India will be represented on the high table of global rail transport policy making as Arun Kumar, Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), has been nominated to be the vice-chairman of the Security Platform of the Paris-based Union Internationale Des Chemins/International Union of Railways (UIC).
International Union of Railways
He will be working at the prestigious global body, some of whose members are China, Japan, Russia and the European countries among others, for two years, starting 2020. The UIC is the global platform for railway systems working on interoperability, developing common technical standards for railways across the world and strengthening what is called “rail diplomacy”. After the two-year tenure of vice-chairmanship, the chairmanship of the Security Platform will go to DG, RPF for the next two years.
The security platform promotes the exchange of information and experience among the security agencies of UIC members and proposes common interest projects and activities in the field of railway security as dictated by requirement of members or external events. The COVID-19 Task Force setup by UIC security platform has proved to be very useful in exchange of ideas, precautions to be taken, restoration efforts and experience sharing during the current pandemic.
To enable UIC to effectively fulfil its mission, 3 levels have been defined for international cooperation activities:
- Strategic level: coordination with and between the 6 UIC regions created as part of the new governance (activities steered by the UIC Regional Assemblies for Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Middle-East).
- Technical/ professional cooperation level (structured around the following railway activities): Passenger, Freight, Rail System – including infrastructure, rolling stock, operations and Fundamental values including cross-sector activities such as sustainable development, research coordination, safety, security, expertise development. Strategic priorities for technical cooperation activities are set out by forums and platforms composed of member representatives.
- Support services level: Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Communications and Institutional Relations.
