.

Representatives from ÖBB, RZD, KORAIL, JR-EAST, MAV-START, FERROVIE DELLO STATO ITALIANE (FS), TRAINOSE, FGC, UNECTO, WATTRAIN and the European Federation of Museums and Tourist Railways (FEDECRAIL) attended the meeting.

UIC, and its TOPRAIL group have recently launched two important documents in support of the United Nations Year of International Sustainable Tourism, 2017.

  • The TOPRAIL Charter on Sustainable Rail Tourism;
  • A set of Guidelines for Reporting on Sustainable Rail Tourism

By signing the Charter TOPRAIL members had showed their commitment to sustainable management by maximising social and economic benefits to their local communities and minimising and minimising negative impact. The Guidelines have been developed as a tool to demonstrate this commitment.

The 3rd workshop on Sustainable Tourism by Rail focused on the practical use of the Guidelines, which have been developed for members to leverage their existing sustainable development activities by using a set of indicators for international reporting.

Future actions of the TOPRAIL group were also discussed during the meeting.
The growing interest of the site, with more than 90,000 visitors during the last months, and the impact of the project in the media were highlighted, as well as the opportunities derived from the use of the social network.

It was agreed to keep on working on some ideas related to customer service and tourism trends to better understand the market, the challenges and the opportunities of the Rail Tourism Worldwide.

To that aim an international conference will be organised in 2018 to bring together the tourism industry and railway operators, as well as other key stakeholders, to analyse and discuss the key challenges of enhancing World Rail Tourism taking into consideration the tourism megatrends and the position of the railway sector to face them.

The next opportunity to join the group will be at the next meeting to be held in Madrid during the third week of January, at the same time as the International Tourism Fair in Spain (Fitur).

For further information please contact Vanessa Perez Miranda, Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department:

perez at uic.org

See the full article

TopRail meeting held from 20 – 21 June 2017 in Barcelona

The TopRail (Tourist Opportunities for Railways), working group meeting took place on 20 and 21 June in Barcelona, kindly hosted by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC).

The meeting was chaired by Mr Carles Casas (FGC), president of the group. UIC was represented by Mr Ignacio Barrón, Director of the Passenger Department and Ms Vanessa Pérez, Advisor for the same department. Representatives from 10 different countries and companies FSI, JR Group, Irish Rail, RENFE, MÁV-START, Korail, SBB, Tren de Ecuador, as well as, UNECTO and FEDECRAIL attended the meeting.

The market for tourism by train is growing and evidence for this can be found in the numerous new special trains launched in the last months. During this TopRail meeting two of them were explained in detail to the rest of the participants: the Shiki-Shima, from Japan, and the Gotthard Panorama Express, from Switzerland.
Ms Nami Mizuguchi presented the new Shiki-Shima train suite. She highlighted the incredible effort that has been made by all the members of JR East over the last 10 years to create one of the most luxurious sleeper trains in Japan. Designated to be the icon of the company, every detail (from the design to the gastronomy on board) has been taken into consideration in the Shiki-Shima to create an unforgettable experience by rail based on East Japan culture.

Mr Jörg Ostwald presented a new SBB tourist oriented product that will join the ranks of similar premium Swiss Alpine narrow-gauge services such as the Glacier Express, Bernina Express and Golden Pass Panoramic.

When the new Gotthard Tunnel was opened in December 2016 and most of SBB’s long long-distance passenger services between Lucerne and Bellinzona were routed through this line, the opportunity of creating a new tourist train arose. The Gotthard Panorama Express was launched last April and will run between Flüelen, Bellinzona and Lugano combined with a steamer trip across Lake Lucerne from Flüelen to Lucerne.

After an enriching discussion about the challenges of creating a new tourist product by rail, the second part of the meeting was dedicated to the work that has been developed by the group during the last months: The Guidelines on Sustainable Tourism by Rail.

On the second day, the participants went on a technical visit from Barcelona to Montserrat. During the visit, they had the opportunity to discover this special mountain rack railway and funiculars. With these services, FGC contributes to a more sustainable tourism in the Barcelona area by providing organised access to the popular sacred mountain of Montserrat with its Benedictine abbey and amazing landscapes.

Notice that the UIC members have been encouraged to sign the Charter for Sustainable Tourism by Rail. Interested members are welcome to send the Charter and their best practices regarding sustainable tourism within the next few weeks to participate in the United Nations Year of Sustainable Tourism.

The next TopRail meeting will be held on 3 October 2017.

For further information please contact Vanessa Perez Miranda, Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department:

perez at uic.org

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TopRail meeting held from 20 – 21 June 2017 in Barcelona

The TopRail (Tourist Opportunities for Railways), working group meeting took place on 20 and 21 June in Barcelona, kindly hosted by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC).

The meeting was chaired by Mr Carles Casas (FGC), president of the group. UIC was represented by Mr Ignacio Barrón, Director of the Passenger Department and Ms Vanessa Pérez, Advisor for the same department. Representatives from 10 different countries and companies FSI, JR Group, Irish Rail, RENFE, MÁV-START, Korail, SBB, Tren de Ecuador, as well as, UNECTO and FEDECRAIL attended the meeting.

The market for tourism by train is growing and evidence for this can be found in the numerous new special trains launched in the last months. During this TopRail meeting two of them were explained in detail to the rest of the participants: the Shiki-Shima, from Japan, and the Gotthard Panorama Express, from Switzerland.
Ms Nami Mizuguchi presented the new Shiki-Shima train suite. She highlighted the incredible effort that has been made by all the members of JR East over the last 10 years to create one of the most luxurious sleeper trains in Japan. Designated to be the icon of the company, every detail (from the design to the gastronomy on board) has been taken into consideration in the Shiki-Shima to create an unforgettable experience by rail based on East Japan culture.

Mr Jörg Ostwald presented a new SBB tourist oriented product that will join the ranks of similar premium Swiss Alpine narrow-gauge services such as the Glacier Express, Bernina Express and Golden Pass Panoramic.

When the new Gotthard Tunnel was opened in December 2016 and most of SBB’s long long-distance passenger services between Lucerne and Bellinzona were routed through this line, the opportunity of creating a new tourist train arose. The Gotthard Panorama Express was launched last April and will run between Flüelen, Bellinzona and Lugano combined with a steamer trip across Lake Lucerne from Flüelen to Lucerne.

After an enriching discussion about the challenges of creating a new tourist product by rail, the second part of the meeting was dedicated to the work that has been developed by the group during the last months: The Guidelines on Sustainable Tourism by Rail.

On the second day, the participants went on a technical visit from Barcelona to Montserrat. During the visit, they had the opportunity to discover this special mountain rack railway and funiculars. With these services, FGC contributes to a more sustainable tourism in the Barcelona area by providing organised access to the popular sacred mountain of Montserrat with its Benedictine abbey and amazing landscapes.

Notice that the UIC members have been encouraged to sign the Charter for Sustainable Tourism by Rail. Interested members are welcome to send the Charter and their best practices regarding sustainable tourism within the next few weeks to participate in the United Nations Year of Sustainable Tourism.

The next TopRail meeting will be held on 3 October 2017.

www.toprail.org

For further information please contact Vanessa Perez Miranda, Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department:

perez at uic.org

See the full article

TopRail members and ETOA to host online broadcast and training programme on 18 May 2021

TopRail members and ETOA (European Tourism Association) have joined forces to present a day’s programme to promote rail travel in the context of leisure tourism for European citizens and inbound visitors.
The initiative consists of a one-hour open broadcast event at midday and a training programme in the afternoon.

Online broadcast: 18 May 2021
12:00-13:00 CEST

Are you interested in pan-European rail tourism?

The purpose of this online event is to raise awareness and to encourage engagement between rail sector and trade actors in order to promote rail travel in the context of leisure tourism for European citizens and inbound visitors.

Looking ahead to 2030, this broadcast discussion of industry experts will explore the opportunities for the sustainable development and recovery post-Covid 19. Against the background of the climate emergency, the creation and distribution of new leisure rail travel products will be discussed with best practice examples drawn from international and intra-European case studies.

This session will act as an introduction to subsequent training and commercial events organised by TopRail and ETOA for the development of European rail tourism.

Please join the broadcast using the following link: https://youtu.be/g22O0eh395Q

TopRail Travel Trade Training: 18 May 2021
14:00-17:30 CEST

We are delighted to offer you access to an online travel trade training workshop on Tuesday 18 May 2021. We have partnered with ETOA to bring together experts from the leisure tourism industry to share and engage with rail operators on topics including: product development & sustainability, planning, distribution and operations. This is all against the backdrop of recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and in line with the ever-closer development of rail as an integral part of leisure tourism.

Access to this training is offered free of charge to TopRail members – check out the agenda and sign up today.

For more details please visit: https://uic.org/events/connecting-tourism-and-rail-sustainability-challenges-and-business

What is TopRail?

TopRail is a UIC project that actively promotes railway tourism products by increasing the visibility of service offerings. This is accomplished by fostering close collaboration between stakeholders and their customers to encourage railway tourism opportunities. Railway tourism is able to offer a wide range of tourism alternatives combining exclusivity, technology, luxury and sustainability whilst contributing to fostering local economies.

For further information about TopRail please contact Vanessa Pérez, Senior Advisor Passenger Department: perez at uic.org

TopRail website: http://toprail.org/

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TopRail: Workshop on Sustainable Tourism in the Railways held during the 13th UIC Sustainability Conference in October 2016 in Vienna

Tourism plays an increasingly important role in sustainable development which has been confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly by approving the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

TopRail project is moving forward with sustainable tourism initiatives building on the UIC Reporting Guidelines, focusing on rail-based tourism and its supporting value chain. TopRail looks to issue a reporting handbook by March 2017 and a formal best practices publication by July 2017.

Supporting sustainable tourism using railways is not only a strategic framework for ensuring a positive image of railways, but also a way to create a competitive advantage and an important contribution to encourage territorial development policies.

During the workshop, Vanessa Pérez, from the UIC Passenger and High Speed Department, gave a short presentation about TopRail project scope, organisation and deliverables. One of the priorities of the group during the period 2016-2017 will be to work on how tourism by rail can contribute to a more sustainable tourism.

Glenn Frommer, moderator of the workshop, gave an overview on what sustainable tourism means and its place in the context of SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals). He also presented different examples of different sectors (transport, automobile and supply sector) working to probe how sustainable they are using different ways (indicators, charter, best practices, label).

Four examples of how railways can contribute to sustainable tourism

Four operators presented broad approaches to rail-based sustainable tourism initiatives.

Carles Casas gave a presentation about the work FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya) conducts on sustainable tourism with the special example of a fragile environment such as Vall de Núria.

Nami Mizuguchi explained how JR-East (Japanese Railways) encourages sustainable tourism by developing trains based on new concepts and revitalising local industries.

John Fuller presented the contribution of Fedecrail (European Federation of Museum & Tourist Railways) operators regarding the heritage and the three axes of Sustainability (economic, social and environmental) with the case of study of Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

Dieter Dubkowitsch explained the engagement of RhB (Rhaetian Railways) with sustainable development in general and sustainable tourism in particular, as a mainly tourist-focused company.

The four approaches formed the basis of a facilitated group discussion chaired by Glenn Frommer with regard to moving the TopRail collaboration forward.

Further discussion will take place in the next months in order to achieve the objective of creating a reporting handbook and a formal best practices publication by 2017.

For further information please contact Vanessa Pérez, UIC Passenger and High Speed Department: perez at uic.org

See the full article

Towards a better future: New night train services for Europe

Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland are expanding their successful partnership for night train services - A strong night train network is an important milestone on the road to reaching the EU’s climate targets - Four new international Nightjet connections by 2024

Europe is aiming to grow closer together, and Europe’s rail network is no exception. Four European rail companies – Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB), Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), France’s SNCF and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) – plan to build on their already successful partnership to help achieve this objective. Today, on the side lines of the EU Council of Transport Ministers, the companies’ CEOs, Dr Richard Lutz (DB), Andreas Matthä (ÖBB), Jean-Pierre Farandou (SNCF) and Vincent Ducrot (SBB), announced their plans to partner more closely.

First up on the agenda for this expanded partnership are four new Nightjet lines, which will connect 13 of Europe’s largest cities via overnight services in the coming years:

  • December 2021: Vienna–Munich–Paris and Zurich–Cologne–Amsterdam
  • December 2023: Vienna/Berlin–Brussels/Paris
  • December 2024: Zurich–Barcelona

The announcement kicks off the European Year of Rail. European Transport Committee MEPs agreed on 1 December to dedicate 2021 to strengthening rail transport. A strong rail network will be crucial if the EU is to reach its climate targets. And part of having a strong rail network is having a strong night train network – the key to sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility. The four partner rail companies have been working closely with policy makers, and by agreeing to step up cooperation at all levels, they are making a clear commitment to night train services.

Andreas Scheuer, Germany’s Minister of Transport: “Boarding the train in Munich or Berlin in the evening and arriving relaxed in Paris or Brussels the next morning – thanks to our Trans-Europ-Express TEE 2.0 and appealing night train services, we will soon be offering even more climate- and environment-friendly rail services like this. This is a very specific result of our Rail Summit and our Presidency of the Council of the European Union.”

Leonore Gewessler, Minister for Climate Action, Austria: “Night trains are the future of climate-friendly mobility within Europe. It is our common task to provide sufficient night train services for our passengers in Europe. To achieve this, the conditions for European night train traffic must be well designed in the coming years. I am pleased about this common commitment across Europe.”

Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, France’s Minister Delegate for Transport: “We all fundamentally believe that night trains play a key role in the Europe of tomorrow. They are environmentally friendly and will further encourage our citizens to travel by train.”

Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport: “I’m happy about this international, coordinated principle decision. The railways now have the necessary political support to convince customers with attractive new offers.”

Richard Lutz, CEO of DB: “Europe’s leading railways are joining forces for the night train. This is a great day for the climate, our customers and the connection of Europe by rail. The night train business depends on partnerships. If all railway companies only provided a ‘little night train’, no one would benefit. The solution is a clear division of labour, embedded in real team work.”

Andreas Matthä, CEO of ÖBB: “Only through the close cooperation of railway operators in Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria can we significantly expand the Nightjet network and offer even more climate-friendly mobility in Europe. With the addition of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, Vienna and Barcelona, more European metropolises will be connected via Nightjet services in an environmentally friendly way in the future.”

Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF: “For SNCF, this collaboration provides a good opportunity to complement our national night train service with an international offer. Night trains are historically important to SNCF. We have strong demand and enthusiasm from passengers and public authorities because these trains are essential to support services to our territories. We would wager that, with our European partners, we can benefit from the experience of Nightjet to offer attractive European night train services.”

Vincent Ducrot, CEO of SBB: “The extension of international connections within daytime and night-time rail traffic is very important for Switzerland. This cooperation will now enable us to implement our expansion plans more rapidly. By 2024, we will extend our night-time traffic offer from Switzerland from six lines to ten – to 25 destinations. This represents a significant contribution to the promotion of climate-friendly mobility.”

(Source: Deutsche Bahn AG)

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Train to Paris Campaign – 5 months to go!

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The members of the steering committee for the “Train to Paris” campaign met on 3 June 2015 at UIC headquarters in Paris to discuss the next steps of the campaign. Members shared the ongoing preparation of each train and their programme: conferences, debates, activities to raise awareness during their journey to France.

Less than 200 days remain before trains from across Asia and Europe arrive in Paris before COP21, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change. These trains will be bringing not only leading figures and experts in sustainable development but also NGOs, youth organizations, and members of civil society united in the goal of building a sustainable future and promoting rail as one of the backbones of sustainable transport systems.

Now is the time to start sharing the details of this unprecedented event with the greatest possible number of people. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, had the opportunity to present this Campaign to Transport Ministers during the International Transport Forum in Leipzig last week.

Stay tuned!

We encourage everyone to visit our dedicated website Traintoparis.org, to follow the campaign on Twitter @trainCOP21 and to “Like” the Train to Paris page on Facebook.

For more information on this campaign please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Event Coordinator: philippe at uic.org

See the full article

Train to Paris: Invitation to sign the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge

On 27 August the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge was sent out to CEOs, Presidents, Directors-General of all members of UIC. The handing over of the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge to high-level representatives of the United Nations and Government delegations at the “Train to Paris” high level event at UIC will represent a key component of the rail sector’s contribution to the COP21 Lima Paris Action Agenda.

We invite the CEOs of all UIC members to sign the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge.

Please return the electronically signed forms at your earliest convenience to Environnement2 at uic.org

See the full article

Transport Leaders Rally at the World Bank Group / IMF Spring Meetings to Chart the Future of Mobility

On 12 April 2019, leaders in transport from across the world convened at the World Bank Group/IMF Spring meetings for a high-level panel discussion on what it will take to realise sustainable mobility. Sustainable mobility is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and with the 2030 deadline for the SDGs fast approaching, it’s more important than ever to develop transport systems that are equitable, efficient, safe and green.

High-level government officials on the panel included Ghanaian Transport Minister H.E. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah; Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN in New York, H.E. Kairat Umarov and Permanent Representative of Tajikistan to the UN in New York, H.E. Mahamadamin Mahmadaminov. They were also joined by Ms. Allen Catherine Kagina, Executive Director of the Uganda National Roads Authority; Ms. Rachel Healy, Director of the Office of Sustainability at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Mr. Pau Noy, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB).

Senior Director of the World Bank’s Transport Global Practice opened the panel discussion reminding the audience of high-level government officials and staff from the World Bank group, that the insights generated at this event, will be used to strengthen and refine the efforts by the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) initiative to lay out a Global Roadmap of Action to get the world back on track to achieve sustainable mobility. He praised SuM4All’s revolutionary work to transform the transport sector thus far. World Bank Vice-President for Infrastructure Makhtar Diop echoed these sentiments in his Opening Remarks and spoke on the importance of sustainable transport financing, leveraging inland waterways and the need to develop transport systems that provide access “for all,” including women and the elderly, to achieve sustainable mobility.

The panelists themselves came from highly diverse backgrounds and provided a rich tapestry of insights pertaining to mobility. The Transport Minister of Ghana highlighted the role of international assistance, that countries such as his, operating on limited resources, would require to embrace mobility systems that are sustainable. Meanwhile, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan, H.E. Kairat Umarov spoke on his country’s historic role as the leading advocate of the landlocked developing country agenda internationally. His diplomatic counterpart Permanent Representative Mahamadamin Mahmadaminov, elaborated on what Tajikistan has been doing to surmount the challenges thrust upon it by its landlocked character.

With the global number of road traffic deaths continuing to rise, reaching 1.35 million in 2016, road safety was another important issue discussed. Ms. Allen Katherine Kagina, the Executive Director of the Uganda National Roads Authority explained how her country was using technology to reduce road traffic crashes. Meanwhile Rachel Healy, heading the Office of Sustainability at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Mr. Pau Noy, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona spoke about the challenges faced by public transport systems in making metro and bus services safer, more reliable, more efficient, and less polluting, focused on meeting people’s needs.

This panel discussion was organised by the Sustainable Mobility for All initiative, the World Bank Group SDG Fund and the Mobility Champions Community which is co-chaired by the President of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), Pere Calvet, and Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasbourg, with the special collaboration of UITP.

UIC, as member of SUM4all, was very pleased to contribute to the Global Roadmap for action mentioned during this event, and is looking forward to continuing this cooperation with SUM4all.

(Source: World Bank)

See the full article

Transport Sector Is “Off Track” to Sustainability

First ever Global Mobility Report assesses performance for all transport modes worldwide.

The transport sector is not on track towards achieving sustainable mobility, according to the Global Mobility Report launched today.

The Global Mobility Report is the first ever assessment of the transport sector. It was produced by the Sustainable Mobility for All initiative (SuM4All)—a worldwide consortium of over 50 leading organizations in the transport sector.

The Global Mobility Report covers all transport modes. It tracks progress towards sustainable mobility around the world in four areas:

  • Universal Access: about 450 million people in Africa— or more than 70% of its total rural population—are estimated to have been left unconnected to transport.
  • Efficiency: transporting a container of avocados from Kenya to the Netherlands requires 200 interactions and more than 20 documents, at a cost equal to that of shipping. Efficient supply chains can increase farmer income 10-100%.
  • Safety: almost 1.3 million people die on the world’s roads every year and tens of millions are seriously injured. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29.
  • Green mobility: transport emits 23% of all energy-related greenhouse gases; its CO2 emissions could grow by 40% by 2040.

The world is off track to achieving sustainable mobility. The growing demand for moving people and goods is increasingly met at the expense of future generations,” said José Luis Irigoyen, Senior Director of the Transport & ICT Global Practice at the World Bank. “It is urgent to reverse this trend. The costs for society of increased mobility in terms of congestion, accidents, inefficiencies and pollution are simply too high.”

“Sustainable mobility is crucial for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs,” said a representative of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). “It enables access to services and opportunities through sustainable transport, thus advancing economic and social development to benefit today’s and future generations.”

The Global Mobility Report is the product of a true collective effort,” said Jari Kauppila, Head of Statistics and Modelling of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). “The breadth of knowledge assembled under the umbrella of the Sustainable Mobility for All initiative is what makes this comprehensive assessment of the transport sector possible and also unique.”

The Global Mobility Report, with proposed targets on accessibility, safety, efficiency and green transport, will accelerate the transition to sustainable transport both in the developing and developed world,” said Cornie Huizenga, Secretary General of The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT).

“In Latin America, the high rates of urbanization require mobility solutions that provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all,” said Luis Carranza Ugarte, President of Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina (CAF).

Good public transport has a huge impact on urban economies. It expands labour markets, offers more opportunities and better accessibility. The SUM4ALL initiative will be essential to realising this,” said Alain Flausch, Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

The report’s tracking framework builds on indicators developed for the Sustainable Development Goals. The baseline established with this first edition will be updated every two years, enabling governments to measure progress in how they provide accessible, efficient, safe, and clean transport.

The Consortium has made good progress on the development of a draft tracking framework and the first Global Mobility Report,” said Elizabeth Jones, Senior Transport Adviser, UK’s Department for International Development.

Download the report for free at sum4all.org

This press release is jointly published on behalf of the Sum4All consortium by:

  • The World Bank Group
  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
  • International Transport Forum (ITF)
  • UK Department for International Development (DFID)
  • International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
  • Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
  • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
  • Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
  • Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)
  • World Resources Institute (WRI)
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Sustainable Mobility for All is a global partnership acting collectively to transform transport and meet the mobility expectations of tomorrow in a sustainable way. SuM4All includes multilateral development banks, bilateral donor agencies, United Nations departments, agencies, programs and regional commissions, intergovernmental organizations, global civil society organizations, private sector organizations, and academic institutions.

(Source: World Bank)

See the full article

Transport Sector Is “Off Track” to Sustainability

First ever Global Mobility Report assesses performance for all transport modes worldwide.

The transport sector is not on track towards achieving sustainable mobility, according to the Global Mobility Report launched today.

The Global Mobility Report is the first ever assessment of the transport sector. It was produced by the Sustainable Mobility for All initiative (SuM4All)—a worldwide consortium of over 50 leading organizations in the transport sector.

The Global Mobility Report covers all transport modes. It tracks progress towards sustainable mobility around the world in four areas:

  • Universal Access: about 450 million people in Africa— or more than 70% of its total rural population—are estimated to have been left unconnected to transport.
  • Efficiency: transporting a container of avocados from Kenya to the Netherlands requires 200 interactions and more than 20 documents, at a cost equal to that of shipping. Efficient supply chains can increase farmer income 10-100%.
  • Safety: almost 1.3 million people die on the world’s roads every year and tens of millions are seriously injured. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29.
  • Green mobility: transport emits 23% of all energy-related greenhouse gases; its CO2 emissions could grow by 40% by 2040.

The world is off track to achieving sustainable mobility. The growing demand for moving people and goods is increasingly met at the expense of future generations,” said José Luis Irigoyen, Senior Director of the Transport & ICT Global Practice at the World Bank. “It is urgent to reverse this trend. The costs for society of increased mobility in terms of congestion, accidents, inefficiencies and pollution are simply too high.”

“Sustainable mobility is crucial for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs,” said a representative of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). “It enables access to services and opportunities through sustainable transport, thus advancing economic and social development to benefit today’s and future generations.”

The Global Mobility Report is the product of a true collective effort,” said Jari Kauppila, Head of Statistics and Modelling of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). “The breadth of knowledge assembled under the umbrella of the Sustainable Mobility for All initiative is what makes this comprehensive assessment of the transport sector possible and also unique.”

The Global Mobility Report, with proposed targets on accessibility, safety, efficiency and green transport, will accelerate the transition to sustainable transport both in the developing and developed world,” said Cornie Huizenga, Secretary General of The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT).

“In Latin America, the high rates of urbanization require mobility solutions that provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all,” said Luis Carranza Ugarte, President of Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina (CAF).

Good public transport has a huge impact on urban economies. It expands labour markets, offers more opportunities and better accessibility. The SUM4ALL initiative will be essential to realising this,” said Alain Flausch, Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

The report’s tracking framework builds on indicators developed for the Sustainable Development Goals. The baseline established with this first edition will be updated every two years, enabling governments to measure progress in how they provide accessible, efficient, safe, and clean transport.

The Consortium has made good progress on the development of a draft tracking framework and the first Global Mobility Report,” said Elizabeth Jones, Senior Transport Adviser, UK’s Department for International Development.

Download the report for free at sum4all.org

This press release is jointly published on behalf of the Sum4All consortium by:

  • The World Bank Group
  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
  • International Transport Forum (ITF)
  • UK Department for International Development (DFID)
  • International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
  • Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
  • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
  • Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
  • Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)
  • World Resources Institute (WRI)
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Sustainable Mobility for All is a global partnership acting collectively to transform transport and meet the mobility expectations of tomorrow in a sustainable way. SuM4All includes multilateral development banks, bilateral donor agencies, United Nations departments, agencies, programs and regional commissions, intergovernmental organizations, global civil society organizations, private sector organizations, and academic institutions.

(Source: World Bank)

See the full article

TRISTRAM Project Meeting held on 13 February 2020 in Paris

The railways are actively developing a holistic approach to integrated vegetation management on railway tracks.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Sector has been continuously working on vegetation management methods by benchmarking UIC member companies since 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, the UIC HERBIE project focused on the most promising methods of weed control available for railways in partnership with the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin. The results of the project are available at:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9428/s/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways/

As a result of the project, the most promising alternative methods such as using electro-weeding, hot water, hot foam, organic acids, geotextiles, was selected for further evaluation.

From 2019 to the end of 2020, the UIC TRISTRAM project aims to progress from a single method to a flexible mix of methods; from conventional chemical treatments to alternative, herbicide-free methods. Since the study was undertaken again in collaboration with IZT, the project is investigating alternative methods with regard to herbicides used for vegetation control. In addition, the SLU Sector pursues its close collaboration with CER to provide UIC with the political discussions currently happening in EU and to promote the new strategy of UIC at European level.

The last TRISTRAM meeting held on 13 February was attended by technical experts from DB AG, FS, INFRABEL, ÖBB, SBB CFF FFS, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF, TRAFIKVERKET and IZT.

As a conclusion of the SLU Sector meeting the members agreed to publish the “Strategy Paper on the Future of Vegetation Control” on the UIC website. The document will be available via the following link:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please check out https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

Save the date: UIC SLU Sector will hold the Railway Vegetation Management Workshop from 10 – 11 March 2021 at UIC HQ in Paris.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor – Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

TRISTRAM Project Meeting held on 13 February 2020 in Paris

]

The railways are actively developing a holistic approach to integrated vegetation management on railway tracks.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Sector has been continuously working on vegetation management methods by benchmarking UIC member companies since 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, the UIC HERBIE project focused on the most promising methods of weed control available for railways in partnership with the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin. The results of the project are available at:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9428/s/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways/

As a result of the project, the most promising alternative methods such as using electro-weeding, hot water, hot foam, organic acids, geotextiles, was selected for further evaluation.

From 2019 to the end of 2020, the UIC TRISTRAM project aims to progress from a single method to a flexible mix of methods; from conventional chemical treatments to alternative, herbicide-free methods. Since the study was undertaken again in collaboration with IZT, the project is investigating alternative methods with regard to herbicides used for vegetation control. In addition, the SLU Sector pursues its close collaboration with CER to provide UIC with the political discussions currently happening in EU and to promote the new strategy of UIC at European level.

The last TRISTRAM meeting held on 13 February was attended by technical experts from DB AG, FS, INFRABEL, ÖBB, SBB CFF FFS, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF, TRAFIKVERKET and IZT.

As a conclusion of the SLU Sector meeting the members agreed to publish the “Strategy Paper on the Future of Vegetation Control” on the UIC website. The document will be available via the following link:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please check out https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

Save the date: UIC SLU Sector will hold the Railway Vegetation Management Workshop from 10 – 11 March 2021 at UIC HQ in Paris.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor – Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

TRISTRAM Project Meeting held on 13 February 2020 in Paris

]

The railways are actively developing a holistic approach to integrated vegetation management on railway tracks.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Sector has been continuously working on vegetation management methods by benchmarking UIC member companies since 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, the UIC HERBIE project focused on the most promising methods of weed control available for railways in partnership with the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin. The results of the project are available at:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9428/s/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways/

As a result of the project, the most promising alternative methods such as using electro-weeding, hot water, hot foam, organic acids, geotextiles, was selected for further evaluation.

From 2019 to the end of 2020, the UIC TRISTRAM project aims to progress from a single method to a flexible mix of methods; from conventional chemical treatments to alternative, herbicide-free methods. Since the study was undertaken again in collaboration with IZT, the project is investigating alternative methods with regard to herbicides used for vegetation control. In addition, the SLU Sector pursues its close collaboration with CER to provide UIC with the political discussions currently happening in EU and to promote the new strategy of UIC at European level.

The last TRISTRAM meeting held on 13 February was attended by technical experts from DB AG, FS, INFRABEL, ÖBB, SBB CFF FFS, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF, TRAFIKVERKET and IZT.

As a conclusion of the SLU Sector meeting the members agreed to publish the “Strategy Paper on the Future of Vegetation Control” on the UIC website. The document will be available via the following link:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please check out https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

Save the date: UIC SLU Sector will hold the Railway Vegetation Management Workshop from 10 – 11 March 2021 at UIC HQ in Paris.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor – Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

TRISTRAM Project Meeting held on 13 February 2020 in Paris

]

The railways are actively developing a holistic approach to integrated vegetation management on railway tracks.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Sector has been continuously working on vegetation management methods by benchmarking UIC member companies since 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, the UIC HERBIE project focused on the most promising methods of weed control available for railways in partnership with the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin. The results of the project are available at:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9428/s/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways/

As a result of the project, the most promising alternative methods such as using electro-weeding, hot water, hot foam, organic acids, geotextiles, was selected for further evaluation.

From 2019 to the end of 2020, the UIC TRISTRAM project aims to progress from a single method to a flexible mix of methods; from conventional chemical treatments to alternative, herbicide-free methods. Since the study was undertaken again in collaboration with IZT, the project is investigating alternative methods with regard to herbicides used for vegetation control. In addition, the SLU Sector pursues its close collaboration with CER to provide UIC with the political discussions currently happening in EU and to promote the new strategy of UIC at European level.

The last TRISTRAM meeting held on 13 February was attended by technical experts from DB AG, FS, INFRABEL, ÖBB, SBB CFF FFS, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF, TRAFIKVERKET and IZT.

As a conclusion of the SLU Sector meeting the members agreed to publish the “Strategy Paper on the Future of Vegetation Control” on the UIC website. The document will be available via the following link:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please check out https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

Save the date: UIC SLU Sector will hold the Railway Vegetation Management Workshop from 10 – 11 March 2021 at UIC HQ in Paris.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor – Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

TRISTRAM Project Meeting held on 13 February 2020 in Paris

]

The railways are actively developing a holistic approach to integrated vegetation management on railway tracks.

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Sector has been continuously working on vegetation management methods by benchmarking UIC member companies since 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, the UIC HERBIE project focused on the most promising methods of weed control available for railways in partnership with the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin. The results of the project are available at:

https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9428/s/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways/

As a result of the project, the most promising alternative methods such as using electro-weeding, hot water, hot foam, organic acids, geotextiles, was selected for further evaluation.

From 2019 to the end of 2020, the UIC TRISTRAM project aims to progress from a single method to a flexible mix of methods; from conventional chemical treatments to alternative, herbicide-free methods. Since the study was undertaken again in collaboration with IZT, the project is investigating alternative methods with regard to herbicides used for vegetation control. In addition, the SLU Sector pursues its close collaboration with CER to provide UIC with the political discussions currently happening in EU and to promote the new strategy of UIC at European level.

The last TRISTRAM meeting held on 13 February was attended by technical experts from DB AG, FS, INFRABEL, ÖBB, SBB CFF FFS, SNCB/NMBS, SNCF, TRAFIKVERKET and IZT.

As a conclusion of the SLU Sector meeting the members agreed to publish the “Strategy Paper on the Future of Vegetation Control” on the UIC website. The document will be available via the following link:

https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please check out https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

Save the date: UIC SLU Sector will hold the Railway Vegetation Management Workshop from 10 – 11 March 2021 at UIC HQ in Paris.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor – Sustainable Development Unit:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st Door-to-Door Solutions Workshop held on 14 November 2018 in Warsaw, Poland

The event was an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.

The goal of the workshop was to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to door solutions” (2018-2020) that was presented during the workshop by Mrs Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC and Mr Raimondo Orsini, Consultant and Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation in Italy.
Around 50 experts gathered in Warsaw to discuss areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion and developing new forms of businesses, created for the benefits of customers, citizens and the environment.

Car sharing, carpooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, Maas tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: those were the topics conversed during the event.
The event was launched by Mr Massel, Deputy Director of Polish IK – the Polish railway research institute.

After the presentation of the project by UIC and the Sustainable Foundation, the European Project POLIS network presented an annual overview on innovative transport solutions in Europe and following this, the International Transport Forum (ITF) presented studies on mobility led in OECD cities, their results and impacts.
These presentations were followed by debates and discussions between UIC Member railways and door-to-door mobility providers – a first in UIC’s history:

NextBike and Veturilo bike presented bike sharing in Warsaw and how bike sharing in general stimulates multimodal mobility. Mytaxi presented users case scenarios and how taxis are contributing to intermodality. Car2Go presented what the urban mobility provider is offering and how the hourly car rental company works in South Europe. CER also provided an overview about door-to-door mobility within European countries and to continue, the Warsaw Transport Authority took the floor to explain how door to door concretely works in a city such as Warsaw.

SBB, FS, DB, ADIF, BaneNor, NSB, PKP and the Slovenian railways actively explained their projects on the topic and shared their views on door-to-door mobility and on the challenges and ways to implement an efficient system in accordance with users’ needs and in keeping with sustainability targets. For a long time now, UIC and its Members have been committed to the fight against climate change and it was clearly stated in Warsaw that first and last mile solutions are part of the answer to prevent global warming.

Discussions centred around the issue of space in implementing solutions, new mobility economy, circular economy, digitalisation, as well as on how to change behaviour and unlock possibilities for railways and operators and how working together is proven to be very effective when promoting door-to-door solutions especially towards public authorities.

The UIC coordination team for this event would like to thank Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC Director of Fundamental Values, and the IK coordination team for facilitating the organisation of this event in Warsaw. The team would also like to warmly thank the Sustainable Foundation, especially Mr Orsini, Ms Gentili and Mr Ciuffini for their active work in organising the event.

Presentations from the workshop will be available here:

https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop-14-november-2018

This event was recognised as actively contributing to the UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogue

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions”.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will include UIC Members and key stakeholders from the sector especially urban mobility providers.
Pre-Programme

Introduction 9.30-10.00

Session 1: international overview 10.00-11.00
International stakeholders and organisations bringing insight on a worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

Session 2: Best practices 11.00-12.30
Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview of several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging, etc.

  • Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
    Open debate: Q&A session

Networking lunch 12.30-14.00
This moment provides the opportunity for UIC members and urban mobility providers to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models 14.30-16.00
The challenges introduced by new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable to provide the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way. Some EU rail companies have already acted in this sense, while others are starting now to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set-up of partnerships with urban mobility providers.

This will be followed by an open debate with UIC members inspired to launch door-to-door partnerships.

Open debate: Q&A session

Conclusions and next steps 16.00-16.30

Registration
To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop
Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration to the door-to-door workshop do not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions”.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will include UIC Members and key stakeholders from the sector especially urban mobility providers.
Pre-Programme

Introduction 9.30-10.00

Session 1: international overview 10.00-11.00
International stakeholders and organisations bringing insight on a worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

Session 2: Best practices 11.00-12.30
Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview of several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging, etc.

  • Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
    Open debate: Q&A session

Networking lunch 12.30-14.00
This moment provides the opportunity for UIC members and urban mobility providers to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models 14.30-16.00
The challenges introduced by new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable to provide the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way. Some EU rail companies have already acted in this sense, while others are starting now to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set-up of partnerships with urban mobility providers.

This will be followed by an open debate with UIC members inspired to launch door-to-door partnerships.

Open debate: Q&A session

Conclusions and next steps 16.00-16.30

Registration
To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop
Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration to the door-to-door workshop do not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions”.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will include UIC Members and key stakeholders from the sector especially urban mobility providers.
Pre-Programme

Introduction 9.30-10.00

Session 1: international overview 10.00-11.00
International stakeholders and organisations bringing insight on a worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

Session 2: Best practices 11.00-12.30
Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview of several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging, etc.

  • Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
    Open debate: Q&A session

Networking lunch 12.30-14.00
This moment provides the opportunity for UIC members and urban mobility providers to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models 14.30-16.00
The challenges introduced by new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable to provide the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way. Some EU rail companies have already acted in this sense, while others are starting now to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set-up of partnerships with urban mobility providers.

This will be followed by an open debate with UIC members inspired to launch door-to-door partnerships.

Open debate: Q&A session

Conclusions and next steps 16.00-16.30

Registration
To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop
Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration to the door-to-door workshop do not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions”.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will include UIC Members and key stakeholders from the sector especially urban mobility providers.
Pre-Programme

Introduction 9.30-10.00

Session 1: international overview 10.00-11.00
International stakeholders and organisations bringing insight on a worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

Session 2: Best practices 11.00-12.30
Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview of several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging, etc.

  • Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
    Open debate: Q&A session

Networking lunch 12.30-14.00
This moment provides the opportunity for UIC members and urban mobility providers to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models 14.30-16.00
The challenges introduced by new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable to provide the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way. Some EU rail companies have already acted in this sense, while others are starting now to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set-up of partnerships with urban mobility providers.

This will be followed by an open debate with UIC members inspired to launch door-to-door partnerships.

Open debate: Q&A session

Conclusions and next steps 16.00-16.30

Registration
To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop
Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration to the door-to-door workshop do not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

Register here

https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions. UIC Members are encouraged to register and to actively contribute to the event.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions” (2018 – 2020) that will be presented during the workshop.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a Service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will bring together UIC Members and key stakeholders from the door-to-door economy..

This event is recognised as contributing to the UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogue.

PROGRAMME

9:30 - 10:20 - Introduction

Welcome speech 9.30 - 09.50

  • Jerzy Wisniewski, Director Fundamental Values - Coordinator Middle-Eastern Region, UIC (10 minutes)
  • Andrzej Żurkowski, Director of Railway Research Institute (IK) Poland
    The UIC door-to-door project 9.50 - 10.20
  • Carole Escolan, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit,
  • Raimondo Orsini, Director of Sustainable Development Foundation

10:20 - 11:00 Session 1: Opening session

International overview: International stakeholders and organisations bringing insights at worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

  • Francisco Furtado, International Transport Forum, OECD
    Presentation on door-to door/sharing mobility projects
  • Maas Alliance
    World urban mobility and examples from cities
  • Michel Arnd, Polis Network
    European overview on innovative transport solutions

11:00 - 12:30 Session 2: Best practices

Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview about several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging.

Urban mobility providers invited:

  • Gianni Martino, Managing Director Italy/Spain & Country Manager Europe South, Car2go
  • TBD, DriveNow GmbH & Co. KG
  • Torben Bursinski, Product Tribe Lead Strategy, MyTaxi
  • Derrien Gauthier, Head Europe, Lime
  • De Feo Mirko, Head of Business Development, Free2move
  • Emiliano Saurin, Founder Urbi
  • Alessandro Felici, Ceo Evolnet - Mobike
  • Maurizio Pompili, Italy country Manager, eCooltra
  • TBD, Clearchannel
  • Markewitz Victoria, Business Development Principal, Via
  • Pietro Peyron, Business Development Manager Italy, Nextbike

Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
Open debate: Q&A session

12:30 - 14:00 Networking lunch

This moment gives UIC members and urban mobility providers the opportunity to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

14:00 - 15:30 Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models

The challenges introduced by the new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable of providing the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile (home-rail station; rail station-final destination) in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way.
Some EU rail companies have already taken steps in this direction, while others are now starting to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set up of partnership with urban mobility providers.

The following companies will be represented:

  • SBB Swiss Federal Railways - Switzerland
  • FS - Italian State Railways - Italy
  • DB - Deutsche Bahn - Germany
  • NSB - Norway railways - Norway
  • Bane Nor - Norway
  • Gares&Connexions, SNCF - France
  • ADIF - Spain
  • Slovenian Railway - Slovenia
  • Sustainability Affairs, CER
  • NUGO
  • Warsaw transport authority
  • UIC Station Managers Global Group (SMGG)

Open debate with UIC members motivated to launch door-to-door partnerships

15:30 - 16:00 Conclusions and next steps

  • Raimondo Orsini, Director of Sustainable Development Foundation (10 minutes)
  • Wrapping up
  • Carole Escolan, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit (10 minutes)
  • Next steps

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Registration

To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop

Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration for the door-to-door workshop does not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 1st door-to-door solutions workshop: Business-to-business opportunities for a sustainable urban mobility

Register here:

https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop

This event will be an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions. UIC Members are encouraged to register and to actively contribute to the event.

The goal of the workshop is to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation, in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to-door solutions” (2018 – 2020) that will be presented during the workshop.

Car sharing, car-pooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, MaaS – mobility as a Service – tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: these are areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion. New forms of business can be created for the benefits of customers, citizens and environment.

Participants and speakers will bring together UIC Members and key stakeholders from the door-to-door economy..

This event is recognised as contributing to the UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogue.

PROGRAMME

9:30 - 10:20 - Introduction

Welcome speech 9.30 - 09.50

  • Jerzy Wisniewski, Director Fundamental Values - Coordinator Middle-Eastern Region, UIC (10 minutes)
  • Andrzej Żurkowski, Director of Railway Research Institute (IK) Poland
    The UIC door-to-door project 9.50 - 10.20
  • Carole Escolan, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit,
  • Raimondo Orsini, Director of Sustainable Development Foundation

10:20 - 11:00 Session 1: Opening session

International overview: International stakeholders and organisations bringing insights at worldwide level: sharing mobility projects, door-to-door projects, world urban mobility, etc.

  • Francisco Furtado, International Transport Forum, OECD
    Presentation on door-to door/sharing mobility projects
  • Maas Alliance
    World urban mobility and examples from cities
  • Michel Arnd, Polis Network
    European overview on innovative transport solutions

11:00 - 12:30 Session 2: Best practices

Speakers from different urban transport sectors will give an overview about several solutions and their experiences in the field of mobility as a service, integrated urban mobility, sharing/pooling, electric charging.

Urban mobility providers invited:

  • Gianni Martino, Managing Director Italy/Spain & Country Manager Europe South, Car2go
  • TBD, DriveNow GmbH & Co. KG
  • Torben Bursinski, Product Tribe Lead Strategy, MyTaxi
  • Derrien Gauthier, Head Europe, Lime
  • De Feo Mirko, Head of Business Development, Free2move
  • Emiliano Saurin, Founder Urbi
  • Alessandro Felici, Ceo Evolnet - Mobike
  • Maurizio Pompili, Italy country Manager, eCooltra
  • TBD, Clearchannel
  • Markewitz Victoria, Business Development Principal, Via
  • Pietro Peyron, Business Development Manager Italy, Nextbike

Open debate between UIC members and urban mobility providers
Open debate: Q&A session

12:30 - 14:00 Networking lunch

This moment gives UIC members and urban mobility providers the opportunity to share ideas and create relationships and strategic alliances.

14:00 - 15:30 Session 3: Business examples and cooperation models

The challenges introduced by the new mobility require rail companies to adopt a systemic door-to-door approach and propose travel offers capable of providing the final customer with easy solutions to run the first and last mile (home-rail station; rail station-final destination) in a sustainable, efficient and comfortable way.
Some EU rail companies have already taken steps in this direction, while others are now starting to focus on this important aspect of co-modality. The session will present an overview of door-to-door models already in place as well as new plans to come, providing information on challenges and opportunities in the set up of partnership with urban mobility providers.

The following companies will be represented:

  • SBB Swiss Federal Railways - Switzerland
  • FS - Italian State Railways - Italy
  • DB - Deutsche Bahn - Germany
  • NSB - Norway railways - Norway
  • Bane Nor - Norway
  • Gares&Connexions, SNCF - France
  • ADIF - Spain
  • Slovenian Railway - Slovenia
  • Sustainability Affairs, CER
  • NUGO
  • Warsaw transport authority
  • UIC Station Managers Global Group (SMGG)

Open debate with UIC members motivated to launch door-to-door partnerships

15:30 - 16:00 Conclusions and next steps

  • Raimondo Orsini, Director of Sustainable Development Foundation (10 minutes)
  • Wrapping up
  • Carole Escolan, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit (10 minutes)
  • Next steps

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Registration

To register, please follow this link: https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop

Note that the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the participant.

Following this event, the UIC event Global debate on mobility challenges for future society will take place on 15 and 16 November at the same venue. All participants of the door-to-door workshop are welcome to join this event for free. You are invited to register – registration for the door-to-door workshop does not automatically register participants for the Global Debate – and to learn more about this event following this link: https://events.uic.org/global-debate-on-mobility-challenges-for-future-society

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 2nd Door-to Door Solutions Workshop to be held from 26 – 27 June 2019 in Rome

Register here:
https://events.uic.org/uic-2nd-door-to-door-solutions-workshop-26-27-june-2019

After a successful workshop in Warsaw in November 2018, UIC and the Foundation are glad to invite you to join the 2nd door-to-door solutions workshop and the 3rd National Conference on shared mobility.

The events will take place in the Termini station neighborhood, at the heart of railway activities in Rome.

We encourage Members to register for both events, unique opportunities to dive into door-to-door solutions, sustainable alternatives and share best practices and experiences.

PROGRAMME
DAY 1 12.30 – 18:00

UIC 2nd door-to-door solutions workshop

Following the success of the first workshop in Warsaw in November 2018, with a strong focus on door-to-door operator solutions and how they can interact with railways, UIC and the Foundation want to gather UIC Members to discuss more in depth their own challenges and best practices as well as key stakeholders from the sector.

This event will also be the occasion to discuss the first results of the UIC study launched a year ago by sharing the preliminary study results.

12.30: Welcome buffet
13.30: Welcome speeches
13:50: UIC preliminary study brief presentation
14:00: afternoon session - to be communicated soon

The session will cover different topics such as, but not only:

  • Railway challenges and best practices: challenges and best practices from UIC Members
  • Stations for sustainable door-to-door solutions: design and space
  • Working with public authorities to implement sustainable door-to-door solutions: best practices and challenges

16:30: Open discussion and cooperation possibilities between Members and other key actors, including mobility providers.

17:30: Conclusions

18:00: Networking

Timings may change

Location
Radisson Blu es. Hotel, Rome
Via Filippo Turati, 171, 00185 Roma RM, Italy

DAY 2 09:30 – 17:00

3rd National Conference on shared mobility

The objective of the initiative is to create a platform for collaboration between public and private institutions, operators of shared mobility and the world of research to analyse, support and promote the sharing of mobility with a global perspective and a focus on the Italian model.

Shared mobility is constantly growing and evolving and to take stock of all the trends of this new form of mobility. The conference will take place at Termini Station to discuss all these topics.

Morning session - Sessione mattina - Plenary conference and report presentation
09:30 to 13:00

The Third National Report on Shared Mobility will be presented and shared mobility trends and data will be discussed, with the participation of national and international experts.

13:00 Italian lunch

Afternoon session - Sessione pomeriggio - Workshops
14:30 to 17:00

The afternoon session will be devoted to workshops including a dedicated session on international perspective of door-to-door and the analysis of the work carried out over the last year by the four Observatory working groups with the relevant counterparts: the Government, GSE, Parliament, Transport Authority, Cities, Ania.

Interpreting from Italian into English will be provided

Location
Sala Esquilino - Termini Station - via Giovanni Giolitti, 34 Roma

Register here: bit.ly/2KKjtoV

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC 2nd Door-to Door Solutions Workshop to be held from 26 – 27 June 2019 in Rome

Register here:
https://events.uic.org/uic-2nd-door-to-door-solutions-workshop-26-27-june-2019

After a successful workshop in Warsaw in November 2018, UIC and the Foundation are glad to invite you to join the 2nd door-to-door solutions workshop and the 3rd National Conference on shared mobility.

The events will take place in the Termini station neighborhood, at the heart of railway activities in Rome.

We encourage Members to register for both events, unique opportunities to dive into door-to-door solutions, sustainable alternatives and share best practices and experiences.

PROGRAMME
DAY 1 12.30 – 18:00

UIC 2nd door-to-door solutions workshop

Following the success of the first workshop in Warsaw in November 2018, with a strong focus on door-to-door operator solutions and how they can interact with railways, UIC and the Foundation want to gather UIC Members to discuss more in depth their own challenges and best practices as well as key stakeholders from the sector.

This event will also be the occasion to discuss the first results of the UIC study launched a year ago by sharing the preliminary study results.

12.30: Welcome buffet
13.30: Welcome speeches
13:50: UIC preliminary study brief presentation
14:00: afternoon session - to be communicated soon

The session will cover different topics such as, but not only:

  • Railway challenges and best practices: challenges and best practices from UIC Members
  • Stations for sustainable door-to-door solutions: design and space
  • Working with public authorities to implement sustainable door-to-door solutions: best practices and challenges

16:30: Open discussion and cooperation possibilities between Members and other key actors, including mobility providers.

17:30: Conclusions

18:00: Networking

Timings may change

Location
Radisson Blu es. Hotel, Rome
Via Filippo Turati, 171, 00185 Roma RM, Italy

DAY 2 09:30 – 17:00

3rd National Conference on shared mobility

The objective of the initiative is to create a platform for collaboration between public and private institutions, operators of shared mobility and the world of research to analyse, support and promote the sharing of mobility with a global perspective and a focus on the Italian model.

Shared mobility is constantly growing and evolving and to take stock of all the trends of this new form of mobility. The conference will take place at Termini Station to discuss all these topics.

Morning session - Sessione mattina - Plenary conference and report presentation
09:30 to 13:00

The Third National Report on Shared Mobility will be presented and shared mobility trends and data will be discussed, with the participation of national and international experts.

13:00 Italian lunch

Afternoon session - Sessione pomeriggio - Workshops
14:30 to 17:00

The afternoon session will be devoted to workshops including a dedicated session on international perspective of door-to-door and the analysis of the work carried out over the last year by the four Observatory working groups with the relevant counterparts: the Government, GSE, Parliament, Transport Authority, Cities, Ania.

Interpreting from Italian into English will be provided

Location
Sala Esquilino - Termini Station - via Giovanni Giolitti, 34 Roma

Register here: bit.ly/2KKjtoV

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC actively participated in the COP23 UN Climate Conference events in Bonn

UIC at COP23

The conference of parties will end on 16 November in Bonn, Germany. As in previous editions, UIC actively participated as an accredited organisation by the United Nations. UIC also signed a partnership agreement with UNFCCC for COP23 and this document was signed by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux in person along with Alain Flausch, Secretary General of UITP during COP23.

On 9 November, UIC participated in the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation side event the Bonn zone. Nicholas Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit contributed to the high-level panel on measuring adaptation. On 10 November, UIC host a side event with Eurelectric (Union of the Electricity Industry) and UITP (International Union of Public Transport) in the Bonn Zone. Bright Future: The Value of Electricity for a Decarbonised Economy and Transport Sector. The event brought together representatives from electricity and sustainable transport sectors, industry, investors and civil society, to engage on value of electrification for sustainable global development. Speakers presented strategic low-carbon electricity projects showing potential of electrification in sustainable transport.

UIC actively contributed to the Transport Thematic Day on 11 November in the Bonn Zone. Global Climate Action (GCA) Transport Thematic Day took stock of recent developments and through a combination of plenary and breakout sessions on specific topics to reach at recommendations for countries, and other stakeholders that can help and support the transport sector in the development of effective actions on transport and climate change. UIC coordinated the sessions on sustainable freight and adaptation of infrastructure. The outcome for the freight session were as follows:

  • Freight emissions are projected to overtake passenger emissions, requiring urgent attention
  • Cooperation and partnerships are vital to support multimodal solutions particularly for international freight/shipping/logistics
  • Modal shift is an important part of the solution, e.g. to increase inter alia rail and cycling
  • We need strong political frameworks to set the right incentives and strong standards and we need companies to implement them and governments to back them, e.g. for fuel efficiency standards
  • We need full and transparent disclosure of carbon emissions form the whole logistics chain

For the adaptation session the outcome was as follows:

  • The transport & climate change policy and funding need better balance between adaptation and mitigation
  • There is an emerging transport adaptation knowledge base, with ports & inland waterways, road and rail taking the lead, this can help governments to deliver their NDCs and raise ambition
  • We need to better quantify the risks and benefits relating to adaptation, (concerning social, environmental and economic aspects) in order to enable better decision making
  • Adaptation must be mainstreamed into every-day infrastructure management and maintenance – it is not a special project
  • International co-operation, e.g. the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation, has an important role to play in supporting capacity building
  • Governments have an important role to play in supporting co-ordination between transport modes & other stakeholders (e.g. power supply, etc.) to ensure coherence & whole-system thinking, this could be included in future revisions of NDCs

UIC would like to thank all participants and speakers as well as the International Transport Forum (ITF), the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) and the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) for the fruitful collaboration in preparation for COP23.

To provide stronger political leadership necessary to spearhead the transformation of transport a new Transport Decarbonisation Alliance (TDA) was established on 11 November. This new multi-stakeholder alliance will help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport by coordinating action and outreach between leading countries, cities and companies in their peer group communities in particular in the UNFCCC process.

On 13 November, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC participated in the High-Level Event Global Climate Action Agenda in the session: Creating Green and Inclusive Transport for Liveable and Resilient Cities. The event focused on sustainable transport development opportunities as envisaged by the sustainable development goal 11.2. The different sessions highlighted efforts to mainstream activities into a one action agenda. Transport plays a significant role in shaping cities and as the urgency to develop livable and resilient cities grows, it is increasingly important to implement green and inclusive transport measures. “We all have to work together on sustainable, connected, integrated transport. Accessibility of stations is key for profitability of public transport” said Jean-Piere Loubinoux, Director General of UIC.

On the evening of the 13th, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux participated in the PPMC Talk show at the DHL Post Tower along with Pierpaolo Cazzola, Senior Energy and Transport Analyst, IEA and Lucila Capelli, Advisor, Ministry of Transport, Argentina. The Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) is organising daily talk shows about transport and climate change during the Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn. The talk shows are live-streamed on SLoCaT’s Facebook page from November 7 to 16 at 18:15 CET.

The Talk Shows on Transport and Climate Change give updates on relevant negotiations at COP23 and discuss specific topics in detail with several experts. The sessions are moderated by Tracy Raczek.

To watch Jean-Pierre Loubinoux speaking live at the talk show:

http://bit.ly/2moWpAb

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC actively participated in UN Climate Summit in New York:

JPEG - 665 kb

Recognition of its advisory role to feed the discussions

Launch of “UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge”

The UN Climate Summit hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 September in New York provided the opportunity to make new commitments, new ideas, and new financing for significant actions to address the climate challenge.

World leaders reaffirmed the need to take urgent action to limit global temperature rise to less than two degrees Celsius. Acknowledging that the world was not on a pathway to reach that goal, they also committed to significantly ramp up climate action. Many speakers made it clear that taking action to reduce emissions could be achieved without damaging prospects for economic development and efforts to fight poverty.

As a recognition of the work done by UIC in close cooperation with the United Nations from several years (Train to Copenhagen, Rio+20, recent nomination of Jean-Pierre Loubinoux by United Nations Secretary General as Member of the High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport ..), UIC had the great opportunity to take the floor during the Summit and made several statements.

UIC General Director Jean-Pierre Loubinoux participated among others on the afternoon of 23 September in the session “Transport Actions area” which allowed global leaders from Government, business, finance and civil society to announce bold commitments to action in areas that are critical for keeping global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius.

Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase under a ‘business as usual’ scenario by nearly 50 per cent by 2030 and more than 80 per cent by 2050, compared with year-end 2009. This increase in emissions will be primarily caused by a projected surge in the global stock of vehicles. Already in 2009, transport contributed approximately one-quarter of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions and was responsible for about one-fifth of energy use. Measures that reduce the demand for travel, including compact city planning combined with the large-scale expansion of public transport systems improvements in energy-efficient transportation systems along with the promotion of non-motorised transport, could save Governments, companies and individuals up to $70 trillion by 2050 as less money would need to be invested in vehicles, fuel and transportation infrastructure.
In this context, the United Nations issued a press release on this issue, mentioning the UIC initiative. Please find it below:

UN press release:

Sustainable Rail, Air, Electric Vehicles and Urban Public Transport Mobilized at Climate Summit

New York, 23 September 2014 - Shift to low-carbon mobility could save up to US$70 trillion in fuel costs

Four global transport alliances launched or advanced initiatives that aim to significantly scale-up proven low carbon transport technologies. Announced at
the Climate Summit on 23 September, these initiatives would increase the number of electric vehicles on the road, increase the efficiency of rail transport and air travel, and provide sustainable public transportation options around the world.

According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a shift towards
sustainable transport is essential to prevent greenhouse gas emissions by transport from doubling by the middle of the century and to achieve the internationally agreed goal of a maximum 2 degrees Celsius rise in global average temperature. Transport contributes about one quarter of energy-related global GHG emissions and about one fifth of energy use. Under a ‘Business as Usual’ scenario, energy use and GHG emissions are projected to rise by nearly 50 percent by 2030 and by more than 80 per cent by 2050 (from 2009).

These initiatives can help put the transport sector on a new track towards a low-carbon future and save trillions of dollars in fuel costs in the process. The International Energy Agency estimates that a shift to sustainable, low-carbon transport by the middle of the century could save governments, companies and individuals up to US$70 trillion.

“I am glad to see action that builds strong global alliances in the transportation area,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “These initiatives will help reduce carbon emissions and make urban areas more efficient and productive and healthier places to live and work.”

A new Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) was launched in New York to increase the number of electric vehicles in cities to least 30 percent of all new vehicles sold on annual basis by 2030 while simultaneously developing the enabling infrastructure for their effective use. The initiative is supported by private companies including BYD, Mahindra Reva, and Michelin, one of the two largest tire manufacturers in the world, as well as UN-Habitat.

“Mobilizing support from the private sector is vital to enable us to implement technological breakthroughs in urban mobility” said UN-Habitat Executive Director of Joan Clos.

The International Union of Railways (UIC) – with 240 members worldwide including the major railways of Europe, China, Russia, India and the US – launched the Low-Carbon Sustainable Rail Transport Challenge. In the Association’s green growth agenda framework, the UIC aims to increase rail use for freight and transport and meet ambitious targets for increased efficiency and emission reduction of 50 percent each by 2030 and 60 and 75 percent, respectively, by 2050. These targets were unanimously approved at the UIC General Assembly in June 2014 in the lead up to the Summit; and UIC will monitor and report the progress by the rail sector towards achieving these goals.

[More information on this Low-Carbon Sustainable Rail Transport Challenge in another article below].

“We expect this initiative to result in 75 per cent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from rail transport by 2050. In total, we aim to save over one gigatonne of carbon emissions globally through improved energy efficiency and through building partnerships”, said Jean- Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of the International Railway Association.

