1

Management Committee and Regional Assembly for Asia:

(Paris, 4 December)

Extension of the mandates, discussions on the new UIC statutes, a new principle of Solidarity proposed by Mr Yoshio Ishida

The Management Committee, fol-lowed by the UIC Regional As-

sembly for Asia, was held in Parison 4 December. Representativesfrom Korea, Japan, China, Kazakhs-tan, India, Russia and Malaysia par-ticipated in both meetings, under theacting chairmanship of Mr. Hee-BokYoo, on behalf of Mr. Hyeog-YunSim, CEO of Korail and Chairman ofthe Regional Assembly for Asia(ARA).

The meetings benefited from thepresence of Mr. K.C. Jena, UICChairman, Chairman of the Board ofIndian Railways (IR), Mrs. BéatriceDunogué-Gaffié, UIC Provisional Ad-ministrator, Mr. Luc Aliadière, UICChief Executive, Mr. Vipin Sharma,UIC Deputy Chief Executive and res-ponsible for UIC’s global dimension,and other chief executives and dele-gates from the Asian region.

The Asian Management Committeeprepared the decision for recom-mendations for the Regional Assem-bly which included:

THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF RAILWAYS n°127 - 19th December 2008

Regional Activities / Asia

The UIC Management Committee for Asia was held on 4 December in Paris.

2n°127 - 19th December 2008

-the extension of the mandates ofthe Chairman, Vice-Chairmen andrepresentatives in the ExecutiveBoard for a further period until thenext meeting of the ARA,

- the programme of work and bud-

get for 2009.

- the use of Russian language as

working language to integrate therailways from CIS countries andRussian speaking regions.

On the recommendation of the Mana-gement Committee, the ARA approvedthe extension of the mandates of Mr.Hyeog-Yun Sim for Chairman, Mr.Askar Mamin, President of KazakhstanRailways (KTZ) for 1st Vice-Chairmanand Mr. Abdul Razak Malek, Director ofMalaysian Railways (KTM) for 2ndVice-Chairman of the Asian Region.They also approved the representationof the CEOs of Korail, CR, IR and JR-East in the UIC Executive Board.

An overview of the UIC Global Dimen-sion (which essentially contributes tothe development of regional activitiesthrough the global activities and thework of competence centers) and onthe events leading to the current reviewof the statutes was made by VipinSharma. This was followed by an ac-

tive discussion on the options rela-

ting to four main principles upon

which the new statutes will be based.

Mr A.K. Nigam, Indian Railways (IR),said that every Member should be partof the decision making process, consi-dering that the General Assemblyshould adopt universal suffrage withinUIC as a further step to a global organi-zation. For his part, Mr Vladimir Yakunin,President of Russian Railways (RZD),stressed the importance of unitary lea-dership at UIC and for the statutes tounderpin the strong role of large rail-ways in the national and global eco-nomy, while recognising the

development needs of smaller rail-

ways.

From left to right: Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways (RZD), Mr AlexeiAverin, Head of International Relations Department (RZD). Second line: Alexander Kassey(RZD).

The UIC Regional Assembly took place in 4 december, after the UIC Management Com-mittee. From left to right: Mr Gerard Dalton (UIC Regional Co-ordinator for Asia), Mrs BéatriceDunogué-Gaffié (UIC Provisional Administrator), Mr Hee-Bok Yoo (on behalf of Mr Hyeog-Yun Sim,CEO of Korail and Chairman of the Regional Assembly for Asia), Mr Alpysbayevon behalf of Mr Askar Mamin ( President of Kazakhstan Railways, KTZ), Mr Vipin Sharma,UIC Deputy Chief Executive.

From left to right: Mr A. Yokoyama (EJRC Paris Office), Mr I. Takahashi (EJRC), Mr Y. Ishida(EJRC Vice-Chairman).

3n°127 - 19th December 2008

Mr. Yoshio Ishida, Vice-Chairman ofEast Japan Railways (EJRC), capturedthe common thread of the discussionwhen he suggested that a fifth prin-

ciple needed to be enshrined in the

new statutes which would ensure

solidarity, co-operation and common

development of all members’ inte-

rests.

