UIC Director General François Davenne participated in the Western Balkan Rail Summit organised by the European Investment Bank (EIB), Transport Community (TCT) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and held on 13 September.

During the panel session on rail operations, Mr Davenne shared views with Josef Doppelbauer (ERA), Dušan Garibović (Srbija Kargo), Alberto Mazzola (CER), Dr. Jens Gräfer (DB) and Ines Ayala Sender (European Commission), among others. He emphasised the fact that UIC has been working to facilitate cooperation in the sector since 1922. He also stressed that UIC is responsible for the technical element of Rail Freight Forward (RFF) and for the new Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) ticketing system, which will enable the creation of a multimodal and flexible rail system to achieve the objective of doubling rail freight and high-speed traffic by 2030.

Finally, Mr Davenne stressed that this challenge can only be achieved if there is also a financial level playing field with the other modes (charging for externalities). “This is a crucial issue both at EU level for the community of European railway and infrastructure companies, and at global level for UIC. We are committed together to delivering a compelling narrative for rail”.