Video of the Commitment of the Railway Sector to support the 2° scenario (statement by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, during the Transport Actions Area, UN Climate Summit, New York, 23 September 2014) is available here:

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Declaration on Climate Leadership resulted in over 350 commitments and actions from 110 public transport entities being undertaken in the lead up to the Summit. These actions contribute to UITP’s objective of doubling the market share of public transport around the world by 2025, announced at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. UITP brings together 1,300 member organizations from 92 countries.

Most commitments for the Summit aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a host of measures, from increasing the number of new bus and metro lines to introducing car and bike sharing in countries around the globe – from Germany to Japan and from Colombia to Lebanon.

In the fourth announcement, governments under the auspices of the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the aviation industry, represented through the crossindustry Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), stepped up commitment and partnerships to achieve the ultimate objective of a sustainable international aviation sector, and in particular to reach the industry’s long-term existing global goal to halve net CO2 emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 levels.

As part of this commitment, in advance of the Summit and after, ICAO and ATAG are
supporting the development of sustainable alternative fuels for aviation as well as the
deployment of new technology for aircraft and operational improvements to ensure
increased efficiency in the industry. They are working with partners to develop a global CO2 standard for new aircraft and to design and implement a global market-based measure for international aviation for implementation from 2020 onward.

Over 100 actions by partners and industry leaders – including Virgin Atlantic and Thai Airways – have been launched or scaled up since the Secretary-General’s call to action for the Summit in Sept 2013.

These announcements forms part of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call to keep global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, moving money, pricing pollution, strengthening resilience and mobilizing new coalitions. This is one of eight areas identified as critical and further developed during the Abu Dhabi Ascent, a two-day meeting held in the United Arab Emirates in May 2014.

View the Joint Action Statements and Action Plans for the Transport Action Area
at
http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/action-areas/ to learn the details of the
commitments and the partners.

Contacts:

See the full article

UIC addresses the question of adaptation challenges during the United Nations Conference on Climate change COP22 in Morocco

UIC was represented on 10 to 13 November 2016 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP22 in Marrakesh, participating in 7 events, both in the blue and the civil society and innovation zones - UIC has consultative status to the United Nations.

Defined as a COP for action, the Moroccan Presidency identified adaptation, and building resilience as key themes for COP22. In support of this, UIC worked closely with the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) in launching a declaration on adaption for the transport sector.

For the first time, the transport sector established a common position regarding the importance of improving resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Mr Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX, UIC Director General, discussed adaption during the high level transport showcase as part of the official COP22 programme. He said “Uncertainty is not an excuse for inaction” […] “As climate changes will bring about increasing weather-related hazards in the longer term, UIC would like to see NDC (national policy) statements advocating early adaptation action to build resilience - early because of the long lead times for infrastructure planning and early because if we leave things too late - for some years - we will become focused on managing disruption by unaffordable reaction. Key message – uncertainty should not be an excuse to avoid taking action. Fire-fighting is very expensive, we need a strategic approach. We should use investments to manage uncertainty. In Europe alone, weather resilience costs the rail sector 300 million Euros every year, 80% of that is due to flooding alone.”

It’s important for the transport sector to raise awareness for the need of adaptation to advance transport policy and increase funding and UIC encourages members to sign the adaptation declaration. All information can be found here: Declaration on Adaptation

UIC RailAdapt project will strengthen the sector’s positioning on adaptation.
For more details please contact Nick CRAVEN, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC, craven at uic.org

A comprehensive overview of transport related activities, including with important parties such as ONCF, SNCF, UITP, ITF and SLOCAT during COP22 will be presented towards the end of COP22.

An interview of Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX, UIC Director General, on
“Sustainable development – what has happened since the COP21 conference? What are the next challenges?” is available here: https://youtu.be/xMkYD8xq27Q

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, UIC Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC advocates modal shift as a solution to climate change at the UN Climate Ascent

UIC consulted national governments on proposals for modal shift as a solution to climate change at the UN Climate Ascent in Abu Dhabi on 4 and 5 May.

The Ascent was designed to achieve a major shift from negotiations to engagement on action and attracted over 1,000 participants, including 70 government ministers.

The two-day Ascent meeting was co-hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon and the Government of the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the Climate Summit that will be held on 23 September in New York to raise ambition and action for climate change.

UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon stated that sensed change was in the air “I challenge you to be part of that change – to be at the head of the race.” He also warned governments and major businesses “Don’t get left behind. Don’t be on the losing side of history” and went on to state that “Those who are prepared to lead can expect considerable returns. The business opportunities of the low-carbon economy are great. The social and environmental benefits for countries in all regions are yet to be realised.”

The event featured a number of high level speakers including a keynote speech by former Vice President of the United States Al Gore and a conversation on climate change with former Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair.

During a dedicated transport breakout session, UIC engaged delegates from national governments by illustrating the low carbon performance of rail. UIC also proposed modal shift as a solution to climate change and an essential step for securing the 2 degrees scenario and decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions. The UIC session focussed on a discussion of key enablers for modal shift:

  • Rail placed as the backbone of sustainable transport master-plans, at both national and international levels
  • Investment in new rail projects
  • Investment in existing rail infrastructure
  • Simplified border controls to support international and intercontinental fright corridors
  • The right environment for private finance initiatives
  • Smart land use planning
  • Internalisation of external costs (e.g. via road pricing)

The UIC proposal was later highlighted by Helen Clarke, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, as a model initiative during her summing up of the event.

UIC will follow up this consultation at the UN Climate Summit on 23 September in New York.

An interview with UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux on the UIC proposals is available here http://slocat.net/ascent-interview-jean-pierre-loubinoux-international-union-railway

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

See the full article

UIC and the International Energy Agency publish the first common railway handbook on “Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of the World Railway Sector”

  • A key publication showing the environmental advantage of rail with sound scientific evidence
  • An important source of energy and CO2 data for understanding environmental issues related to the transport sector

The International Energy Agency (IEA), recognised as the world’s most authoritative source for energy statistics since the seventies, and UIC, representing over 200 railway companies and associations across the world, have published the first railway handbook on “Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of the World Railway Sector”.

Tracking the progress of energy use and CO2 emissions is at the core of both institutions and synergies have emerged in order to improve data quality and collection for the rail sector.

The aim of the handbook is to support the overall framework constructed by the International Energy Agency on energy-related transport trends. This publication complements the IEA data with direct railway data, collected and quality-checked yearly by UIC since 2008.

The transport sector is responsible for nearly 23% of energy-based CO2 emissions worldwide, mainly due to road traffic. Total transport CO2 emissions have constantly increased since 1990 and all transport modes – except railways – have increased their GHG emissions from fuel combustion. Railway companies operating worldwide produce less than 1% of the total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector.

Due to their low-carbon performance, railways are an important means to achieve sustainable mobility. Trains, especially in Europe, rely mostly on electricity, and the electricity markets are already subjected to mechanisms to lower the carbon content of electricity through the EU ETS (European Union Emission Trading Scheme). With electro-mobility being a key objective for many European countries, one of the most cost-effective actions should be to promote railway mobility.

In this handbook you will find the result of the harmonisation of the UIC Energy/CO2 railway database with the IEA world energy balances and CO2 emissions from the fuel combustion database.

This publication aims to be updated regularly in order to provide institutions, associations and decision-makers with robust data as the foundation on which to build the greening of our future transport choices.

You can find the “Railway Handbook 2012 – Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions” on the UIC website at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/iea-uic_energy_consumption_and_co2_emission_of_world_railway_sector.pdf

Key facts & figures on railways in the European Union (EU27)

General information:

  • The total length of railway lines in Europe has remained stable since 1990 (around 210,000 km)
  • In 1990, only 30% of railway lines were electrified. In 2009, this percentage reached 53%. Around 80% of rail traffic is performed nowadays with electrified trains
  • Railways improved their energy efficiency from 1990 to 2009: 13% less energy is needed now to move a passenger km and 19% less energy to move a tonne km
  • Electricity used by railways in Europe is produced with an average of 30% from renewable sources. This percentage has significantly increased in the last four years
  • High-speed and intercity trains – as expected – consume more energy per train km, but due to the higher load factor they consume less energy per passenger km
  • European railways have committed to reduce their specific emissions by 30% in 2020, calculated from 1990
  • From 1990 to 2009 European railways reduced their total CO2 emissions by 32%, passenger specific emissions (per passenger km) by 20% and freight specific emissions (per tonne km) by 38%. The freight sector has already reached its 2020 target for specific emissions

Transport Trends and Modal Split

  • Total transport demand grew by 7% between 2000 and 2009
  • The financial and economic crisis substantially decreased transport demand between 2008 and 2009, in particular for the freight sector (-12% from 2008 to 2009)
  • In 10 years (2000-2009), no significant change in modal split for the passenger sector was recorded. For the freight sector there have been small changes towards road freight
  • Railways’ modal share was 6% for passenger and 7% for freight transport activities

Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of the Transport Sector

  • The transport sector in 2009 was responsible for about 31% of total CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in Europe
  • In 2009, road was responsible for 71% of total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector. Navigation was responsible for 14.3% and aviation for 12.3% Railways produced 1.8% of total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector, corresponding to 0.6% of total CO2 emissions in EU27
  • Total transport CO2 emissions grew by nearly 28% from 1990 to 2009 and by 5% from 2000 to 2009: all transport modes – except railways – have increased their total emissions

For further information please contact Veronica Aneris, UIC Senior Adviser Environment and Energy: aneris at uic.org

See the full article

UIC and UNCRD joint event on sustainable railways in Asia-Pacific held on 17 March

UIC and UNCRD held a joint online event on sustainable railways in Asia-Pacific on 17 March. The event was a follow-up to the 13th EST (Environmentally Sustainable Transport) Forum in Asia, held online on 10-11 November 2020 (Nagoya and Bangkok). UIC has been a regular partner of this event since the seventh edition was held in Bali, Indonesia in April 2013.

Continuing UIC’s collaboration and meetings with international partners in the region, railway experts were invited to take part in the event and learn more about the work of the International Union of Railways in the field of sustainability. Over 110 participants from more than 30 countries across Asia, Oceania and Europe, including speakers and panelists, attended the event and took part in the discussion.

The event was moderated by Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN representative. Vincent Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations and Coordinator of the UIC Asia-Pacific Region on behalf of François Davenne, UIC Director General, and Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Secretariat of the Regional EST Forum in Asia at UNCRD, opened the webinar and welcomed the participants.

Following a UIC introduction from Vincent Vu and Lucie Anderton, UIC Head of Sustainability, Cornie Huizenga, CEO of CESG for the Asian Development Bank, presented interesting data on railway infrastructure, passenger and freight, high-speed rail networks and railway emissions to launch the discussion.

The second part of the webinar provided an opportunity to hear about best practices in railway sustainability in the Asia-Pacific region and discuss the shared challenges facing the region’s railways in relation to decarbonisation. The Asia-Pacific region was broadly represented, with very interesting presentations from Australia to Russia, passing through Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and South Korea:

  • Sydney train emission reduction strategy by Warwick Talbot, Deputy Executive Director, Network Growth, Strategy, Portfolio and Investment and Mr Rod Barber, Director of Environment, Safety Environment and Risk, Sydney Trains, Australia
  • RTRI’s “Research 2025” initiatives for addressing the SDGs by Toru Miyauchi, General Manager, International Development, Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Japan
  • National sustainable railway framework development by Hasry Harun, Head Consultant, National Rail Centre of Excellence (NRCOE), Malaysia
  • Rail clinic and rail library by Taufikurrahman Taufikurrahman, Executive Vice President, Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Indonesia
  • Indian railways best practices – sustainability by Arunendra Kumar, Former Railway Board Chairman, Indian Railways, India
  • KORAIL sustainability management to connect people, the world, the future by Charlie Yoon, Senior Advisor, Korea Railroad (KORAIL), Korea
  • Implementation of environmental strategy at JSC Russian Railways by Evgeniy Klimenkov, Deputy Head of the Division of Ecology, Labour Protection and Industrial Safety at JSC Russian Railways (RZD), Russia

Following the presentations, a round table discussion on the challenges of becoming carbon neutral and how to make rail integral to a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was moderated by Lucie Anderton and Ganesh Raj Joshi, Researcher at UNCRD, with participation from the following panelists: Sanjay Kumar, Chief Materials Manager at Indian Railways, Francisco Furtado, Modeller/Analyst at the International Transport Forum (ITF), Cornie Huizenga, CEO, CESG for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Surya Raj Acharya, Visiting Professor at the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, Kulwant Singh, Mobility Specialist and Former Regional Advisor, UN-Habitat, and Sandeep Jain, Economic Affairs Officer at UN-ESCAP, who discussed opportunities for rail to help accelerate a green and just recovery from the pandemic.

It was agreed that UIC and UNCRD and their respective members should continue to cooperate, and further meetings are planned to establish a roadmap, including capacity building.

After four hours of stimulating discussion, Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty said: “This UNCRD-UIC joint seminar, specialising in railways, means a lot more than before because we are still in the middle of a pandemic situation and serious climate change”.

Vincent Vu concluded the webinar by saying: “This seminar is useful for policymakers and railway operators alike, and will serve as an opportunity to collaborate more closely as a railway community”.

For further information, please contact Vincent Vu at vu at uic.org or Milko Papazoff at fapmilko at gmail.com

See the full article

UIC ASEAN web meeting series gaining momentum

The third UIC ASEAN series of web meetings was held on 28 January and was dedicated to sustainable development in railways and access to UIC tools in this field.

Co-organised by UIC Asia-Pacific and the UIC Sustainable Development Unit, the meetings served as an opportunity for 29 participants from eight member companies (DJKA, KAI and MASKA from Indonesia, KTMB, MyHSR CORP and RAC from Malaysia, DOTR from the Philippines and VNR from Vietnam), as well as guest representatives from NRCOE Malaysia, JR East and KORAIL, to hear from the team led by Lucie Anderton, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU).

Moderated by Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative, Vincent Vu, Director of Institutional Relations and Asia-Pacific Coordinator, opened the session by recalling UIC’s role and its development in Asia-Pacific.

Ms Anderton then gave a complete presentation of the Sustainable Development Unit and her team, composed of Isabelle De Keyzer, Pinar Yilmazer, Marie-Luz Philippe, and Philippe Stefanos; and also introduced Ms Christine Vanoppen: Chairwoman of the Sustainability Platform.

The presentation examined aspects such as the circular economy, noise and vibration, sustainable land use, air quality and door-to-door transport, and the TRISTRAM, Reverse, Bison, and Clean Air Trains projects were also presented with a view to encouraging active participation on the part of UIC ASEAN and Asia-Pacific members in the various activities in the future. Participants were also reminded of UIC’s involvement in various international forums, including the upcoming COP 26 in Glasgow in November.

Ms Anderton also conducted two polls among the members with regard to priority areas for action in the sustainability field, and members’ commitment to decarbonisation.

KAI’s Rail Clinic and Rail Library, as well as SRT’s running test and operation plan for power car on energy cost savings, were also presented to demonstrate UIC ASEAN members’ experience in the field of sustainability.

This was followed by an interactive session in which the UIC ASEAN members discussed areas of interest and concern, particularly in relation to energy saving, natural disaster management, technology financing, carbon footprint management and digital maintenance. Special thanks go to the Vietnamese, Malaysian and Indonesian members for their contributions.

The session then continued with presentations on the SDG Rail Index tool achievements, sustainability reporting for rail, and the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Sector. This provided an opportunity to recall and promote the various best practice and energy efficiency workshops that are held regularly by the SDU.

Finally, Ms Anderton presented the UIC Climate Declaration, inviting the UIC ASEAN members to sign and commit to it.

This third session was again well-received by the members and will facilitate more regular contact with the UIC SDU team at Paris HQ. The members are now eager to discover the fourth UIC ASEAN series of web meetings on 25 February, which will focus on standards and standardisation matters.

For further information, please contact Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative: fapmilko at gmail.com

See the full article

UIC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Projects held on 4 and 11 June 2020

On 4 and 11 June 2020, the UIC Asia-Pacific Region organised an online Workshop on Projects, planned in Perth on 12 May 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic. Around 60 participants from China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, etc. joined the meeting virtually.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, opened the workshop and thanked all the members for their commitment to UIC despite the Covid-19 crisis. He also underlined that UIC continued working, developing a web conferences system to be able to respect as much as possible the planning of UIC activities.

Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Director Institutional Relations, then introduced the agenda of the two-day workshop dedicated first to the 2019-2020 projects status and second to the projects 2021.

According to the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA) Vision 2050 strategy which indicates what UIC Asia-Pacific is today (mission, core values, core competencies) and what it aspires to be in the future, a “bridge” has to be built by the activity in developing, promoting and guiding specific projects.

Such activity needs to cover a regional and sub-regional level and it has to be able to represent the UIC Asia-Pacific region’s position with international organisations and intergovernmental agencies, with national authorities and governments and with the railway manufacturing industry.

Since 2017, APRA team has maintained the Project incubator which is a think tank of APRA members. Each year, it is filled with new ideas proposed by project leaders and kept for further consideration after the opt-in voting process.

The workshop of APRA projects, organised twice a year, is an event which allows to introduce the status of current projects, present new ideas and projects and evaluate the projects incubator.

This workshop was divided into two sessions. The first session took place on 4 June and was dedicated to the introduction of the status of the following projects achieved and available to the members of UIC or continuing in 2019-2020:

  • Technology for High Speed Freight and Passenger Train Traffic between China and the European Union undertaken by Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China
  • Track Economical Maintenance Decision based on Life Cycle Cost undertaken by China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), China
  • Research on the Status Quo of Key System Technical Standards for High Speed Trains undertaken by CARS, China
  • Research on the Railway Development Policy in Asia-Pacific Region for a Better Fulfilling of railways’ Role as the Backbone in Integrated Transport undertaken by CARS, on behalf of China State Railway Group, Co., Ltd., (CR), China
  • Study on the Best Practices of Railway Digitalisation and Intelligent Railway Technology System Framework undertaken by CARS on behalf of CR, China
  • UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology undertaken by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), Korea – postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021
  • Predicting the maintenance of railway infrastructure with digital technology undertaken by Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), Kazakhstan
  • Big Data-Based Timetable Management undertaken by Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications on Railway Transport by JSC Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications in Railway Transportation, (NIIAS), Russia
  • Measures for the effective development of multimodal transport in the Asia-Pacific Region aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport, phase III (INTERTRAN III) undertaken by Russian Railways (RZD), Russia.

The second session held on 11 June was dedicated to the presentation of new 40 projects proposed by the UIC Asia-Pacific members, including 6 multiregional projects presented by the UIC Passenger Department.

All projects are split up into Matrix according to APRA Strategy 2050. The Matrix includes sectors such as: Strategy & Institutional relations, Freight, Digital, Interoperability and Standards, High Speed, Training Programmes, Workshops & Business improvements, Infrastructure & Rolling Stock, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Development.

The result of the voting process for the 2021 projects will be reported during the next Workshop on Projects in Nur-Sultan hosted by Kazakhstan railways and the selected projects will have to be approved by all APRA members during the 30th APRA held in Kazakhstan on 27 October 2020.

For further information please contact Beatrice Ségéral, Senior Advisor Institutional Relations & Asia-Pacific Region:

segeral at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Projects held on 4 and 11 June 2020

]

On 4 and 11 June 2020, the UIC Asia-Pacific Region organised an online Workshop on Projects, planned in Perth on 12 May 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic. Around 60 participants from China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, etc. joined the meeting virtually.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, opened the workshop and thanked all the members for their commitment to UIC despite the Covid-19 crisis. He also underlined that UIC continued working, developing a web conferences system to be able to respect as much as possible the planning of UIC activities.

Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Director Institutional Relations, then introduced the agenda of the two-day workshop dedicated first to the 2019-2020 projects status and second to the projects 2021.

According to the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA) Vision 2050 strategy which indicates what UIC Asia-Pacific is today (mission, core values, core competencies) and what it aspires to be in the future, a “bridge” has to be built by the activity in developing, promoting and guiding specific projects.

Such activity needs to cover a regional and sub-regional level and it has to be able to represent the UIC Asia-Pacific region’s position with international organisations and intergovernmental agencies, with national authorities and governments and with the railway manufacturing industry.

Since 2017, APRA team has maintained the Project incubator which is a think tank of APRA members. Each year, it is filled with new ideas proposed by project leaders and kept for further consideration after the opt-in voting process.

The workshop of APRA projects, organised twice a year, is an event which allows to introduce the status of current projects, present new ideas and projects and evaluate the projects incubator.

This workshop was divided into two sessions. The first session took place on 4 June and was dedicated to the introduction of the status of the following projects achieved and available to the members of UIC or continuing in 2019-2020:

  • Technology for High Speed Freight and Passenger Train Traffic between China and the European Union undertaken by Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China
  • Track Economical Maintenance Decision based on Life Cycle Cost undertaken by China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), China
  • Research on the Status Quo of Key System Technical Standards for High Speed Trains undertaken by CARS, China
  • Research on the Railway Development Policy in Asia-Pacific Region for a Better Fulfilling of railways’ Role as the Backbone in Integrated Transport undertaken by CARS, on behalf of China State Railway Group, Co., Ltd., (CR), China
  • Study on the Best Practices of Railway Digitalisation and Intelligent Railway Technology System Framework undertaken by CARS on behalf of CR, China
  • UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology undertaken by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), Korea – postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021
  • Predicting the maintenance of railway infrastructure with digital technology undertaken by Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), Kazakhstan
  • Big Data-Based Timetable Management undertaken by Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications on Railway Transport by JSC Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications in Railway Transportation, (NIIAS), Russia
  • Measures for the effective development of multimodal transport in the Asia-Pacific Region aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport, phase III (INTERTRAN III) undertaken by Russian Railways (RZD), Russia.

The second session held on 11 June was dedicated to the presentation of new 40 projects proposed by the UIC Asia-Pacific members, including 6 multiregional projects presented by the UIC Passenger Department.

All projects are split up into Matrix according to APRA Strategy 2050. The Matrix includes sectors such as: Strategy & Institutional relations, Freight, Digital, Interoperability and Standards, High Speed, Training Programmes, Workshops & Business improvements, Infrastructure & Rolling Stock, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Development.

The result of the voting process for the 2021 projects will be reported during the next Workshop on Projects in Nur-Sultan hosted by Kazakhstan railways and the selected projects will have to be approved by all APRA members during the 30th APRA held in Kazakhstan on 27 October 2020.

For further information please contact Beatrice Ségéral, Senior Advisor Institutional Relations & Asia-Pacific Region:

segeral at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Projects held on 4 and 11 June 2020

]

On 4 and 11 June 2020, the UIC Asia-Pacific Region organised an online Workshop on Projects, planned in Perth on 12 May 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic. Around 60 participants from China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, etc. joined the meeting virtually.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, opened the workshop and thanked all the members for their commitment to UIC despite the Covid-19 crisis. He also underlined that UIC continued working, developing a web conferences system to be able to respect as much as possible the planning of UIC activities.

Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Director Institutional Relations, then introduced the agenda of the two-day workshop dedicated first to the 2019-2020 projects status and second to the projects 2021.

According to the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA) Vision 2050 strategy which indicates what UIC Asia-Pacific is today (mission, core values, core competencies) and what it aspires to be in the future, a “bridge” has to be built by the activity in developing, promoting and guiding specific projects.

Such activity needs to cover a regional and sub-regional level and it has to be able to represent the UIC Asia-Pacific region’s position with international organisations and intergovernmental agencies, with national authorities and governments and with the railway manufacturing industry.

Since 2017, APRA team has maintained the Project incubator which is a think tank of APRA members. Each year, it is filled with new ideas proposed by project leaders and kept for further consideration after the opt-in voting process.

The workshop of APRA projects, organised twice a year, is an event which allows to introduce the status of current projects, present new ideas and projects and evaluate the projects incubator.

This workshop was divided into two sessions. The first session took place on 4 June and was dedicated to the introduction of the status of the following projects achieved and available to the members of UIC or continuing in 2019-2020:

  • Technology for High Speed Freight and Passenger Train Traffic between China and the European Union undertaken by Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China
  • Track Economical Maintenance Decision based on Life Cycle Cost undertaken by China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), China
  • Research on the Status Quo of Key System Technical Standards for High Speed Trains undertaken by CARS, China
  • Research on the Railway Development Policy in Asia-Pacific Region for a Better Fulfilling of railways’ Role as the Backbone in Integrated Transport undertaken by CARS, on behalf of China State Railway Group, Co., Ltd., (CR), China
  • Study on the Best Practices of Railway Digitalisation and Intelligent Railway Technology System Framework undertaken by CARS on behalf of CR, China
  • UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology undertaken by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), Korea – postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021
  • Predicting the maintenance of railway infrastructure with digital technology undertaken by Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), Kazakhstan
  • Big Data-Based Timetable Management undertaken by Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications on Railway Transport by JSC Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications in Railway Transportation, (NIIAS), Russia
  • Measures for the effective development of multimodal transport in the Asia-Pacific Region aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport, phase III (INTERTRAN III) undertaken by Russian Railways (RZD), Russia.

The second session held on 11 June was dedicated to the presentation of new 40 projects proposed by the UIC Asia-Pacific members, including 6 multiregional projects presented by the UIC Passenger Department.

All projects are split up into Matrix according to APRA Strategy 2050. The Matrix includes sectors such as: Strategy & Institutional relations, Freight, Digital, Interoperability and Standards, High Speed, Training Programmes, Workshops & Business improvements, Infrastructure & Rolling Stock, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Development.

The result of the voting process for the 2021 projects will be reported during the next Workshop on Projects in Nur-Sultan hosted by Kazakhstan railways and the selected projects will have to be approved by all APRA members during the 30th APRA held in Kazakhstan on 27 October 2020.

For further information please contact Beatrice Ségéral, Senior Advisor Institutional Relations & Asia-Pacific Region:

segeral at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Projects held on 4 and 11 June 2020

]

On 4 and 11 June 2020, the UIC Asia-Pacific Region organised an online Workshop on Projects, planned in Perth on 12 May 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic. Around 60 participants from China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, etc. joined the meeting virtually.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, opened the workshop and thanked all the members for their commitment to UIC despite the Covid-19 crisis. He also underlined that UIC continued working, developing a web conferences system to be able to respect as much as possible the planning of UIC activities.

Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Director Institutional Relations, then introduced the agenda of the two-day workshop dedicated first to the 2019-2020 projects status and second to the projects 2021.

According to the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA) Vision 2050 strategy which indicates what UIC Asia-Pacific is today (mission, core values, core competencies) and what it aspires to be in the future, a “bridge” has to be built by the activity in developing, promoting and guiding specific projects.

Such activity needs to cover a regional and sub-regional level and it has to be able to represent the UIC Asia-Pacific region’s position with international organisations and intergovernmental agencies, with national authorities and governments and with the railway manufacturing industry.

Since 2017, APRA team has maintained the Project incubator which is a think tank of APRA members. Each year, it is filled with new ideas proposed by project leaders and kept for further consideration after the opt-in voting process.

The workshop of APRA projects, organised twice a year, is an event which allows to introduce the status of current projects, present new ideas and projects and evaluate the projects incubator.

This workshop was divided into two sessions. The first session took place on 4 June and was dedicated to the introduction of the status of the following projects achieved and available to the members of UIC or continuing in 2019-2020:

  • Technology for High Speed Freight and Passenger Train Traffic between China and the European Union undertaken by Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China
  • Track Economical Maintenance Decision based on Life Cycle Cost undertaken by China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), China
  • Research on the Status Quo of Key System Technical Standards for High Speed Trains undertaken by CARS, China
  • Research on the Railway Development Policy in Asia-Pacific Region for a Better Fulfilling of railways’ Role as the Backbone in Integrated Transport undertaken by CARS, on behalf of China State Railway Group, Co., Ltd., (CR), China
  • Study on the Best Practices of Railway Digitalisation and Intelligent Railway Technology System Framework undertaken by CARS on behalf of CR, China
  • UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology undertaken by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), Korea – postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021
  • Predicting the maintenance of railway infrastructure with digital technology undertaken by Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), Kazakhstan
  • Big Data-Based Timetable Management undertaken by Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications on Railway Transport by JSC Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications in Railway Transportation, (NIIAS), Russia
  • Measures for the effective development of multimodal transport in the Asia-Pacific Region aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport, phase III (INTERTRAN III) undertaken by Russian Railways (RZD), Russia.

The second session held on 11 June was dedicated to the presentation of new 40 projects proposed by the UIC Asia-Pacific members, including 6 multiregional projects presented by the UIC Passenger Department.

All projects are split up into Matrix according to APRA Strategy 2050. The Matrix includes sectors such as: Strategy & Institutional relations, Freight, Digital, Interoperability and Standards, High Speed, Training Programmes, Workshops & Business improvements, Infrastructure & Rolling Stock, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Development.

The result of the voting process for the 2021 projects will be reported during the next Workshop on Projects in Nur-Sultan hosted by Kazakhstan railways and the selected projects will have to be approved by all APRA members during the 30th APRA held in Kazakhstan on 27 October 2020.

For further information please contact Beatrice Ségéral, Senior Advisor Institutional Relations & Asia-Pacific Region:

segeral at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Projects held on 4 and 11 June 2020

]

On 4 and 11 June 2020, the UIC Asia-Pacific Region organised an online Workshop on Projects, planned in Perth on 12 May 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic. Around 60 participants from China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, etc. joined the meeting virtually.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, opened the workshop and thanked all the members for their commitment to UIC despite the Covid-19 crisis. He also underlined that UIC continued working, developing a web conferences system to be able to respect as much as possible the planning of UIC activities.

Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Director Institutional Relations, then introduced the agenda of the two-day workshop dedicated first to the 2019-2020 projects status and second to the projects 2021.

According to the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA) Vision 2050 strategy which indicates what UIC Asia-Pacific is today (mission, core values, core competencies) and what it aspires to be in the future, a “bridge” has to be built by the activity in developing, promoting and guiding specific projects.

Such activity needs to cover a regional and sub-regional level and it has to be able to represent the UIC Asia-Pacific region’s position with international organisations and intergovernmental agencies, with national authorities and governments and with the railway manufacturing industry.

Since 2017, APRA team has maintained the Project incubator which is a think tank of APRA members. Each year, it is filled with new ideas proposed by project leaders and kept for further consideration after the opt-in voting process.

The workshop of APRA projects, organised twice a year, is an event which allows to introduce the status of current projects, present new ideas and projects and evaluate the projects incubator.

This workshop was divided into two sessions. The first session took place on 4 June and was dedicated to the introduction of the status of the following projects achieved and available to the members of UIC or continuing in 2019-2020:

  • Technology for High Speed Freight and Passenger Train Traffic between China and the European Union undertaken by Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China
  • Track Economical Maintenance Decision based on Life Cycle Cost undertaken by China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), China
  • Research on the Status Quo of Key System Technical Standards for High Speed Trains undertaken by CARS, China
  • Research on the Railway Development Policy in Asia-Pacific Region for a Better Fulfilling of railways’ Role as the Backbone in Integrated Transport undertaken by CARS, on behalf of China State Railway Group, Co., Ltd., (CR), China
  • Study on the Best Practices of Railway Digitalisation and Intelligent Railway Technology System Framework undertaken by CARS on behalf of CR, China
  • UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2020 on Railway Passenger Service based on IT Technology undertaken by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), Korea – postponed to 5 – 9 April 2021
  • Predicting the maintenance of railway infrastructure with digital technology undertaken by Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), Kazakhstan
  • Big Data-Based Timetable Management undertaken by Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications on Railway Transport by JSC Research and Design Institute for Information Technology, Signalling and Telecommunications in Railway Transportation, (NIIAS), Russia
  • Measures for the effective development of multimodal transport in the Asia-Pacific Region aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport, phase III (INTERTRAN III) undertaken by Russian Railways (RZD), Russia.

The second session held on 11 June was dedicated to the presentation of new 40 projects proposed by the UIC Asia-Pacific members, including 6 multiregional projects presented by the UIC Passenger Department.

All projects are split up into Matrix according to APRA Strategy 2050. The Matrix includes sectors such as: Strategy & Institutional relations, Freight, Digital, Interoperability and Standards, High Speed, Training Programmes, Workshops & Business improvements, Infrastructure & Rolling Stock, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Development.

The result of the voting process for the 2021 projects will be reported during the next Workshop on Projects in Nur-Sultan hosted by Kazakhstan railways and the selected projects will have to be approved by all APRA members during the 30th APRA held in Kazakhstan on 27 October 2020.

For further information please contact Beatrice Ségéral, Senior Advisor Institutional Relations & Asia-Pacific Region:

segeral at uic.org

See the full article

UIC at the 24th Conference of Parties in Katowice, Poland

UIC is participating in the 24th Conference of the Parties – COP – taking place from 2 to 14 December in Katowice, Poland. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as COP.
A UIC delegation participated in COP events from 5 to 8 December and promoted UIC member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitment to fighting climate change.

Prior to COP, UIC contributed to the Talanoa Dialogue. An outcome of COP23, the Talanoa Dialogue gathers input from countries, NGOs and so on, displaying and detailing their commitment to keep in line with the goal of the Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UIC organised an event recognised as an active contribution to the Talanoa Dialogue: the first UIC workshop on sustainable door-to-door solutions was held in Warsaw on 14 November 2018.
For COP24, UIC signed a tripartite partnership agreement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). On 7 December, UIC met with the UNFCCC Secretariat to discuss the considerable opportunities brought about by such a partnership for both UIC and UITP members.

On 6 December, UIC actively contributed to Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised by Cleaner and Better Transport in Cities (CIVITAS) and PPMC (Paris Process on Mobility and Climate). The event was opened by Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice, who stressed that the city of Katowice wanted to place a greater focus on railway infrastructure. Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, spoke about what the European Union needs to do in the fight against climate change. “Political courage comes from the support from citizens […] every voice counts“, she said. She emphasised the importance of the railways in Europe as the most electrified mode of transport, as well as the great success of ERTMS. Mr Tomasz Chruszczow, COP24 Special Envoy for Climate Change and High-Level Climate Champion, concluded the first plenary session of Transport Day, saying that “sustainable transport solutions are development opportunities“.

On the same day UIC, organised a break-out session on adaptation to climate change with the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) and John Dora Consulting Ltd., advisors on resilience to weather and climate change. Around 30 people participated in the event, which was introduced by Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainability unit at UIC, who presented the UIC RailAdapt Project and explained how the topic of adaptation and resilience is crucial for railways around the world in light of recent and future weather events; the idea was to enable the world’s railways to acquire the flexibility needed to adjust to climate change. Mr Andrew Quinn from the University of Birmingham presented an outline of the RailAdapt report and discussed “how adaptation should be integrated as business as usual“ in companies. Following this, Mr Jordan Harris of Adapt Chile presented that situation in cities such as Santiago de Chile, where “there are local actors starting to adapt organically in the face of extreme climate events“. He recognised the co-benefits of transport mitigation and adaptation and the importance of working smarter and involving stakeholders from various scales and sectors such as local authorities, transport service providers and final users. Ms Asariotis of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) then presented climate change impacts and adaptation for critical coastal transport infrastructure in small island developing states and explained how climate change will bring drastic change to such countries. This is particularly the case in terms of the economy, which is very often linked to the tourism industry, and which will evolve with increasing temperatures and increasing dramatic weather events. PIANC, also represented by Ms Asariotis, then gave a presentation on adapting waterborne transport infrastructures to climate change. Mr Aage Jorgensen from the Nordic Development Fund explained how the Nordics are taking adaptation into consideration and that it is important to make early adaptation a reality and explained that the Nordic Development fund is working on adaptation of practical measures. The event served as an excellent opportunity for a multisectoral view of what adaptation is and how other transport stakeholders are dealing with adaptation to climate change.

On the morning of 7 December, UIC participated in an official UNFCCC Facebook Live video together with UITP. Transport and e-mobility are among the main topics for discussion at COP24, and both Carole Escolan-Zeno of UIC and Philip Turner, European Expert Sustainable Mobility at UITP, explained to the audience the most important items on the agenda for the sector and how transport stakeholders are mobilising for this year’s COP. They then gave some concrete and inspiring examples of projects implemented by UITP and UIC members which contribute to the promotion of sustainable transport in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. For example, UIC launched a global sustainable door-to-door solutions project in 2018. They also discussed the measures that policymakers can take to embed sustainable transport into public policies and drive more investment to the sector. Carole Escolan-Zeno focussed for part of the interview on reducing emissions but spoke mainly of the need to build resilience to climate change as extreme weather heavily affects transportation systems and railways. She also explained how UIC is helping to keep its members informed and prepared to adapt to climate change. You can watch the video on the UNFCCC Facebook page.

Ms Escolan-Zeno was also invited to speak at the Marrakech Partnership Global Climate Action Transport Action event in the afternoon. The event involved discussion on scaling up climate action in the transport sector while highlighting the scale and range of climate action in the sector. Political, technical, social, and economic barriers preventing scaling up of climate action were identified, and there was lengthy discussion of how UNFCCC Parties can help to address these barriers at national level. Ms Escolan-Zeno talked about improving modal shift and system efficiencies and took the opportunity to remind the audience that the rail sector has strong ambitions and needs investment in rail infrastructure and connectivity. Ms Cécile Texier of Alstom, Mr Jonas Stromberg of Scania and Mr Dale Hall of the International Council on Clean Transportation also took the floor to present their vision.

Following this, UIC co-hosted an official side-event with the International Transport Forum (ITF) and UITP. The event was moderated by Barry Howe, Director, Sustainable Mobility and Community Investment at Alstom and was opened by Ms Mary Crass, Head of Institutional Relations & Summit, ITF and Mr Nicolas Beaumont, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Development and Mobility at Michelin. The focus of the event was decarbonisation of transport; the objective being to introduce a range of effective short and long-term policies and measures that will help countries and cities in both developing and developed regions to reduce their transport carbon emissions and provide policy options for inclusion in national or local climate action plans. The event covered a wide range of topics from worldwide figures to European issues in the transport sector, particularly in urban areas, in both developed and developing countries. You can watch the event online on UNFCCC platforms. The panel for the discussion comprised Mr Jari Kauppila, Head of Statistics and Modelling, ITF, Mr Nikolaos Gavanas, Policy Officer, Directorate H-Transport, Directorate General for Research and Innovation, European Commission, Ms Yue Huang, Manager of Aviation Environment, International Air Transport Association, Dr Urban Wästljung, Senior Environment and Transport Policy Expert, Scania (UITP member) and Mr Ramon Cruz, International Policy Program Director, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy.

On 8 December, UIC participated in a visit organised by Alstom to its plant in Katowice: Konstal S.A. The visit provided an excellent opportunity to discover how the company focusses on implementing sustainable technologies and how the industry has played an important role in the region for decades now, providing jobs and expertise and ongoing innovation both for railways and in the workplace. The visit consisted of a presentation of Konstal S.A., followed by a visit to the plant itself: assembly lines, augmented reality coach painting, etc. UIC would like to thank Alstom, and in particular Cécile Texier and Barry Howe as well as the local team, for organising this very interesting visit to the heart of the rail industry.

To conclude, UIC would like to thank all of the stakeholders that collaborated with the Sustainability unit for COP24: UITP, UNFCCC, ITF, SLOCAT, CIVITAS, John Dora and all of the participants and speakers from the Adaptation Session during Transport Day, as well as all of the participants who took part in our co-hosted events on 6 and 7 December.

Find out more about COP24 at its dedicated website:
http://www.cop24.katowice.eu/ and on the UNFCCC website:https://unfccc.int/

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC at the U.N High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport

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On 17 and 18 November, UIC participated in the first Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport in New York at the United Nations. The aim of these meetings was to discuss the priorities, work plans and method of work of this High Level Group set up by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last August. The meeting on 17 November was launched by WU Hongbo, Under Secretary-General and Nikhil Seth, Executive Secretary. Olof Persson (Sweden), Chief Executive Officer of the Volvo Group, and Co-Chair moderated the meeting. Each Member of this Group had the opportunity to make comments and to propose some inputs. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, highlighted some ideas serving the aims of common discussions.

He said: “Of the various positions that can be proposed to sustain the development of transport for all modes around the world, it seems necessary to use the common experience of our group to develop very pragmatic approaches. One basic consideration is to have an approach towards sustainability and sustainable development in terms of accessibility; and in this respect UIC and the rail operating community worldwide, with 240 members in 95 countries, is trying to pursue the search for accessibility for directions, which I would call the four “Is”.

The first “I” is INFRASTRUCTURE – whether rail, road or waterway – and access to infrastructure is obviously key to accessibility for the mobility of goods and people. Infrastructure is costly and more than ever the scarcity of resources calls for the optimisation of their complementarity.

The second “I” is for INNOVATION. In terms of transport, many single ideas can be promoted – more in some modes than others – and there as well innovation in terms of modal complementarity and interfaces, and interfacing modes of transport is a domain which can certainly be further developed by appealing to universities, research centres to ministers in charge of research and development, to finance this innovation among the young population of students and researchers.

The third “I” is for INTELLIGENCE, as especially for rail transport, the accumulated knowledge of past generations is gradually disappearing with retirement, whereas younger generations have not continued this work in sufficient numbers in this field. Therefore the transfer of knowledge through professional education is important with a vision of the news ideas, governance and management needed by a globalised world and the development of corridors between countries and cultures.

The fourth “I” would be INTERMODAL. As I said before and above, the complementarity of modes is probably the new key philosophical approach to be developed not in opposition, but in the improvement of the benefits brought about so far by intra-modal or inter-modal competition. The basic concern in all transport modes is the satisfaction of customer needs which defend the door-to-door logistics chain. This in turn calls for a more intelligent interfacing of these modes and the intelligent new concept of passenger hubs or goods hubs to interconnect people and goods. This is what I would call a new approach, comparable to a marketing approach in terms of transport mix.

On 18 November, these Members had the opportunity to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Please find below the press release issued by the United Nations:

New UN group seeks solutions for harnessing rising investments in transport while reducing harmful pollutants for sustainable future

Solutions needed as air pollutants from transport kill seven million people annually and greenhouse gas emissions from transport keep rising

New York, 18 November 2014 – With trillions of dollars expected to be invested in transport infrastructure and air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions rising, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tasked his High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport with finding viable solutions to promote public health and safety, environmental protection and economic growth through sustainable transport.

Comprised of Government, civil society and private sector leaders, the Advisory Group will work with Governments, transport providers, businesses, financial institutions, civil society and others to promote and accelerate the implementation of sustainable transport.

“The opportunities for sustainable transport are profound and we must take action,” Mr. Ban said as he met with a number of the Group’s members. “Transport is vital for everyone, and with the right mix of solutions sustainable transport will help us to realize a better future by helping to reduce poverty while protecting the planet and driving economic growth.”

Mr. Ban requested that the Group ensure the close alignment of transport with inclusive and equitable growth, social development, and environmental protection.

The establishment of the Group reflects the importance of sustainable transport for addressing major global challenges. Transport accounts for more than one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, and is projected to grow to one-third by 2050. Transport is the main source of air pollutants, which lead to seven million premature deaths every year.

Population growth and urbanization are projected to add 2.5 billion people to the world’s urban population by 2050, with nearly 90 per cent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. Poor and vulnerable groups need transport accessibility to get to jobs, schools, health care facilities and other public services. The Group aims to make sure that the transport dimension is recognized when Governments devise strategies on fighting poverty.

Safe and efficient maritime transport is the backbone of world trade, with 90 per cent of goods shipped by sea routes. Moreover, transport is one of the few growth sectors, estimated to attract trillions of US dollars in infrastructure investment in the coming decades. Exploring how these investments can result in sustainable infrastructure is one of the issues that will be discussed by the Group.

The Advisory Group held its first meeting on 17 November, and agreed to its priority areas and work plan for its three-year term. Among other things, the Group will look for practical ways to unlock the potential of sustainable transport to contribute to poverty alleviation, sustainable growth and sustainable urbanization. It was noted that to realize this goal, all modes of transport must be considered, including aviation, marine, ferry, rail and road.

The Group agreed to address a whole range of issues essential to transport, including access, accessibility, affordability, efficiency, climate and environmental impacts, public health and safety. It also decided to look at cross-cutting issues such as education, gender, finance, technology transfer, and capacity building.

To accomplish its goals, the Group will provide a global message and recommendations on sustainable transport. It will launch a “Global Transport Outlook Report” by July 2016 to provide analytical support for these recommendations and help mobilize action and initiatives in support of sustainable transport on the global, regional, local and sector levels, with a particular focus on urbanization.

The Group will support the organization of the Global Sustainable Transport Conference that will be convened by the Secretary-General towards the end of 2016. It will promote the integration of sustainable transport in relevant intergovernmental processes, including by making recommendations on the formulation and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

Members of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport

  • Olof Persson (Sweden), Chief Executive Officer of the Volvo Group, Co-Chair
  • Carolina Tohá (Chile), Mayor of Santiago, Chile, Co-Chair
  • Frank Appel (Germany), Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Post DHL.
  • Milica Bajic-Brkovic (Serbia), President of the International Society of City and Regional Planners.
  • Morten Engelstoft (Denmark), CEO of Services & Other Shipping
  • Alain Flausch (Belgium), Secretary-General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
  • Maty Mint Hamady (Mauritania), Mayor of Nouakchott
  • Patrick Ho (Hong Kong, China), Deputy Chairman and Secretary-General of China Energy Fund Committee
  • Victor Kiryanov (Russian Federation), Deputy Minister of Interior of the Russian Federation.
  • Jean Pierre Loubinoux (France), Director-General of the International Union of Railways
  • Tanya Müller García (Mexico), Secretary of Environment of Mexico City and Vice-President of the World Green Infrastructure Network
  • Len Roueche (Canada), Chief Executive Officer of Interferry

For more information see: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1843

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UIC brings its members together for its 98th General Assembly

UIC brought its members together virtually on 7 and 8 July for its Executive Board and 98th General Assembly. The meetings were chaired for the last time by UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli. His mandate ended at the end of the General Assembly. On this occasion, he wished to say a few words: “It has been an honour and a pleasure to chair UIC as Chairman for this term and to have the opportunity to work for the development of the rail business around the world. Your diversity on the one hand and our common vision and purpose on the other have delivered unique value. We have created a common and solid path, following the same direction and staying resilient.”

At the end of the UIC General Assembly, Mr. Krzysztof Mamiński, CEO of PKP (Polskie Koleje Panstwowe, Polish State Railways) became the new Chairman of UIC and Mr. Mohamed Khlie, CEO of ONCF (Office National des Chemins de Fer, Moroccan State Railways) became the UIC Vice-Chairman, both for a 2-and-a-half-year mandate until 31 December 2023.

Mr. Krzysztof Mamiński said: “The railways are on the threshold of enormous challenges! The objectives we set ourselves collectively as a railway sector reflect socio-economic expectations: we are all aware of the need to combat climate change and of the role of railways, which have an extremely important role to play in the logistics and transport chain. UIC’s collaboration with United Nations bodies, our activity in this area, offers the opportunity to better influence the UN agenda on issues such as intercontinental corridors, the future COP26 conference and work on global sustainable development, where rail should play a leading role.
It can be assumed that there is a strong momentum across sectors and geographies to address the challenge of climate change. For any national or local government, transport is a key part of the economy, typically accounting for 25 to 30 per cent of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. In regions such as Europe, rail accounts for less than two per cent of total transport emissions. Given rail’s status as the most sustainable mode of transport, increasing its share will directly reduce transport’s contribution to emissions in the region and to total emissions in general.
We need to increase our market share, to develop transport, not only nationally and cross-border, but also intercontinentally. To achieve this, we need active cooperation in the areas of standardisation, harmonisation, rail technology and innovation to further decarbonise the rail value chain, with measures such as optimising energy consumption and using digitalisation
.”

Mr. Mohamed Khlie said: “The rail mode has certainly demonstrated its resilience, adaptability and solidity during the Covid-19 crisis by mobilising to continue to ensure the transport of various essential products. However, our sector has been severely impacted and will have to reconsider its repositioning strategy, while highlighting its distinctive assets and the challenge of intelligent, low-carbon mobility in the face of increasingly tough competition. The recent changes and upheavals challenge us all to persevere and even accelerate our quest for good standardisation, constantly innovative digitalisation, avant-garde technical and technological solutions and creativity in strengthening and promoting inter-regional cooperation and strategic alliances. This type of cooperation promotes the development of multimodality and regional and continental rail corridors, in addition to our constant concern to guarantee the safety and interoperability of our systems. Faced with these challenges, we all have the ambition to amplify this strategic vision in order to implement the railways of tomorrow as the backbone of mobility, the key words of which are: to go even further, to be stronger, more efficient, more united and more useful.

The new governance is described in this press release.

A keynote speech was given by Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme). She spoke about the role of railways in connecting cities and driving sustainable growth. Stations should be designed with the objective of good intermodal connectivity. She highlighted that, in the new urban agenda, there is a greater need in localising the SDGs for coordination within national and local transport authorities. She said: “As UN Habitat, we look forward to working with UIC in promoting such coordination and working jointly towards sustainable and climate goals”. She also announced that UIC and UN Habitat are preparing an MoU to carry such a collaboration forward.

Report from the UIC Chairman
Mr. Gianluigi Castelli started by reminding the audience of the importance of dialogue and partnership: “We are eager to cooperate with a broad variety of stakeholders, in accordance with the UIC values of Unity, Solidarity and Universality”. He particularly highlighted the work done by the UIC Covid-19 Task Force, which has now demonstrated all its importance as a great platform for agile crisis management and global exchange. He said: “We aim to accommodate a “new normal”, and the Task Force is now developing long-term rail business models that will help us move forward, and remain resilient in the long run”.
He continued: “The current year – 2021 – is definitely marking a turning point in our events activity. Not only is 2021 “the year after” the emergency outbreak, but also the centenary of the foundation of UIC, the anniversary of many railway events all around the world and – of course – the European Year of Rail. This is a unique initiative supporting the European Green Deal objectives in the field of transport. As we are well aware, a series of events, campaigns and initiatives in 2021 and 2022 will promote rail as a sustainable, innovative and safe mode of transport. It will highlight its benefits for people, the economy and the climate and focus on the remaining challenges to create a truly integrated rail and mobility network. The European Year of Rail is an unmissable chance for the railway community. This is the moment to “hop on the train” and play a starring role in this context. The UIC is fully involved in planning a wide array of events and initiatives and welcomes the contribution of any member and stakeholder.”

  • Research, Innovation and Digital Transformation
    He said: “In a world that has suddenly and completely changed, digitalisation technology must provide us with the new technical and strategic capabilities that are required to meet both new customer needs and rigorous safety requirements. It is therefore vital to rely on the best cooperation between interregional railways and worldwide telecommunication players. In fact, new 5G networks offer fully fledged solutions for all the dimensions of railways: operations, maintenance and renewal and also passenger and freight services. A good cooperation with telecommunication operators is also beneficial for the deployment of CCS Technologies (ERTMS, FRMCS, PTCS in the US, ATACS in Japan, KLUB in Russia), now the very heart of the technical UIC strategy. Indeed, while the mere research phase is now supported by a clear funding strategy, many steps still need to be taken towards a proper deployment financing plan on a global level. This will be crucial in making the railway assets interoperable and increasing their modal share in the transportation mix.
    He continued: “Also, we are seeking the best possible articulation between projects and research funding partners (for example, the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking, among others), in order to make the modal shift desirable and to attract more public investment to the railway. Our commitment in that respect is evident in our will to contribute to the System Pillar of the new rail iPPP. This would be the right environment to get all the intelligence together and to define formal methods that are pluggable and reusable in our sector as well as in other industries – military, aviation, automotive or aerospace”.
  • Standardisation
    Mr. Castelli highlighted that “R&D can, and should, become the principal engine that boosts the standardisation process. Establishing common standards of interoperability is of course a long and complex process, requiring the contribution and expertise of many international rail professionals. And the UIC is always first in line when it comes to driving the definition of appropriate standards, embedding them into our business and re-designing the world market”. He underlined the publication of the “Technical Solutions for the Operational Railway” as another important tool for harmonising rail transport and serving our members efficiently. He also stressed the positive work that is progressing with key external stakeholders such as ERA, EIM, CER, UNIFE and many others. He said: “This once again proves our constant commitment to synergise, to “share, open and connect” at a global level”.
  • Sustainable Development
    COP26 in Glasgow in November (see the video) will let UIC exploit this momentum to organize a variety of events and railway activities. UIC is also involved in many other activities in line with the Green Deal objectives and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The creation of a new framework of CSR scoring criteria for railway companies within the Eco-Scoring Working Group is a relevant deliverable that is currently being enhanced. He concluded by saying: “This ambitious schedule is finally supported by a whole new internal governance structure. The new Sustainability Platform will certainly play a more comprehensive role in all domains of sustainability and social responsibility”.

Mid-term report from the UIC Director General
UIC Director General François Davenne paid tribute to Gianluigi Castelli and Ali İhsan Uygun for everything they have done: “Everything that is done at UIC is a joint collaboration with our members.” He firstly emphasised the good news, saying that the indicators are excellent, mentioning the results of the satisfaction survey: the global satisfaction increased from 65% to 75%, the association’s dynamism from 56% to 66%, and project management from 60% to 68%.

He also announced the retirement of Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the Fundamental Values Department and Coordinator of the Middle East Region, and the appointment of Marc Guigon, Director of the Passenger Department and Coordinator of the Latin America Region as the new Coordinator of the Middle East Region.
UIC will continue to implement its strategy with three key words: Accountability, Focus and the development of Interregional Activities.

Regarding Accountability: François Davenne started by describing the financial stability results according to the forecast. He also mentioned the latest UIC publication, the UIC Activity booklet describing the 136 working groups constituting the technical strength of UIC.

He also emphasised the notion of a personalised relationship with the various UIC members, which can be promoted by being more attentive to the interests of the members. The improvement of a Members’ Relations Management through more frequent bilateral meetings for validating individual strategies is indeed one of the current UIC priorities.

He also stressed UIC’s focus on proven UIC added values: he underlined the sense of urgency, namely a 10-year window of opportunity for investments to be directed towards our sector. “The UIC is going to engage in this process.” He also informed the members of the need to advocate rail in preparing a compelling narrative within the UIC Sustainability Task Force, recently set up and composed of representatives from all the UIC regions and of technical experts.

  • In terms of freight, he mentioned the involvement of freight CEOs in Europe through Rail Freight Forward in developing digital platforms and capacity management, as well as the development of tools for international corridors (see the video on this subject).
  • In terms of passengers, he particularly insisted on the development of a global vision within the Global Passenger Forum. The success of OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model – seethe factsheet) that will be included in the EU regulation was also mentioned. Without forgetting the upcoming events, UIC NextStation to be held in the United States in 2022 and the UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail “UIC HIGHSPEED” to be held in Beijing in 2022 (see the Save the Date).
  • Regarding System: the members were informed of a new steering structure composed of prominent Chief Technical Officers and the UIC participation in Europe’s rail. He took this opportunity to also mention the work on structuring projects: Artificial intelligence, Telecom, Modelling and DAC (Digital Automatic Coupling).

Finally, he mentioned the development of interregional projects. The objectives are to

  • Mobilise public financing, not only in Europe but also in the UIC Asia-Pacific region in implementing sound IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) protection.
  • Ensure that key UIC developments such as FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) can be used internationally.
  • Develop together the technical specifications for the future railway.
  • Encourage the use of public financing in all the regions: this has started with the EU and it will develop further with Europe’s rail uptake by the end of 2021

Finally, he reminded the audience that UIC has a precise and highly operational role for railways: “We are delivering key tools for networks to perform safely. We can collectively be proud of what we have achieved,” he declared.

Appointments
Regarding the Chair of the Talent & Expertise Development Platform (TEDP), the mandate of Esther Marconi (FSI) expired at the beginning of January 2021, when she retired. The candidature of Mr. Miguel Mesquita Faro Viana from INFRAESTRUTURAS DE Portugal (IP) was submitted to, and approved by, the Steering Committee of TEDP on 14 January, 2021 for a three-year mandate.

Cooperation with third parties
During the General Assembly, UIC signed several Memoranda of Understanding:
Firstly, a Memorandum with Shift2Rail. The scope of this Memorandum of Understanding is to promote cooperation between UIC and the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking (S2R JU):

  • to support the structured implementation of the S2R JU innovative solutions;
  • to deliver a functional system approach that is suited to the operational needs of the sector and, in particular, of the final users.
    The areas of cooperation envisaged may involve and cover: overall cooperation in the field of sustainability and low-carbon solutions, Innovation Programme 2 (IP2)and Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) consistency, data modelling, functional System Architecture and in particular interfaces definition, and systemic liaison between UIC and the S2R JU. More details on this MoU in this joint press release.

UIC also signed a Memorandum with UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), with IFF (Railway Training Institute), with the Smart Ticketing Alliance and with FIATA (see the press release), and also reinforced its collaboration with IEA (the International Energy Agency).

OSDM
The OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model) scope was presented. The aims of OSDM are to sustantially simplify and improve the booking process for customers of rail trips and to reduce complexity and distribution costs for distributors and railway carriers. In a nutshell, OSDM strengthens rail and public transportation as a convenient and ecological means of transportation by simplifying distribution. Finally, it lays a solid foundation which can be extended to include the distribution of other means of transportation.

UIC Post-Covid-19 “New Normal”: White Paper on the resumption of business post-Covid-19 pandemic; recommendations for the railway sector
The Covid pandemic hit the rail sector very hard in 2020, impacting both the passenger and freight sectors and is still having a huge impact. It is also complicated to have a mid- to long-term vision concerning when it will end, as the world now has to face different variants and the vaccination campaigns are far from over. The UIC and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants have developed a study on the “new normal”, post-Covid-19 situation, and business resumption.

Digital
Information on the communication strategy of the UIC Digital Platform was presented during the Assembly. Since 2015, the UIC Digital Platform has developed relationships and synergies with start-ups, mainly through the Digital Awards process. In order to reinforce the existing cooperation between the rail sector and the worldwide digital ecosystem on the one hand, and to respond to the demand of the start-ups on the other, a directory was created with all the start-ups in relations with the UIC Digital Platform, including information about their activities and projects, as well as a LinkedIn profile to stimulate exchanges between the rail sector and the start-ups. There was also a report on the status of DIGIM II. Francis Bédel, who is leading the UIC Digital Platform as Chief Digital Officer and who manages the IT UIC Department, will be leaving at the end of the summer. However, he will continue his tasks for the Digital Platform for one further year.

Finance
The 2020 accounts were approved.

New members
The General Assembly approved the application of the following members:

African Region:
GTS, freight and passenger operator from Senegal as an associate member; SENTER, (future) infrastructure manager from Senegal as an affiliate member

Asia-Pacific region:
CRRC ZIC, Chinese Rail Research Centre as an affiliate member

European region:
Eurail, rail passes management company as an affiliate member

Latin America
ALAF (Latin American Railways Association) as an affiliate member; ANPTrilhos Brazilian, National Association of Passenger Rail Carriers as an affiliate member

The next Executive Board and 99th General Assembly are planned as physical meetings on 10 December, 2021.

UIC outputs shared with UIC members during the General Assembly:

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UIC chairs IRS webinar on sustainable and connected Rail Baltica

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Key strategists from the €5.8bn Rail Baltica project and leading policymakers from the rail regulatory, innovation and supply communities took part in the webinar ‘A sustainable and connected Rail Baltica’ on 16 July 2020. The webinar was produced by the International Railway Summit in association with Rail Baltica.

Simon Fletcher, UIC’s Director Europe, chaired the debate, which included questions from an audience comprising industry experts from 41 different countries.

Rail Baltica is slated to begin operation in 2026 and is in the advanced design phase. The 870km network will integrate the Baltic region, which currently operates on the Russian gauge, with the standard gauge that covers the majority of the EU’s rail network.

Andy Billington, Rail Baltica’s Innovation and Sustainability Manager, set out the strategies for achieving an economically and environmentally sustainable rail network. Jean-Marc Bedmar, Rail Baltica’s Head of Systems and Operation, later provided updated design and deployment timelines, and details of procurement guidelines within the field of subsystems, including signalling, train control and energy.

