EUMedRail Conference

On 15 November, the EUMedRail team presented the achievements and results of the technical assistance provided in 2022 and reflected on the challenges facing this regional cooperation project. The Union for the Mediterranean introduced the Regional Transport Action Plan for 2021-2027 focused on the rail actions and reminded that the draft needs to be endorsed by the next UfM Ministerial on Transport. Afterwards, the EUMedRail delegations took the floor to present the project outcomes in their respective countries with the railway strategies and investment plans for the following years. The last session of the day dealt with organisations and initiatives aiming to enhance Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. OTIF mentioned the benefits and the steps to join the organisation, highlighting the contract for cross border rail transport and the different rules equivalent to EU legislation. UIC also took part in the session to present the activities of UIC Africa, UIC Middle East and provided a broad overview of the Twinning II project on Safety Culture Peer Review. The session was complemented by the presentation on TAIEX and Twinning. On TAIEX, the EC representative highlighted that this instrument could take the form of workshops, expert missions and study visits and shared examples of activities organised in the field of railways. The representative of Twinning presented this policy-driven instrument bringing together the public sector to achieve results linked to the EU standards. Both explained the process to apply for this type of support and replied to the questions from the EUMedRail delegations.

On 16 November, the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) organised a study visit of Infrabel Academy, the vocational centre of the Belgian rail infrastructure manager. 

The purpose of the meeting was to identify existing best practice in designing and managing vocational centres, discuss how to train staff to understand and manage major risks when performing safety related tasks related to traffic management, signalling, maintenance, and eventually visit the campus facilities.

During the event, EuroMed delegates had the opportunity to meet and exchange views with a wide range of staff from Infrabel and its Academy: top managers, safety managers, human and organisational factors & safety culture experts, team leaders, trainers. Not only discussions focused on how to develop tailor-made programmes covering both technical knowledge to be acquired and skills to demonstrate, but also methodologies, equipment and tools to design, structure and deliver training modules to build a competence management system as required in the EU rail safety legislation.  

In this respect, Egyptian railways (ENR) reported on initiatives which aim at improving the existing training curricula of their Wardan Institute. Among these, ENR informed about the cooperation with European railway undertakings to foster the upskilling of train drivers. Other successful experiences include the Institut de Formation Ferroviaire (IFF), a Franco-Moroccan Institute, illustrating another best practice example of vocational training centre, certified ISO 21001 Educational Organisations Management System (EOMS), and recognised at international level (World Congress on Rail Training).  

The event concluded on the need to invest in most up-to-date equipment to keep up with scientific and technical developments, and not overlook the development of soft skills, such as leadership. Together with other core soft skills such as teamwork, communication and critical analysis, leadership in safety is an integral requisite for staff development and how to improve. ERA², Infrabel and IFF³ share a mutual understanding of its importance, and this is the reason they have all integrate a specific training module on leadership in their respective curricula.