This webinar was organised as part of the UIC Africa ‘African Railway Thursdays’ initiative which offers passengers a logical series of webinars specific to African networks and has been running since 2020, focusing on the priority issues for the continent.

This time the webinar reunited over 200 participants representing railways from all over Africa, together with some railways from the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

In the opening address, Said Chandid, Head of the UIC Africa Regional Office, representing Mohamed Rabie Khlie, UIC Africa Chair, noted that rail transport in Africa was experiencing mixed performance in the face of obstacles for its positioning. Mobilisation and strengthening of cooperation would be necessary to boost rail transport and make it the backbone of sustainable mobility.

François Davenne highlighted that UIC members believe smart digital ticketing and information solutions are vital to increase the attractiveness of rail as a transport mode, confirming the railway commitment of working together with CER, UIC and CIT for the implementation of the Ticketing Roadmap to ensure seamless international passenger rail travel and its milestones.
Ensuring a seamless user experience for international passenger rail travel is a fundamental step towards the modal shift necessary to achieve the sustainability goals set by the railways Green Deal, focusing on sector-driven solutions, based on the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM).

The programme of the three-hour webinar, prepared by David Sarfatti and Fabrice Setta, UIC Passenger Department, included presentations by experienced European and Asian experts from UIC, JR East, Ernst Young, ÖBB, Benerail and ONCF, who presented the solutions they had employed to enhance their systems and offer rail passengers a comfortable and seamless user experience.