In accordance with the Work Plan of the OSJD Commission on Passenger Traffic for 2024, from 23 to 24 January 2024 a videoconferencing meeting of the experts of the OSJD railways was held at the OSJD Committee (Warsaw) on the subject “Management of station buildings and passenger railway stations”. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the following OSJD railways: Azerbaijani Railways CJSC (AZD CJSC/ADY CJSC), Byelorussian Railway (BC), Vietnamese Railway State Company (VZD), Georgian Railway JSC (GR), “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy National Company” JSC (KZH), Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), “Kyrgyz Temir Zholu National Company” State Enterprise (KRG), Railway of Moldova State Enterprise (CFM), Ulan-Bator Railway JSC (UBZD), Russian Railways OJSC (RZD OJSC), Uzbek Railways JSC (O’zbekiston temir yo’llari) (UTI), Ukrainian Railways JSC (UZ), as well as the OSJD Committee.

Aleksandr Sergienko, Chairman of the OSJD Commission on Passenger Traffic, welcomed the participants of the meeting and dwelt in detail on the work plans of the OSJD Commission in the current year, also informing that the results of work of the OSJD Commission for 2023 and the work plans for the next period would be presented at the XXXVIII CGD meeting which is planned to take place in Turkmenistan in April this year. He also expressed confidence that the subject of the present meeting was of interest for many OSJD railways, and the planned Workshop would be held at a high level.

The meeting included an exchange of experience in the management of station complexes.

The presentation by Russian Railways OJSC on the subject “Management of railway station complexes and passenger stations” covered: the structure of the Directorate of Railway Stations, organisation of railway station management, provision of passenger services, including digital services, services for passengers with reduced mobility and additional services, as well as communication activities at railway stations (brand development, passenger loyalty).

UTI JSC made a presentation on the subject “Works carried out in the process of transformation of passenger transport”, which showed the structure of transformation of O’ztemiryo’lyo’lovchi JSC, as well as information on the provision of three railway stations in Tashkent, Samarkand, Kokand and adjacent vacant territories to entrepreneurs on the basis of public-private partnership and contracts.

The meeting participants exchanged views on the main issues to be addressed under the subject “Management of stations buildings and passenger railway stations”. In order to share experience and apply best practices, the meeting agreed to prioritise the following activities, namely:

1) Railway station management and operation:

- asset management,

- outsourcing (production activities that can be transferred to other companies),

- application of energy-saving technologies,

- transition to new environmentally friendly models;

2) Digital transformation of railway stations, including digital services;

3) Security systems of railway station complexes:

- luggage control systems,

- video surveillance systems;

4) Navigation and passenger information systems at railway stations:

- infokiosks,

- train timetable displays,

- sound warning systems,

- direction signs, schemes,

- Internet, mobile applications, etc.;

5) Organisation of assistance to people with reduced mobility;

6) Commercial activities:

- retail trade development,

- catering development,

- leasing space to companies that provide other non-railway related services to the public (travel agencies, car rental, hotel services, telephone operators, etc.),

- advertising services;

7) Modernisation of existing station buildings that do not comply with passenger requirements, taking into account their intermodality and urban integration, design of stations as part of urban infrastructure with a focus on the development of high-speed traffic;

8) Examination of modern methodological approaches to evaluating the quality of railway station functionality.

The meeting participants discussed which types of railway stations and to what extent certain technical and technological solutions, as well as passenger services, should be applied.

Based on the results of the discussion, the meeting decided that each railway company shall independently determine the functionality of railway stations, taking into account passenger requests, national standards and urban specifics.

The meeting participants discussed the preparation of the programme of the Work-shop on the subject “Management of railway station complexes” and recommended the OSJD Committee to invite for participation in the Workshop the representatives of all OSJD railways; OSJD affiliated enterprises – Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT)); Beijing Jiaotong University; South-West Jiaotong University (PRC), Railway Research Institute (Poland); international organisations – Council for Railway Transport of the Commonwealth Member States, Eurasian Economic Commission and other.