#BeersPoliticsEU: Rail for Real- How can we fix EU crossborder railways in 2025?

#BeersPoliticsEU: "Rail for Real: How can we fix EU crossborder railways in 2025?"

🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome back, #BrusselsBubble.
To kick off 2025, we are holding our New Year's Drinks/Debate at ZN on 28 January.

While the rail has been hailed as the most sustainable mode of passenger transport, cross-border train travel across Europe is still too fraught with difficulties for many citizens. In her second term, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to make open booking systems a reality. People should be able to purchase trans-European journeys with several providers, without losing their right to reimbursement or compensatory travel.

But we have heard of this promise before. 2021 was the Year of the Rail. The Fourth Railway package of ten years ago promised fast and seamless rail travel, no border stops and automation of operations. The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) was set up to as the issuing authority of safety certificates.

Yet European cross-border rail transport still faces many obstacles, such as operational standards, congestions, infrastructural limits, logistical complications. Above all, no "seamless" ticketing and travel.

Together we will be exploring the following questions in this session:

• What kinds of obstacles do train passengers face?
• Rail is hailed as the most sustainable mode of passenger transport, so where does rail feature in the new mandate?
• Where do we currently stand in the vision of Single European Railway Area (SERA)?
• The role of the European Rail Agency is to promote interoperability and safety of European railways. Has it been successful so far?
• Do regulators realise the urgency of achieving SERA in the context of the Single Market and optimisation of the railway system with regard to wider economy?
• What kinds of obstacles do train and network operators face?

With us in the panel are:

• Jakop Dalunde, former MEP, Green (Sweden)
• Jedde Hollewijn, Senior Policy Officer for Railways, European Transport Workers' Federation
• Blaž Pongračič, Senior Policy Adviser Passenger, CER
• Elmer van Buuren, President, Alliance of Rail New Entrants (ALLRAIL)
• Jon Worth, Independent EU railway policy campaigner

Moderator: Harold Tor-Daenens, Senior EU Advocacy Expert, Hyperion Tree Digital

• Location: ZN, Chaussée de Boondael 6/8, 1050 Ixelles
• Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
• Doors open: 17:30
• Time: 18:00-19:00, followed by Q&A plus informal chitchat
• Entrance fee: FREE

About #BeersPoliticsEU
Harold Tor-Daenens is the organiser of #BeersPoliticsEU - a monthly meetup of EU professionals and ordinary citizens to talk about EU policies and politics. It is a voluntary informal setting that allows both EU experts in the Brussels Bubble and citizens to meet and exchange without any institutional sectoral or political baggage.

The format of #BeersPoliticsEU is simple: a speaker or a panel of speakers speak for an hour at most. No powerpoint is allowed. Anyone in the room can interrupt with a question at any point of time. If necessary, the session can be extended by at most 30 minutes of QnA.

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