Among the nine major Flagship Projects (FPs) funded by Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), FP2-R2DATO plays a...
About the episode

European competitiveness and its struggle to remain a key global economic player are top of the EU’s political agenda.
In this third episode of The European Railcast, host Jacki Davis explores the key role played by the rail sector in Europe’s economy and in fostering European competitiveness; hears about the innovations that are helping to deliver the sustainability mobility so crucial for economic growth; and discusses current and future technological and policy challenges to ensure the industry can continue to play that role to the full.
She is joined by Pierre Fleury, Chief Technical Officer at Alstom, who explains why the rail sector is so important for European competitiveness and describes some of the (often “invisible”) groundbreaking solutions which are transforming the sector and helping to realise its full potential to boost Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and resilience.
We also hear from Iosu Ibarbia, technology director at CAF, who shares his perspective on rail’s role in Europe’s economy and what is needed to maintain the sector’s industrial and technological leadership.
The European Railcast: A Podcast About the Future of European Mobility is brought to you by Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, the European partnership for rail research and innovation under the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Speakers & moderators

Jacki Davis

Pierre Fleury

Iosu Ibarbia
Top Questions
- 1Is the rail sector in Europe playing a key role when it comes to strengthening European Competitiveness? How important is its actual – and potential – contribution?
- 2When it comes to rail, what key developments are making a difference in driving Europe’s competitiveness
- 3What is it and what is EU Rail doing to help drive its roll-out? And how much difference could it make – how could a dynamic multimodal connected rail sector give Europe a competitive edge?
- 4What are the future priorities for developing the rail industry in Europe and making it more competitive. Where is the focus as we look to the future?
- 5What other initiatives are in the pipeline to help scale up green innovations and to simplify systems to enable seamless travel within the rail sector?
