All these points were taken into accountby Mr Yoo, Korail, Acting ARA’Chair-man, who suggested that the UIC Exe-cutive Board should use this advice totry to find a compromise position to putto the General Assembly on 5th December.

The Regional Assembly members were briefed by Mr. Gerard Dalton the UIC Regional Co-ordinator forAsia and Mr. Mukul Mathur, Head of UIC Asia Unit, who presented the activities of the Asian Region andUIC Competence Centres in 2008, pointing to the successful seminars in Japan on Signalling (May2008), Bridges and Tunnels (September 2008), the Traffic Management & Train Control Conference inTurkey (October 2008),organisation of first UIC Investment forum in Delhi and to the commencementof training activity in the IRaTCA Centre in Korea (May – November 2008).

Were outlined:

- the planned work programme

- the budget for 2009, which included a continuation of some existing Asian Region Initiatives rela-ting to Training, Signalling, Railway Standards, International Corridors and Containerisation andhighlighted some of the workshops which will take place in Spain ( March 2008), Russia (October2009) and Korea (November 2009) where the Asian Region members will participate .

- the activities of the UIC competence centers and their plan to hold specific workshops in Asia in2009 in order to consolidate the co-operation links between the centres and the Asian Members.

The members of the Regional Assembly for Asia approved the interim running budget for UIC for theperiod to March 2009 and the special programme of initiatives for the Asian region for 2009 as well.

For further information, please contact Gerard Dalton: dalton@uic.asso.fr

From left to right : Y. Zhakishev (KTZ), A. Sydykov (KTZ), B. Sarsenbayeva (KTZ).

4n°127 - 19th December 2008

European Union (TEN-T) and the rail professional sector represented by UIC

formalise Public–Private Partnership for Railway Interoperability in Telematics

The European Commission has fulfilled its pledge to become a partner in the realisation of the Techni-cal Specification for Interoperability for Telematics for Freight “TAF-TSI” by providing 780 000 € fundingfor the development of the Common Communications Interface. This interface establishes the com-munication backbone for the realisation of the “TAF-TSI”, enabling the European rail freight stakehol-ders to exchange data in a standardised and secure environment.

The “TAF-TSI” regulation is an integral tool for making rail freight more competitive in Europe and mee-ting the needs of customers in the areas of transit time reliability and shipment information. The regu-lation is a means to ensure that efficient interchange of information is adapted so that the rail transportprocess may become economically viable and that freight transport on rail and can more efficiently ad-dress the intense competition in today’s market.

‘This public-private partnership represents a firm commitment from both the European Union and therail professional sector to implement the “TAF-TSI”. It is a vital action in promoting international trans-port of goods by rail’, said Jan Sundling, Chairman of the “TAF-TSI” deployment.

UIC as beneficiary of the grant, with the backing of the Swedish government, is acting on behalf of the“TAF-TSI” Common Components Group to develop the software product and system. The CommonComponents Group is made up of individual, private stakeholders who have formed a neutral organi-sation to finance, manage and develop the Common Components.

Luc Aliadière, UIC Chief Executive, states “I am very happy to see that UIC is playing its role as the tech-nical platform serving the interest of all railway stakeholders.”

Now that the project has been fully funded, development shall start in January 2009. The software shall be ready for roll-out by mid-2010.

For more information please contact John Lutz: lutz@uic.asso.fr

Interoperability / Telematics

5n°127 - 19th December 2008

Combined Transport

Freight

DIOMIS:

Working session on Combined Transport Wagons

(Paris, 11 December)

On 11 December 2008, in thecontext of the DIOMIS project, aworking session with represen-tatives of the railways, combi-ned transport operators, wagonmanufacturers and wagon lea-sing companies was organisedat the UIC in Paris.

