EPF supports a Year of Rail that strongly focuses on end-user needs and satisfaction in both the passengers and freight sector. Here are our priorities:
- Rail should become the natural ‘mode of choice’ for users and the backbone of Europe’s integrated green mobility system, building on its ability to carry large volumes safely, speedily, and sustainably.
- The allocation of resources between transport modes should reflect an informed understanding of costs, thus supporting a level playing field and allowing resource allocation to be optimised.
- Rail services should be priced competitively, reflecting resource-efficiency.
- Rail should be integral to the delivery of seamless ‘whole journey’ travel solutions in combination with other modes, including active travel.
- Rail operators should engender the trust of users as this underpins consumer confidence and a readiness to engage in the market.
- Rail should respond urgently to changing patterns of user demand and, following the pandemic, reflect heightened awareness of the access needs of the vulnerable and marginalised without compromising the need to offer a level of personal comfort that can compete with that offered by the automotive sector.
- The majority of Europe’s population centres should be linked by a high-quality network of rail passenger services.
- The Year of Rail should embrace both the letter and the spirit of Article 12 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and fully engage users’ representatives in all related policy deliberations.
Read more in our Year of Rail Priorities statement.
The 2021 EPF conference will be part of the events planned during the Year of Rail.
Stay informed!