The annual EPF conference was held in Copenhagen on 10 and 11 June. The two conference days gathered European passenger organizations, public transport operators, politicians and officials at EU level. Over 70 participants from different European countries took part in the seminars and the evening events.

On the first day, the conference was opened by the Danish Minister of Transport Trine Bramsen, who welcomed the audience to Copenhagen. She talked about the green transition, shared transport and said that bikes will play a key role for the first and last mile. Anja Philip, President of the Danish Consumer Council, added that public transport must be based on the citizens’ needs and experiences. Elisabeth Kotthaus, Head of Unit for Social Affairs, Passenger Rights & Equal Opportunities at DG Move, said there is still lots of work to be done for smart, sustainable and inclusive public transport and she summed up what the Commission is currently working on. The following presentations focused on how public transport can contribute to a greener future mobility. Presenters were Thomas Avanzata (UITP), Yoann Le Petit (EIT Urban Mobility), Suzanne Hoadley (Polis) and Blaž Pongračič (CER). Dominik Hartl (Hardt Hyperloop) sketched what travelling by hyperloop could be like. Kathryn Bulanowski (EPF), Emmanuel Mounier (eu travel tech) and Lars Wiinblad (Passagerpulsen) discussed digital transition in public transport and the necessity for analogue ticketing solutions.Finally, Salim Benkirane (ALLRail) updated the audience on the “Support Ukraine Taskforce”. The first conference day ended up with an opening dinner at the Nørrebro Bryghus brewery.

On the second conference day, Sven Gjeruldsen (Bane NOR) presented how Eurolink can improve the international passenger rail network. Julia Quitmann (AVV), Marco Gariboldi (UTP), Sandrina Lohse-Larsen and Søren Bom (Greater Copenhagen) presented challenges and successes in regional cross-border rail transport. After that, the audience was invited to take part in a workshop on best practices and ideas. Sofie Buyse (Deutsche Bahn) presented DB’s international long-distance services, with a view to the future. Louise Coward (Transport Focus), Sandra Lima (EPF), Vassilis Agouridas (UIC-2) and Gitte Kjær-Westermann (Passagerpulsen) spoke about involving the end users in the development of public transport and the various ways how that is done. The second day ended with a dinner at the Food Club restaurant.

Presentations and pictures of our 2022 conference can be found here.