Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes
 | |
| Industry trade group | |
| Industry | Rail Supply Industry |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Brussels, Belgium |
Key people | Philippe Citroën, Director General |
Number of employees | 23 |
| Slogan | Rail Transport:The mobility solution for the 21st century |
| Website | www.unife.org |
UNIFE (French: Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes, or "the Association of the European Rail Industry") is an association of Europe’s leading large and SME rail supply companies active in the design, manufacture, maintenance and refurbishment of rail transport systems, subsystems and related equipment. UNIFE also brings together 15 national rail industry associations of European countries. UNIFE members have an 84% market share in Europe and supply 46% of the worldwide production of rail equipment and services. UNIFE advocates its members’ interests at both the European and International level—actively promoting EU rail equipment and standards within Europe and abroad. All segments of the rail supply industry are represented in the membership: system integrators, railway infrastructure supply companies, rolling stock as well as subsystem and signalling suppliers and engineering companies join under the UNIFE umbrella to collaborate on common challenges and issues facing the rail supply industry. UNIFE and its members also work on the setting of interoperability standards and coordinate EU-funded research projects that aim at the technical harmonisation of railway systems.
Secretariat
UNIFE's permanent secretariat is based in Brussels and maintains close contacts with European and international institutions. It is a partner in consultations on transport-related developments for the European Commission. The secretariat co-ordinates the work of more than 500 experts, grouped in Committees and Expert Groups.
Mission
The mission of UNIFE is to pro-actively develop an environment in which members can provide competitive railway systems for increased rail traffic. The years 2007 and 2008 were years of change and restructuring at UNIFE especially in the fields of Communications and Public Affairs. Introduced in July 2008, a new corporate identity was rolled-out - in order to better support the visibility and regenerated activities of the association.
UNIFE Worldwide Rail Market Study
The UNIFE World Rail Market Study has been developed with Roland Berger Consultants, and is published by DVV media Group in cooperation with InnoTrans. It provides an analysis of the current market situation and gives an outlook until 2017. It is subdivided across the five product segments rolling stock, infrastructure, rail control, services & integrated projects, and covers virtually the entire global market including 55 focus countries. It is a leading publication for the global rail sector.
SHIFT²RAIL Joint Technology Initiative
SHIFT²RAIL will be the first European rail joint technology initiative to seek focused research and innovation (R&I) and market-driven solutions by accelerating the integration of new and advanced technologies into innovative rail product solutions. SHIFT²RAIL will promote the competitiveness of the European Rail Industry and meet the changing EU transport needs. Through the R&I carried out within this Horizon2020 initiative, the necessary technology will be created to complete the Single European Railway Area (SERA).
In addition to the above, SHIFT²RAIL has set ambitious targets and a robust framework in which to meet them. Specifically, the initiative aims to double the capacity of the European rail system, increase its reliability and service quality by 50%, all while halving the lifecycle costs. SHIFT²RAIL is one coherent and flexible research instrument managed in a Joint Undertaking within Horizon2020. A dedicated overall budget is estimated between 800 million and 1 billion Euros over a six to seven-year period – co-financed by the private sector and the European Commission.
IRIS - International Railway Industry Standard
The IRIS system defines requirements in content, procedures and evaluation of audits as well as a requirement profile for the certification bodies and auditors.
ERTMS - European Railway Traffic Management System
ERTMS is a major industrial project developed by eight UNIFE members in close cooperation with the European Union, railway stakeholders and the GSM-R industry. ERTMS has two basic components: •ETCS, the European Train Control System, is an automatic train protection system (ATP) to replace the existing national ATP-systems; •GSM-R, a radio system for providing voice and data communication between the track and the train, based on standard GSM using frequencies specifically reserved for rail application with certain specific and advanced functions. ERTMS aims at replacing the different national train control and command systems in Europe.
European Railway Award
The European Railway Award was initiated in 2007 and is jointly organised by CER and UNIFE. The European Railway Award honours outstanding political and technical achievements in the development of economically and environmentally sustainable rail transport. The award comes with prize money, which is donated to charity organisations of the laureates’ choice.
Rail Forum Europe
Rail Forum Europe, the MEPs’ platform dedicated to rail transport, was officially established in February 2011. Key Members of the European Parliament joined forces to create a cross-committee forum where constructive dialogue can improve the understanding of rail-related issues and facilitate the development of joint strategies and initiatives between MEPs and the rail sector.
The Forum is governed by a Managing Board of MEPs, President Michael Cramer (Chairman TRAN Committee) and Vice-Presidents Gesine Meissner and Georges Bach. In addition, the following MEPs also work to oversee the association: Lucy Anderson, Ines Ayala-Sender, Philippe De Backer, Ismail Ertug, Jo Leinen, Boguslaw Liberadzki, Tomasz Poreba, Franck Proust, Jozo Rados, Christine Revault d'Allonnes-Bonnefoy, Dominique Riquet, Massimiliano Salini, Andreas Schwab, István Ujhelyi, Wim Van de Camp. An Advisory Committee composed of rail stakeholders assists MEPs in the definition of the activity programme and the preparation of the organisation’s budget.