Tracking rolling stock through digital platforms

The Rail Working Group continues its work on migrating the use of the URVIS numbering system, created under the Luxembourg Rail Protocol, onto digital platforms. The informal working group, set up by the UNECE, has been looking at how an additional set of voluntary standards covering this area can be added to the UN Model Rules on the Permanent Identification of Railway Rolling Stock. Specifically, this will occur through the use of the URVIS identifier on digital devices attached to rolling stock and remitting information, by reference to the URVIS identifier, through to a technology agnostic digital platform, accessible in near real time to creditors and other agreed parties.

The fourth meeting of this informal working group, which has been open to all interested parties, took place earlier this month at the UN in Geneva under the chairmanship of RWG Chairman Howard Rosen. The report of its conclusions and proposals together with a draft appendix 3 to the Model Rules will be considered by the Model Rules Revisions Committee in September in Geneva. The detailed documentation may be found here under the working documents.

The informal working group has been clear that appendix 3 would only apply if the creditor and debtor agree and adherence would not be a condition for registration of an international interest at the international registry. However, the migration of the URVIS identifier onto a digital platform potentially provides the industry with a number of significant advantages. It:

(a) allows creditors (including intermediate lessors) to manage their portfolio of equipment more efficiently and, in particular, to track the location and potentially the utilisation of financed assets in near real-time;

(b) facilitates more efficient redeployment of rolling stock leased to operators on short term leases;

(c) opens the way to, and creates an ability to enforce, geo-fencing agreements, whereby the creditor and debtor agree to limit the use of the financed rolling stock to predefined geographical areas (with real-time alert systems if the rolling stock strays outside of the approved geographical area);

 (d) makes it easier for creditors to repossess the financed rolling stock in the event of a debtor default or insolvency, resulting in the remedy of repossession being more effective and efficient on a practical basis;

(e) supports predictive maintenance, resulting in maintenance, repair or overhaul of financed equipment based on utilisation rather than time;

(f) allows parties to pinpoint with objective evidence the location of rolling stock when it is acquired, sold, pledged, leased or otherwise disposed of for both VAT and other tax purposes and, potentially, for the determination of law applicable to the transaction;

(g) creates a driver towards more standardised data systems recording key data concerning rolling stock;

(h) facilitates a per km “pay as you go” pricing structure in lease agreements (potentially wrapping together maintenance and rentals); and

(i) will probably lead to lower insurance premiums by making it easier for insurers directly or indirectly to track individual items of railway rolling stock and providing more accurate location and utilisation information in the case of an accident or damage to the rolling stock.

For governments and intergovernmental organisations and agencies, the real-time tracking of location and utilisation can potentially bring a number of key advantages including general regulation of the use of rolling stock and facilitating digital dossiers that may be exchanged between regulators supporting interoperability of rolling stock across jurisdictional boundaries.

To see a simple explanation of how to obtain URVIS numbers watch here.