“ Now, more than ever, it is time to develop the use of railways. It is time to ensure that all regions have modern infrastructures and strong connection networks. The time has come for smarter, more accessible, and more user-focused services. It is the ideal time for the European Year of Rail.” Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, at the conference to launch the European Year of Rail on 29 March 2021

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On January 1, 2021, the European Year of Rail began. The European Commission's initiative to establish the Year of Rail aims to support the achievement of the European Green Deal's transport objectives. Several events have therefore taken place since the beginning of the year - and until December 2021 - in order to promote rail as a sustainable, innovative and safe mode of transport. As the Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, says:

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“Rail transport is undoubtedly synonymous with numerous benefits in most areas: sustainability, safety and even speed, as long as it is organized and designed taking into account the principles of the 21st century. However, they also have a more fundamental role to play: they connect EU member states to each other, and not only in physical terms. The establishment of a homogeneous and operational network throughout Europe is a work of political cohesion. The European Year of Rail is not a fortuitous event. It comes at the right time, at a time when the EU needs this type of collective project. “

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Why a European Year of Rail?

In December 2019, the European Commission defined the European Green Deal, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. With transport accounting for a quarter of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions, this sector will play a crucial role in achieving climate neutrality by reducing its emissions by 90% by 2050. In this pact, the Commission seeks to develop a strategy for sustainable and intelligent transport. The aim is to move transport to rail rather than other more polluting transport - such as road or aviation. Indeed, rail is the most economical and ecological transport but is still too little used. To give you numbers, just 7% of rail routes in Europe are dedicated to passenger transport and 11% to freight transport. The European Year of Rail therefore aims to highlight this type of transport in order to develop it even more among citizens.

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Why did you choose 2021 for the European Year of Rail?

The European Year of Rail seeks to highlight the mode of rail transport by making it become an alternative to less sustainable means of transport (road, aviation). But why did you choose the year 2021? This year is not trivial, in fact, here are some important dates that we are going to celebrate this year:

• The 20th anniversary of the first railway package

• The 175th of the very first rail link between two European capitals (Paris-Brussels)

• 40 years of the TGV

• The 30th anniversary of ICE (Inter City Express in Germany)

• Europalia, an international festival that takes place every 2 years in Belgium to celebrate cultural heritage, has chosen to devote its 2021 edition to railways

• 25 years of Thalys

Should the European Year of Rail be extended?

The “European Years” aim to highlight and raise awareness among citizens on certain topics in society. These “European Years” normally last one year but as the year 2021 was disrupted by the pandemic, railway organizations have expressed their questions concerning the promotion of this European Year of Rail. Indeed, several organized events had to be postponed, canceled or digitized, making the experiences less novel.

In addition, the pandemic has undermined the free movement of goods and people. During the health crisis, road and air transport were severely disrupted. While rail freight was the most used mode of transport for the exchange of essential goods, people did not have the opportunity to use this means of transport. In 2020, a loss of several billion euros was also recorded, while the recovery in 2021 was not as expected because strict health measures remained in force in Europe.

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the European Railway Infrastructure Managers (EIM) and the European Railway Industries Association (UNIFE) have therefore requested an extension of the European Railway Year in order to make up for the delay during the pandemic. In a letter they state:

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” There is a very concrete risk that upcoming scheduled events will have to be postponed until the situation improves or simply cancelled, and the resources allocated will be spent in vain — something we cannot afford at a time when railways are suffering huge losses due to COVID-19.”.

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The initiative of the European Commission wanting to bring” a new perspective on the advantages of rail as a sustainable, intelligent and safe mode of transport ” During this European Year of Rail, do you think it is necessary to extend this European year in order to mitigate these disruptions caused by the pandemic?

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