UNIFE SIGNS MOU WITH SNCF ON IRIS

UNIFE, the European Rail Industry Association,  continues to expand the support of railway operators for the International Railway Industry Standard (IRIS) with this week’s signature of a MoU on IRIS with the French Railways operator, SNCF. The signing took place on 1 June  at the SNCF headquarters in St Denis, France with Pierre Izard (Director for the Railway System and Technologies and Chief Technology Officer, SNCF) representing SNCF and Philippe Citroën (UNIFE Director General) representing UNIFE.

The MoU confirms the commitment of the signatories on the advancement of the IRIS standard. In particular, it stipulates a number of areas of cooperation between UNIFE and SNCF on IRIS, but most notably on the design and development processes supported by quality monitoring and the development and dissemination of an IRIS scheme adapted to the industrial target in France. As with the many other MoUs on IRIS signed by UNIFE with other major operators, the signatories will seek to establish better control of quality requirements and ensure that customer specific needs are cascaded within the supply chain.

UNIFE Director General, Philippe Citroën, remarked, “Railway operator commitment to IRIS is central to the next stage of growth for the standard which already boasts over 1300 IRIS certified manufacturers throughout the world. We are especially pleased to sign this MoU on IRIS today with SNCF.”

Pierre Izard, Director for the Railway System and Technologies and Chief Technology Officer at SNCF declared: “A large scale rollout of IRIS will mean that the sector will efficiently progress, better take into account the expectations of rail customers and supply its products at an improved price. Three great reasons for SNCF to engage with UNIFE.”

For further information, please contact John Harcus, UNIFE Head of Communications, at john.harcus@unife.org.