Public service transport plays a crucial role in passenger transport in the European Union both from a political and from an economic point of view.

The financial crisis has pushed Europe’s railways to seek new and innovative sources of financing to fund the development of high performing, sustainable and customer focussed rail networks.

The EcoPassenger and EcoTransIT web tools were recognised as best educational practices by the European Commission on 8 February. With this acknowledgement, the rail sector has also become an official partner of the Sustainable Energy Europe (SEE) campaign.

The Social Partners ETF, CER and EIM organized, in October 2008, a Conference on Employability, An HR strategy for shaping change in the railway sector. This conference was hosted by Deutsche Bahn in Potsdam and organized, in the framework of the European Social Dialogue for the Railway Sector. 

This new study carried out by the Institute for Economic Policy Research (IWW) of the University Karlsruhe (TH) in Germany and the French Nouveaux Espaces de Transport en Europe - Applications de Recherche (NESTEAR) reveals how charging trucks for their external costs could contribute significantly to reducing CO2 emissions from transport. Modal shift from road to rail could exceed 10% on the whole network and contribute about 7% to the required reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from transport. The analysis of two key transport corridors suggests that CO2 savings could be even greater on specific parts of the network.

 

As one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways to move people and goods, railways have a tremendous potential to reduce the environmental impact of transport and improve the quality of life of EU citizens.

The CER Fact Sheet on Investments in Rail Infrastructure presents, in a very condensed way, the facts and figures related to promoting investments in rail infrastructure, re-enforcing trans-European rail corridors and promoting a coordinated investment behaviour.

The Fact Sheet is available in English and French.

This is the fourth edition of the CER Freight Quality Report. Since the first edition in 2003, the rail freight landscape has dramatically evolved. One important change is the full opening of the market to competition, resulting in today 701 freight operators having an active license in Europe. This has been achieved with the determination of many political and business stakeholders.
 

New ! Updated Eurovignette Fact Sheet in English, French, German & Polish  (18/09/08)

New ! Eurovignette brochure now available in French ((29/07/08)

New ! Eurovignette brochure in Polish updated (29/07/08)