Following a successful series of regional web meetings, the UIC Asia-Pacific region recently hosted a session dedicated to the work, initiatives and Competence Centres of the UIC Freight Department. The meeting provided a crucial forum for APRA members to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of rail freight and to share their expectations for future projects. The session was opened by Philippe Lorand, Director of Institutional Relations, Advocacy and Communications & Coordinator Asia-Pacific region, who set the stage for a deep dive into the department’s current activities.
Philip Van den bosch, Deputy Director of the Freight Department, introduced the team, including seasoned experts Parinas Bazeghi and Joost Overdijkink. He emphasised that rail freight, as the most environmentally friendly mode of transport, is essential to the global push for decarbonisation and the greening of the logistics chain. Furthermore, in light of recent disruptions in major supply chains (especially between Asia and Europe), rail is playing an increasingly important role in making trade routes more resilient and agile.
Deep dive into core Competence Centres
The Freight team provided a detailed walkthrough of the department’s work, which is organised around its “7 + 1” core Competence Centres:
- Load safety: Joost Overdijkink detailed the Loading Guidelines, which are fundamental to ensuring that wagons are loaded safely, efficiently and economically, noting their legal acceptance in Europe as Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMOC).
- Wagon utilisation: Mr Overdijkink explained the management of the General Contract of Use (GCU), a standardised commercial contract for the exchange of wagons, which Mr Van den bosch highlighted as unique for being managed jointly by three key associations: UIC, ERFA and the wagon keepers.
- Train operation: The group covers general technical operations and rules, but a major focus is the implementation of Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC). Mr Van den bosch explained that this massive project will not only automate coupling but also enable data and information transfer throughout the train. UIC is responsible for defining the necessary added operational procedure and rulebook.
- Quality Study Group: Mr Van den bosch presented the upcoming Dreis project, a platform designed to enable members to share supplier audit knowledge and avoid redundant individual audits, thereby improving industry efficiency.
- Combined Transport: This area, focused on intermodal transport, is developing the Combined Transport Observatory. Mr Van den bosch described this as an essential online platform that will consolidate all relevant information, including market watch, policy measures and technical details.
- IT Study Group: Parinaz Bazeghi outlined the digital projects that provide the necessary data layer for smooth operations, including work on data exchange, location coding and system modernisation to ensure compliance with standards like TAF TSI.
Focus on practical tools and concrete examples
Mr Van den bosch subsequently introduced two core tools, under development or in use at UIC, aimed at boosting efficiency and standardising data:
- Audit for All: A platform being developed to solve the costly problem of multiple companies auditing the same suppliers. Its goal is to share existing audit results, helping participating members reduce redundant checks and allocate audit resources more efficiently.
- Atlas: A live master database for location codes, introduced by Ms Bazeghi. It standardises codes for operational points (such as commercial stations and border points) to eliminate fragmented legacy codes and provides key operational information, such as distances for tariff calculation.
Additionally, Ms Bazeghi briefly mentioned supplementary IT services from RailData, including ISR (for tracking wagon status), Orpheus (for exchanging electronic consignment notes) and the Corida database (for tracking the responsible Railway Undertaking).
Conclusion and call to action
Bertrand Minary, Director of the Freight Department, affirmed that while UIC’s historical freight assets originated in Europe, where rail was the pioneer of technical and informational interoperability, the department’s core focus is now on extending this seamless connectivity to international corridors. He explicitly cited the development of routes between Asia and Europe, such as the Silk Road and the IMEC-1 corridor through the Gulf. Mr Minary stressed that UIC’s immediate trend will be to support these international connections, covering not only traditional operations but also crucial elements like IT systems (e.g. transport documents) and customs. By adapting and applying existing European expertise and tools, UIC aims to save time and efficiently support the development of international rail freight.
The web meeting served as a valuable opportunity for APRA members to interact directly with the UIC Freight team and gain an in-depth perspective on its critical activities. In his closing remarks, Mr Lorand encouraged all participants to actively leverage the technical resources presented and maintain strong engagement with the Freight Department to maximise the value derived from their UIC membership.