On 19 September 2018, CIT in collaboration with UIC held their yearly Conference of Passenger Claims Departments at UIC Headquarters.
The conference was led by Enrico Trapazzo (DCGPE – Legal and Corporate Affairs Business Partner, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. – Italian Railways Group).
The various topical themes discussed were addressed to the claims, sales and legal departments of their members.
The speakers’ high-level knowledge was a big asset to the event.
Isabelle Saintilan (Legal Counsel for Passengers Matters, SNCF Voyages) started the conference with a presentation on the revision of the PRR. She explained the main issues faced by the railway sector.
Jan Svensson (Expert Passenger Traffic, CIT) and Sandra Dobler (Legal Adviser, CIT) presented the latest modifications brought to the AIV (Agreement concerning the Relationships between Transport Undertakings in respect of International Passenger Traffic by Rail) and which will enter into force on 9 December 2018. They also outlined the significance of the GDPR in claims handling.
Patricia Padey (Responsable Qualité traitement des réclamations, SNCF Direction Relation Client – complaints handling division) explained how SNCF was processing complaints, giving in particular the example of the strikes which paralysed a large part of the French railway traffic those last months.
This topic was investigated further during the workshop, which closed the morning session. The workshop was moderated by Isabelle Saintilan, Oliver Hirschfeld (Legal Counsel and Mediator - Recht Personenverkehr und Einkauf, Deutsche Bahn AG), Bjarne Lindberg Bak (Deputy Director Int. Affairs, DSB) and Jan Vávra (International Tariff and Conditions of Carriage, Ceské dráhy a.s. (CD)). In addition to the legal framework, the participants discussed the following subjects: communication between railway undertakings and with customers, assistance to provide, delay compensation and refund. Those brought interesting exchanges between the participants and with the moderators and showed how complex it can be to handle big strikes.
After lunch, the afternoon started with a presentation of Henriette Chaubon (Médiatrice, SNCF Mobilités – Mediator). She explained the role of mediation and the positive impact it had on claims handling.
The afternoon continued with a presentation by Martin Kojinkov (Financial Controller, Eurail Group G.I.E) on the handling of delay compensation for reservations bought as a complement to rail passes.
Jan Vávra presented the challenges faced when confronted with unexpected timetable changes and the way to manage them with regard to PRR obligations.
These two last topics were also the subject of the cases discussed during the afternoon workshop. Participants and moderators brainstorm on solutions undertakings could develop to solve issues that may arise.
Marc Guigon, UIC Director of UIC Passenger Department, concluded this conference.
The conference was a great success, with more than 70 participants from railway undertakings across Europe. This allowed fruitful exchanges between the different participants.
The next conference will take place on 25 September 2019. The location has yet to be determined.
A report of the conference will be published in the CIT-Info. More information can be found on the website of the CIT: www.cit-rail.org