The aim of the working sessionwas to discuss with key playersin what way and to what extentwagons may limit modal shift to-wards rail at the horizon of2015. The discussion chaired byEric Peetermans (Chairman ofthe UIC Combined TransportGroup) and Uwe Sondermann(KombiConsult) focused on finetuning KombiConsult’s initial findings with regard to the current wagon fleet, investment needs, finan-cing and management models.

Concrete case studies were presented regarding financing and management models such as the co-operative model of TTX in the United States, the case of Railrelease which acts as a broker betweensupply and demand and the case of DB Intermodal Services which operates a large fleet for Railion andits customers all over Europe.

Eric Peetermans stressed that the current economic downturn should not be used as an excuse for notpreparing the future. Although the current economic climate may delay growth projections for combinedtransport for a few months or a couple of years at most, combined transport is still the growth segmentof rail freight and the fundamentals of its growth are still there. He added that there will be no businessas usual when recovery will eventually set on: sustainable mobility will be the key and combined trans-port must meet the challenge.

The report on this issue will be published at the beginning of 2009. A public communication event willtake place in the Spring.

For more information please contact Sandra Gehenot: gehenot@uic.asso.fr

6n°127 - 19th December 2008

Standardisation

39th meeting of CENELEC «TC9X» Working Group

(Mulhouse, France, 10-11 December)

40 experts from National Committeesare working to review the standardi-sation process with invited memberscoming from ERA (European RailwayAgency), UNIFE (Association of theEuropean Rail Industry), JPCR (JointProgramming Committee Rail), UITP(International Association of PublicTransport) and UIC.

There is an overlapping workconcerning railways subjects mana-ged by CEN European Committeefor Standardisation (in TC278) Tech-nical Committee and TC9X. TC9Xwill ask to JPCR to take necessaryactions to manage the common rail-ways work to be done. Concerningthe telematic applications (ticketing,passenger information…), UITP insists highly to maintain a separate approach for train and urbantransport.

If needs of interpretation appear in TSIs Technical Standards for Interoperability, only ERA has the rightto interpret and to propose changes in TSI text.

The proposed methodology for cooperation between TC9X and UIC was accepted by TC9X.

UIC Leaflets were offered to Cenelec European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation, to bepartly transformed into ENs EuroNorme (only if mandated or identified as voluntary standards in sup-port of the TSIs).

Other leaflets (in the scope of Electrical railway applications) will be offered directly to IEC InternationalElectrotechnical Commission in order to avoid any conflict with the Dresden agreement.

The coordination meetings are regularly held between TC9X, its subcommittees, and UIC.

EC Consultants attend the above-mentioned meetings in order to avoid any overlap with ERA activities.

The transfer is in progress.

For more information please contact Francis Delooz: delooz@uic.asso.fr

7n°127 - 19th December 2008

Safety

STOP Accidents! Europe for Safer Level Crossings

On 10th December, the UIC hosted the first meeting of the “AwarenessDay at Level Crossings” task force. Indeed, Simon Fletcher from the UICBrussels office chaired this expert core group created by the EuropeanLevel Crossing Forum to develop the project of a “European AwarenessCampaign” to be held in 2009.

Gathering national experts from both road and rail sectors, EIM, CER, aswell as representatives from DG TREN of the European Commission, themeeting aimed at coordinating a series of national events all on the samedate, constructed around a common theme/approach based on the samebranding in order to add value to the national campaigns.

Following the success of various national campaigns, participants agreed that the European brand forthis first edition will be: “STOP accidents! Europe for safer Level Crossings” which will be closely linkedto every national message. As remarked by different countries, the peak of accidents at level crossingsappears to occur during the summer break, therefore it has been decided to set-up this European cam-paign on 25th June 2009.

During this meeting, the UIC received overall support towards the intention to signthe European Road Safety Charter. The European level crossing campaign will beproposed as a contribution to overall reduction of road safety risks and the clearobjective of reducing road fatalities by 50%. The use of the European Road Sa-fety Charter logo as well as the European flag will be used to help in promotingthis event and give more visibility among the target audience – the level crossingusers. Countries around the table were able to present their current national pro-grammes and to exchange ideas on the structure of the European campaign. Anumber of other countries have expressed an interest to take part in this collec-tive action but were not able to attend the meeting; the UIC had received a num-ber their contributions and reported on these at the meeting.