Participating speakers agreed that Rail Baltica could be a vibrant new economic corridor. Rail Baltica’s ‘dig once’ simultaneous development strategy means as the railway is installed, so will other networks, including internet communications, energy, and utilities. Philippe Citroën, Director General of the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), reaffirmed the association’s support for Rail Baltica as “one the most important projects of the coming years”. Pio Guido, Head of Railway Systems Unit at the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), said Rail Baltica was a key part of the Single European Railway Area. Julianna Moats, Principal Engineer at engineering consultancy WSP saw Rail Baltica as “different from any other railway in the world… so we need to design it differently".

Speakers agreed that flexible modular architecture in the project’s systems would mean it could be easily upgraded and updated. Openly sharing ideas and data across modes and sectors was highlighted.

Mr Billington emphasised Rail Baltica’s target of zero impact operations. The size of this challenge was demonstrated by Fernando Liesa, the Secretary General of the Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ALICE). He showed that even sustaining the Covid-19 rate of CO2 reduction would not fulfil the 2030 emissions target.

‘A sustainable and connected Rail Baltica’ was Part 2 of the two-part webinar series ‘Rail Baltica: opportunities in Europe’s latest megaproject’.
Both parts are now available free to view on-demand at the International Railway Summit website: https://www.irits.org/rail-webinars.

For more information: please contact Anuja Raut, IRITS Events at anuja.raut at irits.org

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UIC co-organised a side event with UITP as part of the UN Climate Change Conference on 26 June 2019 in Bonn

The goal was to raise awareness on how the Global Climate Action transport initiatives are developing strategies in order to scale up national ambitions with regard to decarbonising transport.

Speakers included representatives from transport initiatives and leading international organisations engaged in low carbon transport responsible for implementing activities in the transport sector.

It was a great honour to have the high-level champion for COP24, Tomasz Chruszczow, Special Envoy for Climate Change from the Ministry of Environment in Poland, on the panel of speakers.

As an Introduction, Mark Major, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Low Carbon Transport Partnership (SLoCaT), presented what is at stake for the transport sector, being the third largest CO2-emitting sector and experiencing the second largest growth.

Wei-Shiuen Ng, Advisor for Sustainable Transport and Global Outreach at ITF (OECD), spoke about ITF’s in-house models covering all modes of transport. It analyses how the world could change if different policies and development paths were chosen. This also shows the importance of managing change. Unmanaged disruption leads to modal shift towards private car use in urban areas, managed disruption (policy actions and regulation to support transition) can result in significantly more sustainable urban mobility.

Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of Sustainability Unit, UIC, explained why railway transport is a key actor to decarbonize the transport sector. Rail is one of the most efficient and sustainable modes of transport. While covering 8% of the world’s passenger transport, it represents only 2% of total energy demand (1/10th of the NRJ needed to move an individual by car or by airplane, 88% less NRJ than medium trucks per tkm). In terms of C02 emissions, rail represents between 2 and 4% of CO2 emissions of the sector.

The railway sector is also committed to going further, through electrification (today, 75% of passenger rail transport activity takes place on electric trains vs. 60% in 2000), through the use of renewable energy, new technologies (such as hydrogen locomotives) and processes (DAS, Eco driving).

For rail to maintain the current share of passenger transport and to continue to play a role in freight supply chains, it will require an increase in investment of 50% more than levels in recent years. This means that we need a massive increase in railway infrastructure investment, the insurance that all modes of transport pay the fair price for the use of the infrastructure they need, as well as for the impacts that they generate (polluter pays principle).

Philip Turner, Senior Expert Sustainable Development at UITP, spoke about its declaration on climate leadership, aiming at doubling the market share of public transport by 2025, building capacity and technical knowledge through 350 projects on the ground, committing to support cities and governments and to report and implement SDGs.

Tsu-Jui Cheng, Programme Manager and Global Coordinator, Sustainable Urban Mobility, at ICLEI, presented the eco-mobility initiative. He showed how eco-mobility, including walking, cycling and wheeling, use of public transport, shared mobility and light electric vehicles, used in an integrated and connected manner, can be environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.

Finally, Michael Winter, Head of Marketing, Communications & International Affairs at Rail Cargo Austria AG, presented the Rail Freight Forward Initiative. This coalition of European rail freight companies has set itself the goal to drastically reduce the negative effects of freight transport on mobility, climate and environment by shifting goods from road to rail. Their vision is to transform rail freight into a high-performing, efficient and sustainable backbone transport system. Their ambition is to increase the current modal share of rail freight in Europe from 17% to 30% by 2030. This higher modal share will lead to a 100 billion EUR economic gain due to less externalities, 290 million tons of saved CO2, 40,000 less premature deaths due to avoided pollution, 5,000 less fatalities due to saved truck accidents.
Exchanges with the audience were fruitful.

Please consult the link to the event on the UNFCCC website:

https://seors.unfccc.int/applications/seors/reports/events_list.html?session_id=SB%2050

For further information please contact Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

escolan-zeno at uic.org

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UIC co-organises with partners a High-Level Event in support of the UN Climate Change Summit (22 September 2014, New York)

UIC, Amtrak, the US national passenger rail operator, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the Partnership for SLoCaT will organise “On Track to Clean & Green Transport” – a high-level meeting on transport and climate change on 22 September in New York, the day before the Climate Summit announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The event will be supported by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) and the Canadian rail operator Via Rail.
The audience of this event, which represents a crucial step towards unlocking the potential of sustainable transport, will mainly be composed of heads of railway companies worldwide, representatives of international organisations (OECD, development banks), media and the world of diplomacy.

High-level speakers will participate in this important event and give their vision of potential development within the railways in the future and the role they can play regarding climate change.

During the morning session participants will take a closer look at the role that railways can play in the realisation of sustainable transport and addressing climate change. Over the last years the transport sector has taken substantive action to address climate change in the context of sustainable development.
Recent accomplishments and future plans of Amtrak and other operators in strengthening the position of railways in the USA and worldwide will be discussed and linkages will be made with the post-2015 development agenda that is currently being discussed in the United Nations.

The afternoon part of the event will take a broader look at the need to develop low carbon sustainable transport systems, the mitigation potential of the transport sector and a roadmap for future action. The conclusions of the event will support discussions at the UN Secretary’s General’s Climate Summit (http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/) to be held on the following day.

The UIC Director General will participate in this event as well as other UIC Members such as Amtrak, JR East, VIA Rail or Mongolian Railways.

The latest version of the programme is available here:
http://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/draft_program_22_september_event-16_september.pdf

About this event, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux says:

“All the work carried out over these past few years by UIC, in conjunction with its members and partners, has succeeded in showing the great relevance and environmental value of the railways in modern society. Since promoting the train at COP 15 in Copenhagen, the signing of the declaration by our key members in Kyoto, publishing works with the International Energy Agency of the OECD which refer to the success of the Europe Train project, involvement in Rio+20, and the unprecedented recognition of the railways, from preparing COP 21 in Paris to holding a symbolic event in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, all this work among other day-to-day actions strengthen rail’s and UIC’s credibility to promote and apply sustainable development on a global scale.”

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UIC co-organises with partners a High-Level Event in support of the UN Climate Change Summit (22 September 2014, New York)

UIC, Amtrak, the US national passenger rail operator, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the Partnership for SLoCaT will organise “On Track to Clean & Green Transport” – a high-level meeting on transport and climate change on 22 September in New York, the day before the Climate Summit announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The event will be supported by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) and the Canadian rail operator Via Rail.

The audience of this event, which represents a crucial step towards unlocking the potential of sustainable transport, will mainly be composed of heads of railway companies worldwide, representatives of international organisations (OECD, development banks), media and the world of diplomacy.

High-level speakers will participate in this important event and give their vision of potential development within the railways in the future and the role they can play regarding climate change. During the morning session participants will take a closer look at the role that railways can play in the realisation of sustainable transport and addressing climate change. Over the last years the transport sector has taken substantive action to address climate change in the context of sustainable development.

The afternoon part of the event will take broader look at the need to develop low carbon sustainable transport systems, the mitigation potential of the transport sector and a roadmap for future action. The conclusions of the event will support discussions at the UN Secretary’s General’s Climate Summit (www.un.org/climatechange/summit2014) to be held on the following day.

About this event, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux says:

All the work carried out over these past few years by UIC, in conjunction with its members and partners, has succeeded in showing the great relevance and environmental value of the railways in modern society. Since promoting the train at COP 15 in Copenhagen, the signing of the declaration by our key members in Kyoto, publishing works with the International Energy Agency of the OECD which refer to the success of the Europe Train project, involvement in Rio+20, and the unprecedented recognition of the railways, from preparing COP 21 in Paris to holding a symbolic event in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, all this work among other day-to-day actions strengthen rail’s and UIC’s credibility to promote and apply sustainable development on a global scale.”

More information on this high-level meeting will be published in a forthcoming issue of UIC eNews.

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UIC Director General attends several meetings on Sustainable Transport in New York

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In the framework of the preparation of the COP21 events and meetings in Paris this December, a number of high-level meetings were held in New York 28 and 29 June.

UIC and its Director General were invited to participate in these discussions in order to follow up the action plan of the Lima-Paris agenda and to see how these transport issues could be better addressed and better incorporated in the global agenda of the COP21 discussions.

Furthermore, a high-level event on climate change was held at the United Nations building, with declarations from the United Nations Secretary-General and a number of keynote speakers, including ministers such as Mr Laurent Fabius from France, Mr Manuel Pulgar Vidal from Peru, representatives from the UNFCC (United Nations Framework on Climate Change) and from UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

Several panels were organised under the auspices of ECOSOC to focus on the various aspects of sustainable development and how science can play a key role in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

UIC actively participated in the panels and discussions on these issues.

The declaration of the railway operating community as well as the programme of COP21 were considered to be valuable messages for the overall contribution to the two-degree scenario and the hoped-for success of the discussions in December.

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UIC Director General invited to represent the railway sector at the United Nations Climate Summit 2016

Following on from the COP21 landmark legal agreement concerning climate change, the world’s attention has now turned to realisation of the ambitious commitment to limit the global temperature rise to “well below 2 degrees Celsius”. Whilst it is recognised that this feat will require economy-wide global and national transformations – transport has a major role to play – and rail transport as the most emissions efficient major mode of land transportation can provide a key part of the solution.

The Climate Action 2016 multi-stakeholder summit will take place two weeks after the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement, and eight months after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by all the governments of the world. In this context, the summit will serve to strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach to climate implementation. In particular, it will deepen and expand the action coalitions of government, business, finance, philanthropy, civil society and academic leaders launched at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit 2014 in New York, and since then developed through the Lima to Paris Action Agenda.

Climate Action 2016 will seek to make this broad-scale organisation of climate action both more effective and sustainable, and provide a launching pad for climate implementation in the pre-2020 period. UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux has been invited to make two interventions, at the pre-summit stakeholders workday regarding the global vision for sustainable mobility, and then at the main summit to discuss the role of international institutions.

Over the course of two days, the summit will drive high-level engagement with global luminaries addressing plenary sessions on how to deliver on climate commitments and embed the transformation agenda across the globe in government, key sectors and among the general population. At the same time, the summit will focus on convening working groups for sessions on near-term implementation actions and long-term implementation needs. These will focus on City and Sub-national implementation; Transport; Land-use; Energy; Resilience/Adaptation; and Analysis and Tools to Support Decision Making.

Effective climate implementation will require collaboration from a variety of actors. The Climate Action 2016 summit will engage approximately 700 participants, by invitation, representing leaders from government, business, finance, academia, philanthropy and civil society. Seven organisations have come together to jointly co-host the summit, providing this diverse group with the information, connections and tools they need to lead effective implementation in a new climate regime. The co-hosts are:

  • H.E. Mr Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group
  • Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change; Founding Partner, Compact of Mayors
  • Dr Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer, Global Environment Facility
  • Dr Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation
  • Mr Peter Bakker, Chief Executive Officer, World Business Council on Sustainable Development
  • Mr Nigel Topping, Chief Executive Officer, We Mean Business
  • Dr Wallace Loh, President, University of Maryland

For further information on the Climate Summit please visit www.climateaction2016.org

Or contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

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UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux appointed new Board Member of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was recently appointed new Board Member of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT).

SLoCaT is a multi-stakeholder partnership of over 90 organisations around the globe. This is the global voice on Sustainable Transport, represented at events such as the Conferences of Parties (COP), UN Habitat and also shaping specific events such as Transport Day.

UIC has developed a close partnership with SLoCaT over the last few years, seeking to promote sustainable transport in worldwide policies on climate change and sustainability. In 2015, alongside COP21, UIC welcomed Transport Day and more recently the Transport Initiatives Meeting in preparation for COP23 to take place in Bonn, Germany in November 2017.

In relation with his previous appointment to the United Nations High Level Advisory Group for Sustainable Transport in August 2014, and all the work done since the Climate Conference COP15 in order to act in favour of sustainable mobility based on the advantages of rail transport, the nomination of Jean-Pierre Loubinoux to the SLoCat’s board complements the presence of rail among the other transport actors represented in SLoCat.

UIC represents both private and public sector members who provide passenger and freight services in developing and developed countries. Whilst rail is often cited as the backbone of sustainable mobility, transport will only realise its full potential through the development of multimodality. Mr Loubinoux guarantees that he will surely use his position to promote a whole-system approach.

The new board had their first meeting on 10 October 2017 to welcome new Members and work on the next milestones for the transport sector, including COP23. You can learn more on the planning note for COP23 on the SLoCaT website here:

bit.ly/2y9v1e3

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UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux appointed new Board Member of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was recently appointed new Board Member of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT).

SLoCaT is a multi-stakeholder partnership of over 90 organisations around the globe. This is the global voice on Sustainable Transport, represented at events such as the Conferences of Parties (COP), UN Habitat and also shaping specific events such as Transport Day.

UIC has developed a close partnership with SLoCaT over the last few years, seeking to promote sustainable transport in worldwide policies on climate change and sustainability. In 2015, alongside COP21, UIC welcomed Transport Day and more recently the Transport Initiatives Meeting in preparation for COP23 to take place in Bonn, Germany in November 2017.

In relation with his previous appointment to the United Nations High Level Advisory Group for Sustainable Transport in August 2014, and all the work done since the Climate Conference COP15 in order to act in favour of sustainable mobility based on the advantages of rail transport, the nomination of Jean-Pierre Loubinoux to the SLoCat’s board complements the presence of rail among the other transport actors represented in SLoCat.

UIC represents both private and public sector members who provide passenger and freight services in developing and developed countries. Whilst rail is often cited as the backbone of sustainable mobility, transport will only realise its full potential through the development of multimodality. Mr Loubinoux guarantees that he will surely use his position to promote a whole-system approach.

The new board had their first meeting on 10 October 2017 to welcome new Members and work on the next milestones for the transport sector, including COP23. You can learn more on the planning note for COP23 on the SLoCaT website here:

bit.ly/2y9v1e3

See the full article

UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux highlights actions taken by the rail sector to reduce noise at the DG ENV high-level event Noise in Europe

UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was invited by DG ENV to speak at the high-level Noise in Europe conference at the Charlemagne building in Brussels on 24 April 2017.

Recent evidence indicates that one in four EU citizens are affected by environmental noise resulting in almost 16,000 premature deaths per year. To address this, the European Commission is currently evaluating existing regulation and developing new policy proposals concerning transport noise. In support of these processes, DG ENV organised a high-level to seek perspectives from a range of stakeholders.

Key note introductions were given by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport and Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. These were followed by opening speeches by Daniel Calleja, Director General, European Commission – DG Environment, Elizabet Paunovic, Head of WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director, European Environment Agency (EEA), John Ryan, Director, European Commission – DG Health and Food Safety.

In his address to the session on Strategy for effective noise control, Mr Loubinoux highlighted initiatives and actions and investments by the rail sector to develop noise solutions including the STAIRRS (www.stairrs.org ) project and EuropeTrain (http://europetrain.uic.org) projects. Regarding funding, Mr loubinoux commented:

It is no co-incidence that where strong financial support has been proved, action to reduce noise from wagons has been swift – the clearest examples of this are government funding in Switzerland and Germany. It is clear that with greater levels of funding we would see faster progress across Europe. There are a number of examples from other sectors, including both inland shipping and roads where scrappage incentives have been successfully used. We believe something similar to this would be both welcome and effective.

The UIC noise expert network continues to manage a number of technical development projects to support cost effective noise management and works closely with the CER (Community of European Railways) to promote well informed policy.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux participates in the United Nations Climate Change negotiations COP21

For the first time in the United Nations series of Climate Change COP negotiations, transport was included as a part of the official programme. The transport focus session was one of seven from the Lima Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), designed to bring state and non-state actors together on the global stage with the aim of accelerating cooperative climate action now and into the future. All major modes of transport were included in the discussions.

The session was moderated by Simon Upton, Environment Director, OECD, and opening with an address by Ségolène Royal, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, France. Other speakers included

  • Violeta Bulc, Commissioner for Transport, European Commission
  • Alain Vidalies, Minister for Transport, France
  • Mahmoud ben Romdhane, Minister of Transport, Tunisia
  • Hanne BjurstrØm, Minister, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Norway
  • Cristian Bowen Garfias, Undersecretary of Transportation, Chile
  • José Viegas, Secretary General, International Transport Forum
  • Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chair, Global Environment Facility
  • Mohamed Najib Boulif, Deputy Minister for Equipment, Transport and Logistics, Morocco

UIC Director General Jean-Pierre was invited to join a panel on stage to present the rail sectors action to provide solutions to climate change, including the UIC low carbon rail transport challenge, the UIC railway climate responsibility pledge and the Train to Paris project. These actions set out rail sector targets at the global level, to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and achieve a more sustainable balance between transport modes.

Mr Loubinoux stated “to make a real impact we must reduce total transport emissions. This means achieving a more sustainable balance between transport modes. Rail transport is the most emissions efficient major mode of land transport. Already today, the electrified rail system uses significant quantities of renewable energy”.

European Commissioner for Transport Viloeta Bulc identified four pillars for transport action, improving efficiency, use of low carbon & renewable energy for transport, better organisation of transport (internalisation of external costs) & common engagement for behaviour change. These are notable because they align closely with the three targets included in the UIC low carbon rail transport challenge.

For more information on the UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge please see http://newsroom.unfccc.int/lpaa/transport/low-carbon-sustainable-rail-transport-challenge/
For more information on UIC advocacy in association with COP21 please see http://www.traintoparis.org/ & @traincop21
The COP21 conference will conclude on Friday 11 December http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en/learn/what-is-cop21/

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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UIC Director General participates in Global Sustainable Transport Conference organised by the United Nations from 26 – 27 November 2016 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

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The Global Sustainable Transport Conference took place for the first time ever in Ashgabat in Turkmenistan from 26 – 27 November 2016.

UIC was represented by Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, and Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit.

This event was the occasion to reinforce the role of the High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport and discuss the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. More than a thousand key stakeholders attended the event including three Heads of State, one Head of Government, six Deputy Prime Ministers, two Foreign Ministers, 42 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of transport and infrastructure. Some 200 business and civil society representatives, along with representatives of over 20 intergovernmental organisations and the UN entities participated in the event.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon launched the event and acknowledged that the high level group had highlighted best practices in its report. He stressed that “we need to stop business as usual”, that “without action on transport we will not be able to limit global warming”. He also recognised that “it takes investment to see results; it takes mobilising funds from a variety of sources”. He emphasised that it was time for action – in the follow up of COP23, described as the COP for action.

UIC actively participated in the following events:

Mr Loubinoux spoke about railways and SMART grids during the transport energy and transport session. You can watch this discussion following this link:

http://webtv.un.org/watch/thematic-discussion-6-energy-and-transport-global-sustainable-transport-conference-ashgabat-2016/5225785947001#full-text

Mr Loubinoux said “We should not consider climate solutions in isolation, we must also think of the broader sustainable development agenda including employment, air quality, congestion, land use, urban planning – there is a lot of synergy between solutions to these issues.”

Mr Craven moderated the business summit session on transit corridors.
UIC co-organised the first ever side event of this first global conference on sustainable transport with UITP. The topic was rail and public transport delivering the sustainable development goals. The event was particularly attended by railway CEOs.

UIC contributed to the workshop on sustainable transport indicators organised by the World Bank and hosted by the Ministry of Roads from Turkmenistan.

Regarding the railway sector in the region, UIC applauded the final rails that have been laid for the first phase of the Asian International Railroad Track. On 30 October 2016 Turkmenistan installed the finishing rail tracks at Akina Station at the terminal point of the Turkmen-Afghan railway.

The conference concluded on Sunday and 50 countries endorsed the “Ashgabat Statement on Commitments and Policy Recommendations”.

All national governments delivered statements on sustainable transport. Together these statements made a compelling case for sustainable transport to be considered as a priority by the incoming secretary general of the United Nations António Guterres.

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Unit:

craven at uic.org

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UIC encourages its Members to apply for the 2018 Momentum for Change Awards!

Organizations, cities, industries, governments, and other key players that are taking the lead on tackling climate change can nominate their game-changing projects for a United Nations Award starting today.

The United Nations Climate Change secretariat opened the call for applications for the 2018 Momentum for Change Awards from now until 30 April to showcase action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Selected initiatives, called ’Lighthouse Activities,’ shine a light on innovative, scalable and replicable examples of what people are doing to address climate change, in the hope of inspiring others to act. The winning activities will be recognized and celebrated during a series of special events in December at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland (COP 24).

The 2018 Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities will recognize climate action that is already achieving real results in four categories:

1. Women for Results recognizes the critical leadership and participation of women in addressing climate change, implemented in collaboration with Masdar’s WiSER initiative.

2. Financing for Climate Friendly Investment recognizes successful financial innovations for climate adaptation and mitigation, implemented in partnership with the World Economic Forum Global Project on Climate Change.

3. Planetary Health recognizes novel solutions that balance the need for both human health and a healthy planet, implemented with support by The Rockefeller Foundation.

4. Climate Neutral Now recognizes efforts by individuals, companies and governments that are achieving real results in transitioning to climate neutrality, implemented with the secretariat’s Climate Neutral Now initiative.

The Momentum for Change Advisory Panel, made up of senior experts from various fields and countries, will select the 2018 Lighthouse Activities.

Help Spread the Word

Help us find the world’s best climate solutions by sharing our call for applications. High-resolution images, social media posts, and webcards are available for download at our Trello Board.

Questions? Feel free to contact us at momentum at unfccc.int

How to apply

Who can apply?
Organizations, cities, businesses, governments and other key players that are taking concrete action on climate change can apply to have their projects recognized as a 2018 Lighthouse Activity.

Why should you apply?
If your project is selected, you’ll receive a wide range of benefits, including:

  • Attendance to the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland (COP 24)
  • Access to policy makers and potential funders during the conference
  • Public recognition by the UN Climate Change
  • Public relations support and media training
  • Digital assets such as professional photos and videos
  • A dedicated page about your project on our website

How to apply?
To start a new application, you’ll need to first register in our application portal. It will take at least an hour to complete an application but you can save your progress at any time and work on it at your convenience. Completed applications must be submitted by 30 April 2018.

Applications for the 2018 Momentum for Change Awards are being accepted from 22 February until 30 April 2018 at: https://momentum.unfccc.int

For further information please contact:

https://momentum.unfccc.int

UIC contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

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UIC engagement with the Global Compact and developing corporate sustainability

As a part of developing rail sector corporate sustainability and ongoing membership of the UN Global Compact, UIC is committed to regular communication on engagement.

In a letter to the Global Compact, UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux stated;

“It is with pleasure that I see the understanding and recognition of sustainability growing every year. The Global Compact can rightly claim to be one of the main driving forces behind this success. It is an honour to reaffirm my commitment to continue our fruitful collaboration.
The Global Compact 10 principles set out by the international standard for human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. As a global association working with 250 members in 100 countries on five contents we are commitment to working with our members to translate these principles to the local context.

UIC considers our engagement with the Global Compact alongside our support for realising the Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change COP21 Paris Accord as essential to fulfilling our mission; to meet the challenges of mobility and sustainable development, facilitate international cooperation and the sharing of best practice.

I look forward to future cooperation and the opportunity to both contribute to and learn from the global discourse on creating a sustainable and inclusive global economy that delivers lasting benefits to people, communities and markets.”

UIC has taken a number of practical actions both in support of the Global Compact principles, and to engage with the initiative, these include:

Workshops and training
UIC organising a programme of workshops and training for our members on the UN Global Compact and specific topics relevant to corporate sustainability. Examples of this include regular meetings of the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network and workshops organised by this network. These meetings include processionals working in the field of corporate and social responsibility from member railways. In addition UIC provides the secretariat to the European Rail Procurement Conference Sustainability Working Group, to promote the exchange of experience and development of best practice on sustainable procurement.

Engaging members in collective action
UIC engages members in collective action to support the both the UN Climate Change COP events and also the Sustainable Development Goals (eg Goal 13). Notable examples include the mobilization by our members to take delegates and decision makers to COP16 Copenhagen and COP21 Paris on dedicated trains to highlight the role of sustainable transport as a part of the solution to climate change (see www.traintocopenhagen.org, www.traintoparis.org).

Further to this UIC engaged the global railway community using the UIC Climate Responsibility Pledge, collecting signatures from CEOs of 66 railways, together representing the majority of the world’s rail activity. The pledge includes four actions to mitigate climate change (see http://traintoparis.org/IMG/pdf/railway_climate_responsibility_pledge.pdf).

Sector-specific tools and resources
UIC has developed sector-specific tools and resources on corporate sustainability issues. These include an online data base for collecting and benchmarking members’ environmental performance and also a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting guideline. The GRI guideline was developed in consultation with our members through two workshops held in 2015.

Provision of expertise at UN Global Compact working groups
UIC has provided expertise and the perspective from our members to a number of UN Global Compact working groups and special initiatives. These include:

• Business Association Forum on Sustainable Development, 24 June 2015, New York
• Strategic Brainstorming Session on the Global Partnership on Sustainable Transport, February 24-25 2015, New York
• UN Global Compact Consultative Meeting with Industry and Trade Associations, 9 September 2014, New York

Measurement of outcomes
To measure the outcomes of the UIC Climate Responsibility Pledge UIC manages an online data base to collect environmental performance and allow members to benchmark their performance

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

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UIC Handbook on Sustainable Stations

“SUSTAIN”
Best practices, benchmarking, guidelines and recommendations for Sustainable Stations
Final report

Submitted to UIC by IZT – Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment, Germany and
Macroplan Consulting, Denmark

Sustainable Development is today a broadly accepted strategic concept for responsible politics, economy and the future development of the society as a whole. Within the last decade, more and more influential companies – railway companies among them - have implemented their own sustainability strategies in order to strengthen a future-proof path for their development. Regarding railway stations, there are initiatives and pilot projects for the improvement of the sustainability
performance at pioneering companies. But so far, there is no fully developed and commonly accepted sustainability strategy for railway stations across the sector which would include the definition of strategic objectives, performance indicators and the implementation of a common monitoring system.

Railway stations play an important role in the transportation system and they are developing more and more into mobility hubs with interfaces to the other transport modes and with a broad spectrum of functionalities and offered public and private services. A commonly developed and accepted sustainability strategy for railway stations could strengthen their roles not only in the transportation system but also in the society as a whole and open the way towards a greener, interconnected,
socially more responsible and more efficient mobility and at the time towards more sustainable communities. The ultimate goal of an integrated sustainability strategy is to improve stations’ attractiveness by enhancing customer safety and experience, increasing overall revenues and on top of that reducing negative environmental effects.

The SUSTAIN project wants to contribute to the development of a consensual sustainability strategy for railway stations by disseminating best practice examples and encourage knowledge sharing for all relevant areas of sustainability, providing an easy to use tool for the assessment of the sustainability performance of railway stations, giving recommendations for the practical improvement of the sustainability performance and outlining a future standardization process in this field.

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UIC Handbook on Sustainable Stations

“SUSTAIN”
Best practices, benchmarking, guidelines and recommendations for Sustainable Stations
Final report

Submitted to UIC by IZT – Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment, Germany and
Macroplan Consulting, Denmark

Sustainable Development is today a broadly accepted strategic concept for responsible politics, economy and the future development of the society as a whole. Within the last decade, more and more influential companies – railway companies among them - have implemented their own sustainability strategies in order to strengthen a future-proof path for their development. Regarding railway stations, there are initiatives and pilot projects for the improvement of the sustainability
performance at pioneering companies. But so far, there is no fully developed and commonly accepted sustainability strategy for railway stations across the sector which would include the definition of strategic objectives, performance indicators and the implementation of a common monitoring system.

Railway stations play an important role in the transportation system and they are developing more and more into mobility hubs with interfaces to the other transport modes and with a broad spectrum of functionalities and offered public and private services. A commonly developed and accepted sustainability strategy for railway stations could strengthen their roles not only in the transportation system but also in the society as a whole and open the way towards a greener, interconnected,
socially more responsible and more efficient mobility and at the time towards more sustainable communities. The ultimate goal of an integrated sustainability strategy is to improve stations’ attractiveness by enhancing customer safety and experience, increasing overall revenues and on top of that reducing negative environmental effects.

The SUSTAIN project wants to contribute to the development of a consensual sustainability strategy for railway stations by disseminating best practice examples and encourage knowledge sharing for all relevant areas of sustainability, providing an easy to use tool for the assessment of the sustainability performance of railway stations, giving recommendations for the practical improvement of the sustainability performance and outlining a future standardization process in this field.

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UIC Handbook provides an update on UIC Reporting Guidelines according to the new G4 Standard of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

The new “GRI G4 Indicators Handbook, Guidelines for Railway Companies” reviews and adapts the UIC Reporting Guidelines, which are included in the UIC Declaration on Sustainable Mobility and Transport launched in March 2011.

This Reporting Guidelines enable UIC members to define their key focus areas and priority issues in accordance with their individual sustainability strategies, action plans, main material issues and most relevant stakeholders. In addition, the UIC Reporting Guidelines support all the 18 statements included in the UIC Declaration on Sustainable Mobility and Transport on rail’s contribution to sustainable mobility and transport, targeting society, customers and the rail sector itself. This Guideline was a result of the UIC Sustainability indicators project in the framework of the UIC Environment, Energy and Sustainability (EES) Platform and supported by signatures of more than 50 UIC member companies.

This Handbook is the final output result of the project developed by UIC and Glenn Frommer (ESG Matters Ltd) has been commissioned to update the aforementioned UIC Reporting Guidelines with reference to the GRI G4 Standard issued in May 2013.

The project included a one-day kick-off workshop held at UIC in April 2015, presenting an overview of the G4 Standard, an understanding of the G4 was detailed regarding report generation, materiality, stakeholder engagement and disclosure of management approach (DMA) with the complementary indicators. In this workshop a gap assessment was complimented by smaller group discussions at the workshop focusing on the wider needs of members regarding non-financial reporting and its use.

A second workshop was held in October 2015 to detail the contents of the Handbook and the additional items required by UIC members.

During the whole process, 10 UIC member companies (FS, NSB, SNCB, Infrabel, NS, FTA, SBB, OBB, Trafikverket and SJ) have participated in the workshops and the production of the Handbook providing existing previous reports for benchmarking of material aspects, exchanging the main demands of rail stakeholders, including comments to adapt the Handbook to the requirements of rail companies.

The final Handbook presents a set of guidelines and recommendations according to GRI G4 content and adapted for railway companies, containing the report preparation, the report content and quality, the aspects related to the specific standard disclosures, the supply chain impacts, the strategy and analysis approach, and their subsequent review according to the GRI G4 standard.

The Handbook customises the GRI G4 standard to the specific conditions of the rail sector and provides sustainability managers a tool to implement the new reporting process under the latest and most recognised sustainability reporting methodology.

This adaptation to the concepts in accordance with the GRI G4 standard includes a special focus on materiality, stakeholder involvement and embedded supply chain impacts. In addition, according to the harmonised view of GRI G4 with other standards, the Handbook includes the relation between the rail sector reporting indicators and other international sets of indicators such as the EU Reporting Directive, the UN Global Compact, the ISO 26000:2010 Standard on Social Responsibility, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The report is available at this link: http://www.uic.org/indicators-voluntary-guideline-for-company-reporting

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares-Hernández, Senior Advisor – Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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UIC High-Speed Days held on 14 and 15 February 2019

On 14 and 15 February 2019, the UIC Passenger Department held two “open days” at UIC headquarters dedicated to the topic of High-Speed.

The aim of the event, organised for UIC staff, was to give an overview of the key issues relating to high-speed rail and UIC’s role in this area. Question-and-answer slots were scheduled between each session to give staff the opportunity to discuss the main points and ask questions.

A series of presentations were delivered on this topic by a number of heads of departments and units. In addition, guest speaker Michel Leboeuf, Honorary Chairman of the UIC High-Speed Committee, spoke during the first two morning sessions about the past and future developments of high-speed rail, as well as the challenges to come.

The first morning featured Marc Guigon, Head of the UIC Passenger Department, and Paolo De Cicco, Senior Passenger Advisor, who gave an all-round view of the Passenger (and therefore High-Speed) Department’s activities at UIC.
In the afternoon, Marc Antoni, Head of the UIC Rail System Department, focused on the link between high-speed rail and the more technical aspects of the rail system.

On the second day, the topics of Safety, Security and the Environment were brought together in one session. The speakers were Bernard Penners, Manager of the Safety Unit, Carole Escolan-Zeno, Manager of the Sustainable Development Unit, and Grigore Havarneanu, Senior Security Advisor, who spoke about the main issues and activities in their respective departments and their impact on high-speed rail.

The concluding remarks were given by Mr François Davenne, UIC Deputy Director General, who highlighted rail as the backbone of future mobility and said that rail transport, compared to other modes, was the best in terms of speed, time and energy saving.

Running parallel to the event was an informative 12-poster exhibition on high-speed, open to all staff in the Louis Armand meeting room.

The “open days” event gave UIC staff the chance to listen to speakers from a cross-section of departments, to learn about their work and its impact on high-speed rail, as well as the role UIC fulfils on an international level.

For further information please contact Marc Guigon, Director of the UIC Passenger Department:

guigon at uic.org

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UIC holds Workshop on Standards and Guidelines for Energy Efficiency

On 8 June 2015, the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Experts Network of UIC organised a Workshop on the Implementation of the TecRec 100_001 analysing the best practices, experiences and challenges for the assessment of the energy consumption of new rolling stock during the procurement process.

The workshop was moderated and supported by Roland Nolte, Managing Director of the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin, who participated in relevant rail and UIC related projects, such as EVENT, ARISCC and RailEnergy.

The Technical Recommendation 100_001 “Specification and verification of energy consumption for railway rolling stock” produced by UIC and UNIFE as an output of the RailEnergy Project is a voluntary standard for companies in the rail sector. The general purpose of this TecRec is to provide the framework to generate comparable energy performance values for trains and locomotives on a common basis and thereby support benchmarking and improvement of the energy efficiency of rail vehicles.

On Monday 8 June, more than 10 UIC member companies attended the workshop which took place at UIC Headquarters in Paris. The workshop presented an overview of the TecRec 100_001 and the existing application experiences as a basis for discussing the challenges for a further understanding and deployment of this standard in the rolling stock procurement process.

The participants discussed the challenges for rail companies in using the standard and the long-term advantages for the evaluation of rolling stock and reduction of energy consumption. The case studies from SBB and OBB were analysed in order to identify main procedures, indicators and requirements for the energy evaluation of new rolling stock.

Participants in the workshop exchanged opinions regarding the future worldwide and regional future trends on the topic, including the existing practices in other countries such as Japan. Another topic covered was the actual process of transforming the TecRec/Technical Specification in to the European standard EN 50591. The process has just started and will be continued over the next two years. Railway operators should participate with their energy experts in order to shape and improve the European standard.

As a final output of the workshop, IZT will produce some guidelines for the implementation of the TecRec 100_001 regarding the main requirements of rail companies.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

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UIC hosts second Eco Scoring meeting on 11 February 2019

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, opened the meeting by recalling the global nature of the project reflected through the different countries represented by the attendees (i.e. Canada, Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, Russia).

Mr Loubinoux recalled that in November 2018, it was suggested that UIC should launch an Eco Scoring project. Although some UIC members were already actively working with green funding, it was considered that acting in a collective way as a sector would be a step forward.

Mr Loubinoux expressed his thanks to the attendees for having made themselves available to discuss the next steps and noted that their involvement was the answer that UIC is right and needs to go forward in achieving concrete actions to serve its Member community.

This comes in addition to a number of actions the UIC Sustainability Unit is conducting – the latest one being the recent release of the “The Future of Rail” report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in collaboration with UIC. This document is an invaluable source of statistics, facts and figures, ideas, perspectives and will be distributed to all UIC members.

Coming back to Eco Scoring, that is linked with the work on taxonomy undertaken by the European Commission, the 12 November meeting underlined the need to undertake several actions. Firstly, the need for a guideline to better meet the requirements of the non-financial agencies to enable the rail sector to have better access to socially responsible investments. And secondly, the development of an International Railway Solution, the so-called IRS, to access the green funding world. This IRS will strengthen the rail community and ensure it speaks the same language as the financial institutions.

Doris Chevalier, financial consultant, presented a proposal for methodology and work programme which was discussed by the participants.

After that, Ethem Pekin from CER presented the draft taxonomy document circulated by the Technical Expert Group on Green Finance of the European Commission on which UIC had already given some feedback at a brainstorming meeting on 29 January in Brussels.

In this context, it is worth noting that the EU Commission seems to consider rail transport in a very positive way, which is very encouraging for the group.
Taking into account the global nature of the banking system into consideration, non-European participants were also kindly requested to give their input to ensure that taxonomy can also be applied in an appropriate way in other countries and on other continents.

The meeting gave rise to fruitful discussions, and the participants agreed to continue to collaborate in the Eco Scoring project and to meet on a regular basis under the coordination of UIC in liaison with CER for efficiency and transparency purposes.
The group’s work will be conducted on a step-by-step basis and it is expected that important outputs will be produced by the end of 2019. Intermediate results will be presented at the UIC General Assembly in June 2019.

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Sustainable Development Advisor:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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UIC hosts webinar on 5 February 2021 focusing on Technical Solutions for the Operational Railway

Video

Following the publication of the “Technical Solutions” document in November last year, UIC hosted this online webinar to demonstrate how the development of these solutions are an efficient tool for summarising UIC’s added value across its many areas of activity, including FRMCS, Freight, Passenger, Safety & Security and Sustainable Development.

Attended by around 250 people from UIC member railways, including representatives from ERA, UNIFE and the European Commission, the webinar was opened by UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli and Rail System Director Christian Chavanel, and moderated by Director Europe Simon Fletcher, with the ‘next steps’ delivered by UIC Director General François Davenne.

As the main technical body serving not only railway operators, but the entire community of railway stakeholders, including research centres and universities, UIC is a natural forum for bringing together all stakeholders and for developing collaborative global solutions. As highlighted in the opening words of UIC’s Chairman, Gianluigi Castelli:

The UIC Technical solutions for the operational railway are a tangible demonstration of our will to address the deep changes needed in this new environment, from an operations and technology perspective, at speed and at scale.

From creating new world standards for railways, to proposing new ways to improve multimodality, all while reducing costs and raising market attractiveness, this compendium covers a broad range and provides another important tool for harmonising rail transport and serving our members efficiently.”

Rail System Director Christian Chavanel underlined in his introduction that this webinar reflected UIC’s ambitions to:

  • share practice at European and global level
  • develop technical solutions for the operational railway focusing on UIC’s added value
  • develop collaborative technical solutions with its members and partners
  • accelerate the market uptake of innovative solutions through its ability to disseminate solutions at global level and thanks to its IRSs.

Around 20 presentations delivered by various UIC experts, members and partners showed how the different areas of UIC are working to improve rail transport through standardisation, modal shift, interoperability, sustainability and innovation, giving a clear overview of UIC’s core achievements and developments.

At the end of the webinar, UIC Director General François Davenne highlighted in his closing remarks that although the event focused slightly more on the European side of the railways, these solutions have a very global reach, with UIC’s six regions also playing an important role in this area. These solutions are examples of the results delivered by UIC’s 120 working groups who work on a daily basis to develop technical solutions that meet the operational and commercial needs of end-users and other stakeholders across the entire railway sector.

The Technical Solutions document, together with the UIC Booklet (soon to be re-released), which showcases in detail UIC’s projects, experts and know-how, both highlight the importance of the involvement of UIC’s members in all of UIC’s projects through the various forums and platforms. It is this involvement which further enhances UIC’s reputation as a platform for research, standardisation and promotion of a rail system that is international, interoperable, efficient and that has people at its core, serving a global railway community.

As a reminder, the Technical Solutions document can be found here: https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/20201126_uic_technical_solutions.pdf

For further information please contact Barbara Mouchel, Senior Communications Advisor: mouchel at uic.org

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UIC IEA Railway Handbook 2017 – Focus on Passenger Transport

The 2017 edition of the Railway Handbook on Energy Consumption and CO2 emissions is the sixth publication of this series.

As in previous editions, this handbook aims to provide the latest insights into the rail sector’s developments of transport activity, energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
For Part I, this handbook combines IEA (International Energy Agency) statistics and rail data estimates from the IEA Mobility Model together with UIC statistics and the UIC Environmental Performance Database. Further data, particularly on activity of transport modes other than railway, come from national statistics offices and international organisations (e.g. OECD and Eurostat). These data are supplemented by sector – or region-specific databases such as the High-speed Lines in the World database.

Part I of this handbook presents railway statistics related to the energy and CO2 emission performance of the transport sector.

Globally, rail was responsible for 1.9% of transport final energy demand, and for 4.2% of CO2 emissions from the transport sector in 2015. In comparison, road transport accounts for a 75.3% share of final energy demand, and for 72.6% of CO2 emissions from transport. Rail accounts for a relatively larger share of transport activity demand. In 2015, rail accounted for 6.3% of global passenger transport activity (in passenger-km) and for 6.9% of global freight transport activity (in tonne-km). The difference in magnitude of the share of activity and CO2 emissions can be largely explained by the better energy efficiency (per passenger-km and tonne-km) of the rail sector compared to the road sector. A continued increase of the share of electricity used in the rail sector was observed between 2013 and 2015, as well as an increase of the share of renewables used for electricity generation, which contributes to further improving the CO2 intensity of rail.

Since 1975, a steady improvement of the railway energy intensity has been observed. This development continued for freight rail transport between 2013 and 2015, but in the passenger rail sector a slight worsening of energy intensity was observed in the same period. This is consistent with the unprecedented shift in China from conventional rail to high-speed rail.

Part II of this handbook features an in-depth analysis of passenger rail services, with a focus on urban and high-speed rail.

In 2015, passenger rail transport (including urban rail services) accounted for 9% of global passenger activity (passenger-km). The share of Asia in total passenger rail activity grew significantly over the past decades. Asia accounted for 50% of passenger rail activity in 1985, grew to 60% by 2000, and finally reached 75% in 2015.

In 2015, the passenger rail sector consumed nearly 700 PJ of final energy, which constitutes one-third of the rail sector. Electricity accounts for almost three quarters of passenger rail final energy demand, and this share is increasing. This is consistent with the growth of urban and high-speed rail services, both characterised by a high dependence on electric traction.

High-speed rail activity has grown rapidly especially in recent years, making it the fastest growing passenger rail service. On average, global high-speed rail activity grew by 14% per year between 2005 and 2015. A strong growth is especially observed between 2013 and 2015, when activity increased by nearly 70%. This increase is largely influenced by a surge in activity observed in China where high-speed rail activity grew by 170% between 2013 and 2015.

In the IEA 2°C Scenario [2DS] and Beyond 2°C Scenario [B2DS] (having a 50% chance of limiting global warming to 2°C and 1.75°C respectively) the rail sector plays a key role in reducing CO2 emissions from transport. High-speed rail in particular plays an important role, as large proportions of short haul aviation activity (trips up to 1000 km) are shifted to high-speed rail towards 2060.

The expansion of metro networks and high capacity/high frequency commuter rail networks has significantly increased urban rail activity in recent years. The growth of these systems can largely be attributed to growth observed in China. High-capacity/high frequency rail activity within Chinese cities has grown by 150% between 2005 and 2015.

Both metros and high capacity/high frequency commuter rail have a better specific energy consumption per passenger-kilometre compared to buses, passenger cars, and two-wheelers. High capacity urban rail requires, on average, less than a tenth of the energy needed per kilometre travelled compared with passenger cars. High capacity urban rail is also more than twice as energy-efficient per passenger-km compared with tramways and light rail systems. This is primarily due to the higher occupancy rates, or load factors, of high capacity urban rail.

To achieve CO2 emission reductions in line with 2DS and B2DS trajectories, significant modal shift in urban transport from private vehicles (passenger cars especially) to more efficient public transport modes are also needed. Consequently, the demand for urban rail services is projected to grow by a factor 6 in the 2DS and by a factor 8 in the B2DS between 2015 and 2060.

The UIC Sustainable Development Unit is grateful to the support of UIC members and their annual contributions to UIC Statistics and to the Environmental Strategy Reporting System (ESRS) of UIC. The direct data collection from railways covers over 90% of the global rail transport activity, and the incorporation of this information into the IEA Mobility Model has increased the consistency of the data, providing a more solid background for the analysis presented in this publication and into the Mobility Model of the IEA.

The production of the Railway Handbook 2017 has been a good opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the IEA and UIC. This relationship has served to enrich and improve the knowledge of activity, energy and emissions data associated with the railway sector.

The previous editions of the Handbook are freely available from the UIC website.

The publication is available here:

https://uic.org/uic-iea-railway-handbook

For more information contact Andrea Braschi, Environment Advisor:

braschi at uic.org

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UIC in Bonn for UN Climate Change Conference

On Tuesday, 1 May 2018 from 16:45-18:15 at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, UIC, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) co-hosted a side-event in the frame of the UN Climate Change Conference.

The event highlighted how the Global Climate Action (GCA) - transport initiatives, are delivering action on the ground and developing strategies that will help scale up national ambition which can help trigger widespread action to decarbonise land transport. Speakers included representatives from transport initiatives and leading international organisations involved in low carbon transport responsible for implementing activities in the transport sector.

The event was moderated by Urda Eichhorst, Advisor Transport and Climate Change at the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). Ms Eichhorst reviewed the context of the transport climate policy as an introduction. She reiterated that the minus 2°C scenario requires large emission reductions from transport. In 2015, transport emitted 24.7% of energy-related emission or 18% of total man-made emissions. Ms Eichhorst emphasised that to achieve the Paris Agreement goal (1.5 C° degree scenario), transport greenhouse gases emissions must be reduced to around 2 gigatonnes by 2050 (SLoCaT analysis).

Following the introduction, it was an honour to give the floor to Tomasz Chruszczow, Special Envoy For Climate Change and High Level Champion. Mr Chruszczow provided his thoughts on the Marrakech partnership. Mr Chruszczow acknowledged the organisation of such a side event by key stakeholders of the Marrakech Partnership, representing the transport sector. “Their value will be invaluable” to the discussions said the Climate Envoy. He emphasised the increased environmental impact of transport and the urge for change, for immediate actions and to support the overachievements of National Determined Contributions. Mr Chruszczow added that transport will help to transform cities, to transform our habits and how we plan our lives. Under the Marrakech Partnership, transport can establish links, promote solutions and reach out to governments to convince them to start acting immediately. And the Talanoa Dialogue is a way to tell the stories and inspire many other stakeholders.

Mark Major, Senior Advisor at the Sustainable Low Carbon Transport Partnership presented the Global Climate Action Agenda on transport. Conclusions were that it is important to overarching priorities for transport related initiatives to strengthen their impact on the ground impact and give them greater access to policy makers and predictable, short-, and medium-term funding. Moreover, to make “global” climate action truly global – Parties need to take action to facilitate expansion of the Marrakech Partnership for Global. Climate Action transport initiatives to key low and middle income countries. Parties also need to take advantage of the knowledge, experience and resources available through the transport Initiatives on decarbonisation and adaptation. The practical experience, knowledge and tools of the transport initiatives can make a major contribution to reducing the cost and accelerating transport emissions reduction and strengthening resilience.

Mark Major also presented UITP commitments on their behalf. UITP launched the declaration on climate leadership. The declaration consists in several key points: double the market share of public transport by 2025, commitment to support cities and governments by building capacity and commitment to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. There are currently 350 climate projects pledged in 80 cities. For examples, Munich’s bike sharing scheme opened in November 2016. Up to 1,000 bikes are registered each day and contributes to a reduction of 308 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainability Unit at UIC gave a presentation focusing on sustainable railway passenger transport. Rail is the most energy efficient passenger transport mode per kilometre and requires less than 1/10th of energy needed to move an individual by car or by airplane. Despite accounting for 9% of the global passenger activity (per km) in 2015, it only represents 1% of the final energy demand in passenger transport. We note that in 2015, around 75% of the passenger rail activity in the world took place in Asia, a key geographical zone for the rail industry. Mrs Escolan-Zeno added that UIC Members work together towards making railway the backbone of sustainable transport and to develop rail transport to meet the needs of sustainable mobility.

Sander Chan, Senior Researcher at the German Development Institute offered a demonstration based on the Talanoa Dialogue questions: where are we, where do we want to go, and, how do we get there? The presentation focused on how maximising the impact of Global Climate Action for transport in the climate process. Mr Chan stressed the importance of transforming transport and how we are at a critical juncture now especially in developing countries where demand is increasing and that we need to mobilise in countries where action should take place and not just have North based initiatives and partnerships. One other topic advanced by Mr Chan was that transformation is required as well in behaviours and consumption.

The event concluded with a collective understanding of the importance of bringing together all modes of transport as well as other sectors and making sure that the Paris agreement recognises the role of non-state actors and that providing solutions for a quicker and easier sustainable transport solutions is needed. In the words of Mr Chan, we need to figure out how to bring the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action home

UIC would like to thank the co-hosts of the event, SLoCaT and UITP, as well as the active participation of GIZ, the German Development Institute and the High Level Champion and its team. This event was a notable example of how the transport sector actors work together for a more sustainable future.

Please watch the side event online in replay at this link: https://bit.ly/2r9xiBj

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development and UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

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UIC in Vatican City, 10 – 11 September 2015

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, attended the international meeting: Environmental Justice and Climate Change organised by the Fondazione per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (Sustainable Development Foundation).

Taking place in Vatican City, this event brought together hundreds of participants and an impressive panel of speakers on 10 and 11 September.

10 September

http://www.versoparigi2015.it/en/the-program: “Challenging the climate crisis and fostering environmental justice: an environmentally friendly, more equitable and inclusive development and well-being.”
With the presence of the Environment Minister of Italy.

11 September

Panel session with among others Nicolas Hulot, representing the French government as well as international institutions such as UNEP, represented by Achim Steiner and with which UIC is working closely in the frame of the “Train to Paris” Campaign.

Around 11am, a selected number of participants walked to the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace for an audience with the Holy Father Pope Francis dedicated to the climate crisis. Pope Francis is pursuing his commitment to protecting the environment, after publishing his encyclical on 18 June 2015 and the creation of the prayer day for nature on the 1 September every year.

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UIC invites the global railway community to attend a two-day webinar on railway noise in February 2021

Is the railway a good neighbour?

Transport noise is one of the main sources of environmental noise. It is essential that our railways increase capacity to provide sustainable mobility; however, this brings with it a risk of increased rail-related noise and vibration emissions, as well as increased impact on local residents. Although the "quieter routes” concept of the revised TSI Noise will enter into force at the end of 2024, many railway noise and vibration issues remain unresolved: how will the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and European Environment Agency (EEA) report on environmental noise inform noise policy? Will the issue of braking in winter conditions in Nordic countries be resolved? What is the current status of the bans on loud vehicles in Germany and Switzerland? What is the future of noise-differentiated track access charging? How is railway noise related to other environmental issues?

These are the types of questions that will be addressed at the first of the UIC Railway Noise Days, to be held on 23 February 2021. This workshop will take the form of a half-day webinar, and is being organised by the Noise and Vibration Sector.

The workshop will provide an update on the most important issues and developments in the field of railway noise, as well as an opportunity to discuss these with the relevant stakeholders. Participants will hear from speakers representing the European Commission (DG MOVE and DG ENV), CER, UIC and the EEA. In addition, UIC will present its latest state of the art report on railway noise in Europe.
Participants will have the opportunity to pose questions directly to these stakeholders and to discuss current issues.

On the second day, 24 February, The Train-Track Interaction Sector (TTI) within the UIC Rail System Department will conduct a half-day webinar.

Noise and vibration caused by the interaction between the train and the track remains an important issue for the railway sector as a whole. Furthermore, there is now greater insight into the effects of noise and vibration emissions on local residents and growing pressure on railway undertakings and infrastructure managers to keep reducing emission levels wherever feasible.

The TTI Sector has set out to address these concerns and provide roadmaps on this topic with a view to offering new solutions. The White Paper on Acoustics published in 2020 reflects the current situation and main issues and provides information on proposals for technical projects to conduct research and devise solutions for infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.

The field of acoustics presents significant challenges to global railway development. Efforts need to be made to support the proposals put forward in the White Paper in order to prepare operational and technical subsystems (comprising both infrastructure and rolling stock) for the new acoustics requirements in line with the European Commission’s existing vision for the future of the railways.

Webinar attendance is free of charge.

To register, please complete and submit the online form before 22 January 2021:
https://uic.org/events/uic-railway-noise-days

Confirmation will be sent following registration. Participation may be limited if the number of registrations received exceeds the available capacity.

UIC is looking forward to seeing a large number of participants at the UIC Railway Noise Days in February.

For further information please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor for the Noise and Vibration Sector: yilmazer at uic.org

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UIC IRS 90930-90940 Stakeholder Workshops held on 5 and 6 November 2018

On 5 and 6 November 2018, UIC hosted two stakeholder workshops dedicated to the International Railway Solutions (IRS) currently being developed at its headquarters in Paris. The purpose of the workshops was to present and discuss the structure and high-level content of the work being performed with all stakeholders. Both IRSs deal with matters relating to energy consumption and energy efficiency.

The stakeholder workshops were essential to collect valuable feedback from all parties. The working groups will now analyse all of the comments and questions received and will take them into account for the development of the IRS documents. Final publication of both documents is expected in early 2020.

5 November 2018, 11:00-17:00 – IRS 90940 (SFERA Project: Communication with Driver Advisory Systems)
IRS 90940 aims to facilitate the use of DAS for international traffic by standardising data exchange between on-board systems and traffic management systems (TMS).
The stakeholders involved (e.g. RUs, IMs, DAS and rolling stock manufacturers) were given an overview of the ongoing work on the IRSs. They were then given the opportunity to explore the various aspects of the solution by means of seven posters displayed during the event and were invited to give their feedback. At the subsequent plenary session, the crucial points of IRS development were discussed and responses offered to some of the observations that had been made.
The material shared during this event is now available at the following page: https://events.uic.org/uic-stakeholder-workshop-irs-90940

6 November 2018, 09:00-15:00 – IRS 90930 (Traction Energy Settlement and Data Exchange)
IRS 90930 will replace UIC Leaflet 930. The purpose of the new document is to outline a common European approach to energy use in trains and locomotives by defining roles, processes and requirements for all parties involved (infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, etc.).

Following an introductory session on the general regulatory framework and the contents of the IRS, the stakeholders (RUs, IMs, energy suppliers, traction unit owners, etc.) were split into groups and took turns to discuss the main topics of the ongoing work alongside the working group members with the aid of five posters. This was followed by a round-table session in which the attendees discussed various aspects relating to the IRSs, as well as a final Q&A session.

The posters and round-table discussions helped the working group to understand the aspects of the work that need to be developed further.

The format of both workshops was intended to be interactive and to facilitate free discussion in order to take the needs of as many participants as possible into account for the upcoming finalisation of the new IRSs.

The workshops proved to be rewarding both for the attendees and hosts and provided excellent questions and feedback on the topics discussed.

For any questions related to these events, please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

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UIC IRS 90930-90940 Stakeholder Workshops to be held on 5 and 6 November 2018 at Paris UIC headquarters

On 5 and 6 November 2018, UIC will host at its headquarters in Paris two stakeholder workshops dedicated to International Railway Solutions (IRS) currently in development. The aim is to present and discuss with all stakeholders the structure and high-level content of the work that is being done. Both IRSs deal with matters related to energy consumption and energy efficiency.

5 November 2018, 11:00-17:00 – IRS 90940 (SFERA Project: Communication with Driver Advisory Systems)

The adoption of Driver Advisory Systems (DAS) throughout Europe is increasing. DAS can significantly improve the energy efficiency of traction: Connected-DAS (C-DAS) in particular – i.e. DAS connected to Traffic Management Systems – can give the most benefits.

IRS 90940 aims to facilitate the use of DAS for international traffic by standardising the data exchange between on-board systems and Traffic Management Systems (TMS). The scope includes both ERTMS/ETCS Limited Supervision and Class B train protection systems. The format is also useful for Standalone DAS (S-DAS) by standardising data interfaces between Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings. It will also be possible to express ATO over ERTMS messages (Subset-126) in SFERA format.

The interested stakeholders (e.g. RUs, IMs, DAS and rolling stock manufacturers) can register here:

https://events.uic.org/uic-stakeholder-workshop-irs-90940

6 November 2018, 09:00-15:00 – IRS 90930 (Traction Energy Settlement and Data Exchange)

IRS 90930 will be replacing most of UIC Leaflet 930. The work intends to outline a common European way of settling the energy use of trains and locomotives, by defining roles, processes and requirements for all parties involved (Infrastructure Managers, Railway Undertakings, etc.). It includes commercial and technical requirements, recommendations and common solutions, and specifies requirements for the exchange of data and information between the parties and their systems.
This IRS is being developed in line with the latest relevant European regulations and standards: new amendments to EU Regulations 1301/2014 and 1302/2014, TSI Rolling Stock and Energy, CENELEC standard EN 50463 “Energy Measurement on Trains”.

The interested stakeholders (e.g. RUs, IMs, energy suppliers, traction unit owners) can register here:

https://events.uic.org/uic-stakeholder-workshop-irs-90930

For further information please contact Philippe Stefanos, Eco-Scoring Advisor Sustainable Development Unit:

stefanos at uic.org

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UIC is organising a workshop to discuss the KPIs for its Ecoscoring tool between early April and end of May at its headquarters in Paris

To build its Ecoscoring tool – intended as an assessment tool to help the Rail Community accessing sustainable finance– UIC is inviting its Members to get together in order to discuss the tool’s environmental, societal and governance KPIs, related to the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the corresponding calculation methodologies at a workshop to be held between early April 2020 and end of May 2020 in UIC Headquarters

In January 2019, at the initiative of UIC Chairman and the endorsement of the UIC General Management, UIC kicked-off the Ecoscoring project. Aimed not only at easing access to sustainable finance and green bonds but mainly also at defining a rating system and a supportive tool based on the Sustainable Development Goals, Ecoscoring will help railways in positioning themselves as green and low carbon transport modes by rating their environmental, societal and governance performances. In this framework, UIC has been working in synergy with CER to provide inputs to the EU taxonomy as sustainable finance is high on the EU agenda.

After a kick-off meeting held on 12 November 2019, UIC and a group of interested and motivated members have decided to work on the Ecoscoring tool. The idea was to develop a tool to allow each railway operating company or infrastructure manager to assess their environmental, societal, governance performance against the targets of the sustainable development tools developed by the UN, on a voluntary basis and tailored to the needs of the sector.

The team started the screening of the SDGs and shortlisted a series of targets and their corresponding indicators that constituted in their opinion a common ground on which all railway stakeholders would agree. Also, it as greed that an appropriate weighting will have to be applied to each indicator to ensure the scoring’s accuracy and legitimacy.

Entering now its development phase, the Ecoscoring Tool is expected to be delivered at end November 2020 for the UIC general Assembly of December 2020.
However, to reach a UIC-wide consensus, the list of indicators to be used to generate the scorings now needs to be submitted to and approved by, a larger and more representative panel of UIC members and railway stakeholders.
A technical discussion will therefore take place at a one-day face-to-face meeting to be held between early April and end of May 2020 at UIC Headquarters.

