Brussels, 14/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - European transport ministers are giving a boost to innovation and research in the rail sector. This will benefit from €1 billion in 2015.
On Friday 14 March, the Transport Council approved the public-private Shift2Rail partnership proposed by the European Commission at the end of 2013 (see EUROPE 11022). This involves pooling the €450 million in European aid planned for 2014-2020 (as opposed to the €155 million for the previous period), and almost the equivalent (€470 million) paid by the rail industry. So far, several companies have already promised €30 million each (Alstom, Ansaldo STS, Bombardier, Siemens, Thales and CAF, Trafikverket and Network Rail). A sum of €52 million should already have been injected into research for projects implemented in 2014-2015.
Research and innovation is expected to focus on infrastructure, traffic management, automated solutions (ticketing and planning) and help towards building more reliable and profitable trains, as well as logistic and intermodal solutions for freight. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) spoke on behalf of the major European rail operators and welcomed the European ministers' approval of the public-private partnership. (MD)