Measuring such a campaign is always important and it ahs been agreed that one such measurementwill be to involve as many countries and bodies as possible to promote a safer use of level crossingsand reduce risks. Indeed, today there is no official database regarding level crossings accidents inclu-ding all EU countries to give a clear picture of the issue. However, the representatives from the Euro-pean Commission mentioned the step forward recently taken to create in the forthcoming months incollaboration with the European Railway Agency a new database focusing exclusively on level cros-sings accidents.

The next meeting of this task force will be held on 26 March 2009, in UIC Brussels office.

For more information please contact the UIC Brussels office: fletcher@uic.asso.fr or daoud@uic.asso.fr

8n°127 - 19th December 2008

ERTMS Platform Benchmark study 2008 -

Signalling Equivalent Unit Workshop

(Paris, 17 December°

Signalling Equivalent Unit concepts havebeen introduced by railway infrastructuremanagers in order to enable the effec-tive measurement and analysis of effi-ciencies of signalling renewals andinvestments. They are models, simplealgorithms used by signalling engineersand economic experts for budget esti-mations. As for all models, the SEUconcept is used for generic and highlevel estimation and it cannot describe indetail the complex reality of a signallingimplementation project.

The need of making this concept uniformat national level comes from the fact thatthe investment evaluation of a signallingproject cannot depend on the local modelunderstanding. The need of making it uni-form at international level between railwayA and railway B came from the UICBenchmark working group while discus-sing of ERTMS implementation costs inEurope. The current way of analysing in-vestment of ERTMS projects by usingexisting cost ratios that build on pure in-frastructure parameters such as length ofline “k€/km” was felt not accurate enoughand it was considered more appropriate touse SEU concepts.

About 25 signalling engineers and econo-mic experts from 11 different organisations (mainly Railway Infrastructure Managers, ERA and UIC)met at UIC to describe and compare their current SEU models with the aim of paving the way towardthe adoption of an agreed common model to be used in the UIC ERTMS Benchmark Study in order tofacilitate the comparability of data from different implementation projects. Fundamental steps are the pre-cise definition of the scope of the model and the common understanding of the concept itself. Once thisfirst objective is achieved, the model has to evolve in order to become applicable to the ERTMS envi-ronment.

ERTMS

9n°127 - 19th December 2008

Four Infrastructure Managers have pioneered this field describing and chal-lenging their SEU models to the community: Mr Kamps from DB, Mr Moscoufrom ProRail, Mr Binns from Network Rail and Mr Hansen from JBV.

The workshop participants highly appreciated the initiative and were very posi-tive about the presentations and the content of the existing SEU concepts. Theapproach was identified as suitable for the Working Group and a core team ofthe 4 above mentioned IMs was made responsible for developing an “ERTMSSignalling Equivalent Unit” concept. It was commonly agreed that Network Railshould take the lead in this initiative. In the upcoming months the “UIC ERTMSSEU concept” shall be elaborated on the basis of existing concepts and a mi-gration from the conventional signalling world to the ERTMS world shall be gua-ranteed by the WG Members.

The UIC ERTMS Platform is firmly convinced that sharing information onERTMS implementations at European level will give transparency to the mar-ket, while the creation of a network of experts in ERTMS economic assess-ments will strengthen the position of the railways vis-à-vis their manufacturerpartners. Comparing information on costs will enable the railway community tounderstand cost drivers and achieve future cost reductions. UIC Platform ob-jective is not to collect and analyse data from the railways in order to identify the“best in class”! Rather, the platform ultimate aim is to draw preliminary conclu-sions from these comparisons in order to better understand the causes of spe-cific cost situations and discuss future technological and economicimprovements.

