UIC centenary

UIC centenary

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UIC is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022.

Welcome to UIC centenary special webpage where you will find all information related to this celebration.

Here after is a program of this year celebrations that will be regularly updated. You will be able to celebrate with UIC and its Members throughout the year with conferences, videos, contests, articles…

Thanks to a great collaboration with our Members we are looking forward to share these!

UIC Symposium (30 november – 1er December 2021)

UIC centenary celebrations started at the end of the European Year of Rail with the UIC Symposium organised end of November-beginning of December in hybrid mode. UIC wanted to start this centenary by giving its Members and partners the opportunity to discuss the crucial issue “The Future of the Railway: Making Modal Shift Desirable”.

Mr Krzysztof Mamiński :

"UIC is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022. The UIC Symposium launched these celebrations. We know that now, more than ever, rail transport has a key role to play, especially in achieving climate goals. This can happen through an effective climate transformation as part of the decarbonisation and digitisation of transport services. Rail transport has to become the backbone of future mobility on a massive scale. Not only in Europe, but also globally. I am appealing to you today! We must strive for it together, and only together can we achieve it."

François Davenne:

"We are on the same page and share the same vision despite our very different circumstances. We are looking toward the same future: rail as the backbone of mobility. We have 10 years to make the difference. There are huge expectations from young people. We have to be more efficient and more customer-oriented. We have to speak to them as customers and citizens."

The Manifesto

Following the UIC Symposium, UIC as a technical platform will publish a Manifesto in summer 2022 to bring together the existing and future solutions that need to be implemented to serve the planet and people.

This document, consistent with the UIC work programme 2020-2022, will be the output product of the Symposium.

The priority for our sector is then to implement transformational projects at regional and global level:

  • To transform cities and connect communities:
  • To use clean energy and technology innovations
  • To promote intermodality and seamless connections
  • To transform customer experience

It is worth remembering that conventional means can also help, such as selling more empty seats in existing trains.
To date, 38 UIC members have committed, through the UIC Railway Climate Pledge[1], to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 as well as contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Railways are the only mode which has reduced emissions, and European railways have set themselves a 2030 goal of reducing the total CO2eq emissions from train operation by 30% in absolute terms compared to 2005. 2020 data shows that they have already reduced emissions by more than 50%. Decarbonising rail by 2030 is possible and rail is on track to be the first mode to reach net-zero emissions.

In order for the railway sector to have the concrete means to overcome this necessary paradigm shift, financing can be envisaged in many ways. It is important to underline that if financial engineering allows for innovative schemes and many solutions, it is essential to recall that public authorities and financial institutions, well-informed about possible technical solutions, must also play their role with full knowledge and conviction.

This manifesto sets the scene for the main deliveries that the global railway community, supported where applicable by UIC as a development and implementation platform, can bring over the next decade. It describes how the global railway community will help bring to life the 2030 Vision ‘Design a better future’: https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/uic-design-a-better-future-vision-of-rail-2030.pdf
The development of these solutions will be integrated in the upcoming 2023-25 UIC work pro-gramme.

Launch of the UIC centenary

As part of its centenary celebrations, UIC hosted an online launch ceremony on 5 May 2022. The event was an opportunity to hear from the UIC Chairman and Director General, to listen to messages and wishes on behalf of UIC Members from right around the globe and to learn more about the UIC Manifesto, to be published at the beginning of June 2022, containing the existing and future solutions that need to be implemented.

Mr Mamiński, in a recorded speech, congratulated UIC on its anniversary and described how it continues to contribute to the evolution of the railway sector. He spoke about the

importance of promoting rail as a key player in the transport sector alongside other modes, and how the document Vision of Rail 2030 will help the sector to achieve its goals in the areas of interoperability, digitalisation and the environment.
I thank the UIC members for their cooperation, as it is important for the sector to stay united, and reminding them of UIC’s values: unity, solidarity, universality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=203E8aGxpkM&t=240s

In his speech, François Davenne said that

this centenary is a symbolic and important moment for UIC, linking the past, present and future. The 2030 Vision is a guide to help the railways progress over the next 10 years, there is an understanding across the whole sector that the railways need to act and be committed to delivering this vision. Among the main challenges: curbing global emissions by 2030 and contributing to decarbonisation, promoting modal shift and working intelligently with other modes of transport to be part of the solution, transforming cities and connecting communities, accelerating innovations by developing technology and solutions, providing seamless connections for passenger and freight, developing digital ticketing, and transforming the customer experience.

Mr Francisco Cardoso Dos Reis, Chairman of UIC Europe and representing Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) reminded the audience that

2022 also celebrates the European Year of Youth and how important it is to work with younger generations to make the shift to rail. UIC was founded to encourage cooperation among the world’s railways and it is up to us to continue the legacy of our forefathers and to do this we need the help of the younger generations to shape the railways of tomorrow.

A series of messages delivered by CEOs of UIC members was shown, notably from Sweden, Korea, Djibouti, the Czech Republic, China, Spain, Norway, the United States, Cameroon, Iran, Spain, Croatia, Switzerland, Turkey, Malaysia, Hungary, Japan, Morocco and Italy, congratulating UIC on its anniversary and expressing the wish to continue cooperation and innovation with UIC for the years to come.

100 railway milestones

Since the creation of the International Union of Railways in 1922, technical harmonisation has been at the heart of UIC’s missions.
We gathered 100 historical dates in a timeline providing a link between UIC’s historical vocation and the evolution of railways.
It includes historical facts and milestones in the construction of the railway system, major railway achievements in the 20th century, products and entities created by UIC enabling technical harmonisation.

https://uic.org/timelines/

Please visit the UIC Media Library to see the portraits of every chairman since the creation of UIC.

https://mediacenter.uic.org/en/sws-nav/164-871-chairmen/page/1/template/second-level

Calendar of events

MAY 2022:

  • 5 May 2022: Launch of the year-long centenary celebrations by UIC Chairman, Mr K. Maminski, UIC Director General Mr F. Davenne and the Chairman of the UIC European region Mr. F. Cardoso dos Reis

JUNE 2022:
“Innovation” month

  • 1st June 2022: UIC International Sustainable Railway Awards (org. by IRITS), Berlin
  • 6 to 10 June 2022: UIC at the World Congress of Rail Research (WCRR)
  • 9 June: 14th ILCAD awareness campaign, in Denver and Pueblo, Colorado, with AAR, FRA and Operation Lifesaver Inc.
  • 14-15 June 2022: UIC World Security Congress, Poland, hosted by PKP
  • 29 June 2022: 100th General Assembly

SEPTEMBER 2022:

  • Reference to InterRail on the occasion of the European Heritage Days – “journées européennes du patrimoine” (in partnership with SNCF) – To be confirmed

NOVEMBER 2022:
“Climate” month & “Freight” month

  • 7 to 18 November 2022: UIC at COP27, Egypt
  • 2 to 25 November 2022: UIC Freight month “Fit for Freight”
  • 30 November-2 December 2022: UIC World Congress on Rail Training, Paris

DECEMBER 2022:

  • Alongside the UIC General Assembly: e-Concert, with UIC members (TBC)
  • 6 to 8 December 2022: Exhibition (virtual and in the UIC entrance hall) – in cooperation with SNCF

This webpage will be regularly updated.

More about the 2030 vision: https://lnkd.in/eCb5DhzS

#UIC100 #DesignABetterFuture #ModalShift #OnePlanet #YearOfEuropeanYouth

Events

Friday 29 March 2024