Although UIC in principle does not participate in commercial conferences organised on the various railway themes, Oliver Sellnick, Freight Director at UIC, was invited by organisers to chair and moderate the conference on “Future of Rail Freight in Europe” held on 15 March in Brussels. This invitation is to be seen as recognition of the international expertise maintained and developed within UIC on freight issues as well as of the role of the UIC Freight Forum and Department to federate efforts of UIC members to develop attractive and competitive offers on the rail freight market.

The debates chaired by Oliver Sellnick saw the participation of high-level speakers representing the European Rail freight business, in particular Hans-Georg Werner, CEO East of Deutsche Bahn Schenker Rail, Geert Pauwels, CEO of SNCB Logistics and IFB, Dirk Stahl, CEO of BLS Cargo, Lord Tony Berkeley, ERFA Board Member, Jean-Michel Dancoisne, SNCF Representative to the EU institutions in Brussels, Julien Morizet, Chief Strategy Officer at ERS Railways, Wouter Radstake, SVP Land Transport Research DVB Bank and Henk Schaafstal, Chairman of the European Shippers’ Council (rail freight activities).