Rail has been particularly in the spotlight this year, as 2021 became the European Year of Rail. The European Railway Award showcases rail’s impressive capabilities every year and we are currently looking for our next winner. Do you know a leading voice who has succeeded in opening up political debate or implementing concrete policy shifts for rail? Are you part of a campaign raising rail’s profile or a project, large or small, revolutionising the rail business? Maybe you would like us to r ...

In a year dedicated to bringing railways closer to citizens, author-activists Vincent-Immanuel Herr and Martin Speer (Herr & Speer) were recognised at the 2021 European Railway Award for their ‘outstanding citizen’s initiative’: the FreeInterrail movement.  FreeInterrail is the proposal to provide all EU citizens with a free Interrail ticket for their 18th birthday. The aim is to strengthen European integration, support environment-friendly modes of transport and promote Europe's ...

The 2021 European Railway Award was presented to the iLINT project. Resulting from a highly fruitful collaboration between Alstom and the public transport authority of Lower Saxony (LNVG), the Coradia iLINT is the world’s first passenger train for mainline operation powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The project proves that alternative technologies to diesel can offer the same level of performance without generating greenhouse gasses. Is it a shining demonstration that a completely emission-free ...

The COVID-19 crisis showed the rail sector’s resilience - its capacity to help fight the epidemic and assist society in general, despite plummeting passenger and cargo figures. As a resilient, environment-friendly mode, rail should be relied on all the more during the recovery period to get Europe’s economy back on track while continuing to bring down global emissions for the sake of the climate. The European Year of Rail is a timely recognition of the role railways can and should play in ad ...

The 2021 European Railway Award was presented today to the iLINT project – the first commercial operation of fuel-cell-powered passenger trains – for providing a viable emission-free alternative to diesel on non-electrified networks. The Award was bestowed virtually during an online edition of the annual ceremony, marking the rail sector kick-off to the European Year of Rail. Greeted by Alberto Mazzola, CER Executive Director, and Philippe Citroën, UNIFE Director General, hundreds of parti ...