On 23 May the latest meeting of the Commuter and Regional Train Services (CRTS) group was held. The meeting was organised by Mrs Magdalena Bodelón (Renfe) and chaired by Mr Bartłomiej Buczek (PKP SKM), Chairman of the CRTS Group. UIC was represented by Mr Ignacio Barrón, Director of the Passenger and High Speed Department, Mrs Vanessa Pérez, Advisor for the same department. There were representatives of PKP SKM, JR, Trenitalia, BLS, Renfe, FGC, ADIF, Euskotren and FFE (Fundación de Ferrocarriles Españoles) who kindly hosted the meeting at their headquarters. On this occasion, Mr Laurent Dauby, Director of Rail Transport at UITP also joined the group.
During the meeting, many issues were presented and discussed giving an idea of the potential focus to work within the next three-year period.
Mr Kenzo Fujita (Japan Railways -JR-) presented the commuter and regional train services in Japan which started a discussion about the importance of the management of the capacity and congestion of the systems.
Mr Carles Cases (Ferrocarriles de la Generalitat de Catalunya -FGC-) explained the services provided by his company in Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia. He highlighted the differences between the ones dedicated to public service obligations and the ones focused on leisure services as well as the importance of having enough flexibility to constantly adapt offer and demand.
Mr Gabriel Castañares’ (Renfe) presentation focused on the energy drivers and performance in Renfe Passenger Services and the advantages of improving rail energy data. As a matter of fact, this is one of the issues in which CRTS group is involved in this year, in collaboration with the UIC sustainable unit and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Mr Jorge Escoin (Euskotren) introduced the application of new technologies and digital tools to foster the interoperability applicated to commuter and regional train services using the case of the Basque Country.
Finally, Mr Laurent Dauby, Director of Rail Transport at the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), presented the activity of the UITP. It was highlighted within the group the desire to look for linked and complementary common actions between the two international associations within the scope of railway commuter and regional transport.
Furthermore, after the success of the first training course on Commuter and Regional Train Services, it was decided to organise the second one to be held in Rome from 21 – 23 November 2017 co-organised with Trenitalia.
The aim of the training programme will be to examine all the constituent elements, as well as the different types of Commuter and Regional Train Systems (CRTS) and to measure their impact impartially and objectively from political, social and economic standpoints.
The meeting ended with a Technical Visit to the Center of Management of Renfe Cercanías in Atocha Station where all the daily operations of the Madrid Commuter Train Services is controlled.
This group is open to all UIC members, so do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to participate. The next meeting of the CRTS group will be held in Bilbao on 12 September 2017.
