UIC freight activities are steered through two main bodies, the Freight Forum Steering Committee and Plenary.
The Steering Committee
Meets at least twice a year with the aim to identify the focal work items and subjects to be analysed in depth, e.g. by means of projects, based on members’ needs.
The Freight Forum
Holds two plenary sessions per year which are open to all freight members as well as to the General Assembly Assistants. It is the event in which progress and results of ongoing and finished projects as well the activities of the working bodies pertaining to the Freight Forum are reported and discussed and where the Freight Forum’s Three Year Work Program is decided.
The areas of work to be covered are decided by the Forum members and currently are:
- Quality management
- Dangerous Goods
- Information Technology
- Operations
- Rolling stock and Wagon users
- Combined Traffic
- Corridors
- Relations with freight forwarders
- Global freight issues and Intercontinental Corridors
On another level the UIC Freight Department co-organises with CER a High Level Freight Meeting each year where European freight CEOs discuss major challenges from all perspectives: political, technical or strategic.
CEO Task Force
In July 2015 the freight CEOs of BLS, DBSR, Hungrail, MRCE, RCA, SBB, SNCF, TIC, TX Logistics, B-Logistics and VDV, with the support of UIC and CER grounded a task force dedicated to give high level support to issues of key importance to the competitiveness of rail freight. Seventeen issues were identified and declined into projects as highlighted opposite:
While some of these issues are already being addressed at expert level via dedicated UIC, CIT or CER initiatives, they however need high level endorsement for adequate progress towards implementation.
In view of the amount of work that the 17 issues represent, a high priority status was given to the following topics:
- ETCS
- Short distance cross border interoperability
- Timetabling
- PCS (Path coordination system)
Global Team of Experts (GTE)
UIC also actively promotes the development of transcontinental rail links and has therefore set up a dedicated group of experts – the Global Team of Experts (GTE). The group is the platform for all stakeholders of the entire transport chain (railway undertakings, freight forwarders, rail associations, potential customers, shipping lines and others) in order to:
- Find ways to improve the framework conditions on Intercontinental Rail Freight Corridors in a joint effort and
- Coordinate the activities of countries and other international organisations, e. g. in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) framework.
GTE is currently considering a pilot project to develop management structures for a defined Eurasian rail freight corridor from Western Europe to China and beyond (e.g. Korea, South East Asia).