This will be the opportunity for you to become familiar with the underlying principles of UIC Ecoscoring tool, which is also intrinsically aimed at identifying and advising on opportunities for improvements for rail stakeholders, at company (and possibly also at project) level. This event will allow you to have a say in the selection of KPIs in order to tailor the tool to measure to the current needs of the railway sector.

If you or your colleagues are interested in making a difference to rail by contributing to the tool, taking part in this important workshop and receiving an invitation to attend, please kindly contact Isabelle De Keyzer Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development, coordinator of the Ecoscoring project:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is organising a workshop to discuss the KPIs for its Ecoscoring tool between early April and end of May at its headquarters in Paris

]

To build its Ecoscoring tool – intended as an assessment tool to help the Rail Community accessing sustainable finance– UIC is inviting its Members to get together in order to discuss the tool’s environmental, societal and governance KPIs, related to the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the corresponding calculation methodologies at a workshop to be held between early April 2020 and end of May 2020 in UIC Headquarters

In January 2019, at the initiative of UIC Chairman and the endorsement of the UIC General Management, UIC kicked-off the Ecoscoring project. Aimed not only at easing access to sustainable finance and green bonds but mainly also at defining a rating system and a supportive tool based on the Sustainable Development Goals, Ecoscoring will help railways in positioning themselves as green and low carbon transport modes by rating their environmental, societal and governance performances. In this framework, UIC has been working in synergy with CER to provide inputs to the EU taxonomy as sustainable finance is high on the EU agenda.

After a kick-off meeting held on 12 November 2019, UIC and a group of interested and motivated members have decided to work on the Ecoscoring tool. The idea was to develop a tool to allow each railway operating company or infrastructure manager to assess their environmental, societal, governance performance against the targets of the sustainable development tools developed by the UN, on a voluntary basis and tailored to the needs of the sector.

The team started the screening of the SDGs and shortlisted a series of targets and their corresponding indicators that constituted in their opinion a common ground on which all railway stakeholders would agree. Also, it as greed that an appropriate weighting will have to be applied to each indicator to ensure the scoring’s accuracy and legitimacy.

Entering now its development phase, the Ecoscoring Tool is expected to be delivered at end November 2020 for the UIC general Assembly of December 2020.
However, to reach a UIC-wide consensus, the list of indicators to be used to generate the scorings now needs to be submitted to and approved by, a larger and more representative panel of UIC members and railway stakeholders.
A technical discussion will therefore take place at a one-day face-to-face meeting to be held between early April and end of May 2020 at UIC Headquarters.

This will be the opportunity for you to become familiar with the underlying principles of UIC Ecoscoring tool, which is also intrinsically aimed at identifying and advising on opportunities for improvements for rail stakeholders, at company (and possibly also at project) level. This event will allow you to have a say in the selection of KPIs in order to tailor the tool to measure to the current needs of the railway sector.

If you or your colleagues are interested in making a difference to rail by contributing to the tool, taking part in this important workshop and receiving an invitation to attend, please kindly contact Isabelle De Keyzer Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development, coordinator of the Ecoscoring project:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is organising a workshop to discuss the KPIs for its Ecoscoring tool between early April and end of May at its headquarters in Paris

]

To build its Ecoscoring tool – intended as an assessment tool to help the Rail Community accessing sustainable finance– UIC is inviting its Members to get together in order to discuss the tool’s environmental, societal and governance KPIs, related to the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the corresponding calculation methodologies at a workshop to be held between early April 2020 and end of May 2020 in UIC Headquarters

In January 2019, at the initiative of UIC Chairman and the endorsement of the UIC General Management, UIC kicked-off the Ecoscoring project. Aimed not only at easing access to sustainable finance and green bonds but mainly also at defining a rating system and a supportive tool based on the Sustainable Development Goals, Ecoscoring will help railways in positioning themselves as green and low carbon transport modes by rating their environmental, societal and governance performances. In this framework, UIC has been working in synergy with CER to provide inputs to the EU taxonomy as sustainable finance is high on the EU agenda.

After a kick-off meeting held on 12 November 2019, UIC and a group of interested and motivated members have decided to work on the Ecoscoring tool. The idea was to develop a tool to allow each railway operating company or infrastructure manager to assess their environmental, societal, governance performance against the targets of the sustainable development tools developed by the UN, on a voluntary basis and tailored to the needs of the sector.

The team started the screening of the SDGs and shortlisted a series of targets and their corresponding indicators that constituted in their opinion a common ground on which all railway stakeholders would agree. Also, it as greed that an appropriate weighting will have to be applied to each indicator to ensure the scoring’s accuracy and legitimacy.

Entering now its development phase, the Ecoscoring Tool is expected to be delivered at end November 2020 for the UIC general Assembly of December 2020.
However, to reach a UIC-wide consensus, the list of indicators to be used to generate the scorings now needs to be submitted to and approved by, a larger and more representative panel of UIC members and railway stakeholders.
A technical discussion will therefore take place at a one-day face-to-face meeting to be held between early April and end of May 2020 at UIC Headquarters.

This will be the opportunity for you to become familiar with the underlying principles of UIC Ecoscoring tool, which is also intrinsically aimed at identifying and advising on opportunities for improvements for rail stakeholders, at company (and possibly also at project) level. This event will allow you to have a say in the selection of KPIs in order to tailor the tool to measure to the current needs of the railway sector.

If you or your colleagues are interested in making a difference to rail by contributing to the tool, taking part in this important workshop and receiving an invitation to attend, please kindly contact Isabelle De Keyzer Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development, coordinator of the Ecoscoring project:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is organising a workshop to discuss the KPIs for its Ecoscoring tool between early April and end of May at its headquarters in Paris

]

To build its Ecoscoring tool – intended as an assessment tool to help the Rail Community accessing sustainable finance– UIC is inviting its Members to get together in order to discuss the tool’s environmental, societal and governance KPIs, related to the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the corresponding calculation methodologies at a workshop to be held between early April 2020 and end of May 2020 in UIC Headquarters

In January 2019, at the initiative of UIC Chairman and the endorsement of the UIC General Management, UIC kicked-off the Ecoscoring project. Aimed not only at easing access to sustainable finance and green bonds but mainly also at defining a rating system and a supportive tool based on the Sustainable Development Goals, Ecoscoring will help railways in positioning themselves as green and low carbon transport modes by rating their environmental, societal and governance performances. In this framework, UIC has been working in synergy with CER to provide inputs to the EU taxonomy as sustainable finance is high on the EU agenda.

After a kick-off meeting held on 12 November 2019, UIC and a group of interested and motivated members have decided to work on the Ecoscoring tool. The idea was to develop a tool to allow each railway operating company or infrastructure manager to assess their environmental, societal, governance performance against the targets of the sustainable development tools developed by the UN, on a voluntary basis and tailored to the needs of the sector.

The team started the screening of the SDGs and shortlisted a series of targets and their corresponding indicators that constituted in their opinion a common ground on which all railway stakeholders would agree. Also, it as greed that an appropriate weighting will have to be applied to each indicator to ensure the scoring’s accuracy and legitimacy.

Entering now its development phase, the Ecoscoring Tool is expected to be delivered at end November 2020 for the UIC general Assembly of December 2020.
However, to reach a UIC-wide consensus, the list of indicators to be used to generate the scorings now needs to be submitted to and approved by, a larger and more representative panel of UIC members and railway stakeholders.
A technical discussion will therefore take place at a one-day face-to-face meeting to be held between early April and end of May 2020 at UIC Headquarters.

This will be the opportunity for you to become familiar with the underlying principles of UIC Ecoscoring tool, which is also intrinsically aimed at identifying and advising on opportunities for improvements for rail stakeholders, at company (and possibly also at project) level. This event will allow you to have a say in the selection of KPIs in order to tailor the tool to measure to the current needs of the railway sector.

If you or your colleagues are interested in making a difference to rail by contributing to the tool, taking part in this important workshop and receiving an invitation to attend, please kindly contact Isabelle De Keyzer Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development, coordinator of the Ecoscoring project:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is organising a workshop to discuss the KPIs for its Ecoscoring tool between early April and end of May at its headquarters in Paris

]

To build its Ecoscoring tool – intended as an assessment tool to help the Rail Community accessing sustainable finance– UIC is inviting its Members to get together in order to discuss the tool’s environmental, societal and governance KPIs, related to the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the corresponding calculation methodologies at a workshop to be held between early April 2020 and end of May 2020 in UIC Headquarters

In January 2019, at the initiative of UIC Chairman and the endorsement of the UIC General Management, UIC kicked-off the Ecoscoring project. Aimed not only at easing access to sustainable finance and green bonds but mainly also at defining a rating system and a supportive tool based on the Sustainable Development Goals, Ecoscoring will help railways in positioning themselves as green and low carbon transport modes by rating their environmental, societal and governance performances. In this framework, UIC has been working in synergy with CER to provide inputs to the EU taxonomy as sustainable finance is high on the EU agenda.

After a kick-off meeting held on 12 November 2019, UIC and a group of interested and motivated members have decided to work on the Ecoscoring tool. The idea was to develop a tool to allow each railway operating company or infrastructure manager to assess their environmental, societal, governance performance against the targets of the sustainable development tools developed by the UN, on a voluntary basis and tailored to the needs of the sector.

The team started the screening of the SDGs and shortlisted a series of targets and their corresponding indicators that constituted in their opinion a common ground on which all railway stakeholders would agree. Also, it as greed that an appropriate weighting will have to be applied to each indicator to ensure the scoring’s accuracy and legitimacy.

Entering now its development phase, the Ecoscoring Tool is expected to be delivered at end November 2020 for the UIC general Assembly of December 2020.
However, to reach a UIC-wide consensus, the list of indicators to be used to generate the scorings now needs to be submitted to and approved by, a larger and more representative panel of UIC members and railway stakeholders.
A technical discussion will therefore take place at a one-day face-to-face meeting to be held between early April and end of May 2020 at UIC Headquarters.

This will be the opportunity for you to become familiar with the underlying principles of UIC Ecoscoring tool, which is also intrinsically aimed at identifying and advising on opportunities for improvements for rail stakeholders, at company (and possibly also at project) level. This event will allow you to have a say in the selection of KPIs in order to tailor the tool to measure to the current needs of the railway sector.

If you or your colleagues are interested in making a difference to rail by contributing to the tool, taking part in this important workshop and receiving an invitation to attend, please kindly contact Isabelle De Keyzer Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development, coordinator of the Ecoscoring project:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 24th Conference of the Parties – COP – in Katowice, Poland

UIC is participating in the 24th Conference of the Parties – COP – in Katowice, Poland. The Conference of the Parties will take place from 2 – 14 December. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as COP.

A UIC delegation will join events from 6 – 8 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

Prior to COP, UIC has contributed to the Talanoa Dialogue. An outcome of COP23, the Talanoa Dialogue gathers input from countries, NGOs and so on displaying and detailing their commitments to keep in line with the goal of the Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UIC organised an event recognised as actively contributing to the Talanoa Dialogue: the first UIC workshop on sustainable door-to-door solutions in Warsaw on 14 November 2018.

For COP24, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, acknowledged the signature of this partnership:

UIC will be present at Katowice for COP24. This will be an opportunity to highlight the role that railways can play in the sustainable development of modern societies. Since COP21 and the pledge made by all the members of our association, a great many actions have been implemented to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Participating in Katowice will also help pool our efforts with our UNFCCC partners, with UITP for urban mobility and with SLoCaT.

On 6 December UIC will actively contribute to the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised by CIVITAS – Cleaner and Better Transport in Cities and PPMC – Paris Process on Mobility and Climate. On that day UIC will co-organise a break-out session on adaptation to climate change with the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) and Mr John Dora Consulting Ltd, advisor on resilience to weather and climate change. The full programme can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2018/

On 7 December, UIC will participate in a UNFCCC Facebook Live video along with UITP in the morning and in the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the afternoon of the 7th from 3 to 6pm. Following this UIC is co-hosting an official side-event with the International Transport Forum – ITF and UITP, from 6.30 to 8pm in room 5 at COP. The focus of the event will be on decarbonising transport.

Find out more about COP24 on the dedicated website:

http://www.cop24.katowice.eu/ and on the UNFCCC website: https://unfccc.int/

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

The Conference of the Parties will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.

A selected UIC delegation will join events from 2 – 7 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders. For COP25, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in the sustainable development transport. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP - International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here: http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

The Conference of the Parties is taking place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A selected UIC delegation is joining the events from 2 – 7 December and will promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 2 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

On 3 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone.

On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website: https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties is taking place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A selected UIC delegation is joining the events from 2 – 7 December and will promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 2 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

On 3 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone.

On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website: https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.

A selected UIC delegation will join events from 2 – 7 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders. For COP25, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in the sustainable development transport. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP - International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here: http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties is taking place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A selected UIC delegation is joining the events from 2 – 7 December and will promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 2 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

On 3 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone.

On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website: https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.

A selected UIC delegation will join events from 2 – 7 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders. For COP25, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in the sustainable development transport. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP - International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here: http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties is taking place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A selected UIC delegation is joining the events from 2 – 7 December and will promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 2 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

On 3 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone.

On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website: https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.

A selected UIC delegation will join events from 2 – 7 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders. For COP25, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in the sustainable development transport. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP - International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here: http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties is taking place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A selected UIC delegation is joining the events from 2 – 7 December and will promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 2 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

On 3 December, UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone.

On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website: https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is participating in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and is held with logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as the COP.

A selected UIC delegation will join events from 2 – 7 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change. This will be an occasion to promote UIC activities and partnerships with other key transport stakeholders. For COP25, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

UIC commitments
COP25 will be an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in the sustainable development transport. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions" or NDC) submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

UIC is going one step further and launching an update to the sector’s commitment.
UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050). UIC also goes one step further by announcing its willingness to support SDGs and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.

All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and the support to SDGs through a signed declaration that could be presented at COP25.
The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge https://uic.org/sustainable-development/energy-and-co2-emissions/railway-climate-responsibility-pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.

COP25 Programme
On 4 December UIC will co-host an event with UITP - International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session will focus on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour. Speakers representing a range of sectors will share their vision on effective climate mitigation actions for transport in cities and ways to scale up different initiatives. The event will take place as follows: 16:45 - 18:15 Room 1 (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid.

On 6 December UIC will attend the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised in the COP Chilean Pavilion from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm (Blue Zone) at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. The event will be segmented in three sessions: segment 1 on increasing transport ambition to bridge the mitigation gap, segment 2 will be about removing barriers for implementation and scaling up low carbon, sustainable, resilient transport, and finally segment 3 will be about what the transport sector needs to deliver in 2020 for COP26. More information can be found here: http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2019

On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

Find out more about COP25 on the dedicated website https://www.cop25.cl/#/ and on the UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int/.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is pleased to announce its new Sustainability Platform Chair: Christine Vanoppen, Reputation, Environment & Governance Manager at Lineas

Christine holds a master’s degree in economics and an MBA from Henley Business School. She began her career with Ernst & Young, gaining experience on international assignments in both audit and management consulting. In 2000, she joined Belgium’s third largest mobile operator as a startup, with management responsibility for the regulated services department and an advisory role to top management on regulatory economics-related topics. She joined Lineas, the privatised international rail freight operator with roots in Belgium, four years ago. Christine is currently working for the Public Affairs Department at Lineas, where her responsibilities include environmental and social sustainability management.

“I consider it an honour to take on the role of Sustainability Platform Chair. In this important Year of Rail, I see ample opportunity to further advance the Sustainability Platform’s mission”, Christine said.

UIC’s Head of Sustainability, Lucie Anderton, said “Coming from a freight company such as Lineas, with sustainability so integral to its business strategy, Christine will bring an exciting new energy to the mission of the Sustainability Platform in a highly positive and diverse way. She will bring her experience in Lineas and her knowledge routed in economics to inspire all the members of the Sustainability Platform”.

See the full article

UIC is proud to present the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control

The strategy on the future of vegetation control has been released under the supervision of the Sustainable Land Use Network (SLU), which is part of the UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform.

As project coordinator, UIC has been collaborating with IZT (Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment) to study a transition strategy from a single method-based concept (i.e. spraying of conventional chemical herbicides) to an integrated, flexible, multi-method-based herbicide-free approach. Moreover, UIC SLU Network has been facilitating knowledge exchange on best practice for vegetation management topics for railways since 2017.

Since the start of the TRISTRAM project in 2019, the SLU Network, as part of its collaboration with IZT, has just published a Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control. This publication highlights the key information on the future of integrated vegetation control for the European Railways.

The railway stakeholders and infrastructure managers have been pioneering actors in the field of land use management. The objective of the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is therefore to promote innovation and develop activities of common interest in the field of vegetation control without conventional chemical herbicides.

This strategy paper intends to help railway stakeholders to understand and evaluate the interplay between strategic plans and their practical implementation.

The main subjects addressed in this publication concern:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standardisation
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • IT tools

The UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is henceforth available on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Network webpage:
https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please visit https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is proud to present the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control

]

The strategy on the future of vegetation control has been released under the supervision of the Sustainable Land Use Network (SLU), which is part of the UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform.

As project coordinator, UIC has been collaborating with IZT (Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment) to study a transition strategy from a single method-based concept (i.e. spraying of conventional chemical herbicides) to an integrated, flexible, multi-method-based herbicide-free approach. Moreover, UIC SLU Network has been facilitating knowledge exchange on best practice for vegetation management topics for railways since 2017.

Since the start of the TRISTRAM project in 2019, the SLU Network, as part of its collaboration with IZT, has just published a Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control. This publication highlights the key information on the future of integrated vegetation control for the European Railways.

The railway stakeholders and infrastructure managers have been pioneering actors in the field of land use management. The objective of the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is therefore to promote innovation and develop activities of common interest in the field of vegetation control without conventional chemical herbicides.

This strategy paper intends to help railway stakeholders to understand and evaluate the interplay between strategic plans and their practical implementation.

The main subjects addressed in this publication concern:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standardisation
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • IT tools

The UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is henceforth available on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Network webpage:
https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please visit https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is proud to present the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control

]

The strategy on the future of vegetation control has been released under the supervision of the Sustainable Land Use Network (SLU), which is part of the UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform.

As project coordinator, UIC has been collaborating with IZT (Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment) to study a transition strategy from a single method-based concept (i.e. spraying of conventional chemical herbicides) to an integrated, flexible, multi-method-based herbicide-free approach. Moreover, UIC SLU Network has been facilitating knowledge exchange on best practice for vegetation management topics for railways since 2017.

Since the start of the TRISTRAM project in 2019, the SLU Network, as part of its collaboration with IZT, has just published a Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control. This publication highlights the key information on the future of integrated vegetation control for the European Railways.

The railway stakeholders and infrastructure managers have been pioneering actors in the field of land use management. The objective of the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is therefore to promote innovation and develop activities of common interest in the field of vegetation control without conventional chemical herbicides.

This strategy paper intends to help railway stakeholders to understand and evaluate the interplay between strategic plans and their practical implementation.

The main subjects addressed in this publication concern:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standardisation
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • IT tools

The UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is henceforth available on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Network webpage:
https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please visit https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is proud to present the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control

]

The strategy on the future of vegetation control has been released under the supervision of the Sustainable Land Use Network (SLU), which is part of the UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform.

As project coordinator, UIC has been collaborating with IZT (Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment) to study a transition strategy from a single method-based concept (i.e. spraying of conventional chemical herbicides) to an integrated, flexible, multi-method-based herbicide-free approach. Moreover, UIC SLU Network has been facilitating knowledge exchange on best practice for vegetation management topics for railways since 2017.

Since the start of the TRISTRAM project in 2019, the SLU Network, as part of its collaboration with IZT, has just published a Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control. This publication highlights the key information on the future of integrated vegetation control for the European Railways.

The railway stakeholders and infrastructure managers have been pioneering actors in the field of land use management. The objective of the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is therefore to promote innovation and develop activities of common interest in the field of vegetation control without conventional chemical herbicides.

This strategy paper intends to help railway stakeholders to understand and evaluate the interplay between strategic plans and their practical implementation.

The main subjects addressed in this publication concern:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standardisation
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • IT tools

The UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is henceforth available on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Network webpage:
https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please visit https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC is proud to present the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control

]

The strategy on the future of vegetation control has been released under the supervision of the Sustainable Land Use Network (SLU), which is part of the UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform.

As project coordinator, UIC has been collaborating with IZT (Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment) to study a transition strategy from a single method-based concept (i.e. spraying of conventional chemical herbicides) to an integrated, flexible, multi-method-based herbicide-free approach. Moreover, UIC SLU Network has been facilitating knowledge exchange on best practice for vegetation management topics for railways since 2017.

Since the start of the TRISTRAM project in 2019, the SLU Network, as part of its collaboration with IZT, has just published a Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control. This publication highlights the key information on the future of integrated vegetation control for the European Railways.

The railway stakeholders and infrastructure managers have been pioneering actors in the field of land use management. The objective of the UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is therefore to promote innovation and develop activities of common interest in the field of vegetation control without conventional chemical herbicides.

This strategy paper intends to help railway stakeholders to understand and evaluate the interplay between strategic plans and their practical implementation.

The main subjects addressed in this publication concern:

  • Optimisation of herbicide use
  • Alternative methods
  • Standardisation
  • New contracts
  • Application technologies
  • IT tools

The UIC Strategy on the Future of Vegetation Control is henceforth available on the UIC Sustainable Land Use Network webpage:
https://uic.org/sustainable-development/environment/sustainable-land-use

If you wish to participate in the TRISTRAM project please visit https://uic.org/events/tristram-knowledge-exchange

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Noise and Vibration Network: state-of-the-art report for the management of railway noise in Europe

The European Commission launched its Green Deal to protect the environment and increase human well-being. According to the document, the European Union will have to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. Regarding mobility, this requires cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of transport. Both at EU level as well as at national levels railways are being promoted as an environmentally sound means of transport. In this respect, the Green Deal offers great opportunities for railway traffic which is proven to have a positive effect on air quality and CO2.

Although the effect of railway noise on the human health has drawn a lot of attention, keeping the railways competitive also has a greater societal benefit with regard to measures to counteract climate change. Since the publication of the WHO’s “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” in 2018, members of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) published a noise flyer https://bit.ly/2TcScfZ
to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

As a result of the growth of traffic and the increased use of railway lines, it is necessary to study and to reduce the emission of noise and vibrations from railways and their adverse effects on health even if no studies on the railways were available for some high priority health outcomes such as incidents of ischemic heart disease, permanent hearing impairment, etc. If the competitiveness of the railways is to be maintained, noise mitigation must cost as little as possible and should not reduce traffic capacity.

The UIC NNV published the previous state-of-the-art report for noise in 2016 https://bit.ly/391y6Mg and in the meantime, railway operating companies, infrastructure managers and other railway stakeholders have worked hard to reduce noise emissions. For instance, many freight wagons have been retrofitted, new noise abatement measures have been developed, and existing measures optimised.

Successful application of noise mitigation measures will require insight into the current technological possibilities, including their costs and benefits. Therefore, UIC is pleased to announce that the work on a new state-of-the-art report for railway noise management has started with the aim of being published at the beginning of 2021.

NNV new contract with M+P raadgevende ingenieurs B.V.
To conclude, railway traffic has the momentum to grow and is an essential part of the solution towards a sustainable future for transport although there are still some challenges ahead to accommodate the growth. Therefore, the UIC NNV has secured the collaboration of M+P (https://www.mplusp.eu/) with a contract to draft the state-of-the-art report on railway noise in Europe.

The report will bring information together and help all stakeholders meeting the challenges ahead. The dissemination of the State-of-the-Art report will take place at the beginning of 2021 at UIC headquarters in Paris against the backdrop of the forthcoming UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Noise and Vibration Network: state-of-the-art report for the management of railway noise in Europe

]

The European Commission launched its Green Deal to protect the environment and increase human well-being. According to the document, the European Union will have to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. Regarding mobility, this requires cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of transport. Both at EU level as well as at national levels railways are being promoted as an environmentally sound means of transport. In this respect, the Green Deal offers great opportunities for railway traffic which is proven to have a positive effect on air quality and CO2.

Although the effect of railway noise on the human health has drawn a lot of attention, keeping the railways competitive also has a greater societal benefit with regard to measures to counteract climate change. Since the publication of the WHO’s “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” in 2018, members of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) published a noise flyer https://bit.ly/2TcScfZ
to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

As a result of the growth of traffic and the increased use of railway lines, it is necessary to study and to reduce the emission of noise and vibrations from railways and their adverse effects on health even if no studies on the railways were available for some high priority health outcomes such as incidents of ischemic heart disease, permanent hearing impairment, etc. If the competitiveness of the railways is to be maintained, noise mitigation must cost as little as possible and should not reduce traffic capacity.

The UIC NNV published the previous state-of-the-art report for noise in 2016 https://bit.ly/391y6Mg and in the meantime, railway operating companies, infrastructure managers and other railway stakeholders have worked hard to reduce noise emissions. For instance, many freight wagons have been retrofitted, new noise abatement measures have been developed, and existing measures optimised.

Successful application of noise mitigation measures will require insight into the current technological possibilities, including their costs and benefits. Therefore, UIC is pleased to announce that the work on a new state-of-the-art report for railway noise management has started with the aim of being published at the beginning of 2021.

NNV new contract with M+P raadgevende ingenieurs B.V.
To conclude, railway traffic has the momentum to grow and is an essential part of the solution towards a sustainable future for transport although there are still some challenges ahead to accommodate the growth. Therefore, the UIC NNV has secured the collaboration of M+P (https://www.mplusp.eu/) with a contract to draft the state-of-the-art report on railway noise in Europe.

The report will bring information together and help all stakeholders meeting the challenges ahead. The dissemination of the State-of-the-Art report will take place at the beginning of 2021 at UIC headquarters in Paris against the backdrop of the forthcoming UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Noise and Vibration Network: state-of-the-art report for the management of railway noise in Europe

]

The European Commission launched its Green Deal to protect the environment and increase human well-being. According to the document, the European Union will have to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. Regarding mobility, this requires cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of transport. Both at EU level as well as at national levels railways are being promoted as an environmentally sound means of transport. In this respect, the Green Deal offers great opportunities for railway traffic which is proven to have a positive effect on air quality and CO2.

Although the effect of railway noise on the human health has drawn a lot of attention, keeping the railways competitive also has a greater societal benefit with regard to measures to counteract climate change. Since the publication of the WHO’s “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” in 2018, members of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) published a noise flyer https://bit.ly/2TcScfZ
to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

As a result of the growth of traffic and the increased use of railway lines, it is necessary to study and to reduce the emission of noise and vibrations from railways and their adverse effects on health even if no studies on the railways were available for some high priority health outcomes such as incidents of ischemic heart disease, permanent hearing impairment, etc. If the competitiveness of the railways is to be maintained, noise mitigation must cost as little as possible and should not reduce traffic capacity.

The UIC NNV published the previous state-of-the-art report for noise in 2016 https://bit.ly/391y6Mg and in the meantime, railway operating companies, infrastructure managers and other railway stakeholders have worked hard to reduce noise emissions. For instance, many freight wagons have been retrofitted, new noise abatement measures have been developed, and existing measures optimised.

Successful application of noise mitigation measures will require insight into the current technological possibilities, including their costs and benefits. Therefore, UIC is pleased to announce that the work on a new state-of-the-art report for railway noise management has started with the aim of being published at the beginning of 2021.

NNV new contract with M+P raadgevende ingenieurs B.V.
To conclude, railway traffic has the momentum to grow and is an essential part of the solution towards a sustainable future for transport although there are still some challenges ahead to accommodate the growth. Therefore, the UIC NNV has secured the collaboration of M+P (https://www.mplusp.eu/) with a contract to draft the state-of-the-art report on railway noise in Europe.

The report will bring information together and help all stakeholders meeting the challenges ahead. The dissemination of the State-of-the-Art report will take place at the beginning of 2021 at UIC headquarters in Paris against the backdrop of the forthcoming UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Noise and Vibration Network: state-of-the-art report for the management of railway noise in Europe

]

The European Commission launched its Green Deal to protect the environment and increase human well-being. According to the document, the European Union will have to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. Regarding mobility, this requires cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of transport. Both at EU level as well as at national levels railways are being promoted as an environmentally sound means of transport. In this respect, the Green Deal offers great opportunities for railway traffic which is proven to have a positive effect on air quality and CO2.

Although the effect of railway noise on the human health has drawn a lot of attention, keeping the railways competitive also has a greater societal benefit with regard to measures to counteract climate change. Since the publication of the WHO’s “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” in 2018, members of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) published a noise flyer https://bit.ly/2TcScfZ
to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

As a result of the growth of traffic and the increased use of railway lines, it is necessary to study and to reduce the emission of noise and vibrations from railways and their adverse effects on health even if no studies on the railways were available for some high priority health outcomes such as incidents of ischemic heart disease, permanent hearing impairment, etc. If the competitiveness of the railways is to be maintained, noise mitigation must cost as little as possible and should not reduce traffic capacity.

The UIC NNV published the previous state-of-the-art report for noise in 2016 https://bit.ly/391y6Mg and in the meantime, railway operating companies, infrastructure managers and other railway stakeholders have worked hard to reduce noise emissions. For instance, many freight wagons have been retrofitted, new noise abatement measures have been developed, and existing measures optimised.

Successful application of noise mitigation measures will require insight into the current technological possibilities, including their costs and benefits. Therefore, UIC is pleased to announce that the work on a new state-of-the-art report for railway noise management has started with the aim of being published at the beginning of 2021.

NNV new contract with M+P raadgevende ingenieurs B.V.
To conclude, railway traffic has the momentum to grow and is an essential part of the solution towards a sustainable future for transport although there are still some challenges ahead to accommodate the growth. Therefore, the UIC NNV has secured the collaboration of M+P (https://www.mplusp.eu/) with a contract to draft the state-of-the-art report on railway noise in Europe.

The report will bring information together and help all stakeholders meeting the challenges ahead. The dissemination of the State-of-the-Art report will take place at the beginning of 2021 at UIC headquarters in Paris against the backdrop of the forthcoming UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Noise and Vibration Network: state-of-the-art report for the management of railway noise in Europe

]

The European Commission launched its Green Deal to protect the environment and increase human well-being. According to the document, the European Union will have to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. Regarding mobility, this requires cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of transport. Both at EU level as well as at national levels railways are being promoted as an environmentally sound means of transport. In this respect, the Green Deal offers great opportunities for railway traffic which is proven to have a positive effect on air quality and CO2.

Although the effect of railway noise on the human health has drawn a lot of attention, keeping the railways competitive also has a greater societal benefit with regard to measures to counteract climate change. Since the publication of the WHO’s “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” in 2018, members of the UIC Network Noise and Vibration (NNV) published a noise flyer https://bit.ly/2TcScfZ
to provide information on common sources of noise, noise control methods, and national and EU strategies and policies. Coinciding with publication of the document, the NNV members expressed their views on the latest WHO noise guidelines and stated that “Railways must be promoted if climate goals are to be achieved”.

As a result of the growth of traffic and the increased use of railway lines, it is necessary to study and to reduce the emission of noise and vibrations from railways and their adverse effects on health even if no studies on the railways were available for some high priority health outcomes such as incidents of ischemic heart disease, permanent hearing impairment, etc. If the competitiveness of the railways is to be maintained, noise mitigation must cost as little as possible and should not reduce traffic capacity.

The UIC NNV published the previous state-of-the-art report for noise in 2016 https://bit.ly/391y6Mg and in the meantime, railway operating companies, infrastructure managers and other railway stakeholders have worked hard to reduce noise emissions. For instance, many freight wagons have been retrofitted, new noise abatement measures have been developed, and existing measures optimised.

Successful application of noise mitigation measures will require insight into the current technological possibilities, including their costs and benefits. Therefore, UIC is pleased to announce that the work on a new state-of-the-art report for railway noise management has started with the aim of being published at the beginning of 2021.

NNV new contract with M+P raadgevende ingenieurs B.V.
To conclude, railway traffic has the momentum to grow and is an essential part of the solution towards a sustainable future for transport although there are still some challenges ahead to accommodate the growth. Therefore, the UIC NNV has secured the collaboration of M+P (https://www.mplusp.eu/) with a contract to draft the state-of-the-art report on railway noise in Europe.

The report will bring information together and help all stakeholders meeting the challenges ahead. The dissemination of the State-of-the-Art report will take place at the beginning of 2021 at UIC headquarters in Paris against the backdrop of the forthcoming UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Noise and Vibration Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Opt-In project REUSE successfully holds its kick-off meeting on 27 February 2019 in Paris

On 27 February, the REUSE consortium composed of DB, Infrabel, ProRail, RFI, SNCB, SNCF Réseau met to officially launch a two-year project called REUSE.

This meeting gave Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the Fundamental Values Department, the opportunity to remind the participants of the international context in which this project was successfully submitted for opt-in by UIC members.

He underlined that the REUSE project is very important for UIC as it marks the opening of an era of sound resources and raw materials management in the railways, dedicated to implement the principles of the circular economy “Maintain, reuse, repair, recycle” to railway infrastructures.

Mineral and water resources, if they are not adequately managed and preserved will very soon become scarcer and costlier, hence posing difficult challenges to our businesses. Nevertheless, needs remain high: Indeed in 2017, 90 billion tons of raw materials were used worldwide, accounting for more than three times than what was used in the 1970s. And this figure is expected to double by 2050.

This is why UIC members have decided to undertake a review of this issue, as circularity is increasingly brought to the forefront by non-financial rating agencies as a key performance indicator for businesses willing to issue green bonds, or in their campaigns to raise green funds.

Also, with the UIC commitment to comply with the Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge signed by no fewer than 200 CEOs of UIC Members ahead of the UN Climate Summit of 2014, and with the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, UIC has thus more than just a moral obligation in helping its members becoming as green as possible as soon as possible.

Circularity will therefore help the rail transport sector achieve the goals of Sustainable Development Goal 9 “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”, of Sustainable Development Goal 11 “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, of SDG 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, just to name a few.

Mr Wisniewski concluded by saying “as difficult as this task may seem, by looking at the half-full glass the circularity challenge can however be considered as an opportunity not to be missed to:

  • Reduce our global dependency on resources,
  • Reduce the GHG emissions resulting from the extraction and processing of those resources, and
  • Substantially decrease the associated costs.”

This first meeting allowed experts attending the meeting to present the state-of-the-art regarding management of resources and circular economy in their respective companies.

This first round of exchange then led to interesting discussions on the project scope and outcome and opened other perspectives than those considered initially. Resources retained for the study were ballast, steel, concrete and wood. The project’s final outcome will be guidelines or other dissemination tools.

Participants were satisfied to be offered a forum to exchange on their practices and issues pertaining to circularity. Before the meeting was closed, the working group decided to meet again in April in Brussels.

For further information or to join the project (for UIC members), please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC organised the second workshop on the new G4 Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for rail companies in Paris on 27 October 2015

On 27 October 2015, UIC organised a workshop on the implementation of the new G4 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for rail companies, moderated and supported by Glenn Frommer.

Glenn Frommer is Head of Corporate Sustainability for a major public transport organisation and for over 20 years he has pioneered and implemented the organisational policies, strategies and programmes for environment, sustainability and CSR. He is a member of the GRI Working Group on Content and Materiality (GRI G3), the GRI Working Group on Disclosure of Management Aspects and assisted in drafting the newly released GRI G4 Guidelines.

The GRI’s mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice for all companies and organisations. Its framework is a reporting system that provides metrics and methods for measuring and reporting sustainability-related impacts and performance.

The aim of the new G4 Guidelines is to increase user-friendliness and accessibility. The emphasis on what is material encourages organisations to provide only information that is critical to their business and stakeholders. This means organisations and report users can concentrate on the sustainability impacts that matter, resulting in reports that are more strategic, more focused, more credible, and easier for stakeholders to navigate.

On 23 April, an initial workshop presented an overview of the G4 and the Gap Assessment as a basis for discussion and building consensus on a common approach to identifying key challenges for the rail sector. After this first workshop a draft handbook was produced and exchanged with the members facing the final workshop held on 27 October.

The main points discussed during the final workshop were how to address the materiality indicators for reporting, how to identify and to engage stakeholders in the reporting process. Participants agreed on the requirement of guidelines to implement the new GRIG4 and exchanged opinions regarding the future worldwide and regional trends on the topic, and how legal frames, stakeholders and large corporations are increasing their demands on the quality and standardisation of sustainability reporting.

In terms of the final output of the workshop, UIC will produce a final handbook on the main points to be improved and guidelines to implement the GRIG4 Standard.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

The Conference of the Parties (COP) took place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and was held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A UIC delegation joined the events from 2 – 7 December to promote UIC Members’ activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

UIC commitments: increasing ambition
COP25 is an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions") submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

During COP25, Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC announced that “the global railway community target for 2020 is already almost reached with – 40 % of specific CO2 emissions for passenger transport and for freight this target will also be reached by the end of 2020.” And this is why, given these results, UIC is committed to go even further.

UIC is going ahead and launching an update to the sector’s commitment:

  • UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050).
  • UIC is also going one step ahead by announcing its willingness to support SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.
  • All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 to support the SDGs through a signed declaration.
  • The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge 2019 https://bit.ly/2PidN4v is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015 in the frame of UIC COP21 Campaign “Train to Paris”.
  • UIC will also encourage UIC Members to join the Climate Ambition Alliance launched in the frame of COP25 by the High-Level Climate Champion of Chile, Mr Gonzalo Muñoz

UIC at COP25

2 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

3 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone. Mr Davenne gave a short interview to the RENFE channel.

4 December
One of the key actions at COP25 this year was UIC co-hosting an official side-event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum: Transport Mitigation Actions in Cities. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session focused on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour.

Mr Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases, opened the event giving an overview of the situation but also stressed that “we have to work together to solve the climate problem".
The first low carbon transport measures in cities were discussed during a high-level session moderated by Debashish Bhattacharjee, Lead, Urban Mobility, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Speakers included Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), François Davenne, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC) and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS (network of European cities and regions).

As far as UIC activities were concerned Mr Davenne emphasised some key messages such as:

  • We need to make public transport and rail desirable.
  • Rail is frugal: in public space and in terms of life cycle.
  • Rail and public transport have quite positive externalities compared to other modes and must become the backbone of mobility.
  • To move forward with sustainable transport, we need a change in mindset and make democracy instrumental.
  • Rail freight is also not to be forgotten as in Europe the goal of many rail freight organisations is to achieve a modal shift towards 30% of rail freight by 2030 to prevent the negative effects of transport freight growth and quoted in that matter the example of the Rail Freight Forward initiative.

The second panel was a more technical one addressing how to scale up to increase ambition regarding mitigation in cities and was moderated by Jari Kauppila, Head, Quantitative Policy Analysis and Foresight, ITF. Speakers included: Jennifer Lenhart, Cities Lead, WWF, Alicja Pawłowska, E-mobility Expert, Ministry of Climate, Bureau of the COP 24 Presidency, Poland, Hanan Fridman, CEO, Trucknet and Walid Oueslati, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD.

7 December
On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainability:

at uic.org'>philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties (COP) took place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and was held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A UIC delegation joined the events from 2 – 7 December to promote UIC Members’ activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

UIC commitments: increasing ambition
COP25 is an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions") submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

During COP25, Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC announced that “the global railway community target for 2020 is already almost reached with – 40 % of specific CO2 emissions for passenger transport and for freight this target will also be reached by the end of 2020.” And this is why, given these results, UIC is committed to go even further.

UIC is going ahead and launching an update to the sector’s commitment:

  • UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050).
  • UIC is also going one step ahead by announcing its willingness to support SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.
  • All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 to support the SDGs through a signed declaration.
  • The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge 2019 https://bit.ly/2PidN4v is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015 in the frame of UIC COP21 Campaign “Train to Paris”.
  • UIC will also encourage UIC Members to join the Climate Ambition Alliance launched in the frame of COP25 by the High-Level Climate Champion of Chile, Mr Gonzalo Muñoz

UIC at COP25

2 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

3 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone. Mr Davenne gave a short interview to the RENFE channel.

4 December
One of the key actions at COP25 this year was UIC co-hosting an official side-event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum: Transport Mitigation Actions in Cities. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session focused on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour.

Mr Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases, opened the event giving an overview of the situation but also stressed that “we have to work together to solve the climate problem".
The first low carbon transport measures in cities were discussed during a high-level session moderated by Debashish Bhattacharjee, Lead, Urban Mobility, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Speakers included Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), François Davenne, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC) and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS (network of European cities and regions).

As far as UIC activities were concerned Mr Davenne emphasised some key messages such as:

  • We need to make public transport and rail desirable.
  • Rail is frugal: in public space and in terms of life cycle.
  • Rail and public transport have quite positive externalities compared to other modes and must become the backbone of mobility.
  • To move forward with sustainable transport, we need a change in mindset and make democracy instrumental.
  • Rail freight is also not to be forgotten as in Europe the goal of many rail freight organisations is to achieve a modal shift towards 30% of rail freight by 2030 to prevent the negative effects of transport freight growth and quoted in that matter the example of the Rail Freight Forward initiative.

The second panel was a more technical one addressing how to scale up to increase ambition regarding mitigation in cities and was moderated by Jari Kauppila, Head, Quantitative Policy Analysis and Foresight, ITF. Speakers included: Jennifer Lenhart, Cities Lead, WWF, Alicja Pawłowska, E-mobility Expert, Ministry of Climate, Bureau of the COP 24 Presidency, Poland, Hanan Fridman, CEO, Trucknet and Walid Oueslati, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD.

7 December
On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainability:

at uic.org'>philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties (COP) took place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and was held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A UIC delegation joined the events from 2 – 7 December to promote UIC Members’ activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

UIC commitments: increasing ambition
COP25 is an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions") submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

During COP25, Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC announced that “the global railway community target for 2020 is already almost reached with – 40 % of specific CO2 emissions for passenger transport and for freight this target will also be reached by the end of 2020.” And this is why, given these results, UIC is committed to go even further.

UIC is going ahead and launching an update to the sector’s commitment:

  • UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050).
  • UIC is also going one step ahead by announcing its willingness to support SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.
  • All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 to support the SDGs through a signed declaration.
  • The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge 2019 https://bit.ly/2PidN4v is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015 in the frame of UIC COP21 Campaign “Train to Paris”.
  • UIC will also encourage UIC Members to join the Climate Ambition Alliance launched in the frame of COP25 by the High-Level Climate Champion of Chile, Mr Gonzalo Muñoz

UIC at COP25

2 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

3 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone. Mr Davenne gave a short interview to the RENFE channel.

4 December
One of the key actions at COP25 this year was UIC co-hosting an official side-event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum: Transport Mitigation Actions in Cities. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session focused on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour.

Mr Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases, opened the event giving an overview of the situation but also stressed that “we have to work together to solve the climate problem".
The first low carbon transport measures in cities were discussed during a high-level session moderated by Debashish Bhattacharjee, Lead, Urban Mobility, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Speakers included Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), François Davenne, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC) and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS (network of European cities and regions).

As far as UIC activities were concerned Mr Davenne emphasised some key messages such as:

  • We need to make public transport and rail desirable.
  • Rail is frugal: in public space and in terms of life cycle.
  • Rail and public transport have quite positive externalities compared to other modes and must become the backbone of mobility.
  • To move forward with sustainable transport, we need a change in mindset and make democracy instrumental.
  • Rail freight is also not to be forgotten as in Europe the goal of many rail freight organisations is to achieve a modal shift towards 30% of rail freight by 2030 to prevent the negative effects of transport freight growth and quoted in that matter the example of the Rail Freight Forward initiative.

The second panel was a more technical one addressing how to scale up to increase ambition regarding mitigation in cities and was moderated by Jari Kauppila, Head, Quantitative Policy Analysis and Foresight, ITF. Speakers included: Jennifer Lenhart, Cities Lead, WWF, Alicja Pawłowska, E-mobility Expert, Ministry of Climate, Bureau of the COP 24 Presidency, Poland, Hanan Fridman, CEO, Trucknet and Walid Oueslati, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD.

7 December
On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainability:

at uic.org'>philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties (COP) took place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and was held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A UIC delegation joined the events from 2 – 7 December to promote UIC Members’ activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

UIC commitments: increasing ambition
COP25 is an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions") submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

During COP25, Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC announced that “the global railway community target for 2020 is already almost reached with – 40 % of specific CO2 emissions for passenger transport and for freight this target will also be reached by the end of 2020.” And this is why, given these results, UIC is committed to go even further.

UIC is going ahead and launching an update to the sector’s commitment:

  • UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050).
  • UIC is also going one step ahead by announcing its willingness to support SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.
  • All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 to support the SDGs through a signed declaration.
  • The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge 2019 https://bit.ly/2PidN4v is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015 in the frame of UIC COP21 Campaign “Train to Paris”.
  • UIC will also encourage UIC Members to join the Climate Ambition Alliance launched in the frame of COP25 by the High-Level Climate Champion of Chile, Mr Gonzalo Muñoz

UIC at COP25

2 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

3 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone. Mr Davenne gave a short interview to the RENFE channel.

4 December
One of the key actions at COP25 this year was UIC co-hosting an official side-event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum: Transport Mitigation Actions in Cities. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session focused on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour.

Mr Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases, opened the event giving an overview of the situation but also stressed that “we have to work together to solve the climate problem".
The first low carbon transport measures in cities were discussed during a high-level session moderated by Debashish Bhattacharjee, Lead, Urban Mobility, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Speakers included Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), François Davenne, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC) and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS (network of European cities and regions).

As far as UIC activities were concerned Mr Davenne emphasised some key messages such as:

  • We need to make public transport and rail desirable.
  • Rail is frugal: in public space and in terms of life cycle.
  • Rail and public transport have quite positive externalities compared to other modes and must become the backbone of mobility.
  • To move forward with sustainable transport, we need a change in mindset and make democracy instrumental.
  • Rail freight is also not to be forgotten as in Europe the goal of many rail freight organisations is to achieve a modal shift towards 30% of rail freight by 2030 to prevent the negative effects of transport freight growth and quoted in that matter the example of the Rail Freight Forward initiative.

The second panel was a more technical one addressing how to scale up to increase ambition regarding mitigation in cities and was moderated by Jari Kauppila, Head, Quantitative Policy Analysis and Foresight, ITF. Speakers included: Jennifer Lenhart, Cities Lead, WWF, Alicja Pawłowska, E-mobility Expert, Ministry of Climate, Bureau of the COP 24 Presidency, Poland, Hanan Fridman, CEO, Trucknet and Walid Oueslati, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD.

7 December
On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainability:

at uic.org'>philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Madrid, Spain

]

The Conference of the Parties (COP) took place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and was held with the logistical support of the government of Spain from 2 – 13 December 2019. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation to participate in major global events such as the COP.
A UIC delegation joined the events from 2 – 7 December to promote UIC Members’ activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

UIC commitments: increasing ambition
COP25 is an opportunity for UIC to reinforce the role that railways play in sustainable transport development. In 2019, scientific statements regarding climate are alarming; even if states were to meet their commitments made at COP21 in 2015 for 2020, the planet would warm up by 3°C by the end of the century. In order to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, countries need to multiply their ambitions threefold and carbon neutrality should be reached before 2050 and renew or revise upward their climate commitments ("Nationally Determined Contributions") submitted in 2015, by the end of 2020. Those must represent a progression compared to their previous commitment and correspond to the “highest possible level of ambition”. The European Commission has already decided to increase its targets for 2030 and to work under the European Green Deal to become world’s first carbon neutral continent before 2050.

During COP25, Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC announced that “the global railway community target for 2020 is already almost reached with – 40 % of specific CO2 emissions for passenger transport and for freight this target will also be reached by the end of 2020.” And this is why, given these results, UIC is committed to go even further.

UIC is going ahead and launching an update to the sector’s commitment:

  • UIC proposes to align its 2050 CO2 emissions target to what becomes more and more widely shared as a consensual target to reach the Paris agreement: Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (instead of and - 75% by 2050).
  • UIC is also going one step ahead by announcing its willingness to support SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and to report on their progresses on the most relevant ones.
  • All UIC members are asked to adopt the carbon neutrality target by 2050 to support the SDGs through a signed declaration.
  • The Railway Climate Responsibility pledge 2019 https://bit.ly/2PidN4v is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015 in the frame of UIC COP21 Campaign “Train to Paris”.
  • UIC will also encourage UIC Members to join the Climate Ambition Alliance launched in the frame of COP25 by the High-Level Climate Champion of Chile, Mr Gonzalo Muñoz

UIC at COP25

2 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne and Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of the UIC European region met the Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernande. Mr Davenne presented UIC activities as well as how to strongly advocate rail at global level, highlighting modal shift towards public transport with stations as hubs of multimodality and interconnectivity and interoperability especially in Europe for freight. Mr Cardoso particularly stressed that “We cannot solve mass transit issues with individual solutions.” The Portuguese Environment Minister emphasised the importance of investing in rail, especially to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in Portugal, where the population, facing more and more climate hazards such as wildfires, understands the need to make a shift in transport, and that rail can be part of the solution.

3 December
UIC Director General Mr François Davenne was invited by Renfe, Spanish railways, to speak at the opening of the company’s activities during COP25. Renfe gathered experts and professionals from the transport, sustainability and energy efficiency fields at national and international level at the Ministry of Transport in the COP25 Green Zone. Mr Davenne gave a short interview to the RENFE channel.

4 December
One of the key actions at COP25 this year was UIC co-hosting an official side-event with UITP – International Association of Public Transport and ITF – International Transport Forum: Transport Mitigation Actions in Cities. Most trips today take place in urban regions, and their number is expected to continue growing in line with cities’ populations and economic development. The choice of transport mode is therefore critical to carbon dioxide emission levels. Low carbon transport options need to be integrated into existing transport and climate action plans for cities, which are also where robust transport actions already exist. This session focused on effective ways to decarbonise urban passenger and freight transport based on changes in technology and behaviour.

Mr Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases, opened the event giving an overview of the situation but also stressed that “we have to work together to solve the climate problem".
The first low carbon transport measures in cities were discussed during a high-level session moderated by Debashish Bhattacharjee, Lead, Urban Mobility, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Speakers included Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), François Davenne, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC) and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS (network of European cities and regions).

As far as UIC activities were concerned Mr Davenne emphasised some key messages such as:

  • We need to make public transport and rail desirable.
  • Rail is frugal: in public space and in terms of life cycle.
  • Rail and public transport have quite positive externalities compared to other modes and must become the backbone of mobility.
  • To move forward with sustainable transport, we need a change in mindset and make democracy instrumental.
  • Rail freight is also not to be forgotten as in Europe the goal of many rail freight organisations is to achieve a modal shift towards 30% of rail freight by 2030 to prevent the negative effects of transport freight growth and quoted in that matter the example of the Rail Freight Forward initiative.

The second panel was a more technical one addressing how to scale up to increase ambition regarding mitigation in cities and was moderated by Jari Kauppila, Head, Quantitative Policy Analysis and Foresight, ITF. Speakers included: Jennifer Lenhart, Cities Lead, WWF, Alicja Pawłowska, E-mobility Expert, Ministry of Climate, Bureau of the COP 24 Presidency, Poland, Hanan Fridman, CEO, Trucknet and Walid Oueslati, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD.

7 December
On 7 December, UIC will actively contribute to the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the morning of the 7th from 10am to 1pm in the Blue Zone at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid. Mr Davenne will contribute to discussions on adaptation to climate change. This event will showcase the efforts made by various transport stakeholders to create the building blocks for a low carbon, sustainable pathway to 2050. It will demonstrate the immediate, bold and ambitious actions that are currently being implemented across the world and discuss the ways to maintain the momentum through 2020 and beyond. It will focus on both mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and accessibility.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainability:

at uic.org'>philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the Climate Action Summit in Washington

As part of the agreements concluded in Paris during the COP21 Conference, the United Nations – in partnership with the World Bank – organised a Climate Summit in Washington, aiming to formalise these agreements, to measure company actions and to implement them.

To this end, UIC and its Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux were invited to take part in several round tables where Mr Loubinoux had the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the railway sector above and beyond the efforts undertaken to move forward in the area of decarbonisation, energy reduction and modal shift.

All this is part of a long-term policy which aims to optimise complementarity with other modes of transport, which was also presented in Washington. A televised interview was also used to widely disseminate the messages of UIC. The latter was very well received both by the bodies responsible for organising COP22 – where UIC will also be present – as well as the new partners of the World Bank.

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the Climate Train initiative (France, 5 – 23 October 2015)

This month UIC was on board the Climate Train, a travelling exhibit train launched by Trains Expo Evénements SNCF – the events subsidiary of SNCF – to raise awareness about the issues of climate change in the lead up to the United Nations COP21 event later this year in Paris. Endorsed by the COP21 Intergovernmental Committee, the Climate Train is a national event as part of France’s Science Week, taking place from 7 – 11 October 2015. Three coaches were dedicated to partner companies or organisations, including the International Union of Railways UIC.

The official inauguration was held at Paris Gare de Lyon railway station on 6 October, in the presence of Mrs Ségolène Royal, French Minister of Ecology, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Research Thierry Mandon.

The train, with on board the scientific Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), travelled to 18 destinations and 13 regions across France to raise awareness about climate change among the general public.

This train was composed of three coaches dealing with climate issues and impacts on our way of life; one coach was specifically dedicated to conferences – UIC presented in the town of Libourne (near Bordeaux) its actions in favour of the climate issue – to educate citizens on sustainable development issues and their own role in the upcoming event. The train, as a clean public mode of transport, corresponds exactly to the focused message: “A train such as this is the equivalent of taking 48 articulated lorries off the road. It is a tonne of CO2 emissions less for every 1000 km (…) SNCF has reduced its CO2 emissions by 40% over the last 10 years per passenger km, reiterated Jacques Rapoport, member of SNCF’s management board and chairman and CEO of SNCF Réseau.

On 10 October UIC attended the welcome event of the Climate Train in Lyon railway station. Several speeches were given by representatives from the railway and business sectors including SNCF (Laurence Eymieu, Regional Director SNCF Rhône-Alpes), University of Lyon, Météo-France meteorological service, AXA insurance company, Armonia Group …

Among the points mentioned, emphasis was placed sharing knowledge and best practice from the results of the research on climate change in order to help other companies and sectors. Laurence Eymieu from SNCF spoke about rail as one of the most energy efficient transport modes. Even though rail transport is responsible for 9% of global transport activity, it generates just 3% of transport greenhouse gas emissions. She said another aim was to raise awareness about climate change among the younger generation by targeting education in schools.

During the day on 10 October the Climate Train welcomed school groups and the general public of Lyon. The activities on board included a series of talks held in one of the coaches, explanations given by a team of scientists and researchers on the climate change exhibition inside the train, as well as a number of stands both inside and in front of the train showcasing the initiatives of various companies from the railway sector and the industry.

UIC had the opportunity to inform different audiences about its activities, its role in the Train to Paris campaign and its commitment to climate change and sustainable transport systems at global level.

UIC continued to take part in the Climate Train initiative, notably in the towns of Libourne (near Bordeaux) and Nantes.

In one month’s time, UIC will coordinate at the global level its campaign “Train to Paris” on behalf of its 240 Members.

See the full article

UIC participated in the launch of the IEA “Future of Rail” report in New Delhi

Report includes a central focus on India, where rail is the dominant mode of transport

Rail is among the most energy efficient modes of transport for freight and passengers, yet is often neglected in public debate, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) prepared in cooperation with UIC.

In 2018, UIC actively contributed to “The Future of Rail” report and was glad to host a successful key workshop to develop that report, in September 2018 in Paris.

The Future of Rail is the latest in the IEA series shining a light on “blind spots” in the energy system, which are issues that deserve more attention from policymakers. It was released today in New Delhi by IEA Executive Director, Dr Fatih Birol, at an event opened by India’s Minister of Railways, Shri Piyush Goyal.

The transport sector is responsible for almost one-third of final energy demand, nearly two-thirds of oil demand and nearly one-quarter of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fuel combustion. Therefore changes in transportation are fundamental to achieving energy transitions globally. While the rail sector carries 8% of the world’s passengers and 7% of global freight transport, it represents only 2% of total transport energy demand, highlighting its efficiency.

“The rail sector can provide substantial benefit to the energy sector as well as the environment,” said Dr Fatih Birol. “By diversifying energy sources and providing more efficient mobility, rail can lower transport energy use and reduce carbon dioxide and local pollutant emissions.”

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was honoured to be invited to speak at this event as UIC and IEA successfully cooperated throughout the year 2018.

Mr Loubinoux stated that: “It is recognised that the sustainable development goals for the global railway sector are achievable, such as: rail as the safest mode of transport, rail reduces congestion, rail improves access to mobility, railway companies are responsible and attractive employers (rail is the largest employer in India) and last but not least rail has a low impact on the environment and climate change.”

The Future of Rail includes a Base Scenario that projects the evolution of the railway sector to 2050 on the basis of announced policies, regulations and projects. It also includes a High Rail Scenario to demonstrate the energy and environmental benefits of a more significant shift of passengers and goods to rail transport. While the High Rail Scenario requires about 60% more investment than in the Base Scenario, global CO2 emissions from a transport peak in the late 2030s, air pollution is reduced and oil demand is lowered.

Mr Loubinoux explained that “In the High Rail Scenario, by minimising cost per passenger or ton km, maximising revenues from stations and ensuring that all modes of transport pay for the negative impacts that they generate (polluter pays principle), an aggressive deployment of rail could lead to a reduction of CO2 emissions in transport. This scenario leads to the reduction and shift of 11.5 trillion passenger-kilometres from airplanes, cars and two/three-wheelers, and 7.4 trillion ton-kilometres from trucks in 2050.”

The report includes a specific focus on India. “Rail serves as a vital lifeline of India, playing a unique social and economic role,” said Dr Birol. Rail remains the primary transport mode in the country, providing vital connections within and between cities and regions, and guaranteeing affordable passenger mobility that has long been a government priority. Rail passenger traffic in India has increased by almost 200% since 2000 yet prospects for future growth remain bright. Construction has started on India’s first high-speed rail line, the total length of metro lines is set to more than triple in the next few years, and two dedicated freight corridors are on track to enter operation by 2020.

In all countries, including India, the future of the rail sector will be determined by how it responds to both rising transport demand and rising pressure from competing transport modes. Rising incomes and populations in developing and emerging economies, where cities are growing exponentially, are set to lead to strong demand for more efficient, faster and cleaner transportation, but the need for speed and flexibility tend to favour car ownership and air travel. Rising incomes also drive demand for growth in freight, where higher incomes have sharply increased demand for rapid delivery of higher value and lighter goods.

You can access the report here: https://webstore.iea.org/the-future-of-rail

Speech given by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux during the launch of the report

It is a great privilege and an honour

  • to be part of this event, co-hosted by the Ministry of Railways and the International Energy Agency (IEA),
  • and to represent UIC as the key contributor to “the future of rail” report, that is officially launched today.

What is UIC?
UIC is the association of the worldwide railway community, encompassing 200 railway networks and the majority of railway traffic…
… our members provide mobility for 7 billion people around the world.

With over 200 members and 80 partners in 100 countries on 5 different continents, we are in a position to not only observe, but also to influence major trends in mobility and help the world move towards a more sustainable future.
UIC is well known as a technical organisation which develops international standards, research and innovation.

Environmental issues and sustainable mobility are embedded in the core functions of UIC and are one of the fundamental values, which has been at the forefront of our agenda since Rio 1992.

We have been working closely with a variety of groups, from NGOs, governments, research institutes and of course all kinds of businesses involved in the industry to ensure that rail is promoted and developed to meet the needs of sustainable mobility.

What are the issues?
As we all know, the climate is changing and humanity is possibly facing the most difficult challenge we have ever had to overcome, with temperatures rising globally and records being broken every year.

Floods, droughts and the extreme weather events we see with more and more frequency and increasing severity.

The majority of the international community, from scientists to governments to businesses are coming together, recognising that something must be done, and creating sustainability goals and plans to achieve these goals.
That said, each year carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions still continue to rise, and transport plays a large role in this, contributing for almost one quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions.

