Railway stakeholders debate how rail should contribute to the EU’s single market at recent conference in Pardubice

More than 200 railway stakeholders form some 15 countries took part in the conference ‘Czech and European railway for the 21^st century – one single market’, which took place in Pardubice, Czech Republic on 11-12 April.

The programme was composed of an international day, where stakeholders from European institutions and trade associations intervened; followed by a second day mostly dedicated to national challenges for railways in the Czech Republic.

What makes this conference special “is the direct contact between politicians, business and operational people from the rail sector, strategy developers and R&I involved persons”, said Miroslav Haltuf, Czech representative and Vice-Chairperson of Shift2Rail’s States Representatives Group.

“It is a discussion on important topics (e.g. high-speed rail network development in EU countries, ERTMS implementation, capacity of the network, liberalisation and financing of the rail sector) followed by real proposals (e.g. MoU signatures on financing, on operational rules etc.)”, Haltuf said.

Shift2Rail Executive Director Carlo Borghini presented Shift2Rail’s view for the future of railways at the conference. He highlighted the importance of the international side of the event: “We showed what we are doing at European Union level and that it is something that can bring benefits at Member States level”.

For more details on the event, watch the official conference video here (in Czech and English)

Pardubice conference on 11 April 2019 © Miroslav Haltuf