Mr De Cicco took the opportunity to thank all workshop participants for theircommitment throughout 2008 and their continuous pro-active stance and towish them all the Season’s Greetings.

For more information contact, please Paolo de Cicco – UIC ERTMS Platform manager: decicco@uic.asso.fr

Chris Binns, Network Rail.

Geir Hansen, JBV.

Karsten Kamps, DB.

Lex Moscow, ProRail.

ERTMS Platform:

“GSM-R Integrity Detection System Dissemination Workshop”

Rome, 18 December – “Istituto Sperimentale di RFI”

The GRIDES project, developed by RFI in cooperation with INTECS,WISER and University of PISA, has been co-financed by EC in theframe of EPCIP Programme, (the European critical infrastructure pro-gramme). Its main objective is to demonstrate how a detection net-work of low-cost and low-complexity, SDR-based GSM-R receivers,

10n°127 - 19th December 2008

can be adopted in order to enhance the availability andsecurity of a GSM-R network typically employed fortrain-to-ground communications and signalling in railwayapplications, according to the ERTMS / ETCS Level 2system specifications.

More than 50 engineers, telecom experts and resear-chers form different organisations (railway IMs and RUs,UIC, ERA, ERTMS UG, Universities, Industries and Eu-ropean Joint Research Centres) have met in “IstitutoSperimentale “ of RFI, in Rome, for discussing and ana-lysing the GRIDES prototype results.

The GSM-R network is a potential vulnerable accesspoint to interferences from external electro-magneticsources that could cause temporary disruption of ser-vice associated with loss of revenues. The GRIDES testoutcomes have demonstrated that the prototypes deve-loped are able to analyse in real-time the entire GSM-Rspectrum, to detect and classify interferences, and tosend alarms to the railway signalling system in case ofnetwork anomalies.

It was felt it necessary to make a survey on the subjectand understand how this matter is dealt with by railwayIMs and RUs and other organisations affected by simi-lar problems, also in different areas (GPS). UIC has of-fered expertise and services in this respect.

Attending people have subsequently visited the ERTMSRFI laboratory where, among others, functional tests ofERTMS / ETCS Applications (subset 086) are perfor-med together with non regression test on new softwarerelease of RBC/EVC and FFFIS modifications.

For more information contact please Fabio Senesi - manager responsible for ATC: f.senesi@rfi.it

and Paolo de Cicco – UIC ERTMS Platform manager:decicco@uic.asso.fr

From left to right: Prof. Luise (University of Pisa), Mr Fumi and MrSenesi (RFI managers).

11n°127 - 19th December 2008

International Training

“Competencies and competitiveness”

UIC Practitioners' Workshop:

Competency-based Human Resources management system

(Portsmouth, 25-27 November)

Over 30 attendees from Human Resources departments of 17 European companies (Human ResourcesDirectors, Managers of HR Divisions, HR advisors, Personnel development Directors …), gathered for a 2,5days workshop at Network Rail training facilities, HMS Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire.

HMS Sultan is a Royal Navy establishment where Network Rail deliver their Advanced ApprenticeshipScheme. The Scheme was started in 2005, after Network Rail in sourced all the direct maintenance, by wel-coming about 18,000 front line staff into the new company.

The workshop was a unique occasion for European railway HR practitioners to get a hands-on practical in-sight of different competency models currently being developed by the participating railway companies.

In a selection of different “formal” case studies, the attendees could share the experiences and good prac-tices of British, French, German and Italian models of competency management.

A keynote speech from a German HR management consultancy gave good insights into the current stateof competence management in the business world, which helped the attendees position their companyin a broader context.

Throughout the workshop and a selection of guided group exercises, the attendees also got the opportu-nity to learn and exchange information about state of competence models in other participating countriesincluding Austria, Sweden, Norway, Belgian, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria.

The experiences of the parti-cipating railway companiesgave rise to various ways ofdefining what the notion of“strategic competence mana-gement” entails.

Competence management isunderstood primarily on anoperational level, as an ins-trument for functional deve-lopment of the staff, andthere is obvious potential forexpansion in terms of strate-gic notion of competencemanagement.