The need for sustainable transport is not limited to global warming, as the world’s population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and the rapid urbanisation which is occurring now is expected to continue, with 43 mega cities, (that is cities with more than 10 million inhabitants), coexisting in the same year.
This is particularly relevant for India.

Transport activity in India is one of the highest in the world and is set to grow more than any other country, rail transport being regarded as the main transport mode (the lifeline of the nation).

It is clear that we have to rethink the structure of transportation globally to face the challenges that changing demographics bring, along with the impacts of climate change.

Goals for the report
Both today and over the past seven years we have been in collaboration with the IEA, who I again want to sincerely thank for their tireless work, helping to give a fair and objective view of the importance of the railway sector as the backbone of sustainable mobility.
This report indeed gives a positive view of its role and place among all transport activities.
International cooperation and organisation are the only way that we will be able to achieve the demanding goals we have set for ourselves.

Why Rail?
As this report states clearly, rail is uniquely positioned to handle these challenges.
Despite having a modal share of 8% for passenger transport, 7% for freight transport, rail contributes to only 2 and 3% of CO2 emissions from transport for passenger and freight respectively (out of these 25%).

This shows how rail is already a leader in terms of sustainability and efficiency due to a variety of reasons such as economies of scale and technical development.
It is recognised that the sustainable development goals for the global railway sector are achievable, such as:

  • Rail as the safest mode of transport
  • Rail reduces congestion
  • Rail improves access to mobility
  • Railway companies are responsible and attractive employers (rail is the largest employer in India)
  • Rail has a low impact on the environment and climate change

A vision for 2050
But this report goes further: it gives a vision of how rail’s place in the global transport system can be changed, in a context of rising transport demand and rising pressure from competing transport modes.

In the High Rail Scenario, by minimising the cost per passenger or ton km, maximising revenues from stations and ensuring that all modes of transport pay for the negative impacts that they generate (polluter pays principle), an aggressive deployment of rail could lead to a peak in transport CO2 emissions.

This scenario leads to the reduction and shift of 11.5 trillion passenger-kilometres from airplanes, cars and two/three-wheelers, and 7.4 trillion ton-kilometres from trucks in 2050.

Moreover, if the power sector were to decarbonise more rapidly, in line with the Paris agreement, GHG emissions due to electricity demand for rail operations could be further reduced.

What rail transport needs
Achieving the modal shifts outlined in this scenario requires both increased policy effort and substantial investment.

  • The investments needed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of rail transport can be lightened by the reduction of bottlenecks, the modernization of signalling systems, the increase of axial loads and loading gauge in some strategic sections of the network.

The investments can also be on building or improving the inter-modal nodes dedicated both to freight (ports, logistic centres) and to passenger traffic (stations, parking facilities, connections with public transport).

  • Green investments should be oriented towards rail activities, because rail transport is well positioned and the potential to fulfil the requirements linked with green bond issuance or any other type of green funding requirements.

That is the reason why UIC recently launched its first working group on green financing, with the aim of defining the “best-in-the-class” standards for the railway industry (chart, sectorial guideline, methodology to access green funding, etc...).

  • Thinking multimodality is key.

Rail can’t work by itself, bring our societies towards a decarbonised and sustainable mobility by itself.

We have to think of mobility globally, holistically, each mode bringing its own environmental, social and economic strength.
Thinking in the context of multimodality to offer customers journeys that are safe, reliable, comfortable, seamless and affordable to all is the best way to fulfil the Paris agreement.

That is also a topic widely studied by UIC and its members (a state-of-the-art and best practice report should be published in 2020).

The advent of the train was one of the most important technological innovations of the nineteenth century, and became a symbol of modernity, entering the daily life of citizen.
It was then the transport of the future.
In the twenty first century it is about to be the future of transport, the backbone of an intelligent sustainable chain of mobility.

For further information please contact Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

escolan-zeno at uic.org

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UIC participated in the second ITF consultation meeting on “Women in Transport” held on 23 January 2019

This meeting follows a joint work effort launched at the 2018 ITF Summit and is handled within the UIC Fundamental Values Department by the Security, Sustainable Development and Safety Units.

In 2018, the UIC Security Network of Quick Responders was used to give feedback on actions taken by its members, and the results were published in the ITF brochure “Women’s Safety and Security – a Public Transport Priority” under an article “Women’s Safety and Security in the Railways.”

In 2019 the goal of the second consultation was to bring together key stakeholders in preparation of the May 2019 ITF Summit.

Two main ideas were addressed:

  • The place of women employees within rail companies (gender equality)
  • Women as rail users (security, safety, sustainable development, education, awareness)

The 2019 ITF Summit on Transport Connectivity for Regional integration will be held from 22 – 24 May in Leipzig, Germany.

Within this framework, the UIC Fundamental Values Department will study the topic globally with its members and proposes to work on “Better appropriation of rail by women as a preferred means of transport, using a societal and cross-cutting approach.”
The Security, Safety, Sustainable Development and Training Units will collaborate to work on this topic, regarded as a key issue for the sector.

Beyond the technical aspects linked with transport connectivity, the confidence that customers place in rail transport, and particularly women (their perception of reliability, comfort, safety, security and convenience of rail) should be reinforced compared to other modes), have to be taken into account to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of the rail system.

For further information please contact

Carole Escolan-Zeno, Manager of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit: escolan-zeno at uic.org

Bernard Penners, Manager of the UIC Safety Unit: penners at uic.org

Virginie Papillault, Senior Security Advisor: papillault at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participated in the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, participated actively in the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on 21 and 22 September.

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened the 2019 Climate Action Summit to increase the ambition to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and to galvanise action that can limit climate change to 2°C and even 1.5°C as science now asks.

Global key transport leaders gathered during the UN Climate Action Summit to promote the role of transport in helping to achieve sustainable development and decarbonisation.

The session on heavy duty transport discussed topics ranging from standard setting to infrastructure development, policy asks, technology roadmaps towards net-zero and science-based targets. The event also addressed what is needed to establish consensus within the industry that net-zero CO2 emissions from the sector is technologically feasible by 2050 and focus R&D investments towards this goal.

Mr Davenne contributed to the session on “Heavy Duty Transport” along with Henrik Henriksson, President and CEO of Scania, Tarek Sultan, Frank Clary, Agility’s CSR Director, Sophie Punte, Executive Director of Smart Freight Centre (SFC),
Guangzhe Chen, Global Director for the Transport Team, World Bank and Ramon Cruz, International Policy Program Director, from Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

The UIC Director General emphasised that transport must become carbon neutral and that railway has a role to play as today it is four times less carbonised than the other modes. On top of that, UIC members intend to cut their emissions by 50% by 2030 and 75% by 2050.

As an exemple, lately UIC took part in Rail Freight Forward, a coalition of European rail freight companies who are committed to drastically reducing the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition has the ambition to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030. RFF particularly insists on the fact that a higher modal share of 30% of rail freight by 2030 will lead to a 100 billion EUR economic gain due to less externalities, 290 million tons of saved CO2, 40,000 fewer premature deaths due to avoided pollution, 5,000 fewer fatalities due to saved truck accidents.

Railway is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport, benefiting from a decisive advantage linked to being economical in emissions and use of non-renewable resources.

He added that rail can become in the coming years the backbone of the logistic chain and underlined the need to take benefit from partnership and digital tools to foster multimodality: “modalshift should become desirable for the customer”.

To achieve this, railway needs investments to maintain its infrastructures, renew its rolling stocks and make it attractive, comfortable, secure and reliable to customers. Railway also needs the insurance that all modes pay not only for the use of the infrastructures they need, but also for the impacts that they generate (e.g. road pricing, congestion charges, taxes on kerosene, etc).

But, more importantly, undergoing technical developments are creating enablers that will make this vision possible.

  • The first enabler is that railways are increasingly thinking and designing their services the same way data networks are designed and managed.
  • The second enabler is multi-modality relying on 5G technologies. Big data management will make multimodality possible to an extent we cannot imagine now, provided that the technical bodies assume all their responsibilities to implement a 5G data transmission backbone.

The combination of those two processes will enable a massive modal shift to public transport in creating capacity, while reducing drastically the need of investments in CO2 emitting physical assets.

Beyond this participation in the UN Climate Summit, UIC is fully involved in the preparation of COP25. This event will allow UIC together with its partners such as ITF,UITP, SLOCAT, to continue to highlight the full potential of the railways.

Sources: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange

See the full article

UIC participated in the United Nations High-Level Action Event Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Agenda, 23 March 2017

UIC advocate for pre-2020 action to support rail as the backbone of sustainable transport and a part of the answer to climate change at the United Nations High-Level Action Event Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Agenda, 23 March 2017.

UIC were invited to participate at a High-Level Action Event on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Agenda. Opening addresses were given by the President of the UN General Assembly H.E Peter Thompson, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Patricia Espinosa. The event was extended by half a day to accommodate supporting statements from national governments.

UIC were represented by Nick Craven, Manager of the Sustainable Development Unit, who participated in a workshop on pre 2020 action on climate and the sustainable development goals. 2020 will be a particularly critical year for a range of reasons, these include numerous scientific studies that have identified 2020 as an important threshold for emission reductions. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda includes a number of targets to be achieved by 2020, many national governments have chosen 2020 to benchmark their emissions and the UN climate process will require the resubmission of national plans for reduction of emissions and adaptation. In this context UIC highlighted the need for greater investment and action to support rail transport as the backbone of sustainable transport.

Discussions focused on how to build momentum and confidence with both the general public and political leaders to realise a more sustainable economic model. 2018 is considered to be a ‘trigger year’ as this will see important conclusions to the UN Paris agreement ‘rule book’ and stocktaking processes. The sustainable development community is to work towards a political momentum in 2020 which can be used to catalyse a shift towards sustainable policy and investment decisions. Rail is widely recognised as the backbone of sustainable transport and therefore an enabler of sustainable development. As such the rail sector can play an important supporting role in the transition to a more sustainable economic model and also gain from favourable policy and greater investment.

For more information please contact M. Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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UIC participates in 11th Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia

Every year UIC is invited to participate in the EST Forum. The theme of the 2018 edition was "Sustainable Urban Design and Development”. Mr Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative participated actively in the event.

On 4 October, Mr Papazoff contributed to the Plenary session: “Railways for Sustainable Urban Development”, sharing UIC international perspective and giving examples of railway activities in South-East Asian countries. Other speakers in this session discussed topics related to railways in urban areas in countries such as Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Today, about half of total passenger transport activity takes place in urban environments, serving a global urban population that exceeded 3.9 billion in 2015. By 2050, urban population is expected to have grown by another 2.5 billion people, reaching 66% of the total global population, up from 54% in 2015 (UNDESA 2014). Urban areas in all global regions are expected to grow, but Africa and Asia, currently the least urbanised regions, together will make up nearly 90% of this increase until 2050 (UNDESA 2014). This is expected to lead to a significant growth of urban transport activity, primarily in developing economies. In that context, during the EST Forum, UIC presented railways and its interfaces with the urban areas. UIC shared data and commitments aiming for a more sustainable future and how railway can be the backbone of an integrated transport system by improving multi-modal hubs at rail stations. The rapid urbanisation that the world is witnessing in developing countries, the growth is both a challenge and an opportunity to steer the world towards a more sustainable trajectory.

UIC also presented new paradigms for railways in a digital world. Stations are at the heart of this new world: smart stations for smart urban areas. Mr Papazoff explained to the audience how stations are the ideal interface between various modes of transport and truly represent the possible heart of the mobility web. Those multi-dimensional hubs are where the modern world meets history and where railways can realise a dream of future mobility for smart mobility.

Moreover, with time and urbanisation, new travel experience adapted to the digital era’s standards. Digital connectivity is changing the game and its continued development has expanded the demand for mobility. Digitalisation on the mobility aspect is modifying deeply the behaviour of travellers and UIC is ready to respond to this challenge.

The railway community has the opportunity today to share experience and best practice to contribute to the cities and the mobility of the future.

To learn more about sustainability and stations have a look at the UIC website.
Sustainability: https://uic.org/sustainable-development and Stations: https://uic.org/station-and-intermodal-hubs

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

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UIC participates in Climate Chance Summit and the Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions Workshops in Agadir

Workshops

UIC and UITP co-hosted the event Linking Global Initiatives to Concrete Actions on the Ground with Rail and Public Transport. The event was moderated by Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit.

On this occasion, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, presented UIC’s international presence and work as the representative of the worldwide railway community. Philip Turner from UITP emphasised the importance of building partnerships and the work of associations as a great leverage for action. Florence Cousin from SNCF, French railways, spoke about modal shift and door-to-door solutions. Sandra Laquelle from CODATU presented the MobiliseCity initiative. Following this, Salima Rahmaoui from Alstom discussed the environmental certification of Alstom’s company. The panel was then joined by Wei-Shiuen Ng from ITF, to bring the OECD perspective to the topic.

Later in the day UIC co-hosted an event on adaptation of infrastructures with the National Centre for Road Studies and Research (CNER), part of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics of Morocco. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux presented the UIC RailAdapt project and its international perspectives. Antoine Rothey from SNCF addressed the topic of adaptation and railway sensitivity to weather. Ali Sadiqui from ONCF, Moroccan railways showed how ONCF is dealing with resilience and adaptation. Finally, Mohamed Oumessaoud and Rabbab Eddeqaqui from the CNER showed how Morocco is working for adapting road and road works to climate change. To conluded, Stefanie Shom, presented the road map for sustainable mobility in Morocco. Rosine Zadi, moderator of the event, pointed out, after the discussion with the audience, the importance of a multi stakeholder cooperation that is needed – especially for north/south and south/south relationships – in the context of understanding and implementing adaptation plans.

Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions held from 13 – 14 September 2017

UIC participated in the Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions.
This meeting was the occasion to get an overview of the work of the Marrakech Partnership and COP23 preparation. Mr Salahedinne Mezouar, President of COP22 and Mrs Hakima El Hait, High-Level Champion participated in this event.
During parallel workshops, the development of the Yearbook for Climate Action was discussed, with seven main topics: land use, oceans and coastal zones, water, human settlements, energy, industry and of course transport. Key achievements and success stories by sector were highlighted and key messages for the Yearbook identified.

The communication roadmap and its priorities for COP23 as well as the recommendations and perspectives for 2018 were also addressed.
COP23 will host thematic days, including one dedicated to transport on 11 November 2017. UIC along with other stakeholders will actively participate in this day with high-level events.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participates in Climate Chance Summit and the Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions Workshops in Agadir

Workshops

UIC and UITP co-hosted the event Linking Global Initiatives to Concrete Actions on the Ground with Rail and Public Transport. The event was moderated by Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit.

On this occasion, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, presented UIC’s international presence and work as the representative of the worldwide railway community. Philip Turner from UITP emphasised the importance of building partnerships and the work of associations as a great leverage for action. Florence Cousin from SNCF, French railways, spoke about modal shift and door-to-door solutions. Sandra Laquelle from CODATU presented the MobiliseCity initiative. Following this, Salima Rahmaoui from Alstom discussed the environmental certification of Alstom’s company. The panel was then joined by Wei-Shiuen Ng from ITF, to bring the OECD perspective to the topic.

Later in the day UIC co-hosted an event on adaptation of infrastructures with the National Centre for Road Studies and Research (CNER), part of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics of Morocco. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux presented the UIC RailAdapt project and its international perspectives. Antoine Rothey from SNCF addressed the topic of adaptation and railway sensitivity to weather. Ali Sadiqui from ONCF, Moroccan railways showed how ONCF is dealing with resilience and adaptation. Finally, Mohamed Oumessaoud and Rabbab Eddeqaqui from the CNER showed how Morocco is working for adapting road and road works to climate change. To conluded, Stefanie Shom, presented the road map for sustainable mobility in Morocco. Rosine Zadi, moderator of the event, pointed out, after the discussion with the audience, the importance of a multi stakeholder cooperation that is needed – especially for north/south and south/south relationships – in the context of understanding and implementing adaptation plans.

Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions held from 13 – 14 September 2017

UIC participated in the Second World Forum of Alliances and Coalitions.
This meeting was the occasion to get an overview of the work of the Marrakech Partnership and COP23 preparation. Mr Salahedinne Mezouar, President of COP22 and Mrs Hakima El Hait, High-Level Champion participated in this event.
During parallel workshops, the development of the Yearbook for Climate Action was discussed, with seven main topics: land use, oceans and coastal zones, water, human settlements, energy, industry and of course transport. Key achievements and success stories by sector were highlighted and key messages for the Yearbook identified.

The communication roadmap and its priorities for COP23 as well as the recommendations and perspectives for 2018 were also addressed.
COP23 will host thematic days, including one dedicated to transport on 11 November 2017. UIC along with other stakeholders will actively participate in this day with high-level events.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC participates in COP22 in Marakech

COP22 ended on 18 November with the Marrakech Climate Declaration. All participants and negotiators acknowledged the execution of the Paris Agreement that came into effect on 4 November.

As mentioned last week, UIC contributed to many different events during COP22.

The first contribution from UIC experts was on 9 November 2016 during the side event: “Transport Adaptation to climate change in Africa”. John Dora, a Consultant often working with UIC, took part in this event.

Due to a strong focus on the discussions about transport and climate change on the mitigation aspects, the important adaptation of transport systems and services has been neglected. There is a critical need for surface transport systems and services to be more resilient to climate change in particular in vulnerable regions.

The impacts of climate change are different depending on the regions, and each country, area and modes have different capacities to respond.

This event was the occasion to launch the “COP22 Transport Adaptation Declaration” signed by many organisations during COP22, including UIC.

This declaration was eventually presented to the High Level Champions and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Espinosa on 17 November.

On 11 November, UITP and UIC organised the event “Linking Global Initiatives to Concrete Actions on the Ground for Low Carbon Rail and Public Transport” in the green zone, Innovation & Civil Society during the Ocean, Transport, Energy Day.
Carbon emissions from transport continue to rise year on year. In order to accelerate mitigation in this area, both UIC and UITP have launched initiatives as a part of the Global Climate Action Agenda. This event introduced global targets for urban transport and railway transport together with examples of concrete actions taken by operators.

Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC moderated this session with speakers including: Alain Flausch, Secretary General, UITP, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General, UIC, Mohammed Adouiri Alaoui, Advisor to the General Director, ONCF, Morocco, Member of UIC African Region, Christian Dubost, Sustainability Director, SNCF, France, Amadou Ba, President of Urban Transport of Dakar (Cetud) UITP Sustainable Development Commission, Senegal, Youssef Draiss, Director General of Casablanca Transport, Morocco and Rafika Habra, Director General Bus City, Morocco.

This event gave a great overview of activities and practical examples and focused particularly on the African region and Morocco.

On that same day a ITF, UITP and UIC event “Charting Pathways to Decarbonise Transport” took place in the blue zone.

In order to successfully decarbonise the transport sector, challenges in all transport modes must be addressed. This event focused on developing new pathways and closing the gaps between national commitments and delivery on climate mitigation for different transport modes, such as rail, road, aviation, and shipping. Success factors and actions required to move from concept to implementation on the decarbonisation of transport by 2050 were discussed.

The event was moderated by Mary Crass, Head of Institutional Relations, International Transport Forum (ITF).

Speakers included: José Viegas, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF), Alain Flausch, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC), Jane Hupe, Deputy Director, Air Transport Bureau, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Edmund Hughes, Head of Air Pollution and Energy Efficiency, International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Chairman, UIC African Region & CEO, Moroccan Railway ONCF, Amadou Ba, President, Executive Council of Urban Transport in Dakar (CETUD).

The conference is online on YouTube and still available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2GPyg_b_YE&list=PL-m2oy1bnLzocWRks4MGBmGKdcf8Nxuns&index=177

In the afternoon, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, and Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Chairman of the UIC African Region & CEO of ONCF, participated in the Transport CEO Round Table on Climate Change organised by PPMC in the blue zone.

“The primary objective of the Transport CEO Round Table was to determine how the private sector and the GCAA Transport team can best engage in the further development of the proposed PPMC – Global Roadmap‖ as an actionable vision of transport decarbonisation to implement the Paris Agreement. The round table was chaired by Jean Dominique Senard, CEO of Michelin, and was attended by numerous participants representing national & international transport companies, private sector organizations (e.g. WBCSD, WEF, We Mean Business, CDP,UNGC) and modal transport sub-sectors (e.g. ECF, UIC, UITP).” Source: Transport takes off at COP22 – Day Five – 11 November 2016 – Daily Report PPMC

On 12 November in the morning, a debate was organised in the Climate Train in Marrakech train station – organized by SNCF and ONCF unde the title “Major railway projects at the service of climate and sustainable development” . The event was moderated by Gabriel Castañares, Senior Advisor Energy & CO2 at UIC.

Many different speakers discussed climate change and its concerns and how rail can be a solution, particularly displaying ONCF commitments in Morocco, for a more sustainable future. Speakers included: Mohammed Adouiri, Advisor to the General Director and in charge of COP22 projects for ONCF, Alain Quinet, Deputy General Director for SNCF Réseau, Mohammed Smouni, Director of Development at ONCF, Anne Guerrero, SNCF Réseau – Deputy Director of Environment and Sustainability, Michel DUBROMEL, France Nature Environment non-profit organisation. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC concluded the event along with Mr Stéphane Volant, Secretary General of SNCF. The event concluded with the signature of a partnership for sustainable development between SNCF and ONCF.

A Transport Showcase was held in the blue zone on the afternoon of the 12 November – it was mandated by the COP 22 Champion - in the context of the Global Climate Action Agenda . Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, contributed to the discussions on adaptation and emphasised as well as other actors from the air, the road and the maritime but as well from organisations promoting cycling, that COP22 should encourage working together, that mutualisation is crucial even in a context where sense of ownership and competition in our society are so strong: “The CEO of the International Union of Railways echoed this call for integration, noting that ‘new key word is collaboration, not competition,’ and stating that transport must harness the ‘young minds’ of universities, youth groups, and start-up industry, to bring new energy to older and larger organizations.” Source: Transport: Thinking, Dreaming, and Acting Big - Days Six and Seven – 12-13 November 2016 – Daily Report PPMC

We will also note that UIC attended a green zone side event organised by SNCF “Financements Climat et Mobilité Durable” (Climate Financing and Sustainable Mobility) Moderated by Kelly Robin, IPEMED and Antoine Rothey, SNCF in the presence of speakers from ONCF, PPMC/SLOCAT, UITP, ARED, I4CE, AFD, CODATU, Dakar municipality and the Abidjan Region.

On 13 November the Transport Day was organised by SLOCAT. The event brought together many different types of organisations representing all modes of transport.
UIC contributed actively to the transport adaptation and resilience breakout session, moderated by Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC.

“Following the likely impact of the United States elections may have on emission, the transport adaptation and resilience session made clear that adaptation is now even more important than ever, and therefore must build a community distinct from the mitigation community. Speakers noted that a Global Transport Adaptation Leadership Forum would be useful in providing adaptation with its own space and leadership. Governments must also become better at managing risk, economic factors are not an excuse, as initial costs are far outweighed by the economic costs associated with post disaster loss and damaged when risk has been mismanaged.” Source: Transport: Thinking, Dreaming, and Acting Big - Days Six and Seven – 12-13 November 2016 – Daily Report PPMC

It was announced that COP23 will be organized next year in Bonn, Germany under Fiji’s Presidency.

Until then, UIC continues its commitments with the United Nations, participating later this week in the Global Sustainable Transport Conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 26-27 November 2016.

An overview of UIC’s participation to this event will be given later next week but if you want to know more, please have a look at the dedicated website:

http://globaltransportconference.gov.tm/index.php?q=pages&id=1

UIC wishes to thanks the co-organisers of these events during COP22, in particular ONCF, SNCF, UITP, ITF and SLOCAT.

An interview of Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX, UIC Director General, on
“Sustainable development – what has happened since the COP21 conference? What are the next challenges?” is available here: https://youtu.be/xMkYD8xq27Q

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

You can have a look back at UIC presence during COP by consulting our Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/SustRail

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UIC participates in Energy Forum in Vienna, 18 – 20 June 2015

As part of the Energy Forum held in Vienna from 18 – 20 June, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was invited to participate in a high-level panel on transport. He was thus able to reiterate the commitments made through UIC by the international railway community to reduce the consumption of energy and carbon emissions by 2050.

He emphasised that thanks to electrification and the more systematic search for clean energy sources, railways were an important vector in reducing the level of carbon emissions.

Mr Loubinoux highlighted that if the transport sector represented around 25% of emissions at global level, railway transport only represents 1%, and despite this, continues to make numerous efforts to improve its carbon footprint. He stressed that this panel was representative of a new approach to modal complementarity, so that each mode can offer society the best of what it has, both for the customer and for all aspects of energy.

Finally, Mr Loubinoux spoke about UIC’s role in the preparations for the COP21 event to be held in Paris to show rail’s desire – in conjunction with other modes – to make further progress in the area.

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UIC participates in high-level meeting on Tourism Policies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

From 2 – 3 October 2017, the OECD Tourism Committee organised a High-Level Meeting on Tourism Policies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth which brought together ministers, senior policy makers and industry leaders to discuss ways to deliver more sustainable and inclusive tourism growth.

This event marked the occasion of the 100th meeting of the Tourism Committee and supports the future policy agenda of OECD members and partner countries.

The main discussed subjects were:

  • Fostering a whole-of-government approach in tourism
  • Analysing megatrends to better shape the future of tourism
  • Leveraging investment for sustainable and inclusive tourism growth

Marc Guigon, UIC Senior Advisor for Passenger Transport, participated in this meeting and spoke about the following topics:

  • Sustainable mobility and tourism are indissociable concepts and have co-existed since railways began
  • Tourist trains are attractive products which contribute to the future trends of territorial development, and can create synergies between private and public sector
  • The UIC TOPRAIL project merges many actors from all around the world to promote tourist trains
  • Intermodality air-rail is important for the development of sustainable tourism with minimum carbon footprint
  • It is a megatrend for urban tourism which uses a combination of plane and train tickets, as it is done in some countries
  • Intermodality is an approach to be taken into account in government policies and UIC is avilable to support these policies

For further information please contact Marc Guigon, UIC Senior Advisor for Passenger Transport:

guigon at uic.org

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UIC participates in high-level meeting on Tourism Policies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

From 2 – 3 October 2017, the OECD Tourism Committee organised a High-Level Meeting on Tourism Policies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth which brought together ministers, senior policy makers and industry leaders to discuss ways to deliver more sustainable and inclusive tourism growth.

This event marked the occasion of the 100th meeting of the Tourism Committee and supports the future policy agenda of OECD members and partner countries.

The main discussed subjects were:

  • Fostering a whole-of-government approach in tourism
  • Analysing megatrends to better shape the future of tourism
  • Leveraging investment for sustainable and inclusive tourism growth

Marc Guigon, UIC Senior Advisor for Passenger Transport, participated in this meeting and spoke about the following topics:

  • Sustainable mobility and tourism are indissociable concepts and have co-existed since railways began
  • Tourist trains are attractive products which contribute to the future trends of territorial development, and can create synergies between private and public sector
  • The UIC TOPRAIL project merges many actors from all around the world to promote tourist trains
  • Intermodality air-rail is important for the development of sustainable tourism with minimum carbon footprint
  • It is a megatrend for urban tourism which uses a combination of plane and train tickets, as it is done in some countries
  • Intermodality is an approach to be taken into account in government policies and UIC is avilable to support these policies

For further information please contact Marc Guigon, UIC Senior Advisor for Passenger Transport:

guigon at uic.org

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UIC participates in ITF (International Transport Forum) consultation on 24 January 2019 at the OECD



Each year in May, the International Transport Forum (ITF) organises a global event in Leipzig bringing together ministers from around the world to share policy perspectives with CEOs, heads of international organisations, thought leaders from civil society and academia, and media.

On 24 January, UIC participated in a consultation organised by ITF, at OECD Headquarters.

This consultation day, bringing together international organisations, gave Mr François Davenne, UIC Deputy Director General, the opportunity to participate in the discussions and to provide some input in relation to the theme of the 2019 Summit: Transport connectivity for regional integration – in particular the challenge to better manage interfaces with public transport. The MOU between UITP and UIC signed in 2018 is the relevant framework for bringing concrete solutions.

The themes of the Forum are fully in line with UIC’s major concerns: connectivity, regional integration, and sustainable development.

UIC will also be pleased to participate in this Forum from 22 – 24 May in Leipzig to extend these discussions.

Please click below to watch the video interview of Mr Davenne on interfaces with public transport:

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UIC participates in sixth annual railway workshop: creating successful cross-border railway services

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On 18 November, UIC Director General François Davenne participated in the sixth annual railway workshop organised by the World Bank. The title of this year’s workshop, which was held as a virtual event, was “Creating Successful Cross-Border Railway Services”. The annual railway workshops are the result of successful ongoing cooperation between the Austrian Ministry of Finance and the World Bank. The annual railway workshops offer an important platform for international exchange, peer learning and networking. Mr Davenne participated in a session focusing on regulations and policies to improve the efficiency and safety of border crossings from the public sector perspective.

Mr Michael Lestingi, Director, Office of Policy and Planning at the Federal Railroad Administration, provided an overview of rail border crossings between the U.S. and Canada, investments to improve border crossings, bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Canada, and related current issues. Mr Matej Zakonjšek, Director at Transport Community, focused on cross-border transport in the Balkans, and Mr Manuel A. Garza Jr., National Director for the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Office at U.S. Customs and Border Protection shared experience from an ongoing operation and discussed the joint inspection process between U.S. and Mexican customs.

Mr Davenne presented UIC’s work on corridors, highlighting some trends in rail freight. With rail being the backbone of the logistics chain, corridor development at European and global level is not only a sustainable challenge, led by financial pressure, but also presents a challenge in terms of mixed priorities such as interoperability and capacity optimisation, digitalisation (standardisation, data exchange), safety and security, and productivity enhancement.

Mr Davenne then presented the current status of development of transcontinental corridors, as well as European ambitions in this area, mentioning the “30 by 2030” rail freight strategy to boost modal shift led by the Rail Freight Forward initiative. He added that growth and modal shift rely on strengthening innovation and enhancing the speed of digitalisation. Regarding the current Covid-19 crisis, he reminded participants that rail freight had been quite robust and that transcontinental trains had run during the pandemic.

He also called for multilateral thinking from the outset and for strong cooperation and alignment with partners to spread knowledge and positively impact international rail freight.

Mr Davenne thanked the World Bank for the opportunity offered to UIC to learn more about experiences in other areas.

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UIC participates in Strategic Brainstorming Session on Global Partnership on Sustainable Transport

The Global Partnership on Sustainable Transport (GPST) is a multi-stakeholder collaboration organised by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the road transport organization representing bus, coach, taxi and truck operators, and the UN Global Compact. On 24 –25 February, the GPST convened a group of senior executives from relevant organisations to brainstorm on strategies for advancing the sustainable transport-related objectives of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. UIC was invited to participate and was represented by a local UIC member Karen Gelman of Amtrak. Other participants included the private sector and NGO representatives from road, aviation, maritime, logistics and shipping, construction and business associations.

The impetus for the GPST came from the Rio+20 Outcome document “The Future We Want” (2012) and the 17 sustainability development goals (SDGs) proposed by the Open Working Group in July 2014 (to be adopted September 2015). Both efforts recognised the critical role transport plays in sustainable development. Although sustainable transport is not a stand-alone goal of the Post-2015 Development process, the international community recognises that it is at the heart of development challenges of gender empowerment, food security and nutrition, urbanisation, job creation, climate change and energy use.

The GPST hopes to become a key platform for industries across modes to address sustainable transport priorities. It will be launched after the United Nations General Assembly formally adopts the Post-2015 Development Agenda in September. It will facilitate information exchange among partners, as well as other interested parties; document best practices of public/private sustainable transport solutions; advocate policies aimed at advancing sustainable transport; and facilitate (inter)national cooperation between stakeholders at their request. The GPST will make its information and reports available to the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, the 12-member group of government, civil society and transport providers appointed in August 2014 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to promote sustainable transport systems and their integration into development strategies and policies. (UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was appointed to the High-Level Advisory Group by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September 2014).

Participants in the GPST strategy session heard from Igor Runov, Under-Secretary-General of the Permanent Delegation to the UN, International Road Transport Union, Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact, and Nikhil Seth, Director, Sustainable Development Division, UN-DESA on the need for multi-modal collaborations on the issues of sustainability, and the importance the UN has placed on the private sector being an active partner in the global solution.

After a day and a half of brainstorming, the group agreed on two main deliverables for the GPST over the next several months: 1) identify the goals and targets of the SDGs that are translatable to the transport industry in the form of achievable and actionable initiatives; and 2) gather from members of the strategy session, and other GPST stakeholders, specific examples of best practices of sustainable transport initiatives that specifically demonstrate different transport modes and sectors working together. The intent is to work through the High-Level Advisory Group and to have these deliverables by September 2015, when the Open Working Group adopts the final SDGs for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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UIC participates in the “Assises de la mobilité” Sustainability Conference

Moroccan Railways (ONCF) successfully organised the “Assises de la mobilité durable” – under The Patronage of His Majesty king Mohammed VI on 3 November 2016 in Casablanca, Morocco

The first conference on sustainable mobility – “Assises de la mobilité durable” – organised by Moroccan Railways (ONCF), was successfully held in Casablanca, Morocco, on 3 November 2016. The main theme was “Climate challenges: what transport systems for tomorrow?” The goal of the conference was to bring policy makers, media and international experts to share best practices and solutions to meet the growing demand for mobility.

The conference, which gave participants the opportunity to discuss in-depth issues of sustainable mobility, its challenges and to focus the necessary attention on the required efforts for adapted and resilient transport, was opened by national political figures including Mr. Boussaid, Minister of Finance and temporary Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics.

H.E. Dr. Hakima El Haite, Delegate Minister in Charge of Environment, Morocco and COP22 Host, also took part in the introduction and stressed that COP22 will be “a COP for action”. The conference’s goal was to develop a “manifesto” to be submitted to the COP22 negotiators to facilitate the eligibility of low carbon mobility projects planned in the context of the Climate Fund in 2020.

Mr. Mohamed Khlie, President of the UIC African Region and CEO of Moroccan Railways (ONCF) took the floor and announced the completion of a contract that will enable ONCF trains to be powered up to 50% by wind power starting in 2017.

Various panels presented sustainable mobility and its challenges: its evolution, how to reconcile mobility, environment and fight against climate change. The technological evolutions serving sustainable mobility and financing for low carbon mobility were also part of the discussions.

Mr. Willy Bontinck from SNCB and Chair of UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability (EES) Platform participated with Mr. Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor for energy and CO2 emissions from UIC, in the panel on sustainable mobility presenting their vision and UIC actions for a more sustainable future.
Digitalisation and innovation were crucial aspects pointed out by speakers to transform and adapt transport for the future generations. Challenges around investment, accessibility, especially in developing countries like the African continent were also addressed.

Mr. Said Chandid, Director for Strategy and Communications at ONCF, presented the declaration on Sustainable Mobility – finalised during the event – that will be handed over to the COP22 negotiators. Its title: “Making Sustainable Mobility a new field for climate finance”. Mr. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, Mr. Brice Lalonde, President of Business & Climate summit and former French Minister, Mrs Mfoumou Ondo, Minister of Transport and Logistics in Gabon and Mr. Mohamed Khlie concluded the event. Mr. Loubinoux and Mr. Khlie strongly emphasised that railways are committed to a more sustainable future and have not waited for COP to take action. “Rail is part of the modal complementarity and is a solution and a virtuous investment” added Mr. Loubinoux.

For further information please contact Jerzy Wisniewski: wisniewski at uic.org

Marie-Luz Philippe: philippe at uic.org

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UIC participates in the 13th UN Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia, organised virtually by UNCRD and co-hosted by UNESCAP in Bangkok on 10 and 11 November 2020

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The 13th UN Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia, now organised on an annual basis by UNCRD (United Nations Centre for Regional Development), was hosted virtually in Bangkok, Thailand on 10 and 11 November 2020, in conjunction with the 6th UNESCAP Session of the Committee on Transport.

As the main railway organisation advocating for the development of the railway sector as a major sustainable mode of transport, UIC has been a regular partner of this event since the 7th edition was held in Bali, Indonesia in April 2013.

The theme of the 13th edition was “Changing the Course of Asia’s Transport Sector through Transformational Changes”. Asian countries have been progressively adopting and implementing sustainable transport policies and programmes, in the face of the continent’s numerous challenges, by building transport systems that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, and which can accelerate economic and social development. In the meantime, in common with members in other parts of the world, UIC Asia-Pacific railway members are struggling to overcome the impacts of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Reduced in scope to a virtual two-day event, the Forum was opened by Messrs Kazushige Endo (Director, UNCRD), Yoshihiro Yamamoto (Director General, Environment Management Bureau, Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan), Yasuhiro Ishihara (Deputy Minister for International Projects, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan) and Kaveh Zahedi (Deputy Executive Secretary, UNESCAP), while the keynote address was delivered by Mr Bambang Susantono (Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB).

The Forum was composed of four plenary sessions and three policy dialogues, and UIC was invited this time to take part in the first policy dialogue on “Transport connectivity and sustainable development: Connecting Asia-Pacific to regional and global markets”. Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, delivered a presentation on “Railways as the backbone of regional sustainable connectivity and a green recovery”. It was followed by a panel discussion, during which Mr Davenne, together with Ms Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development UIC, highlighted that rail plays an important role in the movement of people and goods, and suggested that it could support green recovery as the backbone of sustainable mobility and provide connectivity, contributing to healthy and sustainable lifestyles and economies throughout the world. The UIC Railway Climate Declaration and innovation in railways are intended to accelerate the transition towards net zero emissions by 2050.

These two days also provided an opportunity to share the current experiences of Asian countries of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, as well as recommendations made by all international organisations working to improve land transport modes in a greener and more sustainable way.

Ultimately, this will lead to setting out the concept and process for the successor to the Bangkok 2020 Declaration/New Declaration (2020-2030), which will in turn ensure strong alignment with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development/SDGs in the Asia-Pacific Region.

For more information, please see https://sdgs.un.org/events/thirteenth-intergovernmental-regional-environmentally-sustainable-transport-est-forum-asia.

For further information, please contact Vincent Vu, Director Institutional Relations & Coordinator UIC Asia-Pacific vu at uic.org or Milko Papazoff, UIC ASEAN Representative fapmilko at gmail.com.

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UIC participates in the 80th Inland Transport Committee in Geneva

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, was invited by Mr Yuwei Li, the newly-appointed Director of UNECE’s Sustainable Transport Division, to participate in the 80th Inland Transport Committee from 20 – 23 February.

Mr Loubinoux had the opportunity to participate in the first panel together with Peter Gašperšič, Infrastructure Minister of Slovenia, Ms Maria Magdalena Grigore, Vice-Minister of Transport of Romania, Mr Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director General, DG MOVE, EU Commission, Mr Jean Todt, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, and Ms Nancy Vandycke, Coordinator, Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All), World Bank.

During his presentations Mr Loubinoux focused on the evolution of transport into an integrated chain of mobility. He highlighted the work and studies conducted by the UIC teams in the areas of freight corridors, passenger travel and the development of high speed and smart stations in conjunction with mobility, as well as the work done by the UIC Sustainable Unit.

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UIC participates in the European Ministers of Transport, Health and Environment event to discuss the future of healthy and sustainable mobility (17-18 May)

The Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP), jointly organised by the UNECE and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, held its Fifth High-Level Meeting from 17 to 18 May 2021.

In his intervention, François Davenne, UIC Director General, focussed on rail and public transport and the passenger and freight experience as it might look in 2030.

He said: “We all know that climate change is happening. Our actions will mitigate its effects but we will have to live in times of uncertainties, being confronted with non-linear phenomena that will have consequences on transport infrastructure, water resources, agriculture, public health etc. In this difficult period the transport networks must assume their responsibilities and shift to low emission modes.

Railways are part of the solution, since, although only being about 10% of the market, they account for less than 3% of global emissions. Furthermore, society is benefitting from the improved efficiency and inclusiveness provided by the railways such as decreased road fatalities, injuries and local air pollution. In a nutshell, the priority for our sector is to choose to finance transformational projects for railways at a regional and global level. Transformational projects are those that will have a big impact on efficiency in the short term, such as digitalisation, seamless interconnection with other modes and capacity increase of the existing infrastructure. Those projects will be a driver for the modal shift to rail and public transport in order to achieve the objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Green Deal in Europe”.

Concerning the experience that end-users should be able to expect in 2030 he said: “By 2030, most passengers will arrive at railway stations on foot, bicycle, or public transport and not only to just take a train! People will spend time in stations to use co-working spaces, for shopping, entertainment or to eat or socialise. The station will feel part of the city or community it serves. Most journeys will be made with multimodal e-tickets, passengers will be able to move seamlessly between different modes of transport. On board the train, some passengers will bring their e-scooter onboard and they will charge them while they travel. Reliability is improving with digital and predictive maintenance. When there are issues with the service, information systems react quickly and allow passengers to flexibly adjust the way they travel to get where they need to with minimum disruption”.

There will be similar enhanced experiences for the freight customer. “By 2030, many more customers will be using the railways because it is getting easier to use a multi-modal logistics chain. Hubs are electrified and well linked to roads, canals and seaports. Digital platforms allow customers to track where their consignment is and tell their customers and investors just how much C02 emissions they have saved them by using the train. The trains themselves are quieter for lineside neighbours due to innovative new braking systems and track design, complaints are dropping and access to new routes have opened up even in more populated areas.”

He concluded by highlighting the fact that to achieve this vision of 2030 the following actions must be put in place now by policy makers and national governments:

  • Set binding and ambitious transport modal shift and decarbonisation targets
  • Set policy that incentivises the use of railways, public transport, cycling and walking by pricing the external environmental costs of transport
  • Support public investment in public transport infrastructure and rolling stock as well as research and innovation programmes focusing on enhancing customer service and modal shift
  • Enable stronger linkages between land use and transport planning

For further information, please contact Simon Fletcher at fletcher at uic.org

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UIC participates in the Inland Transport Committee at UNECE (Geneva, 23 February 2016)

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From left to right: Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, Mr François Davenne, Secretary General of OTIF and Mrs Eva Molnar, Director of the Transport Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

As one of the principal contributors to the report on mobility and sustainable transport published by the United Nations (UNECE), Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC was invited to open the UNECE 78th Annual Session of the Inland Transport Committee. The conference, held for three days in Geneva (23 – 26 February 2016), will present the various pillars and guidelines of this document.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, on behalf of UIC, had the opportunity to congratulate UNECE on this major contribution and highlighted the added-value that railways can play as part of the backbone of a new transport mix to serve both passenger and freight transport.

He reiterated the commitments of the railway community through UIC in terms of energy savings and decarbonisation. He also highlighted the importance of modal complementarity and managing interfaces between inter-modal and intra-modal transport.

To consult Mr Loubinoux’s speech at this conference please click on the image below.

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UIC participates in the International Climate Chance Summit from 11 – 13 September 2017 in Agadir, Morocco

The International Climate Chance Summit was launched on 11 September under the high patronage of his Majesty King of Morocco in Agadir, in the presence, among others, of high-level representatives from Morocco, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Patricia Espinosa and Hakima El Haite, Climate Champion for the 2016 COP22.

In the framework of the conference UIC had the pleasure of organising two specific sessions:

  • The first session was in partnership with UITP on the linking of global initiatives to the concrete actions for public transport decarbonisation;
  • The second one was with the CNER – the National Centre for Road Studies and Research (Centre National d’Études et Recherches Routières) on the topic of the adaptation and mitigation of transport infrastructure.

In his presentations, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, explained how the rail sector is as committed as ever to the reduction of CO2, energy consumption and modal shift in order to face the challenges of the two-degree scenario.

The transport sector contributes to 25% of CO2 emissions. Rail has a low share, but the approach is to consider rail as a backbone of a new transport mix and to see how combined efforts in mobility – and in particular urban mobility – can address these challenges through a number of local and national measures; through a number of political and pragmatic measures; through a higher level of infrastructure investment; and through a quantified control of the effects of the various measures undertaken.

To this end, the role of UIC on behalf of the rail operating community worldwide is very important and the quality of the partnerships with the other co-organisers or with the OECD through the International Energy Agency (IEA) is also to be greatly valued.

More information will be published in next week’s edition of UIC eNews.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

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UIC participates in the International Climate Chance Summit from 11 – 13 September 2017 in Agadir, Morocco

The International Climate Chance Summit was launched on 11 September under the high patronage of his Majesty King of Morocco in Agadir, in the presence, among others, of high-level representatives from Morocco, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Patricia Espinosa and Hakima El Haite, Climate Champion for the 2016 COP22.

In the framework of the conference UIC had the pleasure of organising two specific sessions:

  • The first session was in partnership with UITP on the linking of global initiatives to the concrete actions for public transport decarbonisation;
  • The second one was with the CNER – the National Centre for Road Studies and Research (Centre National d’Études et Recherches Routières) on the topic of the adaptation and mitigation of transport infrastructure.

In his presentations, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, explained how the rail sector is as committed as ever to the reduction of CO2, energy consumption and modal shift in order to face the challenges of the two-degree scenario.

The transport sector contributes to 25% of CO2 emissions. Rail has a low share, but the approach is to consider rail as a backbone of a new transport mix and to see how combined efforts in mobility – and in particular urban mobility – can address these challenges through a number of local and national measures; through a number of political and pragmatic measures; through a higher level of infrastructure investment; and through a quantified control of the effects of the various measures undertaken.

To this end, the role of UIC on behalf of the rail operating community worldwide is very important and the quality of the partnerships with the other co-organisers or with the OECD through the International Energy Agency (IEA) is also to be greatly valued.

More information will be published in next week’s edition of UIC eNews.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

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UIC participates in the International Transport Forum

UIC takes part in the International Transport Forum each year. The ITF Annual Summit is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers. Since 2008, this global transport policy event has been bringing together ministers, heads of international organisations, business leaders, civil society and academia to discuss the future of transport and mobility through interactive sessions and debates. More than 1,300 participants from over 70 countries attend the summit each year.

Ireland holds the presidency of the International Transport Forum for 2021. The 2021 Summit on “Transport Innovation for Sustainable Development: Reshaping Mobility in the Wake of Covid-19” explores how innovation can contribute to enhancing sustainability of transport infrastructure and services and the governance framework required in order to enable this.

On 24 May, UIC Director General François Davenne participated in the panel discussion “In search of clarity in an increasingly complex mobility landscape” together with Phil Blythe, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems and Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Transport, Newcastle University, Gemma Schepers, Project Leader, Smart Mobility Programme, City of Amsterdam, Shin-pei Tsay, Global Head of Cities and Transportation Policy, Uber Technologies Inc. and Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, Polis Network.

Automated decision-making is taking hold in numerous areas, from healthcare and housing to media and mobility. Our daily lives are increasingly being influenced by automated decision-making systems based on algorithms and data science. These systems run on code, produce prodigious amounts of data and running largely in the background – both of our consciousness and in regulatory oversight. In transport, algorithms are a core feature for services, from public transport scheduling to routing apps, from bicycle sharing to self-driving technology, and from parcel delivery to the dispatching of ride services. Algorithmic decision-making has the potential to produce significant gains in efficiency, sustainability and equity – but without the right framework, it could erode all three. The panel examined ways of ensuring that mobility driven by algorithmic code supports societal objectives. It also highlighted opportunities offered by blockchain, open algorithms and other alternative approaches to data-sharing to ensure that traffic design and control strategies, as well as future infrastructure development, effectively respond to citizens’ needs.

Discussing key messages for UIC members regarding the use of artificial intelligence and decision-making systems, how to manage interfaces, digital twins, etc., François Davenne said, “Railways are part of the solution in terms of decarbonisation and better use of public space. For that, we need a massive modal shift towards railways and public transport in the next ten years. As Shin-pei Tsay said, interconnections and information-sharing are the key. All developments in terms of artificial intelligence should focus on providing new and better services in order to make modal shift desirable. From a railway perspective, the challenge is to know how to connect; how to be user-friendly. The main issues for railways are ATO and how to implement smart traffic management systems.

ATO (Automatic Train Operation) will be a key issue in increasing the capacity of existing infrastructure. ATO is not only a matter of going from A to B. It is also about integration of management of stations and freight terminals. For that, we need a system-wide approach. UIC welcomes the trials that our members are conducting. We are living in a common ecosystem; at the end of the day, all systems will have to be able to connect. For ATO, there is a crucial question as to whether we want a perfect virtual driver in the train, able to adapt to any system, or integration at the system level? There will be experiments, and UIC can play a role in sharing of knowledge and development of operational specifications.

Regarding interconnections and data management, Mr Davenne said, “UIC is working with its members on digital platforms for passengers and freight services. It will be crucial to define the right interfaces and data format in order to deliver the right level of services for decarbonising our cities and supply chains. The use of AI can also provide low-cost solutions for connecting small and medium-sized cities, for which we have numerous existing secondary lines with no economic viability for rail services.

Regarding modelling, he said, “We need to progress strongly. UIC is working on RSM – rail system modelling – within the framework of Shift2Rail. This software will reconcile modelling tools in order to enable simulations by AI or traffic management tools in complex systems. As the railways have to become the backbone of the new era of mobility, they need to interface with all transport modes while improving their internal efficiency. Modelling will pave the way toward the implementation of digital twins, which will allow digital simulation of complex issues in order to identify solutions in minutes rather than hours or days.

Finally, concerning data sharing, he said, “The real question is how to create data models that can be shared. For instance, ontologies used in RSM make models readable by machines and AI: this is potentially a way to aggregate and process data for infrastructure, rolling stock and possibly ticketing. It is also a way of considering the complex railway system, taking into account all the different perspectives: engineering, operations, maintenance, services, etc. I can say that our members realise that they have to collaborate on these issues in order to operate a shared system. The good news is that we are beginning to have the relevant IT tools to do that together.

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UIC participates in the UNCTAD Expert Meeting on Climate Change Adaptation for International Transport: Preparing for the Future from 16 – 17 April 2019 in Geneva

Despite efforts at mitigation, our climate is changing and all sectors of the economy need to adapt to it, especially large infrastructure managers and landowners like the railway industry.

Railways have been forming part of our landscape for years and as such, they have been constantly subjected to the effects of the weather. Now, due to climate change, railways are more than ever exposed to hard weather conditions and thus, the need for adaptation is growing urgently.

To cope with extreme weather and to recover quickly from it, various strategies have been implemented by different railway companies that aim to cope with the impacts of flooding, storms and gales, intense short time period rainfall, extended rain periods, thunderstorms, hot temperatures and changing vegetation.

Research and information shared by UIC illustrates that if the right information is given in time to the right stakeholders, then good adaptation strategies can be implemented, providing the possibility to mitigate the consequences of climate change. In that frame, Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC, participated in an event held in Geneva from 16 – 17 April 2019 – the Expert Meeting on Climate Change Adaptation for International Transport: Preparing for the Future.

This meeting, convened by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), provided a forum for technical experts, key industry stakeholders and relevant international organisations to hold an informal discussion on advancing climate change adaptation and resilience building for international transportation across closely interlinked global supply chains. Topics ranged from seaports, inland waterways, shipping to inland transport and cross-modal network to airports and aviation as well as climate policy framework, finance, standards and capacity building.

The event aimed to identify effective ways to support adaptation action, resilience and capacity building and to develop policy recommendations to help inform the UN Climate Summit in September 2019 and contribute towards advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Carole Escolan-Zeno provided inputs for railways during the dedicated session on inland transport along with other representatives from the sector. On a global level, transport underpins trade and society, therefore, transport should be considered as a whole system and rail plays a crucial role in this system. There is a need for a higher level and wider way of thinking and encourage multi-stakeholder cooperation for adaptation. She mentioned that “adaptation strategies shall relate to risk assessment”. Organisations shall be able to change and adapt intelligently depending on the circumstances. She emphasized how “adaptation actions shall become part of business as usual rather than a special project or process”. Mrs Escolan-Zeno, also added how important it is to prepare stakeholders for the impacts of climate change and for the significant role of adaptation.

In 2017, UIC launched RailAdapt aimed at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared, in support of national Adaptation Plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs whilst improving railways’ resilience in the face of Climate Change. UIC pursues this and you can find more about UIC’s work on adaptation here: https://uic.org/railadapt-report

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC partners with the 5th International Railway Summit – Special discount available

UIC is delighted to partner with Huawei and IRITS Events for the 5th International Railway Summit, taking place at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November 2017.

International Railway Summit is a meeting of the world’s key rail sector leaders and technical experts. The event features:

  • A full conference programme delivered by thought leaders
  • Pre-arranged one-to-one meetings with technical experts
  • High-level networking over coffee, lunches, dinners and a site visit

The conference programme of the 5th International Railway Summit brings together a wide range of key topics under the theme “Social and Economic Sustainability for Rail Transport”.

UIC’s Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, will join the summit via a video keynote presentation on “The Economics of High Speed Rail”. Two additional UIC colleagues, Marc Antoni, Director of Rail System, and Francis Bedel, Chief Digital Officer, will also speak at the summit.

Other key speakers include:

  • Mohd Azharuddin Bin Mat Sah, CEO, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), Malaysia
  • Mohd Nur Kamal, CEO, MyHSR, Malaysia
  • Azmi Abdul Aziz, CEO, Prasarana, Malaysia
  • Noormah Mohd Noor, CEO, Express Rail Link, Malaysia
  • Yuan Xilin, President, Transportation Sector, Huawei Technologies, China
  • Shahrin Bin Abdol Salam, SVP Plans & Development, SMRT, Singapore
  • Tony Frazer, General Manager Operations, Australian Rail Track Corp.
  • Philippe Lorand, Director Asia, French National Railways (SNCF)
  • Michael Boback, Head of International Procurement Office Asia, German Railways (DB)
  • Gareth Williams, Strategy Director & Company Secretary, Eurostar International
  • Hiroshi Tanaka, Director, Railway International Standards Centre, Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Japan
  • Dwi Windarto, Transit-Oriented Development Director, KCIC, Indonesia

Rail sector leaders will debate on:

  • The Economics of High Speed Rail
  • Standardisation for Cross-border Transport
  • Digital Railway Transformation
  • Intermodal Passenger Transport
  • Investment in Freight Corridors
  • Urban Rail: Increasing Capacity

Through its well-balanced agenda, the presentations of keynote speakers, which I was happy to be part of, the panel discussions and the bilateral contacts, the latest edition of IRS was certainly a particularly interesting event.
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General, UIC

A well-organised event with excellent networking opportunities. A good mixture of conference programme and 1:1 sessions in superb surroundings."
Jan Grothe, Head of Procurement Principles & IT Systems, Deutsche Bahn

UIC members and email subscribers are eligible for a special discount. Book today to receive 26% off.*

Claim your discount code here.

View Agenda

Alternatively, you can contact the organisers at chandini.saikia at irits.org.

*Subject to conditions and availability.

See the full article

UIC partners with the 5th International Railway Summit – Special discount available

UIC is delighted to partner with Huawei and IRITS Events for the 5th International Railway Summit, taking place at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur on 15-17 November 2017.

International Railway Summit is a meeting of the world’s key rail sector leaders and technical experts. The event features:

  • A full conference programme delivered by thought leaders
  • Pre-arranged one-to-one meetings with technical experts
  • High-level networking over coffee, lunches, dinners and a site visit

The conference programme of the 5th International Railway Summit brings together a wide range of key topics under the theme “Social and Economic Sustainability for Rail Transport”.

UIC’s Director General, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, will join the summit via a video keynote presentation on “The Economics of High Speed Rail”. Two additional UIC colleagues, Marc Antoni, Director of Rail System, and Francis Bedel, Chief Digital Officer, will also speak at the summit.

Other key speakers include:

  • Mohd Azharuddin Bin Mat Sah, CEO, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), Malaysia
  • Mohd Nur Kamal, CEO, MyHSR, Malaysia
  • Azmi Abdul Aziz, CEO, Prasarana, Malaysia
  • Noormah Mohd Noor, CEO, Express Rail Link, Malaysia
  • Yuan Xilin, President, Transportation Sector, Huawei Technologies, China
  • Shahrin Bin Abdol Salam, SVP Plans & Development, SMRT, Singapore
  • Tony Frazer, General Manager Operations, Australian Rail Track Corp.
  • Philippe Lorand, Director Asia, French National Railways (SNCF)
  • Michael Boback, Head of International Procurement Office Asia, German Railways (DB)
  • Gareth Williams, Strategy Director & Company Secretary, Eurostar International
  • Hiroshi Tanaka, Director, Railway International Standards Centre, Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Japan
  • Dwi Windarto, Transit-Oriented Development Director, KCIC, Indonesia

Rail sector leaders will debate on:

  • The Economics of High Speed Rail
  • Standardisation for Cross-border Transport
  • Digital Railway Transformation
  • Intermodal Passenger Transport
  • Investment in Freight Corridors
  • Urban Rail: Increasing Capacity

Through its well-balanced agenda, the presentations of keynote speakers, which I was happy to be part of, the panel discussions and the bilateral contacts, the latest edition of IRS was certainly a particularly interesting event.
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General, UIC

A well-organised event with excellent networking opportunities. A good mixture of conference programme and 1:1 sessions in superb surroundings."
Jan Grothe, Head of Procurement Principles & IT Systems, Deutsche Bahn

UIC members and email subscribers are eligible for a special discount. Book today to receive 26% off.*

Claim your discount code here.

View Agenda

Alternatively, you can contact the organisers at chandini.saikia at irits.org.

*Subject to conditions and availability.

See the full article

UIC present at the North American 2010 Railroad Environmental Conference (RREC)

Over 400 railway experts were gathered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, in the United States of America last week for the 2010 Railroad Environmental Conference. The conference is the largest annual gathering of the North American railroad environmental community, and includes representation from the railroad industry and of the railroads companies, including freight, short line, passenger, commuter, rail transit, as well as consulting engineers, environmental control equipment suppliers, regulators, academics and others involved in all aspects of railroad environmental topics, from both the US and Canada.

The main topics of the conference were pollution prevention; energy, emissions and air quality; noise and vibration; environmental management systems; compliance; risk and liability management; remediation; and training. UIC was represented by Lisette Mortensen, UIC Senior Adviser Environment, who was invited to give a presentation on Noise challenges facing Europe in the occasion that the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) has recently joint the UIC Expert Network on Noise. In the presentation she outlined the challenges the European railway operating companies and infrastructure managers have to deal with,
The RREC conference is co-sponsored by The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the American Railway Engineering & Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA), the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRA), the American Railway Development both on the national and the international level. Association (ARDA), and the Railway Association of Canada (RAC).
Lisette Mortensen was also invited to join the AAR Environmental Affairs Committee that held its autumn meeting in conjunction with the conference. In this meeting she got an even deeper insight to the ongoing environmental topics for the North American rail sector and took the opportunity of this more informal opportunity for exchange to inform the members of the Committee about UIC sustainability activities, and further on invited and encouraged the members to develop a closer cooperation with UIC on these issues. Especially issues like soil remediation and green procurement could be in the core of further cooperation between railways in North America and UIC.

For more information about the RREC 2010:
http://ict.illinois.edu/railroad/rrec/overview.asp

For more information please contact Lisette Mortensen: mortensen at uic.org

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UIC presents the “UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” initiative during the UN Climate Change Summit in New York

UIC presented on 23 September the UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge.

This initiative responds to the United Nations Secretary General’s call to bring bold pledges to the Climate Summit. This Summit, held on 23 September 2014 in New York brought together leaders from Government, private sector and civil society with the aim of catalysing climate action and raising political ambition for a meaningful global legal agreement by 2015.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, recently appointed by the United Nations Secretary General as Member of the High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, presented this initiative. He said:

“Climate change is the defining issue of our times. Rail offers an important part of the solution because of its very low carbon intensity. Based on expert analysis of transport energy consumption and carbon emissions by the International Energy Agency, UIC has set three targets; improve efficiency, decarbonise power and achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.”

