On a cold winter evening last December thousands of passengers were stuck on seven busy trains for several hours. Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway services stopped moving after overhead electrical cables were damaged not far out from London’s Paddington station. The boss of Network Rail, Britain’s national rail infrastructure manager, was a…
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As part of the SHOW project’s engagement and co-creation activities, SHOW partners ERTICO and EPF organised an activity with the Belgian-based Open Summer of Code (OSoC) to define a concept for the mobility hub of the future. About SHOW SHOW aims to support the deployment of shared, connected and electrified automation in urban transport, to…
The group of experts on passenger information in main international stations and hubs held its inaugural meeting at the United Nations in Geneva in July. Christopher Irwin represented EPF and made a presentation on The Passengers’ Perspective. The group was convened at the request of the Rail Working Party, itself a sub-group of the UN…
EPF was represented at a special summer session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s Rail Working Party on 18-19. June in Geneva. The event focused on the Security of Vulnerable Rail Users. Bryony Chetwode of TravelWatch SouthWest – one of EPF’s UK members – presented a paper on “Increasing the Security of Women in…
Faced with rapidly changing mobility patterns, EPF member FNAUT and IFOP decided to carry out a robust and accurate study to better understand the expectations of passengers and non-travelers alike when it comes to rail transport. The aim was to build up its expertise to better defend passengers. Only one in two French people have…
This year the Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto in Warsaw, Poland, hosted the EPF annual Conference on 21-22 June, 2024. This event brought together industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders from across Europe, providing a platform for insightful discussions on passenger mobility and public transport innovations. A total of 54 participants attended the conference, engaging in a…
May 1st marked the official launch of our newest project: InclusiveSpaces: Designs, Tools & Frameworks For Creating An Accessible & Inclusive Built Environment For All, For Now & For The Future. Coordinated by cambiaMO, the project consists of 17 partners from 9 European countries including Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, United Kingdom, Hungary, Belgium, Italy and…
The Fourth Integrated Progress Report of the Ministerial Platform on International Rail Passenger Transport (IRP) was published in time for the meeting of the EU Transport Council in June, where it was presented by the Austrian and Dutch delegations. The IRP was set up four years ago. It was tasked with a common agenda aimed at…
EPF has supported the work of the European Railway Agency (ERA) since ERA was established. Long-standing EPF Board member Chris Irwin from the UK has led and shaped ERA’s management board for many years. Since 2023, Delphine Grandsart (Senior Researcher at EPF) and Josef Schneider (EPF Chairman) represent EPF in the ERA board. ERA has…
In the run-up to the European elections, in Germany, a broad alliance of industry associations, companies, and civil society organisations issued a joint declaration “Relaunch on rails” (14. May 2024) to make it clear that the EU climate targets can only be achieved with a significantly increased commitment to rail transport, underpinned by concrete targets and…
With a view to the next political mandate of the European Parliament and of the European Commission, EPF has identified its priorities for Union action that will help unleash the potential of the public transport sector. ➡ Goal: A seamless European passenger transport system The appeal and utility of public transport is greatest when providing…
On 19. April, EPF participated in a Policy Workshop organised by the Florence School of Regulation, entitled “The European Green Deal: five years on”. Approaching the mid-point in the horizon over which the European Green Deal defined 2030 policy targets, the workshop provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress achieved and the remaining challenges…