The railway companies in theaudience who are attemptingto position themselves at the

12n°127 - 19th December 2008

strategy-oriented competence management level acknowledged that there was still a need to work onthe “connecting link” between their specific corporate strategy and their strategic competence mana-gement efforts.

Hence the discussions and exchanges around a range of issues which called for obvious needs for im-provement, including the positioning of HR as a strategic business partner, the importance to involveand train the line managers for their new responsibilities, the need for harmonization of available HRinstruments, the tools and techniques for communicating the benefits offered by competence manage-ment, and the conditions for a successful change process.

It is only when an interface between strategic competence management and strategy design at a com-pany is introduced, that strategic competence management will have a positive impact on the compe-titive edge of the company.

For further information, please contact Nathalie Amirault, Senior International Training Manager amirault@uic.asso.fr

News from UIC Members

Austria / High speed

Railjet connects Vienna with Budapest and Munich and will provide new quality

in the international long distance traffic

ÖBB presented on 13 December their new highspeed train ‘Railjet’ with a premiere ride fromVienna to Linz. Mrs Doris Bures, the Federal Mi-nister for Transport, Innovation and Technologyof Austria, Mr Peter Klugar, CEO of ÖBB-Hol-ding AG, Mrs Gabriele Lutter, Executive Directorof ÖBB Passenger AG, Mr Karl-FriedrichRausch, Member of the Board of DeutscheBahn DB (Passengers), Mr Tamás Kozak, Di-rector General of MÁV Start were all on board.The commercial operation started the day aftertogether with the new timebtable.

‘Railjet’ links the three cities Vienna, Budapestand Munich in three European countries that co-vers 743 kilometers with a maximum speed on 230 km/h. ‘Railjet’ stands for speed, comfort, designand a completely new service concept between Budapest and Munich. Depending on the class theconcept of service extends from the cafe bistro wagons, a trolley service with coffee, to on-site servicewith drinks and a wide selection of snacks, hot towels, an extensive range of newspapers and maga-zines. Some examples of travel times: Vienna-Budapest 3 hrs, Vienna-Munich 3.46 hrs, Munich-Bu-dapest 7:26 hrs, Vienna-Salzburg 2:15hrs.

13n°127 - 19th December 2008

High speed / Italy:

Milano-Bologna high speed line

inaugurated

A high-speed rail link was inaugurated on 13 De-cember between Milan and Bologna, in presence ofAntonio Tajani, the European Commissioner forTransport, the Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti,

Innocenzo Cipolletta, Chairman of Italian Rail-ways (FS), Mauro Moretti, CEO of FSl

The new high-speed train Frecciarossa ("redarrow") can now connect Rome to Milan in 3hours 30 minutes, an hour less than before.

"We are incredibly proud, that we were able put toin to service in a record time a high-speed train ofthis top-quality and that it can be used internatio-nally," said Mr Peter Klugar. "Railjet brings the cus-tomers many advantages such as comfort andquality and ensures jobs at the ÖBB Group in thelong-term term."

"The railjet represents the highlight of this years’timetable," said Lutter. "Our customers will ex-perience an entirely new service and quality.Comfort, comprehensive customer information inthe train and accessibility are important elementsof it."

The railjet can carry three handicappedpersons with wheelchairs. The railjetfeatures an escalator that is fixed to

the coach, a barrier-free restroom andpower socket for the wheelchair.

They can order something to drink orto eat by pushing on the blue button.

14n°127 - 19th December 2008

UIC e-news Editor: Marie PlaudLay-out: Daniel TessèdreCommunications Department, 19th December 2008

Thank you for your comments and suggestions.For any additional e-mail address in your Railway please contact plaud@uic.asso.fr

A Complete schedule of UIC meetings (as well as statutory meetings, events, conferences) is available through theUIC website: http://www.uic.asso.fr/baseinfo/reunion/ or from the Home page : “Schedule of meetings”.