These targets are designed to both catalyse action and highlight progress by the rail sector:

  • To reduce specific final energy consumption from train operations by:
    • 50% reduction by 2030 (relative to a 1990 baseline)
    • 60% reduction by 2050 (relative to a 1990 baseline)
  • To reduce specific average CO2 emissions from train operations by:
    • 50% reduction by 2030 (relative to a 1990 baseline)
    • 75% reduction by 2050 (relative to a 1990 baseline)

To achieve this, the global rail sector is taking action; developing electrification, improving load factors, procuring more efficient rolling stock, developing energy and traffic management systems and efficient driving.
Regenerative braking, returning breaking energy to the grid, is now state of the art. Advanced traffic control allows optimised train movements and speed profiles.
In the UK, a reduction of over 2000 K tonnes of carbon will be achieved in 10 years through the installation of Driver Advisory Systems on both diesel and electric trains.
Experience in Norway has shown reductions in energy consumption of up to 15% following the installations of energy meters on trains. Meters on trains are now compulsory in Germany. 25,000 energy meters will be installed on trains in Europe by 2020.

The electrified rail system is immediately compatible with renewable energy. The European rail sector has doubled its use of renewable electricity between 2005 and 2010, now accounting for 28% of all electric traction. There are entire rail networks in Scandinavia, Switzerland and Austria where the electricity used is almost entirely carbon free.

Rail companies choose to pay a premium price for electricity so that they can support investment in renewable energy. For example, the Dutch railway brokered a special deal so that from 2018 they will only use electricity supplied from new sources of renewable energy.

UIC is seeking to scale up this action through increasing rail’s market share at the expense of high carbon transport. The UIC initiative proposes a third target related to modal shift:

  • Rail share of passenger transport (passenger/km) to achieve a:
    • 50% increase by 2030, relative to a 2010 baseline
    • 100% increase, a doubling by 2050, relative to a 2010 baseline
  • Rail share of freight land transport (tonne/km) to be:
    • equal with road by 2030
    • and 50% greater than road by 2050

This challenge is designed to be ambitious but achievable in a green economy perspective; this means developing new patterns of growth rooted in a more sustainable balance between transport modes.

The rail sector has already made good progress; energy intensity has reduced by one third between 1990 and 2010.

UIC is seeking to building partnerships to support the right policy environment. Scaling up requires enabling actions and green investments by national governments and transport authorities.

This includes investment in high speed rail to reduce road and air traffic and new freight corridors to meet support economic development. It also requires important investment in existing assets; the removal of bottlenecks, modernisation of signalling systems, increasing of axial loads and loading gauges at strategic locations, promoting inter-modality for freight (eg by developing dry ports) and passenger traffic (better stations, and connections to wider public transport networks).

UIC calls for the internalisation of external costs so that transport users are presented with representative price signals. It is vital to harness private capital and innovation by providing the right environment for public private partnerships.
UIC welcomes the confirmed support received for this initiative from Governments, including the United Kingdom, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Energy Agency, and the private sector including UNIFE, Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom.

The UIC Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge is available here:

http://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/uic_low_carbon_rail_transport_challenge-action_plan.pdf

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of UIC Sustainable Development Unit: craven at uic.org

See the full article

UIC promotes investment in rail as a solution to climate change at the United Nations COP20 negotiations in Lima, Peru

Through accreditation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UIC was invited to install a booth at the COP20 negotiating venue in Lima, Peru. UIC is using this booth to promote investment in rail as a solution to climate change, raise awareness of the Train to Paris campaign and reach out to key NGOs and decision makers.

The international debate on climate change is entering a crucial phase. After many years of work, COP20 is the last round of major international round negotiations before the legally binding agreement expected at COP21 in Paris, 2015.

UIC is following the development of two key activities associated with the UNFCCC process that are likely to present opportunities for greater investment in rail transport, these are Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) & Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

A NAMA focused event on 6 December was opened by Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, and Manuel Pulgar Vidal, COP20 President. Figueres emphasised the need for strong climate action before 2020 and recognised that successful NAMAs must respond to national circumstances. In her closing remarks, Figueres considered the transition from project-driven CDMs to policy-based NAMAs to economy-wide INDCs the post-2020 process, concluding; “The world is ready for the marathon. We have been training for the marathon whether we realise it or not”.

National Governments are currently developing their INDCs to be published by August 2015. However, given the challenging deadline there is some uncertainty regarding the level of detail that can be expected later next year. Nevertheless, strong investment to develop more sustainable transport systems is a clear requirement of the Climate Change 2 Degrees Scenario.

There is an increasing urgency following a number of recent reports setting out strong arguments for greater ambition and faster implementation of action to combat climate change. Notably, the draft decision of the Ad-hoc Durban Platform (ADP) Workstream 2 recognises the need for action in the near term. The ADP co-chairs have proposed a forum to support accelerated implementation of enhanced pre-2020 climate action, to identify opportunities to further expedite implementation, and to assess the need to mobilise financial resources, technological and capacity-building support for NAMAs in developing countries. Perhaps more importantly, the draft states that “Parties with greatest responsibility and those with sufficient capability are expected to take on absolute economy-wide mitigation targets, and that all Parties should aspire to this over time”.

As rail has a low carbon intensity, where absolute-economy wide mitigation targets are adopted these have great potential to drive modal shift and increase rail market share.

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

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UIC promotes its “Low Carbon sustainable rail transport challenge” at Michelin Challenge Bibendum (Chengdu, 11 – 14 November)

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From 11 – 14 November, Michelin is organising Challenge Bibendum (http://www.challengebibendum.com/), an international event bringing together political, industry, scientific, and media representatives to discuss the challenges and solutions for sustainable mobility. This year the event is being organised in Chengdu, China, and it promises to showcase the leaders who are building the future through outdoor car activities, high-level meetings, exhibitions, and technological innovations.

Michelin kindly offered the opportunity to promote the five transport-related United Nations Climate Summit commitments in the Challenge Bibendum. Michelin supports the way in which transport is reflected in COP 21 in Paris, and commitments are a big part of it. Michelin is already partner to commitments such as UITP, UEMI and supports the Global Fuel Economy commitment.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, recorded a video message, available here:

http://www.challengebibendum.com/eng/Chengdu-2014-Global-Summit

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UIC proud to contribute to the new policy guide for electric mobility published today by World Bank initiative SuM4All

The SuM4All World Bank initiative today publishes its latest report as part of the Global Roadmap of Action series, Sustainable Electric Mobility: Building Blocks and Policy Recommendations. UIC is part of the SuM4All initiative, working to promote and support sustainable mobility for all and representing the global voice of rail. UIC is proud to have contributed to the report and supports its key messages and policy recommendations for the decarbonisation and digitalisation of the transport sector.

The paper unpacks the GRA’s policy measures on electric mobility into three action areas, seven building blocks and 69 policy recommendations to promote sustainable e-mobility at all levels of government as a call to action for policymakers.

The seven building blocks of successful public policy for sustainable electric mobility set out in the report are as follows:

  1. Building momentum: the power of vision and targets
  2. Raising awareness: a narrative based on transparent information and multi-stakeholder engagement
  3. Setting the right policy framework: regulating the market and stimulating action
  4. Integrating mobility and energy policy for mutual benefit
  5. Pilot projects: the benefits of local experience
  6. Providing knowledge: capacity building and exchange of experience
  7. Developing the financing tools: financing mechanisms and business models fit for purpose

It uses the “Avoid-Shift-Improve” paradigm for sustainable mobility, with shift of mode to established electrified mobility, such as rail, being an essential ingredient. As the most energy efficient form of mass land transport, railways may be the backbone of the electric mobility revolution in many circumstances. A shift to rail for both freight and passengers is the quickest and most effective way to accelerate increased electric mobility. Compared to other modes of transport, the rail sector is widely electrified. In 2016, about three-quarters of global conventional passenger rail activity used electricity, and virtually all urban and high-speed rail networks are electric.

Electrification is expected to continue at a rapid pace throughout the world, although battery or hydrogen fuel will be a more cost-effective alternative to diesel on some routes. UIC is working with its members to support the development of alternative propulsion. Take part in dedicated events tomorrow and next week (battery workshop: https://uic.org/events/battery-trains) to find out more and join the debate.

For further information please contact Lucie Anderton at: anderton at uic.org

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UIC publishes new International Railway Solutions (IRS) about technical aspects of vegetation control and tree risk management - IRS 70723

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UIC develops and distributes IRSs in order to help railway stakeholders achieve further harmonisation and collaboration in daily railway operations.

As IRSs are gradually replacing UIC leaflets, the Track & Structures Sector within the UIC Rail System Forum and the Sustainable Land Use Sector within the Energy, Environment and Sustainability Platform collaborated to provide recommendations and clarification with regard to the development of UIC Leaflet 723 into IRS 70723.

Vegetation management within and alongside the track, besides other properties owned by the railway companies, has to be adapted to expected future demands. Therefore, the railway sector has often separated railway corridors into several areas to reflect the various vegetation control measures applied. IRS 70723 on vegetation control and tree-risk management summarises the corresponding methods to improve the safe and efficient operation of the railways while reducing the overall impact on the environment. The new IRS 70723 has been developed within the scope of the HERBIE project where the final report can be found on the UIC ETF-Shop.

With the aim to provide guidance and recommendations about technical aspects of vegetation control and tree risk management in terms of railway applications to reflect the current state of the art and to investigate vegetation control methods currently implemented or researched by UIC members the objectives of IRS 70723 are:

  • to assist railway infrastructure management and staff in addressing the issue of vegetation and tree risk control on the railways.
  • to provide UIC members with a single source of information on vegetation and tree risk management.
  • to enable infrastructure managers to identify affordable and effective solutions for railway vegetation managers.

IRS 70723 is directed at those responsible for planning and implementing vegetation and tree-risk management within and adjacent to operational railway corridors. It has been prepared in recognition of the wide variety of vegetation types, the management issues associated with them, and of the nationally and regionally specific solutions that apply to the global railway network. Thus, IRS 70723 is likely to be of interest to all those involved in keeping the railway track area plant-free, as encroaching vegetation can hinder the safe passage and braking of train operations, as well as safe and efficient functioning of the control-command and signalling system.

UIC is truly grateful for the valuable encouragement and the discussions that took place at the UIC Track Experts Group (TEG) and Sustainable Land Use expert meetings attended by both UIC members and staff.

To find out more about the new IRS 70723, please visit the UIC ETF-Shop at the following link:

IRS 70723 EN: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/technical-aspects-of-vegetation-control-and-tree-risk-management-guidance-and-recommendations.html

HERBIE Report: https://www.shop-etf.com/fr/herbie-guidelines-state-of-the-art-and-integrated-assessment-of-weed-control-and-management-for-railways

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Sector: yilmazer at uic.org, or David Mirayo, Infrastructure and TTI Senior Advisor: mirayo at uic.org

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UIC RailAdapt Workshop held from 27 – 28 April 2017 in London

RSSB (Rail Safety and Standards Board) hosted the first UIC RailAdapt Workshop in London from 27 – 28 April 2017. Around 30 participants from 10 countries were represented at this event.

After introducing the event, Nick Craven, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit at UIC, and John Dora, consultant and moderator of the workshop, emphasised the importance of adaptation within members at UIC and how it was vital to address this topic during dedicated events such as RailAdapt. The RailAdapt initiative aims at keeping UIC Members informed and prepared in support of national adaptation plans, UN agreements and EU encouragement to reduce risks and costs while improving railways’ resilience in the face of climate change.
The first day of the event focused on policy and strategy for adaptation and resilience.

The key themes addressed were understanding interdependencies as well as the importance of data sharing, especially for weather forecast, metrics related to economy and finally integration across modes of transport. This day allowed participants to discuss the economics and investment challenges on resilience and adaptation, especially with regard to how each organisation and each sector define and manage resilience and related actions such as asset management, maintenance. One of the crucial conclusions of the day was that the understanding of decision makers internally and on local and national levels should be improved on these themes, especially for real time and long term forecasting, with the help of new possible tools and report analysis.

The second day was customised to debate in groups around tools and standards for resilience systems: how to respond to disruptive weather events before they occur and encourage a proactive planning. A key point was made to try to reach a mobility approach and not just a rail approach as rail could indeed be a backbone for an integrated and sustainable transport if we manage to work with an interconnected transport system, other networks. This can only be managed by adopting a more holistic view and by communicating better between sectors and internally on local and higher levels.

Further steps to face the challenge on how adaptation and resilience mix will be for Members to meet regularly, work towards an efficient communication with targeted stakeholders at all levels to raise awareness about adaptation. The creation of a web portal was mentioned as a viable way to share best practice, knowledge and expertise in the field of rail adaptation between members.

You can find more information (agenda, presentations) about the event in London here: http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-london

The next event on adaptation will be hosted by China Railways and will take place in Beijing. UIC is inviting members and other key stakeholders to share experience and outline what support railways have and will need from governments and investors to help make the case and secure funding for improving the resilience of rail services.

The event is free of charge and you can register here, and submit a paper: http://events.uic.org/railadapt-workshop-beijing

Note that on 15 May in Bonn, Germany, a side event will be organised in the frame of the forty-sixth session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 46).
This event will explore actions taken by the Estonian Government to mitigate transport emissions (electrification, biogas and Kyoto credits) in addition to adaption initiatives taken by leaders in the rail (RailAdapt projects) and broader transport sector including the COP22 Declaration on Accelerated Action on Adaptation in Transport.

The event will be live on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-m2oy1bnLzp5vQEdO1l4WWxwhAJpX7na

For further information please contact Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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UIC Railway Noise Days

The UIC Railway Noise Days event was held online on 23 and 24 February. With over 260 attendees, the virtual webinar was the first UIC-led event to celebrate the European Year of Rail and was attended by a global audience of government representatives, representatives of the European Commission and NGOs, railway operators and infrastructure managers, suppliers and noise researchers.

The UIC Railway Noise webinar series focused on reducing railway noise and protecting public health. The event introduced technical solutions and research which demonstrate how the railways are becoming a better neighbour.

A collaboration between the UIC Sustainability and Rail System departments, the Railway Noise Days aimed to cover a wide range of activities and railway projects in areas of common concern such as noise regulations, control, management and abatement solutions. The agenda featured targeted presentations, with questions raised and ideas shared through the chat box and networking rooms. The webinar offered updates on the most important issues and developments in the railway noise domain, including European noise policy, ongoing projects and research and future developments.

UIC succeeded in bringing the global rail community together through the networking rooms in order to facilitate discussion. In addition, the participants helped to strengthen existing synergies and create new partnerships in the context of developments in the global environmental agenda, including the European Green Deal.

In this crucial year for rail, together with its members, UIC is endeavouring to discuss, offer solutions and work together with all stakeholders. UIC will continue to play an important advocacy role in international platforms and will highlight the potential of the railways as a clean, environmentally-friendly and sustainable cornerstone of green transport systems.

If you missed the seminars or would like to keep the information in your archive, please take a look at UIC’s playlist on YouTube, as well as the relevant documents:

UIC Railway Noise Days, 23-24 February 2021 #UICRail

Documents

For further information, please contact Pinar Yilmazer, yilmazer at uic.org concerning the UIC Noise and Vibration Sector (see homepage https://uic.org/sustainable-development/noise-and-vibration/)

or Mercedes Gutierrez, gutierrez at uic.org and David Mirayo, mirayo at uic.org for the UIC Train-Track Interaction Sector (see homapge https://uic.org/rail-system/train-track-interaction/)

See the full article

UIC Railway System & East-West Standardisation: cooperation within the APRA region

UIC launches the project “Exploratory study of new rail-type transportation systems and their impact on sustainable development, railway technology and standards”

On 8 May 2018, the kick-off meeting was held by representatives of UIC and RUT (former MIIT). The 24th Asian Pacific Regional Assembly assigned RUT (MIIT) as the Project Leader for the APRA project “Exploratory study of new rail-type transportation systems and their impact on sustainable development, railway technology and standards (NEWTRANSYS)” which was launched during the kick-off meeting. Following the decision of the recent APRA Web Conferences, the principles of Quality Management Process during the implementation of the project were discussed and agreed by teams of RUT (MIIT) and UIC representatives.

From the UIC side the kick-off meeting was attended by Ms Irina Petrunina, UIC Advisor for CIS countries and APRA international organisations, and Mr Vytautas Kinderis, UIC Coordinator for Standardisation and East-West Relations.

From the RUT (MIIT) side the kick-off meeting was attended by Mr Evgeny Zarechkin, RUT Director of Strategic Programs’ Centre, and Mr Aleksey Davydov, RUT Associate Professor of Department of Physics, Ph. D. (Engineering).

Study background

New kinds and types of transportation and transit systems have been or are actually being developed worldwide. Those systems are at different stages of the life cycle of their development. Some of them are at stages of exploratory research, project research, feasibility study, development, others are implemented in acting models, or are subject to field testing, and some have already been operated.

A large part of them are based on techniques and technology which are railway-like or rail-similar, either using some elements of railway transport (rails as basis of their infrastructure, electric feeding systems, signalling etc.). Nonetheless they are not railways in the strict sense of the word. A clear classification of them is missing. The new transportation systems are classified by one criterium or by a set of different criteria taken at a time. They are e.g. focused on purposes (urban, public, commuter transit systems, trams, metro or subway systems), construction features (light rail systems, monorail, string-rail systems, vacuum tube transport), operated engines or principles of moving (electromagnetic transport, linear motors, magnetic levitation), features of rolling stock (rail-road vehicles (railbuses etc.)) etc. Most known systems are:

  • Suspension railway (e.g. elevated monorail, using either Maglev or linear motor technology);
  • Electromagnetic transport, Maglev transport for rapid transit systems (not to exclude high-speed systems);
  • Vacuum tube transport (Hyperloop, Evacuated Tube Transport Technology ET3);
  • String-rail transport (SkyWay) etc.

The project corresponds to sustainable development objectives as most of those systems are resource saving and use environmentally safe technology. It is particularly important under the existing conditions, when the status of those systems is not defined, that their future impact on sustainable development and the status of their relationship to railways should be identified. The summary of those features together with systematisation of the technology used will assist members that consider possibility of the operation of those systems and experience a need in single internationally approved approach.

Study phases & deliverables to be expected

Phase 1 (2018): The first phase of the research in 2018 should be devoted to the general review of new rail or rail-similar transit systems using open source data which has never been analysed and systemised under the suggested angle of view and with regard to practical application for UIC APRA members. The report will give the general review of existing and developed systems of that type, particularly in APRA region. Next phases of the research will include:
Phase 2 (2019): Identification (comprising in-depth search of patent bases) of particular innovative technologies used in those systems.
Phase 3 (2020): Identification of features and criteria, inherent to those systems, which can be used for their classification. Tentative classification of considered systems.

Identification of the systems that can be considered as types of rail or railway transport and then be subject to APRA/UIC activities under different aspects (by technological criteria or by the criteria that their development is realised by railway companies etc.) along with conclusions on their impact on traffic safety, environmental protection, assessment of climate consequences of transportation business and standards.

Mr Boris Levin, RUT Rector and Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, have been informed about results of kick-off meeting and confirmed strategical necessity of study goals to be achieved for competitive superiority of international railway community against other modes of transport to be progressively advanced.

For further information please contact Vytautas Kinderis, Standardisation & East/West Relations
Coordinator:

kinderis at uic.org

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UIC releases its 2019 activity report

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC releases its 2019 activity report

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC releases its 2019 activity report

]

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC releases its 2019 activity report

]

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC releases its 2019 activity report

]

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC releases its 2019 activity report

]

UIC has just published its activity report 2019: https://bit.ly/3gvPv3g

This new report joins the corpus of UIC strategic documents already published this year – the UIC Work programme 2020-2022 https://bit.ly/2C4cqn5 or the one to come which will specify the operational technical solutions delivered by UIC.

UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli said: “Our priorities and focus areas are clear: from creating innovation through projects and further developing our technical/digital platform, to promoting sustainable, carbon-free transport and – most importantly – transparency towards our members and stakeholders at large.”

UIC is tasked with promoting rail transport and developing the railway system to support the strategies of its members: rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers and other industry stakeholders.

UIC has been an SSO (standards setting organisation) since its creation in 1922, and technical harmonisation of the railway system remains one of its core objectives. Its members — the operators of the world’s railways — have, over the years, developed the “UIC code” comprising UIC leaflets, which define common rules to ensure safety and efficiency in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway system. Many of these rules are also applied outside the railway operating community. They are the outcome of work conducted independently by railway operators in order to harmonise the railways in a feasible and efficient manner.

IRSs (International Railway Solutions) are progressively replacing UIC leaflets and are being adapted to incorporate regional variations. Nevertheless, the objective underlying the documentation remains unchanged: it helps railway companies in their aim of serving society and the economy. Representing a rich and diverse membership across the globe, UIC relies on its collective knowledge and technical expertise to develop and enhance the reputation of the railway sector so that it is associated with flexibility, simplicity, freedom and comfort. These concepts go hand in hand with UIC members’ fundamental values, such as safety, security and solidarity.

This activity report 2019 highlights the extent to which the joint efforts of the sector are bearing fruit and contributing to the development of rail transport.

With the support of its many partners throughout the world, UIC also serves as a platform for its members to showcase rail transport as the transport mode of the future: a future that will be characterised by low-carbon transport and in which sensible use of multimodality will enable reduction of pollution and congestion and free up public space in our cities.

The activity report consists of four sections: UIC Areas of activity, where it is summarised what UIC has done in the various domains; UIC’s regional activity (UIC is composed of 6 regions), UIC support services.

The report also mentions key figures: in 2019, UIC published 43 International Railway Solutions (IRS). Speaking about standardisation, a dedicated part on this key issue for UIC shows that it has been central to UIC’s core activity for the past 100 years and that is one of the main reasons why UIC was established. The first Leaflet was published in 1928 and the assets have steadily evolved since then.
In order to ensure that these important assets remain current and representative of the business model of the modern railway, a significant programme of work was established in order to modernise them and to ensure that they are focusing on the topics relative to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the services provided by railways to their customers.

Part of this programme is the creation of IRSs as the new UIC product and ensuring a coordinated migration of the Leaflets to IRSs.

See the full article

UIC signs MoU with UNFCCC and UNEP within the frame of COP21

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UIC and UN entities such as UNFCCC or UNEP have fostered several ties of cooperation over many years and they have demonstrated their capacity to act together on topics that deserve greater understanding at international level.
The issue of climate change is one of these topics.

As part of the COP21 campaign, UIC has signed two Memoranda of Understanding.in partnership with UNFCCC and UNEP, who already took the “Train to Copenhagen” in the frame of COP15 in 2009.

The purposes of the MoU with UNEP is to work together in the promotion of sustainable and low carbon transportation as a part of the solution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation, in support of the goals of COP21.
With UNFCCC the scope is also to cooperate in the frame of “Train to Paris” and to support the Climate Neutral Now Initiative through raising awareness about carbon offsetting in order to reduce carbon emissions and move towards climate neutrality. This is why the “Train to Paris” campaign is supporting the Climate Neutral Now initiative: www.climateneutralnow.org

See the full article

UIC state-of-the-art report on Railway noise in Europe

“Rail is the most sustainable form of mass transport for both passengers and freight”. The latest UIC state-of-the-art report for railway noise in Europe begins with this sentence and provides information on what has been achieved in railways since the latest UIC state-of-the-art report, and how future developments are progressing.

The state-of-the-art report was commissioned by the UIC Sustainability Unit. M+P was contracted as author. This report was developed in close collaboration with their sister company Müller-Rail Technology and members of the UIC Noise and Vibration Sector and was presented to the relevant readers in February 2021.

Why a new state of the art report?
The UIC aims to regularly update and showcase the developments in noise and vibration issues on railways. The previous state-of-the-art report for railway noise in Europe was published in 2016 and since, several major improvements have been made in noise reduction in European railway networks. Among other topics, the important changes are the revision of the TSI, the publication of the European Green Deal, the WHO environmental noise guidelines and the report on environmental noise in Europe by the European Environment Agency. Furthermore, railway operators, infrastructure managers and other stakeholders in the last years have had the opportunity to share their research and developments on noise mitigation methods they have made in recent years. Considering all these developments, UIC aims to disseminate this information by hosting a webinar and with a new report. The new report describes the recent railway noise developments and provides an overview of the activities the railways sector is undertaking to improve the railway noise situation and to prepare for future increase in traffic.

Target audience
The new report covers a wide range of railway noise ranging from technical issues, noise abatement measures, cost and health impacts, to European and national policy. The strategy of the report is to provide an in-depth introduction and inform all aspects of this wide range of information on railway noise. The report targets to reach 4 groups which are mainly on the followings:

  • Policy makers interested in learning more about technical issues and concerns of the sector regarding EU policies.
  • Engineers interested in policy and legislation and want to update their knowledge on the current status.
  • Experienced readers who need to be able to find current topics collectively in a document and aim to further develop this information.
  • For those new to the topic of railway noise who would like to gain an in depth understanding of the subject.

Writing process
European solutions on railway noise require consideration of the situation in all countries separately. To write the state-of-the-art report, M+P conducted an extensive literature study, ranging from conference proceedings and scientific journals to position papers and communications from policy makers. Of course, since it is not possible to find all answers with the literature search, M + P has established close relations with the European members of the UIC during the contract period, strengthening the information exchange for this report and enabling the data exchange and verification of the information in the literature research. The core group of the Noise and Vibration Sector steered the writing process and reviewed the draft versions of the report. Moreover, the core group members collected additional information and suggestion from the representatives of European Commission, CER and other stakeholders. As a result of this feedback exchanges, M+P managed to analyse recommendations, to summarise all information and to merge all different opinions together. Finally, this comprehensive study was published as a state-of-the-art report approved by European railways. At a time when physical meetings are unfortunately impossible due to the pandemic, UIC and M+P are proud to have delivered and presented this report to the interested public.

Where to find the report?
The report was presented during the 2-day UIC Railway Noise Days webinar. If you have not downloaded the report yet or if you have missed the seminars, please have a look at the UIC’s playlist on YouTube and the links for all documents:

For further information, please contact Pınar Yılmazer: yilmazer at uic.org

See the full article

UIC survey on biodiversity

UIC is seeking solutions and best practice on managing rail lineside in an environmentally responsible way. The Ecological Effects of Railways on Wildlife (rEvERsE) project will run until 2023 and aims to improve understanding of the impact of railways on biodiversity.

In partnership with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), UIC and its members will develop a biodiversity action plan and international guidance for railway operators and managers to support, protect and enhance our natural heritage.

Members are invited to submit their responses to the UIC survey on biodiversity via the survey available at https://uic.org/events/reverse-survey. Responses can be submitted up to 12 February.

For any questions in relation to the survey and the REVERSE project, please contact Pınar Yılmazer, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Land Use Sector at yilmazer at uic.org.

See the full article

UIC Sustainability Awards 2012: winners announced at the 12th Sustainability Conference in Venice

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Awards were given out in four categories: Sustainable Mobility, Energy and CO2, Sustainable Land Use and the Jury’s Special Prize

The 12th UIC Sustainability Conference, organised by FS and
UIC, with the title “The railway to a greener life”, was held in Venice from 25 – 27 October 2012. On the first day the conference featured high-level speakers from the United Nations, the EU Commission, Italian Government and the European Parliament, along with senior leaders from the railway sector from all over the world and an audience of over 200 delegates to discuss the role of railways in achieving a sustainable future for the transport sector. Among them were Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of Italian Railways and Vice-President of UIC, Mr Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways (RZD), Mr Marc Juhel from the World Bank, Mr Ralph Wahnschafft from the UN and Mr Keir Fitch from the European Commission.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General, opened the conference highlighting that
“Transport is the fastest growing sector in terms of CO2 emissions, mainly due to the ever increasing demand for mobility and the rail sector is the key actor of this challenging period, as it has the potentiality to provide a solution, being responsible only for less than 2% of the total CO2 emissions from transport.”

He reminded the audience of UIC’s mission statement: “To promote rail transport at world level and meet the challenges of mobility and sustainable development, using a systematic complementary approach: strategy, improvement and communication.” Then Mr Loubinoux announced that UIC has been invited to join a working group to prepare the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Sustainable Transport.
Mr Loubinoux’s opening speech was followed by Mr Moretti who declared: “to achieve the environment goals, we need strong government commitment between countries; we should enhance economy and competition by eliminating political barriers.” He emphasised the “important role of rail in cities and not only as a long distance transport mode.” Finally, according to the Italian motto he said “we should tackle the most polluted modes first.”

Mr Yakunin praised UIC’s role in promoting rail as a sustainable way to develop economies and meet the challenges of society, stressed the importance of the Declaration for Sustainability signed by 50 prominent railways and underlined RZD’s ambitions to modernise and improve its services, forming a link between markets and continents.

The conference’s main topics addressed: railway development in the framework of the three pillars of sustainability, economic, social and environmental; the role of legislative framework in the development of sustainable railway transportation; rail and sustainable cities.

On the second day, along with parallel sessions of the UIC Sustainability Networks, the RIVAS project held its mid-term conference. Funded within the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Commission, this project aims at reducing the environmental impact of ground-borne vibrations while safeguarding the commercial competitiveness of the railway sector. The conference took stock of the achieved research results and defined the way ahead.

The third edition of the UIC Sustainability Awards was held at the 12th UIC Sustainability Conference.

Awards were given out in four categories: Sustainable Mobility, Energy and CO2, Sustainable Land Use and the Jury’s Special Prize. The winners and highly-commended projects were as follows:

Sustainable Mobility Category Winner:

TRENITALIA: Integrated Sustainable Mobility

This initiative combines three innovative projects: Combined rail tickets and electric vehicle rentals; discounts for regular rail customers for high quality folding bicycles; and a train and car share initiative. These projects were developed to attract customers to rail while improving the sustainability of the door-to-door journey.

Sustainable Land Use Category Winner:

ÖBB Green Paper: Landscape sensitivity and potential of conflicts along the Austrian railway network

This ambitious project assessed the biodiversity characteristics of Austrian railway infrastructure and highlighted areas of particular sensitivity and conflict. The project created an interactive mapping tool to better plan future infrastructure work with a minmum of environmental impact and to help promote and enhance biodiversity.

Energy and CO2 Category Winner:

Eress Partnership: Erex sustainable railway energy system

Erex is a project that helps infrastructure managers and train operators reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and save money by providing exact energy consumption data. The Erex system was developed by a non-profit organisation, Eress, jointly owned by its partners, Infrabel, Banedanmark, Jernbaneverket and Trafikverket.

Jury’s Special Prize:

Indian Railways: Improving Energy Efficiency in Railways by Leveraging Clean Development Mechanism

This project improved the energy efficiency of lighting in railway residential quarters in India. In total 1.41 million new low-energy light bulbs were installed. As well as delivering energy and CO2 savings, the project successfully leveraged the Clean Development Mechanism to support the project (the CDM is a global environmental investment and credit scheme developed by the United Nations).

UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said:

“The UIC Sustainability Awards showcase some of the best initiatives to promote sustainable development in the railway sector. The winners represent the diversity of the topic, ranging from biodiversity protection, multi-modal connections, energy management and a project that leverages international climate financing. This was a highly competitive process with excellent candidates and we congratulate all the entrants for their dedication to improve sustainability.”

Background to the Awards

The UIC Sustainability Awards were introduced at the 10th UIC Sustainability Conference, which was held in London in September 2008. The aim of the Awards is to put the spotlight on and reward excellence to ground breaking projects and the significant efforts made within the rail sector to continuously improve its sustainability performance.

Highly Commended

In addition to the Winners, several projects received a Highly Commended certificate for excellent contributions to sustainable development in the railway sector. These were:

  • Highly Commended: SusStations Partnership for SusStations – Supporting Sustainable Stations
  • Highly Commended: Norfolk Community Rail Partnership Mobile Phone App
  • Highly Commended: SBSN (Dutch Railways Remediation Foundation) Green on-site soil remediation
  • Highly Commended: Italferr S.p.a. (Italian rail infrastructure manager) – Carbon Footprint in the design and construction phases
  • Highly Commended: JBV (Norwegian rail infrastructure manager) – LCA Methodology for Railway Infrastructure – the Follo Line

For more information on the Winners and the Highly Commended entries please see www.uic.org/environment

Cleaner Development Mechanism

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

The mechanism is seen by many as a trailblazer. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardised emissions offset instrument, CERs. A CDM project activity might involve, for example, a rural electrification project using solar panels or the installation of more energy-efficient boilers. The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialised countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction or limitation targets.

For more information see: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/me...
To learn more visit http://www.uic-environment.org/ and http://www.rivas-project.eu/

For further information please contact Alexander Veitch, UIC Head of Unit – Sustainable Development: veitch at uic.org and
Veronica Aneris, UIC Senior Advisor Energy & Environment: aneris at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Development Unit hosted the first meeting of the new UIC Eco Scoring Project

On 12 November 2018, the kick-off meeting dedicated to Eco Scoring specifically applied to the funding of rail projects was held at UIC headquarters in Paris. The goal was to present and discuss with interested members the future aim and scope of the project.

Eco Scoring has been named after the initiative of the UIC chairman, with the aim to support and assess environmental efficiency to facilitate the access of railway projects to green finance.

The attendees were introduced to:

  • A voluntary carbon offsetting system, by the start-up Climate Seed
  • Environmental Social and Governance rating, by Vigeo Eiris
  • SNCF’s and FS’s past and ongoing experience on the issuing of green bonds
  • How Eco Scoring could help the rail sector to define performance criteria in order to be competitive on the green finance market and for securing efficient PPPs, by Infraboost, and
  • The implications of external costs of transport in assessing rail projects’ environmental performance, by CE Delft

Participants were given the possibility to ask speakers some questions and a round table was organised to identify the next steps. A strong need for a common railway strategy, methodology, and metrics to enter the green finance market emerged from the discussions. The speakers and participants agreed this would be a prerequisite to secure the funding of rail projects to the benefit of railway companies.

Concluding the meeting, Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the UIC Sustainability Unit, informed the participants that UIC would be happy to take the lead of the project and that an ad hoc working group gathering partners having an interest in the topic shall be created. The outcome of the project could help develop a future International Railway Solution.

For any further information about the topics dealt with at this event, please contact Isabelle De Keyzer at dekeyzer at uic.org or Philippe Stefanos at stefanos at uic.org

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UIC Sustainable Door-to-Door Solutions

In 2018, the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network launched the global project “Passenger railways and sustainable door-to-door solutions”. The goal was to define a new mobility offer, developing a methodology and a policy framework, based on collective experience of members and stakeholders, to address passenger satisfaction for a sustainable door-to-door mobility focusing on accommodating, new, innovative, disruptive and sustainable mobility and technologies.

This project can benefit from all Members and is led with the support of the Sustainable Foundation in Rome, Italy.

After a fruitful year of work with a successful first workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2018 and the finalisation of the preliminary report in 2019, that we encourage you to consult, UIC stepped into the second phase of the project: engaging key stakeholders and collecting best practice in 2019 with a dedicated questionnaire that you can find here: https://uic.org/events/uic-sustainable-door-to-door-solutions-questionnaire

The upcoming results from the questionnaire will be crucial to make the railways heard in general and will be the main subject of the final report and presented during workshops and a dissemination conference.

Whether or not an organisation may have dynamic activities on door-to-door solutions, do not hesitate to have a look at the report and answer the questionnaire as we also are interested in knowing what the challenges of UIC Members in order to start planning such projects. UIC would like to receive your initial input and feedback ideally by the end of June 2020.

We strongly value the experience of UIC Members regarding this topic and we look forward to hearing from you.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:
philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Door-to-Door Solutions

]

In 2018, the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network launched the global project “Passenger railways and sustainable door-to-door solutions”. The goal was to define a new mobility offer, developing a methodology and a policy framework, based on collective experience of members and stakeholders, to address passenger satisfaction for a sustainable door-to-door mobility focusing on accommodating, new, innovative, disruptive and sustainable mobility and technologies.

This project can benefit from all Members and is led with the support of the Sustainable Foundation in Rome, Italy.

After a fruitful year of work with a successful first workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2018 and the finalisation of the preliminary report in 2019, that we encourage you to consult, UIC stepped into the second phase of the project: engaging key stakeholders and collecting best practice in 2019 with a dedicated questionnaire that you can find here: https://uic.org/events/uic-sustainable-door-to-door-solutions-questionnaire

The upcoming results from the questionnaire will be crucial to make the railways heard in general and will be the main subject of the final report and presented during workshops and a dissemination conference.

Whether or not an organisation may have dynamic activities on door-to-door solutions, do not hesitate to have a look at the report and answer the questionnaire as we also are interested in knowing what the challenges of UIC Members in order to start planning such projects. UIC would like to receive your initial input and feedback ideally by the end of June 2020.

We strongly value the experience of UIC Members regarding this topic and we look forward to hearing from you.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:
philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Door-to-Door Solutions

]

In 2018, the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network launched the global project “Passenger railways and sustainable door-to-door solutions”. The goal was to define a new mobility offer, developing a methodology and a policy framework, based on collective experience of members and stakeholders, to address passenger satisfaction for a sustainable door-to-door mobility focusing on accommodating, new, innovative, disruptive and sustainable mobility and technologies.

This project can benefit from all Members and is led with the support of the Sustainable Foundation in Rome, Italy.

After a fruitful year of work with a successful first workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2018 and the finalisation of the preliminary report in 2019, that we encourage you to consult, UIC stepped into the second phase of the project: engaging key stakeholders and collecting best practice in 2019 with a dedicated questionnaire that you can find here: https://uic.org/events/uic-sustainable-door-to-door-solutions-questionnaire

The upcoming results from the questionnaire will be crucial to make the railways heard in general and will be the main subject of the final report and presented during workshops and a dissemination conference.

Whether or not an organisation may have dynamic activities on door-to-door solutions, do not hesitate to have a look at the report and answer the questionnaire as we also are interested in knowing what the challenges of UIC Members in order to start planning such projects. UIC would like to receive your initial input and feedback ideally by the end of June 2020.

We strongly value the experience of UIC Members regarding this topic and we look forward to hearing from you.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:
philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Door-to-Door Solutions

]

In 2018, the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network launched the global project “Passenger railways and sustainable door-to-door solutions”. The goal was to define a new mobility offer, developing a methodology and a policy framework, based on collective experience of members and stakeholders, to address passenger satisfaction for a sustainable door-to-door mobility focusing on accommodating, new, innovative, disruptive and sustainable mobility and technologies.

This project can benefit from all Members and is led with the support of the Sustainable Foundation in Rome, Italy.

After a fruitful year of work with a successful first workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2018 and the finalisation of the preliminary report in 2019, that we encourage you to consult, UIC stepped into the second phase of the project: engaging key stakeholders and collecting best practice in 2019 with a dedicated questionnaire that you can find here: https://uic.org/events/uic-sustainable-door-to-door-solutions-questionnaire

The upcoming results from the questionnaire will be crucial to make the railways heard in general and will be the main subject of the final report and presented during workshops and a dissemination conference.

Whether or not an organisation may have dynamic activities on door-to-door solutions, do not hesitate to have a look at the report and answer the questionnaire as we also are interested in knowing what the challenges of UIC Members in order to start planning such projects. UIC would like to receive your initial input and feedback ideally by the end of June 2020.

We strongly value the experience of UIC Members regarding this topic and we look forward to hearing from you.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:
philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Door-to-Door Solutions

]

In 2018, the UIC Sustainable Mobility Expert Network launched the global project “Passenger railways and sustainable door-to-door solutions”. The goal was to define a new mobility offer, developing a methodology and a policy framework, based on collective experience of members and stakeholders, to address passenger satisfaction for a sustainable door-to-door mobility focusing on accommodating, new, innovative, disruptive and sustainable mobility and technologies.

This project can benefit from all Members and is led with the support of the Sustainable Foundation in Rome, Italy.

After a fruitful year of work with a successful first workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2018 and the finalisation of the preliminary report in 2019, that we encourage you to consult, UIC stepped into the second phase of the project: engaging key stakeholders and collecting best practice in 2019 with a dedicated questionnaire that you can find here: https://uic.org/events/uic-sustainable-door-to-door-solutions-questionnaire

The upcoming results from the questionnaire will be crucial to make the railways heard in general and will be the main subject of the final report and presented during workshops and a dissemination conference.

Whether or not an organisation may have dynamic activities on door-to-door solutions, do not hesitate to have a look at the report and answer the questionnaire as we also are interested in knowing what the challenges of UIC Members in order to start planning such projects. UIC would like to receive your initial input and feedback ideally by the end of June 2020.

We strongly value the experience of UIC Members regarding this topic and we look forward to hearing from you.

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:
philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Network meeting was held on 10 April 2019 in Paris

The UIC Sustainable Land Use (SLU) Network meeting was held at UIC HQ in Paris on 10 April. The working group is composed of experts in biodiversity, vegetation management and soil remediation.

The objective of vegetation control is to keep the railway track area plant-free as encroaching weeds can endanger the safe passage and braking of trains as well as the functioning of the control-command and signalling system. The most widespread and cost-efficient measure of vegetation control for the railway track area is the application of herbicides and the current approval of glyphosate, which is the most commonly used active agent in herbicides, will expire in 2022.

After a comprehensive survey performed by UIC for the HERBIE project, the SLU Network has officially concluded and published the “UIC Guidelines for Integrated Vegetation Management” and “the State of the Art and Integrated Assessment of Weed Control and Management of Railways” on December 2018. The publications are available at:

The railway sector urgently needs to transition between the Herbicide based to a non-Herbicide based vegetation control. Now, SLU manages a follow-up project TRISTRAM (Transition Strategy on Vegetation Management) which kicked off in January 2019 and will end in December 2020. The final dissemination workshop will be organised in the second half of 2020. To be able to exchange the knowledge between members, the questionnaire will be prepared and shared with participants via https://events.uic.org/tristram-knowledge-exchange.

TRISTRAM will provide a global strategy to facilitate and boost information between railways on all aspects of integrated vegetation control with special focus on investigations and experiences with alternative methods of vegetation control for the railway track area including the regulatory constraints. The global strategy will be future-proof in terms of legislation and regulation at EU and national levels.

TRISTRAM has participants from most of the European railways such as Austria (ÖBB), Belgium (Infrabel/SNCB), Czech Republic (SZDC), France (SNCF), Finland (FTA), Germany (DB), Italy (FS-RFI), Netherlands (Prorail-NS), Spain (ADIF), Sweden (Trafikverket), Switzerland (SBB) and including some visitors from Norway (Bane NOR) and Portugal (Infraestruturas de Portugal). The SLU Network is working in close cooperation with CER to provide UIC with the political developments and the discussions currently happening in Brussels.

Technical experts on this topic are invited to join the group and to get in contact with the Sustainable Development Unit at UIC.

For further information please contact Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Senior Advisor of the Sustainable Land Use Network:

yilmazer at uic.org

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UIC takes part in Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE) from 9 – 12 July 2018



In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UITP and UIC, Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, was invited to participate in the Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE) organised every other year in Singapore.

The conference this year also ran parallel to this year’s World Cities Summit and the Singapore International Water Week.

This was an opportunity for UIC to participate in a wide number of discussions on rail’s sustainable contribution to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), to take part in various workshops on artificial intelligence and digitalisation, as well as to deliver a keynote address on the topics of regional connectivity and rail’s input to develop better intra- and inter-city connections.

This was also the occasion for Mr Loubinoux to further explain the work conducted within the UIC station platform and regional platforms to improve services within stations as well as interfaces between the various modes in cities.

These themes were already developed during the Next Station Conference last year and further discussed during this UITP conference. The work developed in conjunction with UITP within the frame of the MoU recently signed at the UIC General Assembly in Madrid will cover a number of topics ranging from the organisation of stations, the management of interfaces, connectivity, services offered to customers, as well as digital input and training sessions.

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UIC to chair IRS webinar on how to inspire rail passenger confidence

]

Major rail operators and cutting-edge solution providers will take part in the webinar ‘Providing a healthy environment for rail passengers’ on 18 September 2020. The webinar is Part One of a four-part series that investigates ‘The power of digital to inspire rail passenger confidence’, and is produced by the International Railway Summit in association with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Industrial IoT experts Advantech.

The webinar will be moderated by Marc Guigon, UIC’s Passenger Director, Coordinator Latin America & Coordinator Covid-19 Taskforce. UIC has provided leadership and guidance for the rail sector to combat the pandemic and Mr Guigon will share the insights and best practice gathered and shared by its worldwide membership.

During the current pandemic, the railway sector has been looking far and wide for answers to new and difficult questions. Operators are looking for safe ways for passengers to return. Governments and authorities need services to remain viable to help drive economic recovery. Passengers, meanwhile, seek confidence in the information being provided, the guidance to be followed and the hygiene measures being undertaken.

The webinar will focus on digital technologies and operational strategies which can directly foster a healthy environment; topics that could be covered includehealth scans, ventilation, and sanitisation.

A global audience will hear from SBB’s Leader in Innovation and Technology Management, Olivier Waeber, and Yasunari Nakajima, Director Paris Office, East Japan Railway Company (JR East), on the challenges the operators have faced and the changes they have made to bring passengers back safely. Stéphane Feray Beaumont, Alstom’s VP Innovation & Smart Mobility, will share the technical knowledge and support the company can bring to bear at this time, and elaborate on the work of Alstom’s Healthier Mobility working group.

Maurice van der Aa, Advantech’s Senior Product Sales Manager & Solution Architect Intelligent Systems, will showcase Advantech’s technologies and approach to inspiring rail passenger confidence. Mr van der Aa will present the company’s AI-powered facial recognition solution, which is used to identify unhealthy passengers.
The four-part webinar series ‘The power of digital to inspire rail passenger confidence’ is produced in association with SBB.

Each webinar in the series will tackle a different aspect of the passenger journey. Other sessions will explore digital solutions on how we can encourage and maintain social distancing, manage passenger flow in stations and benefit from smarter ticketing.

Registration is free at the International Railway Summit website: http://www.irits.org/irswebinars/providing-a-healthy-environment-for-rail-passengers/

For more information: please contact Anuja Raut, IRITS Events at anuja.raut at irits.org

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UIC to compensate its greenhouse gas emissions

Further to a decision made by the General Assembly, UIC has launched the Ecoscoring project (aimed at improving the rail sector’s access to sustainable finance). In this context our association has decided to offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its head office and staff (seconded and permanent staff).

Therefore, UIC has formed a partnership with the web platform CimateSeed (https://www.climateseed.com/) to support projects with environmental (energy efficiency, reforestation, agricultural process optimisation, etc.) and social purposes (reduction of respiratory diseases, gender inequalities, reduction of poverty, etc.).

Senior management wanted to involve all UIC staff in choosing which project to support. Therefore all staff have been invited to vote for one of the projects.
The vote will be closed on 12 April. The results of the vote will be published in a further edition of UIC eNews.

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor – Environment and Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

Or environnement2 at uic.org

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UIC TopRail Photo Competition 2021 themed around “My Secret Rail Spots”

Inspiring the world to enjoy sustainable tourism on rail

As part of the European Year of Rail, UIC is organising a photo competition through its TopRail group (rail tourism) under the theme “My Secret Rail Spots”.

The aim of the competition is for railway employees to be ambassadors of their rails and to share their favourite rail spots in order to inspire passengers to hop on a train and get to know these places once it becomes possible to travel again.

Participants (UIC member employees) have until 10 September to send a picture of a secret rail spot they want to share with future travellers to inspire them in their future trips.

The photos will be published in UIC eNews at the start of October for the voting process that will be open for a period of 20 days in September.

The winners of the competition will be announced on 26 October during the TopRail Forum.

The best 12 photos will be used to produce a UIC TopRail calendar for 2022 and a selection will be published on the UIC Instagram account under the hashtags:
#UICTopRail
#MySecretRailSpot
#RailTourism
#EUYearofRail
#SustainableTourism

For more details on how to participate please visit the UIC TopRail page:

https://uic.org/events/uic-toprail-photo-competition-2021-themed-around-my-secret-rail-spots

For further information about TopRail please contact Vanessa Pérez, Senior Advisor Passenger Department: perez at uic.org

TopRail website: http://toprail.org/

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UIC welcomed the “2015 Transport Day" (Paris, 6 December)

Following the success of Transport Day 2014 in Lima, Peru, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT Partnership), together with the Bridging the Gap Initiative (BtG Initiative), and the Michelin Challenge Bibendum (MCB) organised a Transport Day in 2015 on Sunday 6 December 2015, in the context of COP 21 in Paris.

UIC was pleased to welcome at its Headquarters this event which attracted more than 400 participants from the sustainable transport community representing the different modes of transport (passenger and freight transport; road, rail, water and air) as well as the different constituencies (national and local government; transport sector organisations; development organisations; UN bodies; civil society and academia).
The event demonstrated the resolve of the transport sector to take action on Transport and Climate Change and celebrated the progress made in integrating transport in the UNFCCC process: (a) INDCs make explicit reference to transport action; and (b) the Transport Initiatives associated with the SG Climate Summit and LPAA show that non-state actors are making an effort to tackle climate change through the transport sector.

Transport Day continues to be the premier community-building event for the sector in the annual COP. Furthermore, since transport is a crosscutting issue for sustainable development and economic growth, it reflects the readiness and commitment of transport stakeholders to engage with other sectors.

The two mottos for the PPMC’s COP21 campaign are “We Are Transport” and “Ambitious Action (on Transport and Climate Change is) Feasible Now;” it is these guiding thoughts that have framed Transport Day 2015 and its discussions.
Pat Cox, the Former President of the European Parliament and moderator of Transport Day 2015, welcomed the audience to the event, with the motto of the PPMC “We are transport”. He emphasised the need for ambitious action and that this action is feasible now. He was followed by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, the Director General of International Union of Railways (UIC), the host of the day’s event who summarised the past week at COP21 as positive and productive. He outlined UIC’s own commitments to improve sustainable mobility and emphasised that although the rail sector contributes 1% of emissions, there is a desire to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050.

This will contribute towards the modal shift from road to rail. Mr Loubinoux spoke of the need for a paradigm shift from competitive modes towards a complementarity of transport modes.
SLoCaT Foundation Chairman and Deputy Transport Commissioner for Policy in New York City, Michael Replogle took to the stand to highlight this as a crucial time to broaden networks of sustainable low carbon action and observed that transport has finally been brought into the mainstream at COP21. He highlighted the need for the public sector to enhance capacity, the private sector to bring finance and the civil society to act as a catalyst for action. He recommended a move from a project based on a programmatic approach and the need to invest in the short term to reduce cost in the longer term. His closing statement was “onward together.”

Jean Dominique Senard, CEO at Michelin, outlined three key focus areas for transport initiatives in France: European mobility, long haul transport and personal vehicle driving. He spoke of the tremendous impact of these and stressed that it is time for transport to stand up and speak out.

Finally, Janos Pasztor, the Assistant Secretary General on Climate Change closed the initial welcoming session by emphasising the need to act now on transport and not wait for a post 2020 agreement to be finalised. He spoke of the need to promote sustainable transport in line with economic growth, social benefits and environmental protection. He noted that COP21 in Paris will be a pivotal point where policy is turned into practice.

From the SLoCaT partnership, Cornie Huizenga posed the question of how to raise ambition in the transport sector, noting that the incremental change thus far would not be enough to reach a two-degree scenario by 2050, and urged participants to brainstorm ideas for this throughout the day. He also asked the audience to embrace a vision of disruptive thinking on sustainable transport solutions. To support this, Patrick Oliva from the Michelin Challenge Bibendum reminded participants that governments, business and civil society all need to work together to galvanise real transformation in the sector. He invited all attendants to identify the priorities in the sector to focus on in 2016. Finally, reflecting the usefulness of cooperation and the rising visibility of sustainable transport in the UNFCCC process, he ended his remarks by announcing that the Minister of the Environment of Morocco has invited the PPMC to contribute to preparations for COP22.

During one of the afternoon sessions, dealing with the theme “Sustainable Transport Champions” and showcasing countries that through their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) they have demonstrated commitment to take action on transport and climate change as well as initiatives from the transport sector by non-state actors that will result in action by the transport sector itself, examples were provided of potential linkages between specific INDCs and Transport Initiatives.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, said: “Allow me to remind you of the UIC initiative announced at the UN Climate Summit in 2014. The ‘low carbon transport challenge’ set out a vision for the global rail sector with targets derived from analysis of the 2 degrees scenario. The rail sector, represented by UIC with 240 members from 95 countries worldwide, have committed to a target for 2030 - to improve both specific final energy consumption & specific average carbon emissions by 50% relative to a 1990 as baseline. I am pleased to report good progress, our sector has already achieved improvements of more than 40% for both of these targets. Of course we must keep working hard and strive for even greater performance. By 2050 we aim for 60% improvement in energy efficiency and 75% carbon reduction. Of course to make a real impact we must reduce total transport emissions. This means achieving a more sustainable balance between transport modes. Rail transport is the most emissions efficient major mode of land transport. Already today, the electrified rail system uses significant quantities of renewable energy. We propose a target to increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then double it by 2050. For freight we aim to equal road activity by 2030, and then exceed road volumes by 50% in 2050. These targets are ambitious, but achievable in a green economic perspective. And now for COP21 we have reinforced the global level targets with commitments by individual member companies. Last week over 70 CEOs from railway companies across the world signed the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge. This declaration by CEOs, who are collectively responsible for the majority of the world’s passenger and freight rail transport sets out four commitments, to reduce carbon emissions, increase modal share, actively communicate on climate issues, and to report performance. Action by national government and their INDCs are critical to delivering these targets. What we have seen is encouraging but there is much work still to be done.

It is really good to see India making positive statements in their INCD, specifically to increase rail market share from 36% to 45% and to know that this is backed up by major projects such as the dedicated freight corridor.

In addition to this, there are 26 other countries which have referenced rail transport as a part of the solution to climate in their INDC (Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin , Canada Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India , Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Macedonia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zimbabwe). But when we look at most of the countries that are responsible for the largest emissions we can see a general trend for high level statements with little detail on transport. I think we have to understand this as a challenge to the sustainable transport community, a challenge to prove what we can offer. A challenge to innovate and deliver more competitive low carbon transport systems and to deliver these quickly.
This is where we will focus our efforts in the coming years.”

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UIC welcomes ground-breaking support for passenger modal shift to rail from the French government

The decision by the French government to restrict domestic flights in favour of rail sends a very clear message on the urgent need for modal shift to rail. The new French law will restrict short-haul flights where journeys can be made by rail in less than two and a half hours. This decision is based on the undisputable fact that rail is a sustainable mode of transport. The new law seeks to achieve the objectives of both the EU Green Deal and the Paris Accord. It aligns with the EEA “Plane or train” report published last month, which analysed journeys between 20 European cities and found that the environmental costs of railway travel are substantially lower than those of air travel. Taking greenhouse gas emissions alone, CO2 (equivalent) per passenger kilometre is nearly five times less when travelling by rail than by air, and more than four times less than road. The European Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy published in December 2020 also places emphasis on modal shift and the importance of high-speed rail development.

UIC Director General, François Davenne, said “I think France is the first of many countries who will now set out clear policies and legislation to encourage modal shift and avoid carbon from transport. For us, it’s not about trains versus planes; it’s about picking the right mode for the right journey type in a synchronised multimodal system. Rail and aviation are working hard together to connect well at airports and allow those taking long-haul trips to complete their journeys in the most sustainable way. I know our members are working hard to continue to lead transport decarbonisation and are ready whenever passengers are to provide an excellent
sustainable travel option
”.

The UIC EcoPassenger tool provides a practical tool for travellers and decision-makers to compare the environmental impacts of different transport options, including the energy used to produce electricity or fuel, looking at the process “from well to wheel”. EcoPassenger is a well-balanced, transparent and scientifically sound method of environmental comparison, providing a standardised comparison of the major transport modes.

UIC brings together the global railway sustainability community and provides its own in-house expertise on environmental sustainability topics such as energy efficiency, circular economy, noise and vibration, air quality and sustainable land use. In 2021, the European Year of the Rail and the start of the UN’s “decade to make a difference”, UIC will work with its members to make tangible progress as the backbone of a sustainable mobility system.

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development: anderton at uic.org

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UIC welcomes the announcement of the European Commission celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”

UIC welcomes the recent announcement made by Mrs Ursula van der Leyen celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”. This EU initiative will allow all the actors of the sector to demonstrate the advantages of rail.

Railway has a central role to play in decarbonising transport
While representing 8% of global passenger and freight transport activity (in pkm/tkm), railway represents 2% of the transport sector emissions and is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport. The rail and public transport networks benefit from a decisive advantage linked to be frugal, which is a cardinal virtue for tackling climate change issues:

  • Frugality in energy consumption: whether you think in terms of energy per capita or globally, railway and public transport are extremely efficient: passenger rail transport requires less than 1/10th of the energy needed to move an individual by car or by aeroplane;
  • Frugality in public space: whether in urban or rural area, the occupation of public space is minimal, and the promotion of public transport will once again give citizens the possibility to enjoy more public space with less noise, pollution and a greater level of safety;
  • Frugality in terms of life cycle: the lifetime of railways as well as trams, can be up to 30 years, minimising the need to reinvest regularly in non-renewable resources;
  • Frugality because those systems are scalable: it is possible to upgrade the level of service in changing only part(s) of the system without relying on complete system changes.

Railways still continue to improve every day
In 2014 UIC launched the “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” regarding energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and modal shift, and in 2015 a pledge, in order to position railways as a solution to climate change and frame discussions with the United Nations and national governments.

The challenge was designed to illustrate how increased investments and modal shift to railways can help to secure the climate change below the two degrees scenario.
The low carbon railway transport challenge includes three sets of voluntary objectives:

  • To improve rail efficiency;
  • To decarbonise electricity supply;
  • To achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

These commitments are supported by a set of targets at global level, two of them being:

  • To achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, per passenger-km and tonne-km, by 2030; and 75% reduction by 2050, relative to a 1990 baseline.
  • To increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then doubling in 2050.

Over the past 18 months, UIC together with a coalition of European Rail Freight companies, led an initiative called Rail Freight Forward, the aim of which is to drastically reduce the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition aims to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030.

As the railways are ahead of these objectives, most of UIC members have accepted to strengthen their commitments end of 2019 in a new pledge, which involves:

  • Changing its European relative baseline from 1990 to 2005;
  • Adding carbon neutrality by 2050 as an official goal for all UIC members (not just European);
  • Stating that UIC members will aim to be compatible with the UN SDG (Sustainable Development Goals).

Innovation shall install railways as the backbone of future decarbonised mobility worldwide
As stated in the European Green deal “Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.” This Roadmap will require a drastic improvement in the efficiency of the whole transport chain. For the railways, this means making better use of their network advantage.

Even if railways are already energy efficient, UIC will work on the digital control of a substation, reversible substations, and new fuels (hydrogen…) in order to create future decarbonised railways.

Nevertheless, complete future decarbonised mobility will only be possible if we ensure smooth interfaces between railway and public transport. Both have been working together, sometimes within the same companies for delivering mobility services, but until now they don’t consider their networks as having a duty to be interconnected in terms of design.

In 2021, UIC will organise a series of events to start its centenary
In 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of its creation as an international organisation, UIC will organise a series of events dealing with these aspects: where does UIC come from? What makes UIC unique? What aspects of railway DNA offer them perspectives in the future?

Among these events, UIC will participate actively in EUROPALIA Arts Festival to be held at the end of 2021 which will focus on railways. All railways companies, both European and those around the world, will be invited to join and celebrate the Festival together.

More information will follow.

For further information please contact the UIC Communications Department:

com at uic.org

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UIC welcomes the announcement of the European Commission celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”

]

UIC welcomes the recent announcement made by Mrs Ursula von der Leyen celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”. This EU initiative will allow all the actors of the sector to demonstrate the advantages of rail.

Railway has a central role to play in decarbonising transport
While representing 8% of global passenger and freight transport activity (in pkm/tkm), railway represents 2% of the transport sector emissions and is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport. The rail and public transport networks benefit from a decisive advantage linked to be frugal, which is a cardinal virtue for tackling climate change issues:

  • Frugality in energy consumption: whether you think in terms of energy per capita or globally, railway and public transport are extremely efficient: passenger rail transport requires less than 1/10th of the energy needed to move an individual by car or by aeroplane;
  • Frugality in public space: whether in urban or rural area, the occupation of public space is minimal, and the promotion of public transport will once again give citizens the possibility to enjoy more public space with less noise, pollution and a greater level of safety;
  • Frugality in terms of life cycle: the lifetime of railways as well as trams, can be up to 30 years, minimising the need to reinvest regularly in non-renewable resources;
  • Frugality because those systems are scalable: it is possible to upgrade the level of service in changing only part(s) of the system without relying on complete system changes.

