Brussels, 16/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The setting up of a public-private partnership, Shift2Rail, to invest in rail sector innovation has obtained Council approval. The member states have given the go-ahead for setting up this joint undertaking based on the SESAR model which already operates in the aviation field (see other article). Shift2Rail will receive €920 million (a third of which will come from the European Union and the remainder from industry) to invest in research and development in the railway sector. European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas said that setting up this public-private partnership is a decisive step forward in enabling innovation to reduce railway service costs, improve capacity, and create more reliable, frequent and user-friendly services. He therefore urged businesses and academic researchers to respond to the call for associated members and to future open calls and explained that “we need everyone working together to make sure we get more passengers and freight onto Europe's railways”.
UNIFE, the European association representing the freight industry, responded to the call by welcoming the setting up of Shift2Rail. Its director-general, Philippe Citroën, provided assurances that the industry was eager to participate in the research and development activities to be organised by the public-private partnership. (MD)