UIC-KORAIL Training Session 2022 held on “Railway's Role and National Support against Covid-19”

Contributing to cooperation for railway development in the Asia-Pacific region

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The Asia-Pacific Training Session 2022, hosted by KORAIL within the framework of IRaTCA (the International Training Centre for UIC Asia-Pacific), took place in Seoul, Korea for five days from 31 October – 4 November under the theme of “Railway’s Role and National Support against Covid-19”.

9 participants from Australia (TfNSW), Japan (JR East), Kazakhstan (KTZ), Malaysia (KTMB), India (IR), Vietnam (VNR), and Korea (KORAIL) attended this training session, with 3 experts from UIC and an international consulting agency being present to share their experiences outside of the Asia-Pacific region. The participants were able to learn how the railways could overcome Covid-19 and discussed preventative measures against the effects of a future global crisis.

The training session began with Mr Cho Hokwon, KORAIL Director of the International Cooperation Department, introducing his company with Marc Guigon, Director of the UIC Passenger Department, subsequently discussing UIC Passenger and the Covid Task Force’s activities. Philippe Lorand, Senior Advisor for the UIC Passenger Department, then shared European case studies on measures against revenue loss due to Covid-19, and changes in service and security in passenger travel during Covid-19. Finally, Mr Noriko Kuya, Head of People & Organisational Performance Practice at McKinsey in Japan, presented a talk on boosting passenger preference for using railways after Covid-19.

KORAIL also presented its experiences regarding strategies for growth in revenue and an increase in passengers after Covid-19, the Korean government`s measures against Covid-19, media and branding skills amidst Covid-19, and disinfection and measures against Covid-19. The participants were especially interested in KORAIL’s measures against Covid-19 as a state-owned company, such as providing free transport for medical staff and only selling window seats during the pandemic. The participants had an active discussion with the speakers and tried to find a way to deal with the global crisis to help their railways.

All of the participants briefly presented their country’s policies and best practices against the virus, and talked with UIC and KORAIL’s experts about cooperative strategies to respond to a future pandemic.

In addition, they visited the KTX (Korean high-speed train) maintenance depot and centralised traffic control centre to learn more about the Korean railway system, and were impressed with the KTX-Eum, a new high-speed train, and KORAIL’s safety management.

At the closing ceremony, Mr Na Heeseung, CEO and President of KORAIL, said "We hope that this UIC-KORAIL training session will help strengthen cooperation and technology and information sharing among members in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, KORAIL will continue to improve collaborative relationships among UIC members and strive for the development of railways in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Meanwhile during the event, Mr Vincent Vu, Director of Institutional Relations at UIC, and Mr Marc Guigon, visited the KORAIL headquarters in Daejeon and discussed cooperation for railway development across the Asia-Pacific region with the CEO.

KORAIL will announce the next 2 training sessions, which will be held in 2023, at the UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly in December 2022 as follows: