Next Stop Next Stop

The Spring 2021 trainees of the European Committee of the Regions could not conclude their Y-Factor project on the European Year of Rail without a special episode on the Connecting Europe Express in Brussels, and the European Youth Event in Strasbourg.  When the Connecting Europe Express train arrived in Brussels after crossing multiple European countries and dozens of cities, we were joined by Mr Josef Doppelbauer, the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways, to reflect on the challenges and potentials of the railway sector in the near future. We were also pleased to be joined by CoR member Mr Pascal Smet, serving as Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region, who reflected with us on sustainable urban mobility with specific examples from the city of Brussels. 



After the Connecting Europe Express, we headed to Strasbourg to give a workshop, Getting on (train-)track, at the European Youth Event, where we were joined by Erasmus by Train, and virtually by the European Year of Rail Rapporteur, MEP Anna Deparnay Grunenberg (DE, Greens/EFA), MEP Mr Javi Lopez Fernandez (ES, S&D), and CoR member Mr Kieran McCarthy (IE, EA). 



Hear all about it in this special episode! 

See you in the many stops and stations around Europe!  

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Nowadays, most Erasmus students take the plane to travel to and from their Erasmus locations since in most cases it is cheaper and faster than train and organizations like the Erasmus Student Network keep collaborating with airlines like Ryanair. The non-profit organization Erasmus by Train was founded in 2020 with the aim of reverting this trend. The organization, composed of around 20 German students, is appealing to the European Commission to provide each Erasmus student with a free Interrail ticket.  

  

Tatjana Söding, student of MS in Human Ecology at Lund University and member of Erasmus by Train, joins this 8th and last episode of Next Stop to tell us more about the initiative. She stresses that “when taking the time to travel to and from your exchange location by train, the journey itself becomes part of the exchange experience."

  

To conclude, we, the Spring 2021 trainees of the European Committee of the Regions, would like to thank you, all our listeners, for joining us in this journey around the EU railway world and we would like to encourage you to engage in the European Year of the Rail initiatives such as the Connecting Europe Express, which will start next September in Lisbon. 



This is the Last Stop. Please get off the train and visit us soon again!



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Despite train is one of the most sustainable ways of transport, in many cases it is not economically competitive compared to other more polluting means of transport. In this seventh episode of Next Stop, we discuss with Alberto Mazzola, Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the behavioural changes that are needed to make train more attractive to EU citizens. 



In many countries it is still more affordable to use private cars than public transport. Thus, Mazzola highlights that it is crucial to redefine the charging system of the different modes of transport to ensure that all of them cover their external costs such as CO2 emissions or the deterioration of infrastructures. Intermodality and the integration of different modes of transport are some of the other key elements in promoting the transition towards a more sustainable way of moving around.

 

Livia Spera, from the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF), joins our seventh episode to talk about how the workforce of the railway sector has changed over the years and how to attract new workers, especially young people and women.  



And finally, do not miss the last stop of our Pop Wagon!

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The European railway system is still far away from being accessible to everyone: People with disabilities face different types of barriers which stop them from being able to travel by rail spontaneously and independently. Kamil Goungor, travel blogger, activist for the rights of people with disabilities, development officer for the European Network on Independent Living and member of the European Disability Forum, joins our sixth episode to discuss about the challenges that people with disabilities face when travelling by train. 

 

When we talk of accessibility in trains, we mainly think about physical barriers, but Kamil points out many other obstacles that make it complicate for people with disabilities to travel independently and spontaneously: having to book assistance 24 or 48 hours in advance or no possibility to travel with other wheelchair users because of the lack of adapted space are some of them. Laura Alčiauskaitė, tells us more about the project TRIPS of the European Network on Independent Living, which she coordinates, aimed at making the transport in seven European cities – Brussels, Stockholm, Sofia, Bologna, Cagliari, Lisbon and Zagreb – more accessible for everyone. 

 

Did you know that in the 19th century, some critics of the early locomotives were afraid that women's uterus would fly out of their bodies as they were accelerated to the speed of 50 miles an hour? Get on board, we'll take you journey that is accessible to everybody!  

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In the early 80s and 90s the Polish government cancelled around 9000 km of railway routes, around a third of all routes, abandoning the infrastructures and leaving many people unconnected. In this fourth episode of Next Stop, Iwona Budych, President of the Transport Exclusion Association, and the analyst on public transport Bartosz Jakubowski join us to discuss about the consequences of transport exclusion and share with us the Polish case, where the lack of a trustworthy timetable and a sufficient frequency of trains
made many people switch to cars.  

  

But what happened with those people who don't have access to cars? Nowadays around 15 million people are transport excluded in Poland, a phenomenon that affects specially children, women, elderly and people living in rural areas. Iwona points out the importance of an efficient network of public transport to ensure everyone has proper access to the labour market, education, health, and other services. 

  

Did you know that the railway Luka is constructing in the movie "Life is a Miracle" was built at the beginning of the 20th century to connect Serbia with the Austro-Hungarian
Empire? Although it stopped functioning in 1974, some parts of the rail could be reconstructed in the beginning of the 2000 thanks to the support of the movie director Emir Kusturica. Get on board, we'll take you on a journey through the stunning landscapes of the Western Balkans!  

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Trains are among the more sustainable forms of transport. Night trains and high speed rails could replace short distance flights and they could reduce by 80% aviation transport in the same routes. In this third episode of Next Stop we discuss with the MEP Javi López Fernandez, member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament, how rail can help to reduce transport emissions to deliver the Green Deal goals, meaning climate neutrality by 2050.

Javi López claims for a "new era of rail" and stresses the necessity to increase the use of trains not only among individuals but also when it comes to the transportation of goods within Europe. He highlights the importance of cooperating sharing technology and expertise with regions like Latin America in order to fight climate change in a global scale. Projects like the Tren Maya in Mexico or the Central Bi-Oceanic railway are some examples of this close cooperation.

Did you know that there is a railway tube connecting the city of Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden? Get on board, we'll take you on a climate-friendly journey!

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