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The Corporate University carried out a learning programme for the executives of South Caucasus Railway
May 23, 2022

Read more about the results of the programme and effective partnership between the University and South Caucasus Railway in our article.

EFFICIENT LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP

The Corporate University of Russian Railways considers it very important and at the same time interesting to train managers of Russian Railways, as well as colleagues from other countries. Today, educational projects are being developed for Mongolia, Serbia, and Armenia.

South Caucasus Railway and the Corporate University have a long-standing cooperation. In 2019, the first group of South Caucasus Railway executives completed the University's ”Corporate Leader” programme. Today, South Caucasus Railway executives regularly attend the University programmes, such as “Stage I: Competence Management”, “Stage II: Performance Management”, in joint groups together with the Russian Railways executives.

The educational partnership between the University and South Caucasus Railway has continued since 2020; one of the most important topics discussed was ensuring the safety of train traffic. In May this year the programme “Ensuring Functional Security in Railway Transport” was carried out. It focused on approaches to the introduction of the Traffic Safety Management System and the formation of a safety culture.

Shevket Shajdullin, Deputy Managing Director, Head of Traffic Safety & Security, JSC Russian Railways, said, “The value of such a programme is that it brings together practical experience of South Caucasus Railway, well-tried educational technologies of the University, as well as the best practices of the Russian Railways Holding and the advanced experience of foreign railways. In February this year, the Chief Executive Officer of JSC Russian Railways approved the Policy of the Russian Railways Holding in the field of Safety Culture, based on which, the efficient use of the tools for Traffic Safety Management System not only ensures that the Company achieves the goals set, but also transfers the most advanced management technologies through the training of the South Caucasus Railway specialists in cooperation with the Corporate University”.

THE PARTIES INTEND TO DEVELOP THE PARTNERSHIP

Director General of South Caucasus Railway, Alexey Melnikov expressed confidence that cooperation with the University will continue in the field of Traffic Safety. In addition, the Russian Railways Traffic Safety Department and South Caucasus Railway will continue to work together on the development of the Traffic Safety Management System.

According to Roman Baskin, Director of the Corporate University of Russian Railways, the spectrum of learning topics for South Caucasus Railway executives may be enlarged.

The programme was developed by the team of the University together with the Traffic Safety Department of Russian Railways for our colleagues from Armenia; it covers the most important topic - train safety. We are also discussing with the management of South Caucasus Railway the possibility to carry out training on the whole range of the University programmes,” commented Roman Baskin.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

The programme "Ensuring Functional Safety in Railway Transport" lasted from April 18 to May 21. The learning process started from its remote part - learners got acquainted with e-courses: the development of the Traffic Safety Management System, the principles and approaches to its continuous improvement, learners also studied examples from the practice of Russian Railways and mastered security auditing standards. This block was a kind of preparation for the one-week training in classroom format, which was held in Yerevan in May. The University team revealed the principles and methods of the safe work organization on the basis of regular managed activities, stages of development and modern tools to assess the safety culture in the railway company.

Petr Savchenko, Head of the Business Transformation Technologies Learning Center of the Corporate University of Russian Railways said, “The classroom format significantly increased the involvement of learners in the process. This also allowed to build successful communication between the faculty and the group in a friendly atmosphere. I would like to thank the HR block of South Caucasus Railway for maximum assistance and efficiency in solving all learning organizational issues”.

According to Hrant Mikaelyan, Deputy Head of Transportation Department for technical work of South Caucasus Railway CJSC, the programme was organized and held at a high level, “as befits one of the best corporate universities in the world”.

Hrant Mikaelyan marked, “High competence of the faculty allowed learners to feel fully involved in the process. In my opinion, the acquired skills can be fully applied to our work".
In the short term, the University of Russian Railways and South Caucasus Railway plan to carry out a learning programme to improve the operational efficiency of railway workers in Armenia: the programme may include such topics as: "Project Management", "Process Approach" and "Lean Production".