UIC signs MoU with Latin American Railway Association ALAF

UIC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Latin American Railway Association ALAF, in the presence of Jean Carlos Pejo, National Secretary of Mobility and Urban Services, Guilherme Quintella, Chairman of the UIC Latin American Region and José Nicanor Villafañe, Secretary General of ALAF.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, who signed the Memorandum, was represented by Marc Guigon, UIC Coordinator for the UIC Latin American Region.

ALAF was created with the purpose of promoting safe, efficient and economic rail transport, promoting and strengthening the Latin American integration axes, counting among its associates almost all railroads in Latin America and industries of the area.

The Memorandum covers:

• Staff training and education
• Railway engineering
• Transport of passengers
• Cargo transport and logistics
• Tourist trains
• Exchange of data.

EDLP, ANTT (Brazilian Federal Secretary of State of Land Transport) and ADIFSE (Ferrocariles Argentinos Sociedad del Estado) are currently members of UIC and more companies, from both passenger and freight, are in the process of joining them.

It is believed that UIC can play an important role in Latin America by assisting in building awareness of the advantages of rail in Latin American countries and the region as a whole; establishing and improving cooperation between railway companies in Latin America; improving cooperation between railways and industry; and promoting interoperability.

The main results expected from this cooperation include:

• Sharing information on rail technology
• Promoting technological development and know-how
• Encouraging members to adopt best practices
• Maximising the benefits to the environment of rail.

UIC Deputy Director General, François Davenne, said: “Railway in Latin America should be an enabler to develop sustainable transport on the scale of the continent. In this context, standardisation should be undertaken upstream to avoid the numerous projects that are currently under development ending up in non-interoperable track sections. UIC will be committed to assist railways and stakeholders in providing a framework that will guarantee interoperability from the level of inception.”