Railways still continue to improve every day
In 2014 UIC launched the “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” regarding energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and modal shift, and in 2015 a pledge, in order to position railways as a solution to climate change and frame discussions with the United Nations and national governments.

The challenge was designed to illustrate how increased investments and modal shift to railways can help to secure the climate change below the two degrees scenario.
The low carbon railway transport challenge includes three sets of voluntary objectives:

  • To improve rail efficiency;
  • To decarbonise electricity supply;
  • To achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

These commitments are supported by a set of targets at global level, two of them being:

  • To achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, per passenger-km and tonne-km, by 2030; and 75% reduction by 2050, relative to a 1990 baseline.
  • To increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then doubling in 2050.

Over the past 18 months, UIC together with a coalition of European Rail Freight companies, led an initiative called Rail Freight Forward, the aim of which is to drastically reduce the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition aims to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030.

As the railways are ahead of these objectives, most of UIC members have accepted to strengthen their commitments end of 2019 in a new pledge, which involves:

Innovation shall install railways as the backbone of future decarbonised mobility worldwide
As stated in the European Green deal “Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.” This Roadmap will require a drastic improvement in the efficiency of the whole transport chain. For the railways, this means making better use of their network advantage.

Even if railways are already energy efficient, UIC will work on the digital control of a substation, reversible substations, and new fuels (hydrogen…) in order to create future decarbonised railways.

Nevertheless, complete future decarbonised mobility will only be possible if we ensure smooth interfaces between railway and public transport. Both have been working together, sometimes within the same companies for delivering mobility services, but until now they don’t consider their networks as having a duty to be interconnected in terms of design.

In 2021, UIC will organise a series of events to start its centenary
In 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of its creation as an international organisation, UIC will organise a series of events dealing with these aspects: where does UIC come from? What makes UIC unique? What aspects of railway DNA offer them perspectives in the future?

Among these events, UIC will participate actively in EUROPALIA Arts Festival to be held at the end of 2021 which will focus on railways. All railways companies, both European and those around the world, will be invited to join and celebrate the Festival together.

More information will follow.

For further information please contact the UIC Communications Department:

com at uic.org

See the full article

UIC welcomes the announcement of the European Commission celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”

]

UIC welcomes the recent announcement made by Mrs Ursula von der Leyen celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”. This EU initiative will allow all the actors of the sector to demonstrate the advantages of rail.

Railway has a central role to play in decarbonising transport
While representing 8% of global passenger and freight transport activity (in pkm/tkm), railway represents 2% of the transport sector emissions and is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport. The rail and public transport networks benefit from a decisive advantage linked to be frugal, which is a cardinal virtue for tackling climate change issues:

  • Frugality in energy consumption: whether you think in terms of energy per capita or globally, railway and public transport are extremely efficient: passenger rail transport requires less than 1/10th of the energy needed to move an individual by car or by aeroplane;
  • Frugality in public space: whether in urban or rural area, the occupation of public space is minimal, and the promotion of public transport will once again give citizens the possibility to enjoy more public space with less noise, pollution and a greater level of safety;
  • Frugality in terms of life cycle: the lifetime of railways as well as trams, can be up to 30 years, minimising the need to reinvest regularly in non-renewable resources;
  • Frugality because those systems are scalable: it is possible to upgrade the level of service in changing only part(s) of the system without relying on complete system changes.

Railways still continue to improve every day
In 2014 UIC launched the “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” regarding energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and modal shift, and in 2015 a pledge, in order to position railways as a solution to climate change and frame discussions with the United Nations and national governments.

The challenge was designed to illustrate how increased investments and modal shift to railways can help to secure the climate change below the two degrees scenario.
The low carbon railway transport challenge includes three sets of voluntary objectives:

  • To improve rail efficiency;
  • To decarbonise electricity supply;
  • To achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

These commitments are supported by a set of targets at global level, two of them being:

  • To achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, per passenger-km and tonne-km, by 2030; and 75% reduction by 2050, relative to a 1990 baseline.
  • To increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then doubling in 2050.

Over the past 18 months, UIC together with a coalition of European Rail Freight companies, led an initiative called Rail Freight Forward, the aim of which is to drastically reduce the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition aims to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030.

As the railways are ahead of these objectives, most of UIC members have accepted to strengthen their commitments end of 2019 in a new pledge, which involves:

Innovation shall install railways as the backbone of future decarbonised mobility worldwide
As stated in the European Green deal “Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.” This Roadmap will require a drastic improvement in the efficiency of the whole transport chain. For the railways, this means making better use of their network advantage.

Even if railways are already energy efficient, UIC will work on the digital control of a substation, reversible substations, and new fuels (hydrogen…) in order to create future decarbonised railways.

Nevertheless, complete future decarbonised mobility will only be possible if we ensure smooth interfaces between railway and public transport. Both have been working together, sometimes within the same companies for delivering mobility services, but until now they don’t consider their networks as having a duty to be interconnected in terms of design.

In 2021, UIC will organise a series of events to start its centenary
In 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of its creation as an international organisation, UIC will organise a series of events dealing with these aspects: where does UIC come from? What makes UIC unique? What aspects of railway DNA offer them perspectives in the future?

Among these events, UIC will participate actively in EUROPALIA Arts Festival to be held at the end of 2021 which will focus on railways. All railways companies, both European and those around the world, will be invited to join and celebrate the Festival together.

More information will follow.

For further information please contact the UIC Communications Department:

com at uic.org

See the full article

UIC welcomes the announcement of the European Commission celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”

]

UIC welcomes the recent announcement made by Mrs Ursula von der Leyen celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”. This EU initiative will allow all the actors of the sector to demonstrate the advantages of rail.

Railway has a central role to play in decarbonising transport
While representing 8% of global passenger and freight transport activity (in pkm/tkm), railway represents 2% of the transport sector emissions and is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport. The rail and public transport networks benefit from a decisive advantage linked to be frugal, which is a cardinal virtue for tackling climate change issues:

  • Frugality in energy consumption: whether you think in terms of energy per capita or globally, railway and public transport are extremely efficient: passenger rail transport requires less than 1/10th of the energy needed to move an individual by car or by aeroplane;
  • Frugality in public space: whether in urban or rural area, the occupation of public space is minimal, and the promotion of public transport will once again give citizens the possibility to enjoy more public space with less noise, pollution and a greater level of safety;
  • Frugality in terms of life cycle: the lifetime of railways as well as trams, can be up to 30 years, minimising the need to reinvest regularly in non-renewable resources;
  • Frugality because those systems are scalable: it is possible to upgrade the level of service in changing only part(s) of the system without relying on complete system changes.

Railways still continue to improve every day
In 2014 UIC launched the “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” regarding energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and modal shift, and in 2015 a pledge, in order to position railways as a solution to climate change and frame discussions with the United Nations and national governments.

The challenge was designed to illustrate how increased investments and modal shift to railways can help to secure the climate change below the two degrees scenario.
The low carbon railway transport challenge includes three sets of voluntary objectives:

  • To improve rail efficiency;
  • To decarbonise electricity supply;
  • To achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

These commitments are supported by a set of targets at global level, two of them being:

  • To achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, per passenger-km and tonne-km, by 2030; and 75% reduction by 2050, relative to a 1990 baseline.
  • To increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then doubling in 2050.

Over the past 18 months, UIC together with a coalition of European Rail Freight companies, led an initiative called Rail Freight Forward, the aim of which is to drastically reduce the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition aims to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030.

As the railways are ahead of these objectives, most of UIC members have accepted to strengthen their commitments end of 2019 in a new pledge, which involves:

Innovation shall install railways as the backbone of future decarbonised mobility worldwide
As stated in the European Green deal “Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.” This Roadmap will require a drastic improvement in the efficiency of the whole transport chain. For the railways, this means making better use of their network advantage.

Even if railways are already energy efficient, UIC will work on the digital control of a substation, reversible substations, and new fuels (hydrogen…) in order to create future decarbonised railways.

Nevertheless, complete future decarbonised mobility will only be possible if we ensure smooth interfaces between railway and public transport. Both have been working together, sometimes within the same companies for delivering mobility services, but until now they don’t consider their networks as having a duty to be interconnected in terms of design.

In 2021, UIC will organise a series of events to start its centenary
In 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of its creation as an international organisation, UIC will organise a series of events dealing with these aspects: where does UIC come from? What makes UIC unique? What aspects of railway DNA offer them perspectives in the future?

Among these events, UIC will participate actively in EUROPALIA Arts Festival to be held at the end of 2021 which will focus on railways. All railways companies, both European and those around the world, will be invited to join and celebrate the Festival together.

More information will follow.

For further information please contact the UIC Communications Department:

com at uic.org

See the full article

UIC welcomes the announcement of the European Commission celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”

]

UIC welcomes the recent announcement made by Mrs Ursula von der Leyen celebrating 2021 as the “European Year of Rail”. This EU initiative will allow all the actors of the sector to demonstrate the advantages of rail.

Railway has a central role to play in decarbonising transport
While representing 8% of global passenger and freight transport activity (in pkm/tkm), railway represents 2% of the transport sector emissions and is therefore a particularly efficient and sustainable mode of transport. The rail and public transport networks benefit from a decisive advantage linked to be frugal, which is a cardinal virtue for tackling climate change issues:

  • Frugality in energy consumption: whether you think in terms of energy per capita or globally, railway and public transport are extremely efficient: passenger rail transport requires less than 1/10th of the energy needed to move an individual by car or by aeroplane;
  • Frugality in public space: whether in urban or rural area, the occupation of public space is minimal, and the promotion of public transport will once again give citizens the possibility to enjoy more public space with less noise, pollution and a greater level of safety;
  • Frugality in terms of life cycle: the lifetime of railways as well as trams, can be up to 30 years, minimising the need to reinvest regularly in non-renewable resources;
  • Frugality because those systems are scalable: it is possible to upgrade the level of service in changing only part(s) of the system without relying on complete system changes.

Railways still continue to improve every day
In 2014 UIC launched the “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge” regarding energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and modal shift, and in 2015 a pledge, in order to position railways as a solution to climate change and frame discussions with the United Nations and national governments.

The challenge was designed to illustrate how increased investments and modal shift to railways can help to secure the climate change below the two degrees scenario.
The low carbon railway transport challenge includes three sets of voluntary objectives:

  • To improve rail efficiency;
  • To decarbonise electricity supply;
  • To achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes.

These commitments are supported by a set of targets at global level, two of them being:

  • To achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, per passenger-km and tonne-km, by 2030; and 75% reduction by 2050, relative to a 1990 baseline.
  • To increase rail passenger market share by 50% in 2030 and then doubling in 2050.

Over the past 18 months, UIC together with a coalition of European Rail Freight companies, led an initiative called Rail Freight Forward, the aim of which is to drastically reduce the negative impact of freight transport through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix. This coalition aims to double the modal share of rail freight to 30% by 2030.

As the railways are ahead of these objectives, most of UIC members have accepted to strengthen their commitments end of 2019 in a new pledge, which involves:

Innovation shall install railways as the backbone of future decarbonised mobility worldwide
As stated in the European Green deal “Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.” This Roadmap will require a drastic improvement in the efficiency of the whole transport chain. For the railways, this means making better use of their network advantage.

Even if railways are already energy efficient, UIC will work on the digital control of a substation, reversible substations, and new fuels (hydrogen…) in order to create future decarbonised railways.

Nevertheless, complete future decarbonised mobility will only be possible if we ensure smooth interfaces between railway and public transport. Both have been working together, sometimes within the same companies for delivering mobility services, but until now they don’t consider their networks as having a duty to be interconnected in terms of design.

In 2021, UIC will organise a series of events to start its centenary
In 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of its creation as an international organisation, UIC will organise a series of events dealing with these aspects: where does UIC come from? What makes UIC unique? What aspects of railway DNA offer them perspectives in the future?

Among these events, UIC will participate actively in EUROPALIA Arts Festival to be held at the end of 2021 which will focus on railways. All railways companies, both European and those around the world, will be invited to join and celebrate the Festival together.

More information will follow.

For further information please contact the UIC Communications Department:

com at uic.org

See the full article

UIC welcomes the EU “Fit for 55” plan: Delivering the EU’s 2030 climate targets on the path toward climate neutrality

UIC welcomes the adoption on 14 July 2021 of the EU “Fit for 55” plan and is calling for an accelerated move to price in the externalities of all transport modes, encouraging the modal shift necessary to mitigate climate change and targeted in the EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.

The plan is part of a package of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The objective is to deliver the transformational change needed across the EU’s economy, society and industry.

The core aim of the plan is to make the 2020s a transformative decade for climate action. If agreed and implemented, the “Fit for 55” proposals will broaden Europe’s ambitions for decarbonisation with a view to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Without the package, under current EU climate legislation, Europe will achieve only a 60% reduction.

Rail has already been playing its part and is the only transport mode to have reduced emissions. In 2010, as part of the UIC/CER Environmental Strategy for 2030 and Beyond, leading members of UIC committed to reducing emissions by 30% by 2030, and annual data submitted shows that this target has already been reached (28% location-based; 38% market-based). This has been achieved through a combination of energy efficiency measures and a continuous increase in electrified routes. Rail is continuing to innovate to become even more efficient and phase out diesel from the fleet. It is on track for the 55% target for 2030 and net zero before 2050 and is mobilising efforts to win a greater share of freight and passenger transport.

Stricter carbon taxation requirements as part of the ETS (Emissions Trading System) will more effectively take account of the external costs to the planet of all transport modes, removing exemptions that favoured modes with higher emissions in the past. Customers of modes such as road and aviation currently do not pay for the full amount of carbon emitted. A level playing field will support modal shift to the most sustainable forms of transport. More of the revenue generated by ETS must be put to use in supporting transformative projects in rail and sustainable mobility.

UIC will monitor the implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and will support the development of solutions to make railways:

  • less energy consuming,
  • more economically efficient by participating in Shift2Rail projects on predictive maintenance methods for RUs and IMs in order to reduce life cycle costs and increase resource availability (catenaries, rolling stock, etc.),
  • less dependent on diesel technologies,
  • more efficient in terms of combined transport based on the UIC coding system for wagons, lines and loading units, taking all available technologies into account,
  • more efficient with longer and heavier trains thanks to simulation solutions such as TrainDy,
  • more efficient on border crossings by working on braking and consist rules for international freight trains,
  • more attractive for customers in the passenger rail sector.

Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, said: “UIC, in its role as a global association of railway companies, has fully mobilised to provide concrete and effective solutions to make a massive modal shift towards rail desirable. The Fit for 55 package and ETS revision will support this shift with a move towards levelling the tax burden for all transport modes. We all know that climate change is ongoing. Our actions will mitigate its effects, but we will have to live with uncertainty, confronted with non-linear phenomena that will have consequences for transport infrastructure and life as we know it. In this difficult period, we must shift to low-emission transport modes. Railways are part of the solution – while representing around 10% of the market, they contribute less than 3% of global emissions. Furthermore, society is benefitting from the improved efficiency and inclusiveness offered by the railways, as well as reduced road fatalities, injuries and local air pollution ”.

He added: “The priority for our sector is to choose to finance transformational projects for railways at regional and global level. Transformational projects are those that will have a major impact on efficiency in the short term, such as digitalisation, seamless interconnection with other modes and capacity increases on existing infrastructure. These projects will serve as a driver of modal shift to rail and public transport in order to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Green Deal in Europe ”.

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, at anderton at uic.org

See the full article

UIC welcomes UN High-level group’s Sustainable Transport report

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UIC Director General, Mr Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX, has welcomed the Global Sustainable Transport Outlook report entitled “Mobilizing Sustainable Transport for Development” issued by the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, on 28 October.

He said: “The United Nations now has a committed, international and multi-disciplinary team that is aware that infrastructure and the complementarity between the different modes of transport – each bringing maximum added value and based on intelligent interfacing – are the key to sustainable mobility, in order to address the challenges of the 21st century, and encourage more harmonised socio-economic development through trade in cities, countries and regions.”

The High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport was created by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in August 2014 to provide recommendations on sustainable transport actionable at global, national, local and sector levels. The Advisory Group, established for a period of three years, worked with Governments, transport providers (aviation, marine, ferry, rail, road, and urban public transport), businesses, financial institutions, civil society and other stakeholders to promote sustainable transport systems and their integration into development strategies and policies, including in climate action.

Finding that global, national and local transport systems are hobbled by inefficiencies and a lack of sustainable investments, the expert panel issued the report “Mobilizing Sustainable Transport for Development”, which provides 10 recommendations on how governments, businesses and civil society should re-direct resources in the transport sector to advance sustainable development.

The recommendations address issues of policy, technology and financing and grew out of the diverse perspectives and practical experience of the panel.

The report found that a transformational change to sustainable transport can be realised through annual investments of around US$2 trillion, similar to the current ‘business as usual’ spending of US$1.4 trillion to US$2.1 trillion.
Investments in sustainable transport, the experts found, could lead to fuel savings and lower operational costs, decreased congestion and reduced air pollution. Additionally, it is estimated that efforts to promote sustainable transport can deliver savings of up to US$70 trillion by 2050.

A move to sustainable freight and passenger transport that includes integrated port terminals, well-planned airports and harmonized standards and regulations for efficient border crossings, could produce a global GDP increase by US$2.6 trillion.

Writing in the report’s foreword, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that sustainable transport was essential to efforts to fight climate change, reduce air pollution and improve road safety. “Sustainable transport supports inclusive growth, job creation, poverty reduction, access to markets, the empowerment of women, and the well-being of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.”

Focusing on important issues such as road safety, traffic congestion and climate impacts, the expert panel’s 10 specific actions include the establishment of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, the promotion of sustainable transport technologies and the increase of international development funding.

The report calls for robust engagement by all stakeholders to ensure all members of society have access to jobs, markets, education and health care, through sustainable transport.

At present, the transport sector is responsible for approximately 23 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and 3.5 million premature deaths result from outdoor air pollution annually, mostly in low and middle income countries. About 10 to 15 per cent of food is lost during processing, transport and storage given a lack of modern facilities, trucks, access to refrigeration, and poor roads. Nearly one billion people worldwide still lack adequate access to road networks, which increase isolation and marginalization and deepen social inequities. Over 1.2 million people are killed annually in road traffic accidents, causing in addition to human loss and suffering, billions of dollars of associated costs which amount, in some countries, to 1-3 per cent of GDP.

“Transport can build prosperity in the broadest sense, enhancing the quality of life for all while protecting the environment and fighting climate change,” said Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Volvo and co-chair of the High-Level Group. “We need bold innovation and a true partnership among governments, civil society and the private sector.”

“Sustainable Transport is crucial for the improvement in the quality of life of people both in cities and rural settings, at a national and international level,” stated Carolina Tohá, Mayor of Santiago, Chile and the other co-chair of the Group.

“Sustainable Transport enables people to access better services, jobs, opportunities and family connections. It is also a space where people spend a significant amount of time every day, and therefore it needs to consider safety issues as well as conditions of dignity for users. Leaving no-one behind in the context of Sustainable Transport means that in the coming decades we are able to build transport systems that are inclusive, integrated, gender-sensitive and that have people’s needs at their core.”

Full report Global Sustainable Transport Outlook “Mobilizing Sustainable Transport for Development” can be found on the UN website:

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabletransport/highleveladvisorygroup

For further information please contact Nick Craven: craven at uic.org

See the full article

UIC will hold the 12th UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations in Paris on 19 March 2019, at its Headquarters

What next?

UIC will hold the 12th UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations in Paris on 19 March 2019.

Towards the end of 2018 a major milestone in European railway noise control is expected to be implemented: the revised TSI Noise will provide a framework for quieter railway freight vehicles. While this is a significant step, not all noise issues will be solved. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask: What next? How much more noise mitigation do we need and how can it be achieved?

The planned UIC noise event will provide information on the TSI Noise revision as well as other topics such as the guidance on noise from the World Health Organization (WHO) and issues concerning the Environmental Noise Directive (END). The workshop will furthermore provide numerous examples of what individual railways and countries plan to do next as well as current (e.g. Shift2Rail) and needed research. Finally, an overview of current vibration issues will be given.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, the European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups as well as representatives from the individual railways and countries. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought. Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

Opportunities will be provided for participants to pose questions directly to key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation, however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

To register and find updates on the programme, please click here:

https://events.uic.org/12th-uic-workshop-on-railway-noise-vibrations

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC will hold the 12th UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations in Paris on 19 March 2019, at its Headquarters

What next?

UIC will hold the 12th UIC Workshop on Railway Noise & Vibrations in Paris on 19 March 2019.

Towards the end of 2018 a major milestone in European railway noise control is expected to be implemented: the revised TSI Noise will provide a framework for quieter railway freight vehicles. While this is a significant step, not all noise issues will be solved. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask: What next? How much more noise mitigation do we need and how can it be achieved?

The planned UIC noise event will provide information on the TSI Noise revision as well as other topics such as the guidance on noise from the World Health Organization (WHO) and issues concerning the Environmental Noise Directive (END). The workshop will furthermore provide numerous examples of what individual railways and countries plan to do next as well as current (e.g. Shift2Rail) and needed research. Finally, an overview of current vibration issues will be given.

As in previous years, speakers will be invited to represent the major stakeholders, including UIC, CER, the European Commission (DG MOV & DG ENV), WHO working groups as well as representatives from the individual railways and countries. External views from outside the railway noise world will also be sought. Opportunities will be provided for participants to ask questions directly to European Commission policy officers and other key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

Opportunities will be provided for participants to pose questions directly to key stakeholders as well as to discuss the current issues.

There is no charge for participation, however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

To register and find updates on the programme, please click here:

https://events.uic.org/12th-uic-workshop-on-railway-noise-vibrations

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article

UIC will participate in the 24th Conference of the Parties – COP – in Katowice, Poland

In 2018, UIC will participate in the 24th Conference of the Parties – COP – in Katowice, Poland. The Conference of the Parties will take place from 2 – 14 December. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as a recognised organisation, to participate in major global events such as COP.

A UIC delegation will join events from 6 – 8 December and promote UIC Member activities towards a more sustainable future and their commitments to fight climate change.

Prior to COP, UIC has contributed to the Talanoa Dialogue. An outcome of COP23, the Talanoa Dialogue gathers input from countries, NGOs and so on displaying and detailing their commitments to keep in line with the goal of the Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UIC organised an event recognised as actively contributing to the Talanoa Dialogue: the first UIC workshop on sustainable door-to-door solutions in Warsaw on 14 November 2018.

For COP24, UIC signed a tri-partite partnership agreement with UNFCCC – United Nations Climate Change and UITP – International Association of Public Transport.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, acknowledge the signature of this partnership: “UIC is honoured to partner again with UNFCCC and UITP for this 24th Conference of the Parties. 2018 has been a challenging year in the fight against climate change, with record weather events worldwide and unprecedented challenges on the global political scene. Nevertheless 2018 has brought great opportunities and partnerships for the railway sector around innovation to lower rail’s environmental impact and door to door solutions to support modal shift. It also brought encouraging results as UIC Members happen to be well ahead of our time to answer great challenges faced by the industry such as lower greenhouse gas emissions. Let’s hope this 2018 Conference of the Parties will be a great opportunity to further increase rail attractiveness and show how rail is one of the most sustainable modes of transport.”

On 6 December UIC will actively contribute to the Transport Day, an initiative by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and organised by CIVITAS – Cleaner and Better Transport in Cities and PPMC – Paris Process on Mobility and Climate. On that day UIC will co-organise a break-out session on adaptation to climate change with the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) and Mr John Dora Consulting Ltd, advisor on resilience to weather and climate change. The full programme can be found here:

http://www.ppmc-transport.org/transportday2018/

On 7 December, UIC will participate in a UNFCCC Facebook Live video along with UITP in the morning and in the Marrakech Partnership event: the Global Climate Action Transport Action Event taking place on the afternoon of the 7th from 3 to 6pm. Following this UIC is co-hosting an official side-event with the International Transport Forum – ITF and UITP, from 6.30 to 8pm in room 5 at COP. The focus of the event will be on decarbonising transport.

Find out more about COP24 on the dedicated website:

http://www.cop24.katowice.eu/ and on the UNFCCC website: https://unfccc.int/

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC Middle-East Region:

philippe at uic.org

See the full article
See the full article

UIC workshop on “Energy efficiency of future trains” to be held on 4 October 2017 in Rome

The goal of this workshop is to share knowledge on innovation and research for train traction and energy efficiency, both from a technology perspective and strategic/economic opportunities. The workshop, with an open debate between UIC members and manufacturers, will cover four main themes: alternative fuels (hybrid, biofuels, natural gas, etc.); infrastructure solutions for energy storage; existing solutions for rolling stock energy efficiency and future technologies (e. g. hydrogen and Hyperloop).

The workshop will be co-moderated by Chloé Lima-Vanzeler, Project Manager Traction Energy Savings from SNCF MOBILITES, and by Raimondo Orsini, Managing Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development.

All technical presentations will be followed by ample time for discussions that will allow for cross-pollination and sharing best practices.

The draft programme and practical information on venue can be found here:

http://events.uic.org/save-the-date-a-uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency-of-future-trains-to-be-held

As the number of places is limited, secure your place at this important event by registering online here:

http://events.uic.org/save-the-date-a-uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency-of-future-trains-to-be-held

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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UIC workshop on “Energy efficiency of future trains” to be held on 4 October 2017 in Rome

The goal of this workshop is to share knowledge on innovation and research for train traction and energy efficiency, both from a technology perspective and strategic/economic opportunities. The workshop, with an open debate between UIC members and manufacturers, will cover four main themes: alternative fuels (hybrid, biofuels, natural gas, etc.); infrastructure solutions for energy storage; existing solutions for rolling stock energy efficiency and future technologies (e. g. hydrogen and Hyperloop).

The workshop will be co-moderated by Chloé Lima-Vanzeler, Project Manager Traction Energy Savings from SNCF MOBILITES, and by Raimondo Orsini, Managing Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development.

All technical presentations will be followed by ample time for discussions that will allow for cross-pollination and sharing best practices.

The draft programme and practical information on venue can be found here:

http://events.uic.org/save-the-date-a-uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency-of-future-trains-to-be-held

As the number of places is limited, secure your place at this important event by registering online here:

http://events.uic.org/save-the-date-a-uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency-of-future-trains-to-be-held

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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UIC Zero Carbon Project cited as an example of best practice at the World Resources Institute & World Business Council for Sustainable Development Workshop ‘Transforming energy: Bringing electricity procurement into corporate carbon footprints’, in Brussels on 22 January 2015

On 22 January 2015, the ‘Transforming energy: Bringing electricity procurement into corporate carbon footprints’ workshop was held in Brussels, organised by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) partners for the deployment of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol).

UIC attended the event to present the findings of the recently concluded Zero Carbon Project – designed to ensure that the rail sector remains at the cutting edge of the complex and evolving debate on carbon reporting. The Zero Carbon Project was cited by the WRI as an example of best practice in their reporting on the new carbon reporting protocol. With a worldwide legally binding agreement on climate change expected to be agreed in December 2015 at the UN COP21 negotiations in Paris, the need to maintain clarity and credibility when reporting the rail sector’s advantage as a climate-friendly transport mode is crucially important.

Organised by WRI and WBCSD, the workshop presents Scope 2 of the Guidance of the GHG Protocol. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions. GHG Protocol is working with businesses, governments, and environmental groups around the world to build a new generation of credible and effective programmes for tackling climate change.

The launch event of Scope 2, attended by 60 people, benefited from the participation of Mary Sotos from WRI who presented Scope 2 of the Guidance of the GHG Protocol. The following speech by Dirk Van Evercooren from the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) and Director of the Flemish Regulator of the Electricity and Gas Market (VREG) provided the main guidelines as to how this new GHG Protocol Socope enhances corporate CO2 management and electricity procurement strategies.

The first panel, moderated by Edgar Galrao from WBCSD, included the participation of Pedro Faria from CDP, Jan Cupal from Verbund, Gabriel Castañares, Senior Advisor of Energy and Environment at UIC and Daniele Arena from the Sustainable Development Foundation and UIC Partner at the Zero Carbon Railways Project.

During this panel, Gabriel Castañares and Daniele Arena introduced the main gaps and inconsistencies detected for renewable energies accountability in rail and how UIC has developed the Zero Carbon Project in order to deliver commonly accepted rules to provide UIC members with secure and publicly accepted ways of sourcing zero carbon products, allowing them to increase the use of renewable electricity and communicate it to customers.

The second panel, moderated by Jared Baraslawsky from RECS International, benefited from the participation of Preben Munch from Ecohz, Anette Gussias from Bergen Energi, and Hanne Raadal from Ostfold Research Institute.

The Zero Carbon Project implements the newly revised GHG Protocol guidelines into the UIC Environmental Strategy Reporting system. Renewable Energy is an important part of the strategy, and many railways already obtain a proportion of their energy from renewable sources. The Zero Carbon Project is designed to alleviate concerns and criticism from external stakeholders with respect to accounting of the use of renewable energy. Whist the technical complexity of this topic has increased over recent years, it remains politically and strategically important for UIC and its members.

For further information please contact castanares at uic.org

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UIC’s IRRB (International Rail Research Board) and IK (Polish Rail Research Institute) held the Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society from 15 – 16 November 2018 in Warsaw

The Global Debate on Mobility Challenges for Future Society, jointly organised by the International Rail Research Board of UIC and IK (Polish Rail Research Institute), was held from 15 – 16 November at the InterContinental Hotel in Warsaw.

The aim of the Debate is to hold a discussion on the transport system of the future – as far ahead as 2050 – and the role of rail as the backbone of a well-connected intermodal system.
This first edition, attended by around 95 participants from across Europe, consists of a series of keynote speeches and parallel session debates on the first day, with the conclusions of the parallel debates and a follow-up on the second day.

Participants were welcomed on 15 November by Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the UIC Fundamental Values Department, who also moderated the day’s sessions. A series of introductory speeches were then given by Dr Andrzej Zurkowski, IRRB Vice-Chairman and Director of IK (Polish Rail Research Institute); Poland’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister Mr Mikolaj Wild; Mr Aleksey Ozerov from VNIIZHT, JSC Railway Research Institute on behalf of Professor Boris Lapidus, IRRB Chairman (RZD); and a video message by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General: https://youtu.be/0DgEUJA1LAc

Dr Andrzej Zurkowski welcomed the participants and said: “The results of the debate will contribute to the preparation of the updated version of the Global Vision on Railway Development (GVRD). My task is to be editor of this work as the content of this document is supposed to be the result of an international discussion between experts. This document will be developed based on the conclusions of today’s debate and presented for validation at the UIC General Assembly in 2019.”

Mr Mikolaj Wild said that it is a special moment for the development of transport in Poland, that we need to meet transport demands and that it is the will of the Polish government for rail to become an attractive mode of transport.

Mr Aleksey Ozerov on behalf of Mr Boris Lapidus outlined the key factors influencing transport evolution. He said that railways should not compete with each other but be an alternative to other modes of transport.

In his video message, Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said: “Transport has to go from mobility to accessibility and is becoming an optimised way to access a succession of space and time slots in different modes. In this century, rail must be the backbone of a new and integrated mobility chain.”

Five keynote speeches were then delivered on the following areas:
New mobility system concepts
Towards an integrated transport system
IT – new opportunities and threats
Competitiveness of transport stakeholders
Sustainability and resilience of the transport system

The afternoon revolved around five parallel thematic sessions covering topics such as integrated transport systems, new technology in the rail industry, digital capabilities, as well as sustainability challenges for rail transport. Speakers representing UIC included Mr Marc Antoni, Director of the Rail System Department, Mrs Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit, and Mrs Marie-Hélène Bonneau, Senior Security Advisor.

The morning of 16 November was dedicated to feedback on the parallel debates from the previous day, followed by an interactive discussion on the challenges of future mobility.

In the conclusions, Mr Dennis Schut, UIC Research Manager, and Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the UIC Fundamental Values Department, highlighted the importance of deciding on what type of research we now have to do and in what direction we need to go. The main considerations include taking into account railway staff in our research, learning from other modes of transport and the evolution of new technology. Above all, we need to remember that transport is future-oriented and we therefore need to plan for the future, not just for now.

For further information please contact Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the UIC Fundamental Values Department:

wisniewski at uic.org

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UIC, together with Italian Railways (FS Italiane) organised the 6th Global Rail Freight Conference GRFC in Genoa, Italy

For one-and-a-half days, the 6th UIC Global Rail Freight Conference (GRFC), one of the leading events dedicated to rail freight transport and logistics at world level, was held from 26 – 28 June 2018 in Genoa, Italy, at the historic venue of Palazzo Ducale. This event, prepared in a close cooperation between UIC and Italian Railways FS Italiane, is a landmark for all actors of the logistics chain. Genoa is the south terminal of the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, one of nine multimodal TEN-T Corridors under development to boost the growth and competitiveness of the European economy in a sustainable way and a port open to world trade.

This 6th UIC GRFC washeld under the Patronage of the Region of Liguria with the support of a number of leading international organisations and associations including OTIF, CIT, BIC, ESC, IHHA, UIP, UIRR, UN Ro-Ro. BIC, Alstom and Ansaldo sponsored the event.

The motto of the 2018 GRFC edition was “Modal Integration at the Service of Global Distribution”. During the opening session, high level personalities addressed participants with several key messages.

Renato Mazzoncini, CEO FS Italiane, UIC Chairman, highlighted the challenges ahead: “The European land freight transport market is expected to grow by 30% by 2030, target of the COP 21/23 agreement, with a massive impact on environment and society. Rail freight transport currently represents only 11.9% of modal share in Europe and a growth of 30% by 2030 would not be sufficient to deliver a major positive impact to the world economic growth and to the advancement of the European transport system. Rail needs to grow its modal share to 30%. The estimated impact of a linear growth of rail modal share from 12% in 2018 to 30% in 2030 would be quite impressive. The economic gains would be around 100 billion euros thanks to fewer externalities, 290 million tonnes of CO2 would be saved, 40,000 premature deaths from pollution avoided and 5,000 fatalities caused by truck accidents averted. The shift of freight transportation to Rail offers an exceptional convergence between the rail sector and the European climate challenge policy objectives. At world level the figures say that the rail modal share is 6.9 % while road is at 20.2% and navigation at 72.2%.
An effective strategy for establishing rail freight as the backbone infrastructure of global sustainable trade nowadays shall extend far beyond the transport sector and the railways. On the contrary it shall aim to deliver seamless integrated and multimodal logistics services with a global outreach and we shall transform ourselves into a global integrated railway logistics player, open to innovation and to the greatest technological enhancements.”

On the subject of sustainable finance, he said: “We agree on the urgency of activating the first stage to build a robust but dynamic “Sustainable Finance Taxonomy”, to ensure market consistency and clear guidance about what is green, social and related to good governance. To this end, current green bonds would be strengthened for instance in Europe by introducing an official EU Green Bond Standard (EU GBS) and considering an EU Green Bond label or certificate, subject to mandatory external review, in order to guarantee positive impact investments”.

And finally, he said: “The completion of the networks shall be accompanied with a harmonised deployment of ERTMS along the corridors, as it will be crucial to ensure improved use and increased density, allowing the supply of multiple and flexible service options. Furthermore, technologic and horizontal investments, such as those on ERTMS, will require sustainable and improved financial instruments, capable of combining public support with private investments and financial leverage, and I look forward to a fruitful discussion on this topic."

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, stressed the "uniqueness of the event – it is a privileged moment for all. Unique because this is a truly global event with attendees from China, all over Europe, Iran, India, South Africa, Russia, United States, Africa – Morocco, Senegal. This is the illustration of UIC’s work as a facilitator by the definition of specific cooperation activities among members in each of the six UIC Regions, in close cooperation with international organisations and regional institutions such as development banks. Unique because each edition looks at new aspects shaping our sector.

This year’s edition:

  • Welcomes trend-setters and creative thinkers
  • Focuses on the sustainability challenge and also from a financial angle
  • Is also proud to give the floor to a start-up who will present real blockchain demonstrators
  • When looking at corridors, we will have the pleasure to discover new corridors and tangible developments

Two years ago, in Rotterdam, the moto was “Shaping the business of the future” where partnerships between modes were already at the heart of our discussions.
The title of this year’s edition will go even further and will address “Modal integration at the service of global distribution” – wishing therefore to further capitalise on modal synergies and complementarities."

He added: “Trend-setters and analysts will share their experience and vision about what shapes our industry today and tomorrow. With the demand for transport increasing, we collectively need to work towards a sustainable society where each transport mode has to play its role. With innovation we can break new ground and address the current challenges of sustainability and productivity.

Corridors:

  • A vector of growth both in Europe and in the rest of the world
  • A vector of peace

UIC as the global railway organisation is particularly committed to support – in technical, operational, organisational terms – the development of competitive corridors for rail freight.
Through its projects or cooperation structures such as ECCO the Stakeholder Group, UIC contributes to the definition and implementation of a more attractive and competitive offer on corridors, trans-European as well as transcontinental corridors."

Several other prominent personalities also welcomed participants to the 6th Global Rail Freight Conference: Giovanni Toti, President of the Region of Liguria, Stefano Balleari, Deputy Mayor of Genoa, responsible for Mobility and Public Transport, Carlo Borghini, Executive Director, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

For one-and-a-half days, representatives of institutions, companies and the logistics world exchanged and debated on the following main challenges:

  • Mega Trends in Global Logistics
  • The race towards sustainability
  • Sustainable finance
  • Blockchain technology
  • Globalisation, Innovation and Connectivity
  • Rail freight corridor developments and the new Silk Roads
  • Integrity of the Logistics Chain

More details on these themes will be available in the next UIC eNews.

To conclude, UIC Chairman Renato Mazzoncini took away three ideas from this successful GRFC Conference in Genoa:

In order to reverse the trends of too weak market shares, railways have to rethink their business models worldwide.
There are great opportunities with digitalisation. Innovation by rail is less than in other transport sectors. But railways can use innovative solutions that already exist in other sectors.
Sustainability of mobility will increasingly be the major issue. It is not possible to envisage further economic growth without paying more attention to the sustainability issue. That is a strong advantage for our transport mode and we have to further work on its sustainability.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, highlighted five "C"s to conclude this event:

  • Complementarity (cooperation, co-petition, multimodality...)
  • Corridors: fascinating presentations, fantastic news about the intercontinental rail freight corridors, already a reality or planned corridors, e.g. the New Rail Silk Roads....
  • Connectivity thanks to the digital input. Already PoCs.... UIC has to act as a platform for sharing and connecting
  • Culture, an important dimension, to destroy the walls and build bridges, between continents, countries, between railways, between railways and their partners and customers…
  • Columbus (born in Genoa). He thanked all the participants and speakers for their presence and thanked high-level authorities from Genoa, regional (Liguria) and national authorities from Italy, demonstrating the value and importance of this 6th GRFC global conference.

During the gala dinner, the President of Italian Railways Gioia Ghezzi said: “We can do a lot. We are part of the solution. To shift from road to rail. We have not yet managed the shift from road to rail. Both issues and solutions are known. Our focus now is the implementation of the solutions. Our customers want more and more sustainable solutions. Regulators and Investors are also pushing in this direction. We also have to educate our customers”.

She finished by saying:

  • We should not be afraid of competition or cooperation to achieve interoperability – the competitor is the road sector
  • Let’s continue to invest in R&D and innovation; we are not innovating enough
  • Each of us can become an ambassador of rail; let’s educate our customers daily on the importance of moving from road to rail to achieve sustainable solutions. Rail freight can win the battle!

For further information please contact Sandra Géhénot, UIC Freight Director:

gehenot at uic.org

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UIC-coordinated “EuropeTrain” test campaign: successful launch of seventh run for second French loop including route sections in the Netherlands and Belgium.

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After two weeks of intensive activities at the DB Systemtechnik test centre, the EuropeTrain started running again at 12:35 on 30 July from Minden to Bad Bentheim. Its journey through the Netherlands included a stop for a press event with KNV (the Royal Dutch Transport Federation, a Dutch rail freight support association) and DB Schenker NL on 1 August in Amersfoort.

This “geluidsarme trein” (noiseless train) event was a resounding success. Paul van Lede, Chairman of KNV “Rail Freight”, underlined the importance of rail, which contributed towards reaching the mobility objectives set by the Dutch government to strengthen and boost the economy. “Good hinterland connections by rail are also an important component of success in expanding the port of Rotterdam through a project called Maasvlakte II (http://www.maasvlakte2.com/en). The challenge is now to tackle the problem of noise,” said Van Lede.

“Rail carriers and operators are feeling the pressure to successfully complete the project”, explained Johannes Gräber, Head of Business Segment Engineering Services (DB Schenker), UIC Project Manager EuropeTrain. All scenarios point towards continued growth of rail transport, which is safe and environmentally friendly, but the issue of noise must be addressed. The Netherlands are a fitting illustration of the need for a Europe-wide project in this field, given the international nature of Dutch rail freight – over 80% of its rail freight traffic crosses the borders. There should be a coordinated drive through certification and European incentives to ensure the use of low noise wagons can develop swiftly and on a large scale throughout Europe.

KNV Rail Freight Secretary, Johan ter Poorten called for a transfer of knowledge. “Many stakeholders are now active in the Netherlands, but a common approach is still missing”. KNV aims to organise an expert meeting soon in which representatives of rail operators, wagon keepers, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, ProRail (the Dutch infrastructure manager) and Keyrail will participate. A pragmatic and international rollout of low-noise trains on the European corridor Rotterdam-Genoa has to be swiftly implemented without additional administrative burdens.

After an explanatory tour around the train, participants could clearly see the difference between rough wheels with cast iron brake blocks and smooth wheels with LL blocks.

Johannes Gräber pointed out that the full effect of composite brake blocks on noise could not be properly heard as the train included both cast iron and composite brake blocks. “Tests have shown that on a train with LL blocks, perceived noise is decreased by half.” UIC was furthermore represented by Hans Paukert, Senior advisor Braking systems & Diesel Engines and Liesbeth de Jong, UIC Media Relations.

The press was well represented, with five radio and TV interviews being held on the EuropeTrain and various national newspapers publishing articles. They expressed a positive opinion of the contribution of the railway sector.

This event confirmed the rail freight sector’s professionalism in contributing towards a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and safe mode of transport.

After the event, the EuropeTrain departed from Amersfoort on schedule at exactly 14.00. After the travelling through Belgium, it was handed over to Fret SNCF in the on night.

The French loop passes through Paris (Le Bourget), Marseille, Lyon and Metz. The train will complete the loop several times, clocking up approximately 15,000 km, and is due to return via Belgium and the Netherlands in the second half of August.

Pictures and the latest information on the EuropeTrain project can be found at http://europetrain.uic.org.

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UN Global Compact convenes first meeting of industry and trade associations on corporate sustainability

On 9 September 2014 the UN Global Compact, in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) (http://www.iccwbo.org/), convened its first gathering of leaders from global industry and trade associations to discuss corporate sustainability and sectoral engagement.

Over 30 global industry leaders, representing a wide range of sectors – including basic and extractive resources, chemicals, food and beverage, financial services, industrial goods and services, health care, personal goods and retail, and transportation – attended the meeting to share best practices, discuss ways in which they can help their association members advance corporate sustainability, and explore opportunities for cross-sectoral engagement and collaboration.

Participants highlighted the important role that industry associations can play in advancing corporate sustainability, particularly their ability to communicate corporate sustainability priorities, trends and data to their large network of members, and by informing other key stakeholders on sector-specific initiatives and innovations. Participants also showcased illustrative examples of collaboration and partnerships at the country and regional-levels among industry associations and sector initiatives on a range of sustainability priorities.

“This meeting shed light on a range of good efforts undertaken by global industry associations and sectoral initiatives. Today’s meeting stressed the importance of these groups as key drivers of advancing the corporate sustainability movement”, said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

Participants also discussed ways in which the private sector can contribute to future development priorities, such as those addressed by the Post-2015 Development Agenda (https://www.unglobalcompact.org/Issues/partnerships/post_2015_development_agenda.html). Participants expressed enthusiasm for this first meeting of global industry associations and welcomed similar opportunities in the future.

UIC’s Expert Group on Sustainable Mobility was represented by Harold Resida (NS).
Harold briefed the participants on some of the things UIC has accomplished over the past years: the UIC Declaration on Sustainable Mobility & Transport, the Reporting Guidelines and further actions to promote corporate sustainability of the members and the visibility of railways at the global level.

What can we learn from this meeting?

  • one thing that was unanimously voiced by participants: the days of license-to-operate by simply complying to regulations are over. Nowadays, license-to-operate exists in the framework of corporate sustainability!
  • against the background of our fast changing world, there is a constant need for all businesses and their associations to update the themes and focus areas they are involved with. UIC should frequently review its agenda: are we still dealing with the issues on sustainability that make sense for our business?
  • one opinion that was generally supported, is that both companies and associations should seek more ways to co-operate with different partners in order to play a more decisive and more visible role in sustainable development.
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UN High Level Advisory Group Dinner (Paris, 7 December)

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In the context of the UN High Level Advisory Group, a dinner was organised by UIC at the Automobile Club de France in Paris on 7 December.

“Principles” and “sherpas” (advisors) constituting this Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport set up in 2014 and planning an Outlook Report by the end of 2016, had the great privilege to meet the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon who attended the dinner.

The UN Secretary welcomed all the work already done by this Group and encouraged it to achieve its mission.

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UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport welcomes new Sustainable Development Agenda

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The United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport lauds the global community for adopting the historic Agenda 2030 at the Sustainable Development Summit currently taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

With more than 150 heads of state and government in attendance, the summit is ushering in a new era in development, one that considers social, economic and environmental dimensions as elements of a coherent whole, working for the good of people and planet, with poverty eradication at the core. The new Agenda, built around 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were elaborated in a three–year–long transparent, participatory process, will chart a course for the sustainable development of the world for the next 15 years.

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is built on the pledge to ‘leave no one behind,’ and sustainable transportation is absolutely essential to make sure this pledge is fulfilled,” said Mr. Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. “Transport sits at the intersection of many SDGs—on health, sustainable cities, climate, economic growth—and with its expertise the Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group can lead the way to innovative solutions addressing these integrated issues.”

A recent assessment of the SDGs commissioned by the High-level Advisory Group found that sustainable transport will be central to the implementation of many of the SDGs: transport makes cities liveable and functional, connects rural women and men to markets, brings people to their jobs, and enables global trade and economic growth. SDG 11 on sustainable cities calls for increased access to safe, affordable and sustainable public transportation; and SDG 3 on health includes a target on enhanced road safety. In addition to these explicit targets, sustainable transport is also essential to many other SDGs, including on women’s empowerment (SDG 5), economic growth (SDG 8), resilient infrastructure (SDG 9), and climate change (SDG 13). The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development also stressed the role of transport, calling for investments to bridge infrastructure gaps, including in transport.
“Investing in sustainable transport is one of the most effective and powerful tools we have today to advance towards more inclusive societies,” expressed Santiago Mayor Carolina Toha, co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Group. “Public transport is used by most people in the world and is particularly important in fast-growing cities in the developing world. We have an historic opportunity to facilitate adequate policies that will avoid unsustainable practices as cities grow, strengthening better services and incentivising the use of clean means of transport.”

The High-Level Advisory Group will next meet in Paris in December 2015, on the margins of COP 21. The Group will discuss strategies for increasing the positive impact of sustainable transport measures on climate change mitigation.

The High-Level Advisory Group was established in 2014 with a three year mandate to develop policy recommendations and to encourage multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance sustainable transport at the local, national, regional and global levels. The Group represents all sectors and modes of transport.

For further information please consult the following link:

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabletransport/highleveladvisorygroup

(Source: UN)

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United Kingdom: Network Rail launches new Environmental Sustainability Strategy

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23 September 2020

Network Rail wants to ensure that rail remains the greenest and most reliable form of public transport in Britain so that it can play a vital role in green economic recovery and growth. It is determined to maximise the positive contribution that rail can make to the lives of its passengers, society and the economy while minimising any negative impact on the environment.

Environmental Sustainability Strategy

The Environmental Sustainability Strategy focuses on four areas:

  • A low-emission railway
  • A reliable railway that is resilient to climate change
  • Improved biodiversity of plants and wildlife
  • Minimal waste and sustainable use of materials

(Source: Network Rail)

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United Kingdom: Network Rail sets world-first targets to combat global warming

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Network Rail has taken a major step forward in tackling climate change by becoming the world’s first railway company to set the most ambitious science-based targets to limit global warming.

The Science Based Targets initiative, backed by the United Nations, has independently verified Network Rail’s targets and its plans to achieve them. This means that Network Rail is the first railway company to commit to cutting emissions to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This in even less than the two degrees scientists declared necessary to meet the Paris Agreement, a global framework for prevention of dangerous climate change.

Science-based targets are targets adopted by companies in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Targets that limit emissions to a 1.5-degree warming scenario are considered the most ambitious.

Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of Network Rail, said: “Rail is already the cleanest and greenest mode of transporting large numbers of people and goods, but we’re committed to cutting our carbon footprint even further.

That’s why we’ve set carbon reduction targets backed by science rather than simply ones we think are easy to achieve. We are the first railway in the world to set targets that will help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and this shows our commitment to change.

We’re on an important journey – to support the government’s target of being net-zero by 2050, to help the country build back better as we recover from the pandemic and to help passengers and freight users make the greenest choices they can.”

Network Rail is already making progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. All of the energy it uses to power stations, depots and offices comes from renewable sources. Meanwhile, a trial to move its road fleet – such as the vans needed in rail maintenance work – to electric vehicles is underway.

Network Rail is also exploring ways to use its land to generate renewable electricity as well as support biodiversity, and has an extensive community tree planting scheme.

The company’s suppliers generate about two thirds of its emissions; therefore, Network Rail is keen to work with its wider supply chain, such as manufacturing and construction companies, to help them set their own targets, too.

Martin Frobisher, Safety, Technical and Engineering Director at Network Rail, said: “Most of our carbon emissions come from our supply chain, so we need to give our suppliers confidence that we are serious about this and must make the changes needed to meet these challenging targets. Many of our suppliers are already making great strides to this end, which we can learn from. Working with them to find creative engineering solutions and clever ways to reduce the energy we consume, for example, is key to delivering these targets.”

Sustainability targets
Network Rail has committed to:

  • reducing absolute scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions (those within its control) by 46 per cent by 2029.
  • reducing absolute scope three (indirect) emissions by 28 per cent by 2029.
  • ensuring that 75 per cent of its suppliers have science-based targets for emissions covering purchased goods and services and capital goods (those used in the production of other goods) by 2025.

Network Rail’s science-based targets follow the launch of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy in September. The company wants rail to remain the greenest and most reliable form of public transport in Britain so that it can play a vital part in green economic recovery and growth.

The strategy is designed to maximise the positive contribution rail can make to the lives of passengers, society and the economy while minimising any negative impact on the environment. It focuses on four areas: a low-emission railway, a reliable railway resilient to climate change, improved biodiversity, and minimal waste and sustainable use of materials.

(Source: Network Rail)

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United Nations High Level Group meets in Milan on 11 June 2015

The UN High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport met in Milan as part of the UITP General Assembly. This meeting was the occasion to develop the report following the various contributions from its members.

Several points were raised during the meeting, in particular those of urbanisation and innovation.

For his part Mr Loubinoux led a panel on the link between intra-urban and inter-urban transport, the specific role of logistics centres and stations in the context of the future development of transport. To this end Mr Loubinoux was able to reiterate the five “Is” which, according to him, are the principles of sustainable transport – namely:

Infrastructure
Investment
Innovation
Intelligence and
Integration

As part of these discussions, Mr Loubinoux also had the opportunity to highlight five key actions – the five “Cs” – namely:

Centres
Customers
Complementarity
Corridors and
Cities

UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo said, “We simply have to build better, safer, and more sustainable transportation systems if we are going to promote prosperity and greater social well-being while protecting the environment.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has commissioned the group to issue a report and organise a world conference on sustainable transport for 2016. These will present actionable policy recommendations to further develop sustainable transport.

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United States: Advanced-technology trains power sustainability efforts at Amtrak

Amtrak continues its commitment and progress to ever more sustainable operations by focusing on fuel and energy conservation as well as other initiatives. America’s Railroad® has incorporated sustainability practices throughout its operation of more
than 300 trains that travel each day to more than 500 destinations.

New advanced-technology electric locomotives are now in service along the Northeast
Corridor. The locomotives will save the cost of about 3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the coming decades. The locomotives are designed for easier maintenance and will maximize energy efficiency by using a regenerative braking system that will feed energy back into the power grid.

“At Amtrak, our mission is inherently focused on sustainability. We’re proud of our work
to provide reliable, energy-efficient transportation, draw more customers to rail, and ultimately reduce the carbon footprint of the traveling public,” said Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman. “We are committed to being a good steward of our resources and having a positive impact in the communities we serve.”

Digital access to select newspapers is available to business and first-class passengers on Northeast Corridor and eastern route trains. Digital access contribute less per passenger mile to greenhouse gas emissions and can save more than 103,740 paper copies annually.

According to a 2015 report by the national Transportation Research Board, passenger rail is generally three to four times more efficient, using less energy and producing less greenhouse gas emissions than automobile or air travel for equivalent door-to-door trips.

Amtrak recently signed the UIC Responsibility Pledge

Amtrak recently signed the International Union of Railways (UIC) Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge. In signing the pledge, Amtrak committed to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, stimulate modal shift to rail in national and international markets, actively communicate climate-friendly initiatives, and publicly report data on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Amtrak is a member of the Carbon Disclosure Project, which reports on sustainability
initiatives specific to climate change. Amtrak received a score of 99B on its most recent submission to the CDP. The 99 out of 100 reflects Amtrak’s commitment to comprehensive and transparent reporting of greenhouse gas data and climate-related risks and opportunities. The B represents the performance band and measures the company’s positive actions to promote climate change mitigation, adaptation and transparency. The most recent score represents an increase from 96B in 2014.

(Source: Amtrak)

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Unlocking finance for railways – capacity building for sustainable PPPs

Description
Addressing the challenge of the complex and capital-intensive rail infrastructure, and delivering faster, better and safer projects are of key importance to economic development worldwide. What is needed is better use of public sector revenue sources together with greater recourse to private finance. New approaches with private sector participation (PPPs) appear to be the way forward in developing countries to unlock capital and expertise, while they are increasingly used in the OECD bloc.

Alongside the UIC General Assembly, which gathers railway leaders worldwide, the present workshop aims to overview and assess the current state of PPPs in railways and the future opportunities and challenges they offer. It will bring together international PPP experts across all relevant backgrounds, to discuss the requirements for a greater anticipation and follow up capacity within national railways for both having a global view of PPP projects and fostering private investment, all with regard to sustainable development, economic, operational and legal considerations.

Objectives
The purpose of the workshop is to provide a practical overview on best practices in rail PPPs, help reach a more mature understanding of PPP schemes and discuss the tools to effectively address risk sharing mechanisms and oversee long-term management.

The main discussion topics include:

  • Global rail PPP principles: Why choose a PPP scheme? When is it well suited? How to address it?
  • Common project preparation barriers and capacity gaps (formulation of major members’ needs and main barriers to lunching successful and well-balanced PPPs)
  • Priorities and key success factors for project identification, preparation and long-term management
  • Outlook on a harmonised railway approach to PPPs and the role of a central body to concentrate best practice and provide guidance on rail PPPs

Target Group
This workshop will be of particular interest to UIC members and all the public and private stakeholders, at the global level, which look forward to boosting their PPP capabilities or are involved in implementing PPPs in the rail sector. This includes policy makers, public officials, private sector service providers, funders and advisers, academics and international organisations.

Registration
There is no charge for participation; however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To reserve your place please complete the form below.

http://events.uic.org/workshop-unlocking-finance-for-railways?var_mode=calcul

Sponsorship opportunities

Please contact:
Zakaryae Boudi, Economic Development Advisor: boudi at uic.org
Nick Craven, Head of Sustainable Unit: craven at uic.org

Centre for Rail PPPs - An upcoming UIC Observatory

UIC is looking forward to launching a Centre for Rail PPPs, as an assistance body and observatory to be financed by stakeholders, in the belief that UIC is well placed to build a central body concentrating best practice and providing guidance for railway companies on PPPs, underpinned by cutting-edge thinking from high-level experts and practitioners.

The centre will include a comprehensive database of case studies, analyse the lessons learned and leverage the breadth and depth of UIC knowledge to draw out the key success factors for future PPPs in railways.

Role
The Centre for Rail PPPs will attempt to understand what makes a successful public private partnership and describe what can be done by railways to oversee the future opportunities and challenges.

It will discuss the requirements for a greater anticipation and follow up capacity within national railways for both having a global view of PPP projects and fostering private investment, all with regard to sustainable development, economic, operational and legal considerations.

Membership
One key element is to bring together, within the Centre of Rail PPPs UIC members, and all the public and private stakeholders, across the globe, which look forward to boosting their PPP capabilities or are involved in implementing PPPs in the rail sector.

The Centre is accordingly open for policy makers, public officials, private sector service providers, funders and advisers, academics and international organisations.

Call for Membership

For more information on Membership opportunities, please contact:

Zakaryae Boudi, Economic Development Advisor: boudi at uic.org

Nick Craven, Head of Sustainable Unit: craven at uic.org

See the full article

Unlocking finance for railways – capacity building for sustainable PPPs

Description
Addressing the challenge of the complex and capital-intensive rail infrastructure, and delivering faster, better and safer projects are of key importance to economic development worldwide. What is needed is better use of public sector revenue sources together with greater recourse to private finance. New approaches with private sector participation (PPPs) appear to be the way forward in developing countries to unlock capital and expertise, while they are increasingly used in the OECD bloc.

Alongside the UIC General Assembly, which gathers railway leaders worldwide, the present workshop aims to overview and assess the current state of PPPs in railways and the future opportunities and challenges they offer. It will bring together international PPP experts across all relevant backgrounds, to discuss the requirements for a greater anticipation and follow up capacity within national railways for both having a global view of PPP projects and fostering private investment, all with regard to sustainable development, economic, operational and legal considerations.

Objectives
The purpose of the workshop is to provide a practical overview on best practices in rail PPPs, help reach a more mature understanding of PPP schemes and discuss the tools to effectively address risk sharing mechanisms and oversee long-term management.

The main discussion topics include:

  • Global rail PPP principles: Why choose a PPP scheme? When is it well suited? How to address it?
  • Common project preparation barriers and capacity gaps (formulation of major members’ needs and main barriers to lunching successful and well-balanced PPPs)
  • Priorities and key success factors for project identification, preparation and long-term management
  • Outlook on a harmonised railway approach to PPPs and the role of a central body to concentrate best practice and provide guidance on rail PPPs

Target Group
This workshop will be of particular interest to UIC members and all the public and private stakeholders, at the global level, which look forward to boosting their PPP capabilities or are involved in implementing PPPs in the rail sector. This includes policy makers, public officials, private sector service providers, funders and advisers, academics and international organisations.

Registration
There is no charge for participation; however places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To reserve your place please complete the form below.

http://events.uic.org/workshop-unlocking-finance-for-railways?var_mode=calcul

Sponsorship opportunities

Please contact:
Zakaryae Boudi, Economic Development Advisor: boudi at uic.org
Nick Craven, Head of Sustainable Unit: craven at uic.org

Centre for Rail PPPs - An upcoming UIC Observatory

UIC is looking forward to launching a Centre for Rail PPPs, as an assistance body and observatory to be financed by stakeholders, in the belief that UIC is well placed to build a central body concentrating best practice and providing guidance for railway companies on PPPs, underpinned by cutting-edge thinking from high-level experts and practitioners.

