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          Discover Innovation pillar
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          Innovation Pillar

          EU-Rail’s Innovation Pillar (IP) is tasked to deliver operational and technological solutions that contribute to a more efficient, flexible, and demand-led, yet safe and environmentally sustainable European railway system. The activities undertaken aim at large-scale demonstrations and they also cover technologies of all readiness levels as well as exploratory research.

          Explore System pillar

          About

          The System Pillar is the “generic system integrator” for the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), and the architect of the future EU’s railway system.

          Outputs

          Discover key outputs from the System Pillar.

          Governance

          Discover the Governance structure and key decisions from the System Pillar.

          Key documents

          Discover the System Pillar document library.

          Discover System pillar

          System Pillar

          The System Pillar provides governance, resource, and outputs to support a coherent and coordinated approach to the evolution of the rail system and the development of the system view.

          Discover Deployment Group
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          Deployment Group

          The Deployment Group advises the EU-Rail Governing Board on the market uptake of rail innovation developments and support their deployment. Its activities thus form a bridge between the research and innovation process and the coordinated implementation through recommendations for deployment in the rail system.

          Explore the DAC Delivery Programme

          For a successful and effective implementation of the Digital Automatic Coupler for European rail freight (DAC), it is of crucial importance to have open, close and efficient cooperation between rail stakeholders. The European DAC Delivery Programme enabled by Europe’s Rail, offers a unique European platform for such cooperation and collaboration.

          About Shift2Rail

          Explore more information about the Europe's Rail predecessor programme.

          Explore Shift2Rail

          Shift2Rail Programme

          Explore the detailed information about the Shift2Rail Innovation Programmes.

          Organisation

          Explore the structure of the Shift2Rail programme.

          Shift2Rail Projects

          Get a glimpse of the Shift2Rail Projects and their achievements.

          Discover Shift2Rail

          The Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking is the predecessor programme of the Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), established by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 of 19 November 2021.

           

        • Projects

          Discover detailed information on Europe's rail innovation initiatives, showcasing flagship and other projects aimed at enhancing rail systems across Europe. It highlights collaborative efforts funded by the European Union to develop sustainable, efficient, and competitive rail transport solutions.

           

          Solutions catalogue

          Europe’s Rail Catalogue of Solutions illustrates successful R&I results in the form of possible products and solutions, while highlighting the benefits for final users, operators, infrastructure managers and/or suppliers. This publication also outlines the advantages of integrating demonstrators into market solutions so that they can deliver the rail innovation Capabilities of the future.

        • Who we are?

          About Europe's Rail

          Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) is established by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 of 19 November 2021. It is the new European partnership on rail research and innovation established under the Horizon Europe programme (2020-2027) and the universal successor of the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

           

          Explore About Europe's Rail

          Mission and objectives

          The objective of Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking is to deliver a high capacity integrated European railway network by eliminating barriers to interoperability and providing solutions for full integration, covering traffic management, vehicles, infrastructure and services, aiming to achieve faster uptake and deployment of projects and innovations.

          Preparatory Activities

          Discover the the processes and background information on the preparation of the Joint Undertaking.

          Jobs

          Browse latest Europe's Rail vacancies.

          Discover Europe's Rail Members

          Find out the full list of Europe's Rail Members.

           

          Explore Structure of Governance

          Governing Board & General Assembly

          The Europe's Rail Governing Board oversees Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking, guiding strategy, budgets, and work plans. It includes the European Commission and rail industry stakeholders, aiming to innovate and integrate Europe's rail systems, boosting efficiency, sustainability, and alignment with EU Green Deal goals.

          States Representatives Group

          The Europe's Rail States Representatives Group advises the Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking. It comprises representatives from EU member states and associated countries, ensuring alignment of Europe's Rail activities with national policies, facilitating cooperation, and providing input on rail innovation, integration, and sustainable development across Europe.

          Scientific Steering Group

          The Europe's Rail Scientific Steering Group provides scientific and technical advice to the Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking. Comprising experts from academia and research institutions, it ensures that research projects align with cutting-edge science and innovation, supporting the development of a modern, sustainable European rail system.

