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Nr 200 - 15 September 2010 Nr 200 of UIC e-News Long live UIC e-News: the newsletter dedicated to its 200 members and 2000 readers hits its 200th issue! UIC is pleased to send you herewith the 200th issue of its in-house electronic newsletter UIC e-News, released each week – and sometimes more frequently at busier periods in the railway calendar – to over 2000 contacts across the world including rail company and business unit leaders and institutional partners. I can but delight in the ongoing development of this efficient, fast and cost-effective source of information and its ever-expanding readership. Though not totally comprehensive given the broad range of activities carried out or coordinated by UIC, the UIC e-News electronic newsletter helps turn the spotlight on the main areas of cooperation, project progress and the results achieved, not to mention the staff who are lifeblood of the association. Over 1500 articles have been released to date on one or another of these aspects. For our members the newsletter is also a means for them to communicate their most important achievements to the international railway community as a whole. Each and every one of the team at UIC tasked with producing this newsletter, in close collaboration with the technical experts, joins me in thanking you for your loyalty, and we hope you enjoy reading this 200th issue. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General 1 Nr 200 of UIC e-News UIC e-News – your opinion matters to us! In January 2010, the cover design of UIC e-News was adapted to incorporate UIC’s new visual identity and since April, a series of improvements has been made, making it possible for readers to consult the UIC eNews online version by clicking on a link enabling them to: Navigate more easily with “clickable” links Zoom in on photos and illustrations Have a consistently updated version of the newsletter (taking into account any errors without the newsletter being sent back to you) Other advantages and functions of this online version will be available shortly (in particular a clickable contents page). We would be grateful if you could complete our (anonymous) reader satisfaction survey available at the following link: The results of the survey will be available immediately. Thank you very much for your feedback and input! UIC website New image for the UIC website 2 The UIC website is evolving to further support the organisation’s position as the worldwide association of cooperation for railway companies. The site is open both to UIC members and the overall international railway community, and is in a process of perpetual development. In the next few weeks, a new homepage will offer visitors easy access to the latest features. Among them: A new UIC image, new look/design A new pressroom offering more information and material: maps, photos, logos etc. Improvement of tools for UIC members: list of projects, Vade mecum… New use of key words in the site navigation/display of connected content Greater visibility of UIC news, events and products Greater interactivity: multiple RSS feeds, social network sharing, newsletter, etc. As well as… All UIC products and services and those of its subsidiaries ETF, L&T and UICP All the UIC online databases and reference texts A range of dedicated spaces focusing on UIC activities (Technical & Research Infrastructure, Environment, etc.) Several thousand downloadable documents With 60,000 visits per month from 150 countries/territories the UIC website is still the most visited site dedicated to railway cooperation. Thank you! http://www.uic.org 3 For more information please contact Aymeric Boniou: [email protected] Railway Freight 3rd UIC-FIATA Market Place Seminar on 2 – 3 November 2010 in Barcelona: “The French-Iberian rail link – Fostering European Connectivity” UIC and the International Freight Forwarders’ Association (FIATA) will hold their third edition of the 4 Market Place Seminar on 2 – 3 November 2010 in Barcelona. The Market Place Seminar aims to create opportunities for increased cooperation and business development within the rail freight sector by offering a common platform for railway undertakings, freight forwarders and customers. Following the success of the two previous seminars hosted in Prague (2008) and Istanbul (2009), which focused on rail’s attractiveness and competitiveness in the Eastern and Southeastern European market, the seminar now turns the spotlight on France and Spain, and in particular the axis connecting central Europe to Spain. The seminar is backed by RENFE, the Spanish railways, Fret SNCF, French railways, as well as the Port of Barcelona. “It was natural for us to focus on a new market region this year. The French and the Spanish markets were a logical choice since the opening of the new railway line from Barcelona to the French border using the UIC standard gauge (launch scheduled for December 2010) will create new business opportunities for the railway sector in this area”, says Oliver Sellnick, UIC Freight Director. Seminar highlights: Introduction of the UIC standard gauge on the railway line from Barcelona to the French border: How will this influence the railway market? Development of hinterland transport around the port of Barcelona: What are the possible rail freight solutions and how can they be implemented? The railway connection: Best practices in the field of tailor-made solutions Shipping companies and logistics solutions: What is the state-of–the-art in multimodal solutions? The Market Place Seminar is an excellent occasion for the European rail logistics professionals to learn more about business opportunities and requirements for doing rail business in this region and to expand their business network. The seminar will comprise two half-day sessions, between which there will be a social event allowing you to network with your industry peers in a relaxed and casual setting. For more information about the seminar please visit the dedicated website: http:// www.marketplaceseminar.org 5 For the Seminar please contact Gustav Manding, UIC Senior Freight Advisor: manding@ uic.org and Rene Zimmerman, FIATA secretariat: [email protected] Railway Research R&D projects involving UIC will be presented during InnoTrans, the International Exhibition Fair to be held in Berlin (20 - 24 September 2010) Representatives from UIC and UNIFE will present various R&D projects during the International Trade Fair “InnoTrans”, to be held in Berlin from 20 - 24 September 2010. Among the projects presented: CleanER-D – Tuesday 21 September, 17:00 Clean European Rail-Diesel – aims to develop, improve and integrate emissions reduction technologies for diesel locomotives and rail vehicles. Its target is to achieve emissions levels below the limits established by the new European Directive 2004/26/ EC and to evaluate innovative and hybrid solutions for the best possible contribution to reductions in CO2 emissions. ERRAC – Thursday 23 September, 10:00 The European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) is an advisory body to the EU Commission (European Technology Platform) representing member states and all stakeholders in the railway sector. Its mission is to develop a ‘Strategic Rail Research Agenda’ to inform and define the planning of research programmes across the EU. The new ERRAC-ROADMAP project will help translate, monitor and disseminate to the European industry as a whole the strategic recommendations and guidelines of the Strategic Rail Research Agenda. 6 INNOTRACK – Wednesday 22 September, 14:00 Innovative Track Systems – aims to develop cost- effective high performance track infrastructure for heavy rail systems. It is a joint initiative between railways and the supply industry to provide innovative solutions for major cost reductions in investment and maintenance with the aim of reducing life-cycle costs (around 30%), while improving the RAMS characteristics of a conventional line with a mixed traffic duty and increasing traffic. PROTECTRAIL – Tuesday 21 September, 17:00 Protectrail will develop an integrated system to improve the security of rail transport through better protection of railways (infrastructures) and trains, and to reduce disparity in security between European railway systems. Its challenge is to make the single asset-specific solutions interoperable and to conceive and design a modular architectural framework where each asset-specific solution can be “plugged”. Railenergy – Tuesday 21 September, 14:00 & Thursday 23 September, 14:30 The RAILENERGY project targeted energy efficiency of the integrated railway system by investigating and validating solutions ranging from the introduction of innovative traction technologies, components and layouts to the development of rolling stock, operation and infrastructure management strategies. TrioTRAIN – Thursday 23 September, 16:00 Total Regulatory Acceptance for the Interoperable Network – a cluster of integrated projects to promote interoperability by increasing the use of virtual certification. This means replacing the physical testing processes by virtual simulation and simplifying complicated authorisation processes through an optimised mix of field testing, mock-up testing and simulation. INESS (INtegrated European Signalling System) - hosted in UNIFE Stand The project will define and develop specifications for a new generation of interlocking systems, and will thus extend and enhance the standardisation process according to the current European policies. It will further 7 lead to industry being more directly involved with Infrastructure Managers