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