RAIL SECTOR COMES TOGETHER TO MARK OFFICIAL CLOSURE OF EUROPEAN YEAR OF RAIL
On 21 February, CLECAT, together with the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe (ALLRAIL), the European Passenger Federation (EPF), Erasmus by Train e.V. (EbT) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), met in Paris to formally close the European Year of Rail, on the occasion of the European Railway Summit organised within the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU.
2021 was an extremely challenging year for railways. The Covid-19 pandemic hit the sector hard, and its impact is still felt today with more than €50 billion of cumulated losses. Despite these difficulties, our associations have nonetheless supported the European Commission, with full commitment and passion, in the organisation of an important and varied calendar of European Year of Rail (EYR) activities, with particular focus given to the important role of raising awareness for our mode of transport.
Among many important initiatives, the Connecting Europe Express (CEE) was arguably the flagship endeavour of the EYR. It set off from Lisbon on 2 September for a 6-week journey across Europe arriving in Paris on 7 October. The train bridged three different gauge systems and brought together many actors in the rail community during its delivery and operation.
In a joint press release the parties noted: ‘We now look forward to 2022, to build together upon the achievements of 2021 and to transform them into positive policy results on the very important dossiers currently debated by the EU institutions, from the revision of the TEN-T guidelines to the Fit for 55 legislative package. By doing so we take another step closer to the achievement of the targets set by the EU Strategy on Sustainable and Smart Mobility, including doubling the rail freight share by 2050.