CONNECTING EUROPE EXPRESS DEPARTS
On 2 September, the ‘Connecting Europe Express', a special train put together as part of the European Year of Rail 2021, embarked on its journey from Lisbon station. It will stop in more than 100 towns and cities during its five-week journey, before arriving in Paris on 7 October, connecting the Portuguese, Slovenian and French Presidencies of the Council of the EU.
Along the route, various events are planned to welcome the train at railway stations across Europe. Rail enthusiasts can also follow debates happening on board as well as conferences on EU infrastructure policy and the role of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), that will be livestreamed via the event website from Lisbon, Bucharest, Berlin and Bettembourg.
A conference dedicated to rail freight will be organised on 5 October in Bettembourg (Luxembourg), which will focus on what can make rail freight more attractive to new customers and how intermodal transport and terminals can contribute to improving the performance of multimodal logistics services involving rail. CLECAT has contributed to the conference with a speaker from its membership who will present on what can make rail freight more attractive, focusing on price competitiveness and performance in terms of speed, reliability, punctuality and flexibility.
The Connecting Europe Express is the result of a cooperation between the European Commission, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European rail operators, infrastructure managers and numerous other partners at EU and local level.
Source: European Commission