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April 25, 2014

The Transport Ministers Council of the European Union (TTE), reunited at the middle of March, adopted its position on a draft regulation of the EU Council aimed to established a public-private partnership called Shift2Rail Joint Initiative that would manage a work program on research and innovation to support the development of better railway services across Europe. The Shift2Rail objective is to double railway transport capacity, to reduce lifecycle costs by 50% and to increase the…

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April 10, 2014

“Rail is facing significant competition from other transport modes and, from other regions of the world; in order to combat this Shift2Rail combines a significant amount of EU and sector R&D resources with a long-term vision that will produce tangible results that contribute to the EU’s ambitious transport goals”, pointed out Olivier Onidi, Director for the European Mobility Network at the European Commission. RailwayPRO

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April 10, 2014

“If we want the European railway transport system to become more competitive and attractive, it must progress in two major directions: strategy and technical innovation. Therefore, the 4th Railway Package and SHIFT2RAIL Initiative work great together”, European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas. RailwayPRO

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April 10, 2014

Partnerships with the transport industry will be stepped up in “Horizon 2020” in order to overcome fragmentation and, hence, accelerate the market take up of innovative solutions. Next to the SHIFT2RAIL Technological Initiative, launched through the Horizon 2020 Programme, a series of three financing demands was launched aimed to increase and to consolidate the competitiveness of European industries in the sphere of transports and to create a resource-efficient transport system that is individual, seamless, environmentally…

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March 26, 2014

During the plenary session on 25 March, EESC Members unanimously adopted an Opinion in which they highlight the crucial importance of Shift2Rail: "The EESC strongly backs the Shift2Rail initiative, which it sees as an important contribution to European industry in the strategic railway sector". In this regard, the EESC notably "stresses the importance of Shift2Rail for employment" and insists on "the importance of Shift2Rail to maintaining the competitiveness of the European industry, which still produces…

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March 14, 2014

Ministers that make up Europe's Transport Council today adopted a favourable position on the legal framework for the regulation establishing the Shift²Rail Joint Undertaking, while the council has also completed its work on the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package, which includes revising the role of the European Railway Agency (ERA). International Railway Journal

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