The centre will include a comprehensive database of case studies, analyse the lessons learned and leverage the breadth and depth of UIC knowledge to draw out the key success factors for future PPPs in railways.

Role
The Centre for Rail PPPs will attempt to understand what makes a successful public private partnership and describe what can be done by railways to oversee the future opportunities and challenges.

It will discuss the requirements for a greater anticipation and follow up capacity within national railways for both having a global view of PPP projects and fostering private investment, all with regard to sustainable development, economic, operational and legal considerations.

Membership
One key element is to bring together, within the Centre of Rail PPPs UIC members, and all the public and private stakeholders, across the globe, which look forward to boosting their PPP capabilities or are involved in implementing PPPs in the rail sector.

The Centre is accordingly open for policy makers, public officials, private sector service providers, funders and advisers, academics and international organisations.

Call for Membership

For more information on Membership opportunities, please contact:

Zakaryae Boudi, Economic Development Advisor: boudi at uic.org

Nick Craven, Head of Sustainable Unit: craven at uic.org

See the full article

Unlocking finance for railways: UIC’s first international workshop on rail financing held on 6 December 2017 in Paris

Unlocking finance for railways: UIC’s first international workshop on rail financing
UIC launches its Centre for Rail Financing and PPPs

The global infrastructure funding gap is today widely acknowledged: more than $50 trillion must be invested in infrastructure to maintain economic growth through 2030, according to McKinsey Global Institute and the World Bank estimate. Indeed, infrastructure assets, and especially railway infrastructure, require great capital, have long-life spans and need complex operations. However, today, public agencies are typically operating under constrained budgets and facing increasing pressures to allocate the necessary resources in order to cope with the growing demand for sustainable mobility.

“There is no doubt that railways stand as a core driver of economic growth and prosperity, being a key enabler for sustainable development. And obviously, financing is at the heart of it, a critical priority for UIC and its members! We must together enable greater investment in railways not only to deal with the growing demand driven by macro-economic trends, such as demographic growth, urbanisation, road congestion, but also to achieve the 2 degrees objective of the Paris Agreement,” said Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General.

What is needed is a better use of public sector revenue sources together with greater recourse to private finance. New approaches with private sector participation appear to be the way forward in developing countries to unlock capital and expertise, while they are becoming more and more popular in mature economies.

Last week, alongside the UIC General Assembly, UIC brought toegther railway leaders and the infrastructure finance community in Paris, to discuss whether and how private finance and models such as PPPs may play a central role as a catalyst for investment in railway infrastructure, open further opportunities to improve the scale, quality, and speed of infrastructure delivery in the whole life-cycle.

“It is an import element for railways to insure investments occur in a coordinated manner between public and private stakeholders. It is all about developing a common understanding of the needs, and this requires a continuous-dialogue loop,” said Keir Fitch, Head of unit C4, DG Move, EU Commission.

International experts and UIC members across all relevant backgrounds reviewed the current state of PPPs in railways and debated the requirements for a greater anticipation and follow up capacity within national railways for both having a global whole-of-life view of PPP projects and fostering private investment, all with regard to sustainable development, economic, operational and legal considerations. All agreed that good coordination and information sharing between stakeholders are important pre-requisites to boost PPPs in rail.

The discussions confirm the global trend of the growing private sector partnering, becoming a serious component to railway infrastructure financing and management, where models such as PPPs constitute a promising solution to attract effective private participation, with a clear emphasis on the need of more information sharing between all stakeholders.

By a number of highly valuable real-life examples and stories covering all UIC regions (Europe, North America, Africa, Middle-East and Asia-Pacific), the workshop panellists emphasised that the use of private capital can bring many positive benefits by putting pressure on railway companies to improve efficiency and productivity, timeliness of project completion, as well as free up resources for traditional procurement. At the same time, investors recalled that despite the availability of substantial liquidity for infrastructure investment, with appetite for rail and willing to take even more risks, investment opportunities are very limited.

The fundamental question we should ask then is whether investable projects are sufficiently available, how to secure reliable revenue streams, capture more value from railway assets better share risks. It becomes clear that a sound project preparation and structuring is fundamental, as this is one of the most critical components to achieve a fair access to finance. This includes a clear definition of project goals; good estimation of delays and costs; systematic risk analysis and well-balanced risk sharing. All in all, develop investable pipelines of projects!

A brand new UIC Centre for Rail Financing and PPPs
Being aware that these kinds of conditions require long-term effort and bolstering capacity, UIC believes that members would benefit from collaborating and sharing more information with international financial institutions, investors and lenders, in more structured ways. Indeed, speakers and participants, from the public and private sectors, expressed their growing need for a central body to concentrate best practice and provide guidance on rail PPPs, involving a broad range of stakeholders, and that UIC is the best suited to take the lead.

For all these reasons, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux announced the launch of the UIC Centre for rail financing and PPPs, which would support stakeholders pro-actively seeking the specificities and requirements of each other, attract and improve private investment in rail and oversee the long-term management it brings. One key element is to bring together within this Centre, UIC members, and all the public and private stakeholders, across the globe, which look forward to boosting their PPP capabilities or are involved in implementing PPPs in the rail sector.

t makes a successful public private partnership and describe what can be done by railways to oversee the future opportunities and challenges. To do so, it will build a comprehensive database of case studies, analyse the lessons learned and leverage the breadth and depth of UIC technical knowledge to draw out the key success factors for future PPPs in railways.

It is worth mentioning in this regard, that UIC has already started collaborative work with the World Bank and the Station Managers Global Group for a guidebook on railway station PPPs, and looks forward to strengthening cooperation with major international financial institutions in this field. Last week’s event was a starting point in this structured dialogue UIC is building with PPP and railway stakeholders worldwide.

Presentations available here: https://events.uic.org/workshop-unlocking-finance-for-railways?var_mode=calcul

For further information please contact Zakaryae Boudi, Economic Development & African Region Advisor:

boudi at uic.org

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Vegetation Management Meeting held from 24 – 25 May 2016 in Paris

From 24 – 25 May 2016, the International Railway Association, UIC, held the International Workshop on “Weed control on Railways: What future for herbicides?” at its headquarters. This workshop followed the successful first edition held in October 2013 in Coventry hosted by Network Rail.

This event was organised by the working group UIC Sustainable Land Use Expert Network and focused on the latest issues at European level for the management of herbicides in Railway Vegetation Management.

Over 100 people from 20 different nationalities attended the workshop which was co-organised with SNCF Reseau.

Jean-Pierre Loubionux, UIC Director General, welcomed the participants and provided a key note speech addressing the serious concerns which railway vegetation managers are currently facing: to guarantee the safety of the tracks and signalling equipment and at same time taking into account the question of environmental and health protection, which corresponds to the overall environmental responsibility. He remarked that rail represents the backbone of sustainable transport and that the entire community needs to make every effort to retain this position.

“This is why vegetation control on railway networks is carried out through extremely high standard methods and herbicides are used only where they are vitally necessary and no alternatives exist. Moreover several research efforts on alternatives to herbicide have been investigated and will be presented here during this workshop.”

He finally concluded that sustainability embraces a wide spectrum of technical issues, which are very much related to day-to-day operations, and that is why the workshop is of particular relevance.

Andrea Braschi, Environmental Advisor at UIC, introduced the recent activities of the Sustainable Land Use network and noted that another pillar of the UIC is Standardisation as the basis of the railway as a system. In this sense the Expert Group developed the International Railway Standard on Vegetation Management which is now in its final stage of approval. The new IRS represents a single source of cutting‐edge information on all aspects of vegetation management including detailed advice on sound justification for the continued use of herbicides and state-of-the-art guidance on tree risk management.

The two-day agenda included speeches from major stakeholders including CER, national chemical authorities, environmental egencies and representatives from chemical suppliers.

During Day 1, three sessions were held. Session 1 provided different maintenance overviews and regulatory frameworks from six European infrastructure managers. Session 2 provided a complete regulatory framework. Ethem Pekin, Environmental Economist at CER, provided the European policy overview while Mr Petra Pucelik-Günther from the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety provided the regulatory framework in Germany, the Environment Risk Assessment of molecules. Finally Ms Farwell from FERA presented the Hardspec Model which is a first-tier model for estimating surface water and groundwater exposure resulting from herbicides applied to hard surfaces. It was developed as a collaborative project in the UK involving universities, suppliers and the Environment Agency. In the last session of the day several alternatives to chemical applications were presented by both railway infrastructure companies and universities.

During Day 2 several overviews on recent GIS and geo-referencing technologies were given by different infrastructure managers and subcontractors. In session 6 Mr Christopher Leake, representative from CropLife Association, the association of chemical suppliers, explained the difficulties experienced by chemical firms in getting new molecules patented and reported on the strict environmental risk assessment which the regulatory framework foresees. He also asked for a common table for active collaboration between associations, suppliers and buyers in order to define a Roadmap for the sustainable use of herbicides. The last session provided studies of the impact of herbicides on the environment. Finally Mr Micheal Morin, Director of Track Maintenance at SNCF Reseau concluded the two-day workshop and noted that Vegetation Management is an engineered technique which is wisely undertaken by railway infrastructure managers. However innovation and exchange of best practices need to be encouraged and UIC was praised for organising this event.

For further information please contact Andrea Braschi, Environmental Advisor: braschi at uic.org

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Vibrations State-of-the-Art Report

The UIC Sustainable Unit working group on vibration has just published the Vibrations State-of-the-Art Report.

In modern daily life, people are exposed to many types of vibration. The vibration is often accepted as obvious and no cause for concern, for example when driving a car or when taking a lift. In some cases, vibration originating from sources outside the house may be felt inside dwellings. This applies for example to heavy road traffic, trams and railway lines, both on surface lines and in tunnels. This vibration is typically observed as a gentle trembling of the house, usually of the floor people are standing on. The vibration itself can generate a rumbling sound, caused by the vibrating building radiating sound into the rooms (known as structure-borne sound). Secondary noise, i.e. rattling of loose doors, pottery, etc., can further amplify the audible noise or make it more noticeable.

Whether or not the vibration can be perceived depends on many factors, including distance to the source, speed and type of the traffic, quality of the road or track, type and build-up of the ground, and the construction of the building itself. Modifications performed in the soil (modification of the sewer network, for example) or even in adjacent buildings can give rise to an increase of vibration or ground-borne noise. Contrary to popular belief, vibration caused by passing trains is far too weak to cause even cosmetic damage (when the structural integrity of the building is affected) to buildings. Nevertheless, residents affected by vibration may experience annoyance and could thus voice concern. The degree to which the vibration sensation is masked by audible noise can also play a role, as well as personal sensitivity.

Railway-induced vibration was first noticed and labelled an issue in relation to underground train lines. It is only in recent times that the vibration from surface lines is getting more attention. Vibration is usually accompanied by ground-borne noise. The relative significance of these two phenomena depends mainly on the soil type. In countries with stiff soils, e.g. solid rock, ground-borne noise is generally more important than vibration, and dominant vibration frequencies are higher (i.e. around 50 Hz). In countries with soft soil such as clay or peat, vibration may be more important than ground-borne noise and dominant vibration frequencies are lower (around 5 Hz). This difference in soil type is an important factor affecting the performance and selection of mitigation measures.

For railways, vibration is most often generated by the contact between the train wheel and the railway track. The vibration then travels from the track, through the ground and into the building foundation. Generally, the strength of ground vibration reduces as one moves away from the track. However, the strength of vibration may increase when moving up floors inside the building due to resonances of the building structure.

There are a number of mitigation measures available that can be applied to either the track or the vehicle. Because local factors (terrain, construction of individual buildings, space etc.) have a strong influence, the effectiveness of these measures can differ greatly from case to case. The prediction of vibration levels is thus a complex process and often involves a large degree of uncertainty. In some cases, especially existing situations, the cost of mitigation may be prohibitively expensive. In assessing vibration and designing mitigation, expert judgement is required.

Guidelines for acceptable levels of vibration vary from country to country. The impact on residents depends strongly on individual and local circumstances. Therefore, any values mentioned in this report should be interpreted with great care.
For new situations (railway lines or residential and other property development), it may be required to assess vibration and propose mitigation measures in the environmental impact assessment. For existing situations, most countries do not have a legal obligation for railway companies to assess and mitigate vibration. However, railways take residents’ concerns seriously and, where appropriate, will support an assessment and consider mitigation measures.

The present report reflects the state of the art, which is mainly based on the experience of the European rail-operating community, publications from academia and consultancy, the results of the collaborative research projects RIVAS and Cargovibes, and the work of standardisation committees, insofar as it has been published.

To consult the dedicated website: https://uic.org/noise

For further information please contact Marie-Luz Philippe, Advisor for Sustainable Development & UIC African Region:

philippe at uic.org

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What is the shape of future mobility? A core topic that was discussed during the summer meetings of the European Management Committee (EMC) and the Regional Assembly Europe (RAE) on 6 July 2021

The EMC and the RAE meetings were held online in the morning and afternoon of 6 July respectively, bringing together senior representatives of member companies from right across the region. Along with the partner organisations and supported by the Europe Team and colleagues from the UIC HQ team, the focus of the discussions was on core topics such as business recovery post pandemic – what will be the shape of future mobility, European Year of Rail, regional finance, the projects programme 2021 & 2022, standards, research and innovation and contact and interfaces with a number of new partner organisations.

During the well-attended Regional Assembly Europe (RAE) in the afternoon, Regional President Francisco Cardoso dos Reis, IP (Portugal) and UIC Director General François Davenne, thanked the members for their support over the last months and highlighted how important it was to have been able to remain in contact, albeit on an online fashion. Meeting the needs of the railway community in such a successful manner during these difficult and uncertain times is something of which the UIC team is justifiably proud.

In his debrief of recent topics from the Board of Directors, François Davenne highlighted the very pleasing increases in the member satisfaction rate with regard to UIC’s work, commitment and reactivity. He and the team will be making every endeavour to continue the trend. He highlighted the importance of developing inter-regional projects and the delivery of technical solutions and key tools. This will enable the development of a more prominent programme of solution-finding projects that will support the target of railways becoming the backbone of future mobility.

Simon Fletcher, Director UIC Europe, spoke of the pending changes to the EMC college. The mandates of the current EMC come to an end in December and he announced that the call for candidates to establish the College for 2022 and 2023 will be launched following the Regional Assembly. A recommendation will be made to the EMC in September and the RAE on 9 December will be invited to endorse the nominations with mandates starting in January 2022.

Concerning the (current) 2021 and (future) 2022 Work Programme, Aline Wego, Head of Project Management Office, shared a summary list of the projects that have been started in 2021 and the headlines for the 2022 Work Programme. In her message, Ms Wego included a debrief of the ‘Projects Workshop’ held on 4 May where the full proposed programme for 2022 was presented across all sectors and regions and representing where business needs expressed by member companies had been expressed. Ms Wego presented the timeline for securing the necessary investment for the 2022 work programme and highlighted the importance to the process of getting initial feedback on interest from potential investing members. Due to the ongoing restrictions, Ms Wego announced that the deadline for the submission of ‘interest forms’ has been extended to mid-September.

Optimising the process of developing the UIC projects programme, is an important opportunity. François Davenne highlighted the proposal to organise a fast-track process in exceptional situations for projects that are considered to be urgent and for which the current process is not appropriate in terms of timeline. The European region will act as the test bed for this process before it is rolled out to other regions.

Regarding regional finances, Chief Financial officer Thierry Béra presented the current budgetary situation and invited the meeting to recommend the approval of the positive 2020 results, to note the in line with forecast financial situation at mid-year for the 2021 budget and the first elements for the 2022 & 2023 budgets. The meeting was asked to take note of the forecast for the three-year plan.

Marie Plaud-Lombard, Communications Director, gave an update on how UIC is participating in the European Year of Rail, the events it will organise, how it will communicate and how members can contribute and share their rail success stories. As part of the European Commission’s events, UIC plans to take part in the Connecting Europe Express initiative being developed by CER, where the train will cross Europe from Lisbon to Paris in September-October. During EYR, UIC is also organising a series of specific events with themes including rail tourism, safety, accessibility and the International Symposium in November-December, which will mark the beginning of the UIC centenary celebrations and will focus on the future challenges for rail in the next five, 10 and 15 years’ time.

It was highlighted that the UIC is playing a partnership role in a high-level summit that is being organised by Portuguese colleagues in Lisbon on 10, 11 and 12 November under the title of “SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY”. The meetings were invited to ‘save the date’ and to note that there will be more information to follow regarding the programme, registration etc.

The ability for the railways to be able to rebuild customer confidence post pandemic and to regain passenger numbers, was the topic of the paper which UIC Passenger Director Marc Guigon presented. The so-called “New Normal” White Paper, is the culmination of work undertaken by the UIC passenger team with the support of consultancy firm Roland Berger. It sets out a wide-ranging set of recommendations for the resumption of business post-pandemic and includes mobility trends brought about by the pandemic and what this means for public transport. Recommendations for the railways to expand its domain of relevance include enhancing customer experience, innovation, further investment, fostering competition and improving environmental performance. Key also is the importance of maximising the use of existing capacity to provide the customer with the most practical transport solutions.
Regarding cooperation with other modes, Mr Guigon mentioned the MoUs underway between UIC and IATA (International Air Transport Association), UITP (International Association of Public Transport) and STA (Smart Ticketing Alliance) – the body promoting the establishment of interoperable smart ticketing in transport services in Europe and elsewhere.

In presenting the MoU that has been developed with Shift2Rail, François Davenne outlined the main areas of cooperation, especially sustainability and low-carbon solutions, FRMCS consistency, Data Modelling, Functional System Architecture, the definition of system interfaces and supporting integration of deliverables into the operational railway.
Martin Brennan, Head of Research and Innovation, spoke about the role of UIC in the successor structure to Shift2Rail, Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking. He highlighted the governance structure and how UIC will be involved in the System Pillar Steering Group as a technical body.
The UIC has been and continues to be an integral part of ERRAC (European Railway Research Advisory Council). In respect to the ERRAC Officers for 2021 – 2024, appointed during the recent plenary meeting, he focussed on the role of the new chairman Roland Moser, currently SBB Head Technology Officer and nominated by UIC. Whilst the ERRAC secretariat passes to UNIFE under the rotational process, Mr Brennan will continue to provide UIC support to the ongoing work of the Council.

Regarding DAC (Digital Automatic Couplers), Frédéric Henon, Head of Safety, spoke about its implementation and automation benefits for freight traffic, the important tasks that UIC is performing in this programme and the positive impact that DAC will have not just on freight but on the whole railway system.

Standardisation is a very central part of the UIC’s daily life and Célia Levy, UIC Chief Standardisation Officer, gave an update on the work of the ESMG (European Standards Management Group). The ESMG, a tripartite group with CER and EIM, is responsible for preparing, considering and coordinating the ROC (Railway Operating Community) contributions to all European bodies related to standardisation issues. A positive report has been drafted after six months stating the added value of having a tripartite body that is able to focus on the interface between European regulations and standards from a ROC perspective.
François Davenne added that a common paper is to be established on international standardisation and highlighted the importance of working towards a single vision concerning sectoral technical specifications and a mutual understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders involved.

François Davenne then presented an initiative that has evolved from an idea conceived by Team Europe with Francisco Cardoso dos Reis to shape future mobility through a multi-regional approach.
Taking the previously presented ‘New Normal’ White Paper, it is proposed to develop the recommendations on a region by region basis. In so doing the task will be to develop a complementary approach that might lead not only to a set of European solutions but a set that could emerge as a global perspective, one that provides the customer with a consolidated and standardised approach around the regions.
The European region will issue a paper before the summer break that will help other regions to develop their ideas and put forward their ideas that will be used to influence the agenda for the International Symposium on 30 November and 1 December.

It is widely acknowledged that railways are the least emitting form of land transport. In the lead up to COP26, Pinar Yilmazer, Senior Sustainability Advisor and representing Head of Sustainability Lucie Anderton, presented gave an update how and where UIC will engage in helping to coordinate the global voice of rail. Setting out an impressive provisional list of events and partnerships, it is clear that Sustainable Development in railways will be a central theme at COP26 scheduled to be held from 1 – 12 November in Glasgow.

Regarding Relations with partner organisations, Passenger Director Marc Guigon, updated the meeting on the three MoUs currently underway, notably with UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), the STA (Smart Ticketing Alliance) and OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model).

It was noted that the 33rd Regional Assembly is planned for 9 December 2021 as a physical meeting, with the EMC due to take place in the morning.
Members are warmly invited to be part of the UIC International Symposium to be held from 30 November and 1 December 2021, which will mark the beginning of the UIC centenary celebrations.

For further information about the EMC please contact Simon Fletcher, UIC Director Europe: fletcher at uic.org

To consult UIC’s European Year of Rail webpage: https://uic.org/year-of-rail/

To share you rail success stories please contact eNewsteam at uic.org

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Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP5) at the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

At the beginning of June, UIC once again reinforced its relationship with the UN by attending the Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP5) at the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

From 3 – 5 June 2015, UNECE held the 7th session of the Group of Experts on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Transport Networks at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Following the approval of its establishment by EXCOM in 2011, the Group of Experts regularly meet twice a year. The group recalled the recent publication of the report (ECE/TRANS/238) “Climate Change, Impacts and Adaptation for International Transport Networks” containing several input from the railway experience. The Inland Transport Committee at its 76th session (25 February 2014) welcomed the outcome of the activities and endorsed the main recommendations: climate change adaptation strategies should be based on a real understanding and systematic mapping of vulnerabilities of the main networks within UNECE members to climate changes.

The first part of the meeting was devoted to developing an action plan for the 2015 – 2017 period. The group will have as objective to identify and establish inventories of transport networks which are vulnerable to climate change impacts in a Geographic Information System Environment and develop tools to address potential extreme hazards to selected inland transport infrastructure under different climate scenarios. The group is expected to submit a full report of its accomplishments by the end of 2017.

A lively discussion followed and experts exchanged views on how to structure the envisaged job. UIC, represented by Andrea Braschi, showcased the role of railways in developing research activities within transport adaptation facing climatic changes. He presented the project proposal that UIC submitted to the European Commission within the H2020 research programme. UIC intends to call for an expert group of key people from different sectors and activities (railways, roads, ports, universities, consultants) with knowledge about climate change adaptation to report on business case practices and will welcome the UNECE groups of experts.

UIC therefore looks forward to working with UNECE and widening its collaboration with the United Nations concerning awareness on transport and climate change adaptation.

For further information please contact Andrea Braschi: braschi at uic.org

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Working together for wildlife and railway corridors with WWF-CEE

Following the virtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Thursday 18 November, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the World Wildlife Fund Central and Eastern Europe (WWF-CEE) are set to explore deeper cooperation.

The online MoU signing ceremony was held to emphasise the potential of railways as a clean, environmentally friendly and sustainable cornerstone of green transport systems.

“A holistic approach is necessary if the railway is to be the champion of transport.”
François Davenne

Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC, said that “Sustainability is central to the mission of UIC and vision for the railways. Railways are frontrunners in global climate action and will play a much more important role in future transport systems as a low-emission mode and backbone of a sustainable mobility system. As one of the largest landowners in the developed world, railways are responsible for maintaining land over a wide area and therefore have a great responsibility and opportunity to protect biodiversity. Railway land hosts a broad range of habitats and species and has the potential to build and operate the railways in a way that can help reverse the current loss of global biodiversity” .

Mr Andreas Beckmann, CEO of WWF-CEE, highlighted that “Where transportation is needed, public transportation will be an important part of the solution. And here railways have a key role to play. But, like other infrastructure, railways can dissect habitats and thus negatively impact the movement of animals. We need to minimise these impacts as much as possible, through smart design and measures such as green bridges and tunnels that allow the free movement of fauna.”

“Travel by train is one of the more environmentally friendly modes of travel in terms of energy efficiency and emissions - anywhere between ten to 20 times less polluting than air travel.”
Andreas Beckmann

Working in partnership with WWF-CEE

Recalling the background to the agreement, Mr Beckmann added that “Over the past 50 years, we humans have wiped out 68 per cent of wildlife populations on this planet. This is amounting to an existential threat for ourselves and our civilisation. But every challenge represents an opportunity for developing solutions. Climate change and biodiversity loss are complex, multifaceted challenges that require a multiplicity of solutions - thousands and millions of opportunities for solutions that add up to the existential threat we are facing”.

Mr Davenne announced that he intended to raise the railways’ level of ambition and commitment in respect of sustainable land use by railways with the collaboration of WWF-CEE. In addition, he invited UIC members to take part in the UIC REVERSE project, through which UIC expects to expand its network thanks to the new connection with WWF-CEE.

One of UIC’s overarching goals is to encourage dialogue among UIC members and stimulate sharing and promotion of best practices in building and managing biodiverse railways. Thus, UIC and WWF-CEE are confident that this partnership will strengthen the work in the region of Central and South-East Europe, known as the Green Heart of Europe, and act as a catalyst to grow to a global level with WWF.
UIC and WWF-CEE will work together to identify and promote some of the many solutions urgently needed to secure a living planet for people and nature.

For further information, please see the video of the event on the UIC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dGv__w8Qzm8

Mr Davenne’s and Mr Beckmann’s speeches are available at the following links:

Mr Beckmann: https://bit.ly/3o09URy

Mr Davenne: https://uic.org/events/IMG/pdf/mou_fdavenne_speech_uic.pdf

https://uic.org/events/memorandum-of-understanding-signing-ceremony-uic_wwf-cee

For further information, please visit our websites and do not hesitate to contact the Senior Advisor for the Sustainable Land Use Sector, Pınar Yılmazer: yilmazer at uic.org

Sustainable Land Use Sector: https://uic.org/sustainable-development/sustainable-land-use/

REVERSE project: https://uic.org/projects/article/reverse

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Workshop and Meeting between UIC-KRRI on Railway Environment on 13 and 15 June 2016 in South Korea

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From 13 – 15 June 2016, Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) and UIC organised a workshop dedicated to sustainable development strategy of railway industry in the presence of global warming, targeting researchers, academics and Korean rail experts. In partnership with the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA), this workshop was a fruitful opportunity for UIC and KRRI working on these topics and representatives of the industry to exchange experiences on lasts technologies, best practices, procedures on the current environmental concerns as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The workshop started with deep discussion about vision of the Asia-Pacific Region of UIC 2050 and environmental issues of railway: noise, air quality, energy efficiency, soil remediation, between the UIC Sustainable Development Unit and environmental team of KRRI at their headquarters in Uiwang on 13 June.

The following day, the international workshop under the title “Future of the railway environmental technology under neo climate change” was held in Seoul, inaugurated by Ki-Hwan Kim, President of KRRI, and Vincent Vu, Director of Institutional Relations at UIC and Coordinator of the UIC Asia-Pacific Region, who both provided a clearer picture of transport’s share, in particular rail, in sustainable development challenges and to express the need to make every effort to ensure a greener future. Both hosts acknowledged Korea’s commitment in this area for many years now.

Over 80 participants from railway operation undertakers, company and research bodies of Korea attended the presentation of the updated objectives set by UIC in terms of sustainable development. The indicators and strategies implemented in Europe and worldwide as well as the latest technologies developed by the Korean stakeholders in the area were the subject of rich and lively exchanges. Led by the teams of Green Transport and Logistics Institute of KRRI headed by Youn-Keun Bhang, Director General, and the UIC Sustainable Development Unit headed by Nicolas Craven, together with Raimondo Orsini, Director General of the Sustainable Development Foundation, the subjects addressed the valuable outcomes of delivering UIC low carbon rail transport challenge from Train to Paris 2015 and engagement with the United Nation together with the latest experiences from UIC and KRRI, including diverse topics like real-time measurements of energy consumption, the development of human activity and its impact on the environment, and vegetation management within railway companies

The workshop concluded with an open discussion where the participants exchanged their opinions about the existing main barriers and possibilities of implementing actions on these topics and KRRI made a commitment to put more emphasis on the technology of reducing carbon emission and raising energy efficiency of railway.

After the workshop, a technical visit to the test track of the wireless tram was arranged to KRRI testing plant in Osong. This new wireless tram technology was developed by KRRI and awarded UIC research and innovation awards in 2014 and the participants had the opportunity to learn more about the latest projects and ongoing activities of Korea tram.

This action ties in with the Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge signed by the UIC members in 2015 and that UIC wishes to promote and highlight – as with all those it will initiate in 2016.

All the presentations of the workshop are available at: http://disks.krri.re.kr/ohd/pm/disk/linkdown.html?reginfo=20160620170726488911

For further information please contact Cheul Kyu Lee, Seconded Senior Advisor on Eco design: lee at uic.org

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Workshop and Meeting of the UIC Experts Network on Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions from 8 – 9 June in Haarlem, Netherlands

On 8 June a UIC workshop dedicated to Energy Efficiency on Parked Trains and Refurbishment of Rolling Stock was held in Haarlem (Netherlands).

This workshop was a fruitful opportunity for UIC members working on these topics and representatives of the industry to exchange experiences on best practices, procedures and technologies on the management of parked trains regarding energy efficiency and the refurbishment of rail rolling stock regarding energy improvements.

The workshop started with a technical visit to the train maintenance centre of NedTrain, where the participants had the opportunity to learn more about the latest projects and ongoing activities of NedTrain and the refurbishment of Intercity Trains regarding energy efficiency improvements.

After the visit, the morning session of the workshop included the latest experiences from SNCB, NS and SBB, on the management of parked trains aiming to reduce energy consumption. In the afternoon, a second session addressed the available technologies and commercial products for refurbishment of rolling stock focusing on the potential improvements to energy efficiency; this second session included presentations from the representatives of suppliers such as Faiveley, Alstom, Knorr Bremse and Nomad Tech.

The workshop finished with an open discussion where the participants exchanged their opinions on the main existing barriers and possibilities of implementing actions in this field and the different scenarios depending on meteorological and geographical conditions, including examples in extreme conditions, as explained by the RZD representative.

All the presentations of the workshop are available at: http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1485

On 9 June the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Experts Network held an internal meeting in Haarlem where the participants presented and discussed topics such as intelligent lighting, conversion of catenary systems, carbon pricing and total energy costs at European level, as well as the exchange of data for energy consumption among other topics.

The meeting included a tour of the building, which has been renovated in accordance with sustainability and energy efficiency criteria, including solar panels linked to the surrounding neighbourhood. The building, which is over a hundred years old, was used as a maintenance centre for the signalling equipment of Dutch Railways, and following its renovation, is now dedicated to hosting meetings and other activities of the community.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on "Energy Efficient Infrastructure” held on 2 July 2018 in Paris

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network held its workshop on Energy Efficient Infrastructure on 2 July 2018 in Paris.

After eco-driving, eco-stabling and measuring energy consumption, other energy-saving potentials have been identified by the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network in the energy management of railway infrastructures, and so the aim of the workshop was to focus on the following main topics:

  • Lighting of railway assets and design tools to light railway infrastructure
  • Switch heating: sharing of technologies and experiences from infrastructure managers
  • Integration of renewable energy in railway infrastructure

Attended by around 30 participants from across the infrastructure and energy sectors, the workshop was opened and moderated by Chloé Lima-Vanzela (SNCF) and Bart Van der Spiegel (Infrabel), on behalf of Isabelle De Keyzer, UIC Senior Advisor Sustainable Development.

The afternoon consisted of four themed sessions with opportunities for questions and answers in between, where participants discussed their experience using the relevant technology.

The first session, which featured presentations by SNCB and ProRail, focused on energy efficient lighting. The speakers outlined the drivers for renewing lighting for rail infrastructure and gave examples of why it is worth investing in intelligent lighting in order to reduce energy consumption. The speakers showed the results of “LEDification” on railway assets (platforms, parking buildings, trains, shunting areas) and how for example the level of brightness on railway platforms and in waiting rooms has been improved.

The second session focused on energy efficient switch heating, where Infrabel, ProRail and RZD talked about the impact of energy efficient technologies and renewable energy sources on rail infrastructure. Infrabel explained how weather stations are used to control switch heating in Belgium. Switch heating is optimised through the use of sensors in weather stations to gather data and enable automatic monitoring. Speakers explained how to improve switch heating through the Internet of Things (IoT) by using infra sensors. RZD talked about using wind generators to produce energy and using thermal energy to heat railway facilities (lighting, heating, etc.).

For the third topic, Infrabel and SNCF talked about energy efficient internal networks, how to measure and allocate energy consumption in internal networks, sharing power and having shared storage systems (based on lithium batteries) for stations and signalling.

The final topic of the afternoon was the integration of renewables, presented by SNCB and ProRail. An example was given on the installation of solar panels on railway assets. The speakers highlighted the importance for railways to use renewable energy for financial, ecological and social reasons, and that it was vital to create their “own” renewable energy production.

The meeting was concluded by Chloé Lima-Vanzela, SNCF, and Carole Escolan-Zeno, Head of the UIC Sustainable Development Unit, who thanked the participants for their interesting discussions and reminded them of the forthcoming events later this year, in particular the Global Rail and Energy Workshop to be held on 24 September at UIC.

In the light of the afternoon’s discussions, participants were asked to consider the role of rail transport in the future, its position with regard to future energy requirements and how railway assets can add value to the energy transition.
The presentations from the workshop will soon be available on the website.

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor Sustainable Development:

dekeyzer at uic.org

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Workshop on “Energy Efficient Rail Infrastructures” to be held on 2 July 2018 in Paris

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop on “Energy efficient Infrastructures” that will be held in Paris on 2 July 2018 in Paris, in the direct vicinity of UIC Headquarters.

Background
After Eco-driving, eco-stabling and measuring energy consumption, other energy saving potentials have been identified by the Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network in the energy management of railway infrastructures.
Therefore, this new workshop will focus on the following topics:

Workshop topics

  • Lighting of platforms, shunting/stabling areas and maintenance shops
    • Use of virtual reality
    • Design tools for lighting of railway infrastructure
  • Switch heating: sharing of technologies and experiences from infrastructure managers
  • Installations for preheating and smart stabling
  • Integration of renewable energy in railway infrastructure
    • Energy efficiency in the railway electricity networks (e.g. internal networks on higher voltage level, purchasing battery chargers and transformers with reduced losses, limiting the amount of different voltages, …)
  • Discussion and sharing of good practices

Programme
The draft programme will be available soon.

Venue
Practical information will be available soon.
The workshop will be held in the direct vicinity of UIC HQ.

Registration
Register your participation by filling in the form via https://events.uic.org/uic-invites-you-to-a-workshop-on-energy-efficient-infrastructures?var_mode=calcul

For further information please contact Isabelle De Keyzer, Senior Advisor - Environment and Sustainable Development:

keyzer at uic.org

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Workshop on “RIVAS” project: Railway Induced Vibration Abatement Solutions

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RIVAS results disseminated in two workshops

On 22 and 23 May 2013 two workshops were organised in Berlin and moderated by Isabelle De Keyzer, in charge of Dissemination of EU co-funded R&D projects at UIC HQ with the objective to disseminate the methodologies and approaches of the UIC led project RIVAS to the interested audience.

RIVAS stands for ‘Railway Induced Vibration Abatement Solutions’ and focuses on the development and testing of mitigation technologies for vibration from rail traffic. More than 70 participants from 15 European countries gathered in the stimulating atmosphere of the historical industrial complex ‘Die Schmiede’ in Berlin. Among them there were many representatives of railway companies, suppliers and consultants as well as academia and standardization bodies.

The first day was dedicated to reducing railway induced ground vibrations with mitigation measures on the track. Starting with an overview of the work carried out within RIVAS on track optimisation, the different fundamental phenomena at work in the track were introduced. Numerical models for the prediction of ground-borne vibration were discussed and how they can be applied for the optimisation of track components. Prototypes of optimized resilient elements in combination with appropriate design of the rail fastening system and sleepers were introduced and the first measurement results from laboratory testing were presented. The influence of track defects on vibration generation was shown and possible reduction measures due to optimised track maintenance were discussed.

The second day focussed on reducing ground vibrations by intervention on the transmission path. The fundamental facts governing the transmission of ground-borne vibrations through the soil were explained as they play a major role in design and performance of barriers to surface waves in the ground next to a track. Appropriate measurement procedures for ground-borne vibration have been defined within RIVAS and the subsequent steps for estimating their impact on exposure in buildings and the associated reduction of annoyance to residents have been developed. Various designs of barriers in the ground including jet grouting walls, sheet pile walls and soft trenches have been studied in detail by state-of-the-art computer simulation and based on these results, appropriate test sites were identified. It was demonstrated to the audience how the combination of computer modelling and geotechnical characterisation of ‘vibration hot-spots’ may be used in practice for optimising vibration mitigation measures.

Ample time was reserved for discussion which was extensively used by the participants showing the growing interest in the subject of reducing vibrations and also vibration-induced noise as these two issues attract increasing attention in the wider context of further increasing environmental-friendliness of rail traffic.

For further details please visit the RIVAS website at www.rivas-project.eu.

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Workshop on Connected-DAS and Meeting of the UIC Experts Network on Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions

On 1 March 2017, UIC held a Workshop on Connected-Driving Advisory Systems (C-DAS). The Workshop was hosted by Deutsche Bahn at its BahnTower headquarters in Berlin, Germany.

This workshop brought together Railway Undertakings, Infrastructure Managers, DAS manufacturers and several other stakeholders to discuss the status and the perspectives of Connected-DAS in railways.

The workshop started with input from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), presenting the activities of the Agency concerning C-DAS and Automatic Train Operation (ATO).

The programme continued with a series of round tables: in the first, manufacturers such as TransRail, Knorr-Bremse and AVP Technologies showcased their solutions for C-DAS. After lunch, it was the turn of Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings to present their experiences and their needs, focusing on why they need a Connected-DAS with respect to a standalone DAS. The round tables included presentations from DB Netz, ÖBB, Infrabel, Trafikverket, SBB, SNCF and NS.

In the last session of the day, the workshop featured input from other projects: a demonstration of RailML, results from the ONTIME project (in particular regarding deliverable 6.1) and a presentation by Comillas University on communication for energy metering.

After the end of the Workshop, several UIC member railways participated in the kick-off meeting for the SFERA project, a UIC project aimed to standardise the communication with Connected-DAS systems in order to facilitate interoperability among manufacturers, Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings.

All the presentations of the workshop are available for members in the Sustainability Workspace of the UIC Extranet.

On the next day, 2 March 2017, the UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network held their first meeting of the year, also at the Bahn-Tower in Berlin. The meeting featured a discussion on indicators to report greenhouse gas emissions, with the collaboration of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as guest speaker; an update on the political situation in Brussels provided by the Community of European Railways (CER) and a report on UIC activities such as the “Sustainability in Stations” Project and the revision of Leaflet 930.

For further information please contact the UIC Sustainable Development Unit:

craven at uic.org

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Workshop on DAS/ATO and energy efficiency held on 10 February 2016 at UIC HQ

A UIC workshop dedicated to Driving Advisory Systems (DAS) and Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and their advantages in terms of energy savings was organised on 10 February by UIC at its headquarters in Paris.

The workshop, opened by Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of the UIC Fundamental Values Department, was moderated and supported by Roland Nolte, Managing Director of the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin.

The workshop was an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experiences on the best practice of eco-driving in the railways and the most innovative technologies and experiences on the topic.

More than 45 participants took part in the workshop. A first discussion panel included presentations in commercial DAS products and ATO systems. Experts from the main companies related to the topic such as Cubris, Transrail, Knorr-Bremse, Alstom and AVP-RZD presented the main advantages of these technologies.

A second block included the experiences of B-Logistics and SJ drivers involved in eco-driving programmes and DAS software developments, presenting the procedures and the main results achieved to improve energy efficiency.

Furthermore, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers presented the main programmes developed and the interactions between the traffic management centres and train operations using eco-driving programmes, DAS developments and the requirements for connected DAS. Experiences from Infrabel, RZD, JR, DB, SBB, SNCF and OBB were presented at this panel.

A final part included a fruitful discussion between the participants on the performance and management of eco-driving, including DAS and ATO, addressing the main advantages, barriers and challenges for the development and improvement of these technologies, standards requirements over the next 10 years.

The workshop provided the participants with a special opportunity to network and to meet the main actors involved in the sector.

All the workshop presentations are available at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1483&var_mode=calcul

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on DAS/ATO and energy efficiency to be held on 10 February 2016 at UIC

A UIC workshop dedicated to Driving Advisory Systems (DAS) and Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and their advantages in terms of energy consumption savings will be held on 10th February at UIC Headquarters in Paris.

This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experiences on best practices of eco-driving in the railways and the most innovative technologies and experiences on the topic.

Experts in commercial products, research, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers will have a special chance to meet and exchange best practices on all related aspects during the dedicated technical session, including experience provided by rail experts involved in train operations.

Technical presentations on the performance and management of eco-driving including DAS and ATO will be followed by fruitful discussions that will allow for benchmarking as well as sharing best practices.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1483&var_mode=calcul

We look forward to seeing you in Paris on 10 February 2016.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on DAS/ATO and Energy Efficiency to be held on 10 February 2016 at UIC Headquarters

A UIC workshop dedicated to Driving Advisory Systems (DAS) and Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and their advantages in terms of energy savings will be held on 10 February at UIC Headquarters in Paris.

This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experience and best practice of eco-driving in the railways and the most innovative technologies and experiences on the topic.

The workshop will be moderated and supported by Roland Nolte, Managing Director of the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) based in Berlin, who has participated in relevant rail and UIC related projects, such as EVENT or RailEnergy.

Experts in commercial DAS products, drivers involved in eco-driving programme developments, and manufacturers involved in ATO designs, will take part in the workshop. In addition, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers will have a special chance to meet and exchange best practices on all related aspects during the dedicated technical session.

Technical presentations on the performance and management of eco-driving including DAS and ATO will be followed by fruitful discussions that will allow for benchmarking as well as sharing best practice and the possibility of standardising these issues.

The final programme of the workshop will include the following points (see right).

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1483

We look forward to seeing you in Paris on 10 February 2016!

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on Energy Efficiency of Parked Trains and Refurbishment of Rolling Stock to be held on 8 June 2016 in the Netherlands

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A UIC workshop dedicated to Energy Efficiency of Parked Trains and Refurbishment of Rolling Stock will be held on 8 June at the NS offices in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and experts to exchange experiences on best practices, procedures and technologies on the management of parked trains regarding energy efficiency and the refurbishment of rail rolling stock.

Representatives from the supply industry and managers of rail companies involved in energy efficiency programmes dedicated to this topic will take part in the workshop. The workshop will be an excellent opportunity for railway companies to meet and exchange best practices on all related aspects during the dedicated technical session.

Technical presentations on the performance and management of energy efficiency of parked trains and refurbishment of rolling stock will be followed by fruitful discussions allowing benchmarking as well as sharing best practices and possible challenges. The programme will include a technical visit to railway facilities.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1485

We look forward to seeing you in Haarlem (Netherlands) on 8 June.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on Energy Efficiency of Parked Trains and Refurbishment of Rolling Stock to be held on 8 June 2016 in the Netherlands

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A UIC workshop dedicated to Energy Efficiency of Parked Trains and Refurbishment of Rolling Stock will be held on 8 June at the NS offices in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and experts to exchange experiences on best practices, procedures and technologies on the management of parked trains regarding energy efficiency and the refurbishment of rail rolling stock.

A first panel will include feedback from UIC members on the management of parked trains aiming to reduce energy consumption. A second session will address the available technologies on the refurbishment of rolling stock focusing on the potential improvements to energy efficiency; this second session will include presentations from the representatives of the supply industry.

The workshop will be an excellent opportunity for railway companies to meet and exchange best practices on all related aspects during the dedicated technical session.

The technical presentations will be followed by fruitful discussions allowing benchmarking as well as sharing best practices and possible challenges.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1485

We look forward to seeing you in Haarlem (Netherlands) on 8 June.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández, Senior Advisor on Energy and CO2:

castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on Energy Efficiency to be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop “The role of Infrastructure Managers (IMs) in Traction Energy Transition” that will be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Following the previous Workshop on Energy Efficient Infrastructure, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by IMs to improve energy efficiency and decarbonisation of traction energy and to accompany railway undertakings to reduce the use of diesel traction. Thus, this workshop will also focus on energy storage innovations and their best combination with the railway network.
Finally, actors from the energy market have also been invited to talk about their point of view in the frame of optimising the electricity network with railways for renewable energy.

Workshop Highlights

11:00 – 17:00, Lunch 12:35, Coffee break 15:15

Improving traction system

  • Higher voltages for OCL
  • Norwegian experience
  • New Direct Current Medium Voltage railway electrification system
  • Supra-conductor cable for reduced energy losses during transport

Energy storage

  • Battery development and super-capacitors
  • Substations
  • SNCF & Japan experience (to be confirmed)

Replacing diesel traction by less emitting traction systems

  • Defining best line configuration
  • Hydrogen refuelling facilities (to be confirmed)

External point of view of DSO or TSO: Balancing changing market with more renewable and more need of storage; possible roles for railway

Registration

To register for the workshop and to consult a detailed agenda, please follow the link below:

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

For any further information please contact Philippe Stefanos, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Workshop on Energy Efficiency to be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop “The role of Infrastructure Managers (IMs) in Traction Energy Transition” that will be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Following the previous Workshop on Energy Efficient Infrastructure, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by IMs to improve energy efficiency and decarbonisation of traction energy and to accompany railway undertakings to reduce the use of diesel traction. Thus, this workshop will also focus on energy storage innovations and their best combination with the railway network.
Finally, actors from the energy market have also been invited to talk about their point of view in the frame of optimising the electricity network with railways for renewable energy.

Workshop Highlights

11:00 – 17:00, Lunch 12:35, Coffee break 15:15

Improving traction system

  • Higher voltages for Overhead Contact Line (OCL)
  • Bane NOR experience
  • New Direct Current Medium Voltage railway electrification system
  • Supra-conductor cable for reduced energy losses during transport

Energy storage

  • Battery development and super-capacitors
  • Reversible substations
  • SNCF & Japan experience (to be confirmed)

Replacing diesel traction by less emitting traction systems

  • Defining best line configuration
  • SBB experience
  • Hydrogen refuelling facilities (to be confirmed)

External point of view of DSO or TSO: Balancing changing market with more renewable and more need of storage; possible roles for railway (to be confirmed)

Registration

To register for the workshop and to consult a detailed agenda, please follow the link below:

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

For any further information please contact Philippe Stefanos, UIC Energy Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Workshop on Energy Efficiency to be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

The UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Experts Network is happy to invite you to take part in the workshop “The role of Infrastructure Managers (IMs) in Traction Energy Transition” that will be held on 11 February 2019 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Following the previous Workshop on Energy Efficient Infrastructure, this workshop will focus on the projects developed by IMs to improve energy efficiency and decarbonisation of traction energy and to accompany railway undertakings to reduce the use of diesel traction. Thus, this workshop will also focus on energy storage innovations and their best combination with the railway network.
Finally, actors from the energy market have also been invited to talk about their point of view in the frame of optimising the electricity network with railways for renewable energy.

Workshop Highlights

11:00 – 17:00, Lunch 12:35, Coffee break 15:15

Improving traction system

  • Higher voltages for Overhead Contact Line (OCL)
  • Bane NOR experience
  • New Direct Current Medium Voltage railway electrification system
  • Supra-conductor cable for reduced energy losses during transport

Energy storage

  • Battery development and super-capacitors
  • Reversible substations
  • SNCF & Japan experience (to be confirmed)

Replacing diesel traction by less emitting traction systems

  • Defining best line configuration
  • SBB experience
  • Hydrogen refuelling facilities (to be confirmed)

External point of view of DSO or TSO: Balancing changing market with more renewable and more need of storage; possible roles for railway (to be confirmed)

Registration

To register for the workshop and to consult a detailed agenda, please follow the link below:

https://events.uic.org/uic-workshop-on-energy-efficiency

For any further information please contact Philippe Stefanos, UIC Energy Advisor:

stefanos at uic.org

See the full article

Workshop on Energy Recovery held on 29 September 2015 in Madrid

The UIC Workshop dedicated to Energy Recovery was held in Madrid on Tuesday 29 September at the Spanish Railway Foundation Headquarters in the Palace of Fernán Núñez in Madrid. More than 15 speakers presented the latest research, best practices and developments on energy recovery to over 50 participants attending the event.

The workshop, opened by Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of Fundamental Values of UIC, was divided into four panels with an initial one dedicated to introducing the framework on standards and potential savings measured using energy metre systems. The following panels included the main developments in the fields of infrastructure, rolling stock and operations (driving and communications between the rail sub-systems).

Managers, advisors and professional specialists from rail operators, infrastructure managers, manufacturers, universities and consulting companies received the latest data, experiences, and best practices on energy recovery in the railways. Flywheels, reversible substations, DAS, batteries, and smart grids, connected to the Merlin Project, were some of the main topics presented. The workshop also included the comparison of recovery technologies of rail to other types of transport such as cars and tramways.

The workshop ended with two technical visits to specialist facilities. The first one, to the Renfe training centre for drivers, showed how regenerative braking and speed management, depending on the profile of the line, are included in the software used in the driving simulators. The participants had the opportunity to test the simulators and to check the energy consumptions during a driving exercise with the Renfe trainers.

The second technical visit to the Metro de Madrid charging point for electric cars enabled the participants to learn about the latest project on charging points for electric vehicles using the energy produced during the braking of the Metro vehicles. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to discuss charging a hybrid car used as taxi with the representative of Metro de Madrid involved in the development of the project and a user of this point.

Energy recovery is a technology implemented in the railways for more than 30 years which has relevant energy savings. Implementation of regenerative braking in the rolling stock is widely deployed in the current fleet of rail operators and tools such as metering, DAS and Smart Grids can increase the efficient use of regenerated energy.

All presentations from the workshop are available at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1480

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on Energy Recovery to be held on 29 September 2015 in Madrid

The UIC workshop dedicated to Energy Recovery will be held on 29 September at the Spanish Railways Foundation Headquarters in Madrid. This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experiences on best practices of the main interfaces and progress on energy recovery in the railways, as well as the future and potential of energy recovery savings, and to learn alongside experienced operators and infrastructure managers.

Experts in technology, research and data collection on energy recovery from around the railway world will have the special chance to meet and exchange on best practices on all aspects of this topic during the technical dedicated session, including a technical visit to dedicated facilities.

Technical presentations on the performance and management of the energy recovery (legal and standard frame, infrastructure, rolling stock, driving, etc.) will be presented and will be followed by fruitful discussions that will allow for benchmarking as well as sharing best practices.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:
http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1478&var_mode=calcul

We look forward to seeing you in Madrid on 29 September 2015.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on Energy Recovery to be held on 29 September 2015 in Madrid

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The UIC workshop dedicated to Energy Recovery will be held on 29 September at the Spanish Railways Foundation Headquarters in Madrid. This workshop will be an excellent opportunity for managers, advisors and professional specialists to exchange experiences on best practices of the main interfaces and progress on energy recovery in the railways, as well as the future and potential of energy recovery savings, and to learn alongside experienced operators and infrastructure managers.

Experts in technology, research and data collection on energy recovery from around the railway world will have the special chance to meet and exchange on best practices on all aspects of this topic during the technical dedicated session, including a technical visit to dedicated facilities.

Technical presentations on the performance and management of the energy recovery (legal and standard frame, infrastructure, rolling stock, driving, etc.) will be presented and will be followed by fruitful discussions that will allow for benchmarking as well as sharing best practices.

To secure your participation, please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1478&id_donnee=0&id_article=1478#form341

We look forward to seeing you in Madrid on 29 September 2015.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

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Workshop on non-traction energy consumption and related CO2 emissions from the European railway sector

How to improve energy efficiency when dealing with non-traction energy consumption? On average the energy related to non-traction issues accounts for 15% of overall consumption. Nevertheless the saving potential linked to this field has still not been thoroughly investigated. Following the Study on Non-Traction Energy Consumption and related CO2 emissions from the European railway sector, UIC is organising a one-day workshop to present the results of this study together with a comprehensive view of the main activities within this field.

It provides an overview of the composition of non-traction energy consumption, the state-of-the-art legislation, key performance indicators, innovative solutions and good practice from members in the field of non-traction energy. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the course of action and next steps to further improve your energy efficiency!

Date and venue:
19 June 2012, 9.30 – 16.30, at UIC in Paris, France

Who should participate?
Technical experts from all UIC members working with optimising energy efficiency of daily operations, upgrade and overhaul of:

  • Stations and concessions
  • Workshops, depots and service buildings
  • Heating of switches
  • Lighting of infrastructure, signalling, telecom, traffic control and data centres
  • Administration and offices

Why you should participate – workshop themes:

  • Exchange of good practice, new innovations and latest technologies
  • Conclusions from the recent UIC study on non-traction energy
  • Pre-benchmarking and state-of-the-art indicators for non-traction
  • Knowledge exchange sessions on “stations and workshops” and “technical railway operations”
  • Networking and professional discussions

Registration and more information

Please register by 10 June at:
http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2952

The preliminary agenda is available at the same link.

For more information please contact: aneris at uic.org

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Workshop on Sustainable Mobility and Network Meeting to be held on 27 April 2016 at UIC Headquarters in Paris

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Rail is often quoted as one of the most sustainable means of transport. While a modal shift and an increase of rail is expected on railway networks in the coming years, the good management of railway sustainability is of major importance, as it is a key determining factor in the consumer choices.
Therefore the rail sector needs to learn the best approach to offer targeted options for the consumer.

The first session “Integrated Sustainable Mobility” will provide best practices on this subject. The audience will hear from the most innovative door-to-door solutions.
The second session on “Railways and Green Tourism” will provide an insight into how the digital market can help to combine rail offers with a more customised demand.
The third session on “Relations with customers and stakeholders on environmental topics” will focus on how communications departments convey corporate sustainability initiatives to internal and external stakeholders.

The fourth and last session on “Railways and Green Growth Approach: the Benefits of Investing in Railways” will emphasise the importance of investing in railways and the reasons why the sector is in an advantageous position for driving shift towards sustainable transport.

The outcome of this workshop will be the guidelines for defining ideas and proposals for UIC projects run between 2016-2018.

Participation is free of charge – please register at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/events/spip.php?article3439

We look forward to seeing you in Paris on 27 April!

For further information please contact Andrea Braschi: braschi at uic.org

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Workshop on the new Guidelines G4 of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for rail companies – 23 April 2015, Paris

On 23 April 2015, UIC held a Workshop on the Implementation of the new G4 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for rail companies, moderated and supported by Glenn Frommer.

Glenn Frommer is Managing Partner of ESG Matters Ltd and the Head of Corporate Sustainability for a major public transport organisation. Over 20 years he pioneered and implemented the organisational policies, strategies and programmes for environment, sustainability and CSR. He is a member of the GRI Working Group on Content and Materiality (GRI G3), the GRI Working Group on Disclosure of Management Aspects and assisted in drafting the newly released GRI G4 Guidelines.

The GRI’s mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice for all companies and organisations. Its framework is a reporting system that provides metrics and methods for measuring and reporting sustainability-related impacts and performance.

The aim of the new G4 Guidelines is to increase user-friendliness and accessibility. The emphasis on what is material encourages organisations to provide only information that is critical to their business and stakeholders. This means organisations and report users can concentrate on the sustainability impacts that matter, resulting in reports that are more strategic, more focused, more credible, and easier for stakeholders to navigate.

On Thursday 23 April, more than 10 UIC members attended the workshop which took place at the UIC Headquarters in Paris. The workshop presented an overview of the G4 and the Gap Assessment as a basis for discussion and building consensus on a common approach to identify key challenges for the rail sector.

The main points discussed during the workshop were how to identify the materiality indicators for reporting, how to ensure stakeholder engagement in the reporting process and the analysis of current best practices in rail reporting. Participants reviewed the UIC Reporting Guideline and related material available on the UIC website and conducted a Gap Assessment between those documents and the new G4 Guidelines.

Nick Craven, Head of the UIC Sustainability Unit, opened the workshop and introduced Glenn Frommer to the participants, who discuss actively the main gaps and challenges for rail companies in the reporting process. The case studies from FS, NS, and NSB were analysed in order to identify strengths and weakness of the sustainability reporting.

Participants in the workshop exchanged opinions regarding the future worldwide and regional trends on the topic, and how the legal frame, stakeholders and big corporations are increasing their demands on the quality and standardisation of sustainability reporting.

With regard to the final output of the workshop, ESG Matters Ltd will compile railway experiences and the main points to be improved. The compilation of information set out in a short handbook will provide guidelines for the implementation of the GRI G4 Guidelines.

For further information please contact Gabriel Castañares Hernández: castanares at uic.org

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World Customs Organization holds online workshop on rail

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Between 13 and 16 October, the WCO held a virtual stakeholder workshop dedicated to rail transport. Participants from national customs authorities, the EU Commission, international associations and sector experts from all over the world engaged in discussions on a number of key topics such as risk management, process digitalisation, implementation of transit guidelines, etc.

The International Union of Railways, represented by Sandra Géhénot, Freight Director, was invited to open the third day of the conference, titled “Moving towards digitalisation”. In this context, Ms Géhénot presented the work of the Rail Freight Forward (RFF) coalition and, more specifically, the work currently coordinated by the UIC Freight team on digital platforms (https://www.railfreightforward.eu/).

She explained how the sector is seeking to implement digital platforms (DP) in order to unlock the true value of the multitude of operational data available by enabling seamless operational data exchange between all stakeholders in the rail freight sector via a digital platform ecosystem. This ecosystem “also needs to ensure it responds to the needs of smaller railway operators and encourages third parties to drive innovation utilising these data”, Ms Géhénot explained.

Answering questions from several representatives on the potential structure of such a platform, Ms Géhénot explained that the stakeholders currently involved are focusing on achieving and implementing business benefits for the sector and the customer in the spirit of the RFF, the mission of which is to proactively drive modal shift towards rail and pave the way for a sustainable society.

For further information, please contact Sandra Gehenot, UIC Freight Director gehenot at uic.org

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Xborder workshop to be held on 23 February

The current 75% market share for road transport is no longer sustainable due to its significant environmental impact. Projected transport growth of 30% by 2030 – equal to one million additional trucks on our roads – will make this situation even worse.

The European Green Deal recognises rail as the future backbone of the European transport system. Fluid transport throughout Europe will be essential. For rail, however, this is still an issue. Crossing borders is still hindered by numerous legal and operational problems. Load regulations are not aligned across different countries. On the legal side, train drivers require a B1 language proficiency level. A train driver requires a multitude of licences to cross Europe. A DB Cargo study estimated that an astonishing 15,000 documents are required for a train, versus 1,600 for a truck.

RailFreightForward has applied its ambition to increase the share of rail in freight to 30% by 2030 in priority areas such as the cross-border project, which focuses on language issues on the one hand and cross-border operations on the other.

A project team of experts has developed a handbook for ideal cross-border operations from the railway undertaking’s perspective. A webinar to present these findings will be held on 23 February.

Following presentations from the project sponsor and a testimonial from the European Union Agency for Railways, further details of commercial, legal and technical issues at cross-borders sections will be explored.

More details on the program and registration are available on the dedicated page.

Registration: https://site.evenium.net/aemucawx

For further information, please contact Philip Van Den Bosch: vandenbosch at uic.org

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Your invitation to join the climate train to COP26 on Saturday 30 October

The climate train

UIC is supporting the climate train to COP26 this year. The initiative from ProRail, Eurostar, NS and Youth for Sustainable Travel (YfST) provides a platform for “Rail to the COP”, a YfST campaign that promotes the transition towards a sustainable travel future. The campaign facilitates dialogue between the rail industry, climate activists, youth and policymakers, and encourages and supports other initiatives for sustainable travel to Amsterdam, Glasgow and COP26.

On board the train, there will be an exciting programme of events providing passengers with the opportunity to meet, learn and work.

Apply for a place on the train to Glasgow

Fixed numbers of tickets are reserved for various groups: rail industry representatives, institutional representatives (politicians, policymakers, etc.), researchers/academics/experts, NGO representatives and youth. The cost per ticket is 70-120 euro each way.

Please complete the form below to apply for a place on the climate train from Amsterdam via Rotterdam, Brussels and London to Glasgow.

Register your interest here: https://railtothecop.com/apply

For further information, please contact Lucie Anderton, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, at anderton at uic.org

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