Two-Day 11th UIC World Security Congress concludes on 10th December 2015 at New Delhi

The Member-Participants seek to develop collaborative partnerships at three different levels – National, Regional and International level

 An international body along the lines of ‘InterPol’ to be developed to proactively collaborate with all agencies concerned in order to meet challenges of rail security at different levels.

  

The UIC to pay specific attention to the need for training of railway security personnel of different countries

Suggestion mooted for conducting study by UIC and Indian Railways about the feasibility of setting up a global network of experts to holistically study the emerging nature of threats to rail transport systems and undertake suitable policy actions to strengthen rail security

UIC to organize a seminar on terrorism in mid-June 2016 in Paris/UIC HQ

The 11th UIC Global Security Congress being organized by the Security Directorate of Indian Railways in collaboration with International Union of Railways (UIC), (headquartered in Paris) concluded here today that is 10th December 2015. The two-day conference was attended by Security Chiefs of the Railway Systems of various countries apart from representatives of UIC, Indian Railways, police and security agencies of India. The Minister of Railways Sh. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu was the Chief Guest at the inaugural session of the conference The Round Table Session at the valedictory of the Security Conference was held on 10.12.2015 in which Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways was the Chief Guest who appreciated the Security Congress for the achievement in enhancing the security environment over Railways including security of women passengers.

 Shri A.K. Mital, Chairman of Indian Railways addressed the inaugural session and Dr. P.K.Mishra, Addl. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister of India delivered the key note address. Mr. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director-General of the International Union of Railways (UIC) and delegates of member countries were among those who attended the conference. Dy. Chairman Mr. Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC, also expressed his views at the inaugural session. Members of the Board of Indian Railways were also present.  Director General Railway Protection Force of Indian Railways who is the present chief of UIC Security Platform also spoke on the occasion Today (10.12.2015), a delegation of the 11^th UIC World Security Congress led by Shri Rajiva Ranjan Verma, Director General/RPF & Chairman UIC Security Platform and Mr. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director-General of the International Union of Railways (UIC) called on Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Union Minister for Railways and apprised about the outcome of the above World Security Congress held at Delhi.

The Two-Day conference with the title agenda, “Security of Rail Systems, Operations and Business Activities”, focused on:-

·         Asia-pacific regional security issues and consequent challenges to railway systems.

·         Growing complexity of railway system and the importance of the security in achieving short, medium and long term goals.

·         Resource constraints and burden of expectations on security agencies, especially in the context of South Asia.

·         Preparing for crisis management and mitigation of consequences of incidents in railways.

·         Passenger security issues: Problems and Solutions.

·         Freight Security issues: Problems and Solutions.

Presentations on topics/ factors affecting rail security, a panel discussion on ‘International Cooperation in developing best practices, implementation of modern technology and training of personnel’ was also on the agenda.

The 11th UIC World Security Congress adopted the following final resolution for safe and better railway security at international level:

The Member-Participants wish to express their heartfelt gratitude to the organizers – the Indian Railways (IR), the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the International Union of Railways (UIC) – for successfully organizing the 11th edition of the World Security Congress held at New Delhi from 8-10 December, 2015. The broad theme of the conference being “Security of Rail Systems, Operations and Business Activities”, rich discussions were held over various aspects of rail security amongst domain experts from different countries and we are confident that these deliberations shall be useful in crafting suitable policies for improvising rail security and its associated businesses.

            The Member-Participants wish to emphasize the fact that developing foolproof rail security systems, though challenging, is nevertheless becoming increasingly crucial as heightened security threats, such as terrorism and organized crime, are undermining the safety of rail operations across the world.

            In this regard, the Member-Participants seek to develop collaborative partnerships at three different levels –

·         At the national level, as rail security is a shared responsibility between national governments and   railway companies or between national security agencies and railway authorities within their respective states; 

·         At the regional level, encompassing the rail networks of two or more countries for smooth conduct of international rail traffic;  

·         At the international level, as threats such as terrorism and organized crime, have become transnational in nature, and addressing these threats requires a coordinated response from all concerned stakeholders.

            In this regard, an international body along the lines of ‘InterPol’ could be developed to proactively collaborate with all agencies concerned in order to meet challenges of rail security at different levels.  

            We believe that such collaborative partnerships will be conducive for sharing of expertise and experiences and strengthen the national governments and railway organizations in developing suitable policy frameworks directed towards rail security.

            The Member-Participants recommend that the UIC may increase its global profile as a leading consortium, to comprehensively develop policy issues related to rail security, establish multilateral platforms for sharing of expertise and foster technological cooperation, develop international best practices in rail operations, and undertake policy advocacy research activities.

            The UIC may also pay specific attention to the need for training of railway security personnel of different countries, including conducting short-term courses and international exchange programme, to enhance the capacities of human resources.

            The Member-Participants suggest, that the UIC along with IR/RPF may study the feasibility of setting up a global network of experts to holistically study the emerging nature of threats to rail transport systems, and undertake suitable policy actions to strengthen rail security.

It may be noted here that the UIC is planning to organize a seminar on terrorism in mid-June 2016 in Paris/UIC HQ, as a sequel to the first one conducted from 16-17 June, 2015 on the theme “Coping with Terrorism – The Role of Human Factors”.

Courtesy: pib.nic.in