First meeting of UIC North American Region Assembly held in Washington

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Union of Railways UIC held its first meeting of the North America Regional Assembly (NARA), on May 4, 2016 bringing together five railways and railway authorities from the United States and Canada at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC in conjunction with a workshop on “Digital Technology and Railway Security”.

The UIC NARA meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada and Chairman of the UIC North American Region, and in presence of all five North American Region members : VIA Rail Canada represented by Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano; the Federal Railroad Administration / United States Department of Transportation represented by Ms. Barbara Klein Barr, Director, International Programs Division; the Association of American Railroads represented by Mr. Thomas Farmer, Assistant Vice President for Security; the California High Speed Rail Authority represented by Ms. Sheila Dezarn, Vice President – Strategic Project Development at Parsons Brinckerhoff; and theNational Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) represented by Mr. Ron Baklarz, Chief Information Security Officer. The UIC European Region was represented by Mr. Francisco Cardoso dos Reis, Senior Advisor of Infraestruturas de Portugal and Member of the Board, and Mr. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of the UIC.