On 25 January 2024, François Davenne, UIC General Director, and Roberto Massi, FS Italiane Chief Security & Risk Officer, met to discuss future cooperation between the UIC Security Platform and COLPOFER.

Roberto Massi, Chief Security & Risk Officer of FS Italiane, was elected Chair of COLPOFER (Collaboration of railway police and security services) on 23 November 2023 in Budapest during the 76th COLPOFER General Assembly, entitled “Railway security in transit countries and in major events”. On the same occasion, Maria Cristina Fiorentino, head of Security Cooperation & Crisis Management, was reconfirmed as General Secretary.

COLPOFER was founded in 1980 and has been a Special Group of UIC since 1997. COLPOFER currently has 30 members, including two Railway Police Authorities, who come from 23 countries in Europe. Its activities are conducted through operational collaboration, based on direct communication between members on security issues, and external collaboration with other organisations working in the field of railway security.

On the other hand, the Security Platform was created by the UIC General Assembly in June 2006 and subsequently restructured in 2008 at a global level. The Security Platform has 80 members from all UIC regions. Its activities are supported by the UIC Security Division and organised around the animation of the Security Platform and security-related research projects.

COLPOFER and the UIC Security Platform already have a long-standing collaboration. The discussion focused on reinforcing this cooperation and creating new synergies to improve the security network, exchange experiences and best practices, and prevent unnecessary effort. The main objective is to bring even more added value to members and provide them with a shared strategic roadmap.