          Executive Director

          Find out more information about the Europe's Rail Executive Director.

          Discover Structure of Governance

          Discover the full structure and governance of Europe's Rail, including the decisions of the Governing Board.

           

          Explore Reference Documents

          Key Documents

          Discover main Europe's Rail documentation.

          Annual Work Plan and Budget

          Find out about our key priortires in our Annual Work Plans and Budget.

          Annual Activity Report

          Discover the progress of our programme by downloading Europe's Rail Annual Activity Reports.

          Annual Accounts

          Have a full overview of Europe's Rail Annual Accounts.

          Functioning of the Europe's Rail JU

          Discover key documentation describing the general functioning of the JU.

          Discover Reference Documents

          Get access to Europe's Rail main reference documents, including Annual Work Plans, Annual Activity Reports, Annual Accounts and other important information.

           

News

The Europe’s Rail Flagship Project 5 TRANS4M-R developed the first Europe-wide agreed target operational procedures for Full Digital Freight Train operation. On 1 August, the FP5 TRANS4M-R team came together at Knorr-Bremse premises to learn about the now available operational procedures, discuss their implications and look ahead to the upcoming discussions. The workshop was also a place to recognise what has been achieved and to celebrate this important milestone.

 

The operational procedures are the basis for the DAC development

The benefits of the introduction of the digital automated coupler (DAC) directly depend on the processes it can automate. With the first edition of the operational procedures, a common basis for development is now available. This common understanding of the underlying procedures assures that the products developed will work the same across Europe. The latter point is very crucial for rail freight, since the new assets will be used by different staff and different companies in various countries with different local regulations. The harmonised processes are the basis for making this possible.

 

The operational procedures improve the way of development

In FP5 TRANS4M-R, the alignment on planned future operations was the first step of the development process. It regularly happens that errors in the intended target result arise in the verification and validation (V&V) phase, very late in the process. This leads to delays and additional costs. Since FP5 TRANS4M-R has now agreed on the common target results first, already with the participation of the industry partners, the project counteracts such a situation right at the beginning.

 

The development of the operational procedures was challenging

There is a reason why similar tasks have not been successful in the past. Alignment within a single company is already very complicated and time-consuming. Now the challenge was to do it on a European level from the very beginning.

A big challenge is one that is common to large projects. You first have to find capable and motivated experts who will actually do the work. Here, FP5 TRANS4M-R was fortunate to have a core development group with a real team spirit that saw working on the issues not just as another task, but as a personal goal.

The early development phase of the project was another challenge. Not everything had been decided yet, so from time to time it was very difficult to describe something that could come one way or the other.

The third big challenge was to involve the multiple stakeholders. Discussing, presenting, and agreeing was difficult and very time consuming. While the rail operators had to make sure that the processes made sense for their operations, the industry partners had to check every detail for feasibility for the future products. But here, too, the alignment was successful.

 

The operational procedures account for the interoperability across different European railway systems

Interoperability is one of the most important goals. Without interoperability, a DAC system will not be successful and will not benefit the freight sector. So, when designing the procedures, this had to be considered and regularly reviewed. Since the operational procedures are described in a generic way, by definition no details of a specific implementation are specified, boundaries are defined to ensure that the DAC system works seamlessly everywhere in Europe.

 

Communication and next steps

Communication was, besides designing the very processes, the biggest task for the core development team. They have built a very time-consuming and extensive methodology on how to include various parts of the freight sector. In collaboration with the European DAC Delivery Programme and the Technical Innovation Circle for Rail Freight Transport, and with the rail associations, a broader public was contacted at a very early stage.

 

The Operational Procedures will be continuously expanded, enriched, and improved until a solid and stable version is available at the end of FP5 TRANS4M-R. Currently, a semi-annual update is planned. The first update will be a Christmas edition in 2023. The Operational Procedures will soon be made available on the FP5 website. Stay tuned!

Europe's Rail