The European Commission launched, in June, a public consultation on a proposal for an EU coordinated approach to Research & Innovation in the rail sector under Horizon 2020 in support to the completion of the Single European Railway Area.
Background studies have shown that Research & Innovation in the rail sector is currently carried out in a fragmented manner . Coordination is necessary to create the Single European Railway Area, not only in infrastructure management or freight and passenger transport operation, but also in the railway industry which delivers equipment and rolling stock.
The Association of the European Railway Industry (UNIFE) has launched the Joint Technology Initiative SHIFT2RAIL within Horizon 2020, the first such initiative in the railway industry in order to increase research and innovation for boosting the competitiveness of the European railway sector.
The Rail Joint Technology Initiative –called SHIFT²RAIL – is a sector-wide initiative to develop European rail innovation and competitiveness on a large scale and thereby strengthen the European industry in global competition. The CEOs of the largest rail suppliers in Europe committed to this hitherto unprecedented initiative to step up common rail research and develop the rail systems of the future. In particular, the focus will be on improving capacity to absorb a bigger share of traffic, increasing efficiency and sustainability, and developing the most customer-friendly, safe vehicles.
SHIFT2RAIL will develop and implement a new way of addressing the challenges for innovation in railway technology. Two key objectives have been identified by the initiative, the first one is increasing capacity so as to enable rail to absorb a greater share of traffic growth and the second is to attract business and improve the efficiency of the rail transportation mode as a whole.
The initiative will contribute to an increase in the overall efficiency of the rail transport system, satisfy transport user’s needs, and at the same time help to foster the competitiveness of the European manufacturing industry, through the implementation of technological innovation.
“We hope to have a draft law from the European Commission on the Technology Initiative SHIFT2RAIL by the end of the year, the joint technology initiative which promotes the modal shift to railway, now, when the market share of railway transport is falling and has to recover”, declared Philippe Citroen, Director General UNIFE, during the Railway Days Summit, in Bucharest.
The creation of a new rail Joint Technology Initiative, SHIFT2RAIL, will allow addressing – through technology innovation – a significant part of the future transport societal challenges. This will allow for a major industrial effort, involving virtually all of Europe’s rail industry suppliers, including innovative small and medium enterprises to accelerate the development of new technologies and bring them to the market.
The initiative, supported by railway product suppliers, transport operators and railway institutions will overcome some of the present deficiencies of the EU rail market, namely: fragmentation of production, low collaboration and partnership among the rail industry, different operating procedures among railway undertakings, low standardization, and low efficiency.
“We have to continue to invest heavily in research and innovation to make sure that rail stays competitive against other forms of transport” Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission
“The European Commission will work with the Industry to make the SHIFT²RAIL Joint Undertaking a reality under Horizon 2020”, believes Jean-Eric Paquet, Director at DG MOVE.
SHIFT2RAIL aims at increasing the attractiveness and efficiency of urban transport and seeks to develop the interest of passengers regarding railway transport by developing specific technologies, such as interope-rability systems, e-ticketing and multimodal access systems.
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