NEWS
The 2nd annual European Rail Congress is almost upon us. The Summit and Awards are taking place on 11th November in London and delegates are booking fast and excitement is building. If you haven’t already booked your place, now is the time to REGISTER and arrange your travel arrangements.
João Aguiar Machado, Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) will be delivering a keynote speech at the prestigious Awards ceremony, setting out what challenges lie ahead for the rail sector and for the Commission.
This summit will examine how effective the European “Shift to Rail” initiative – which was backed by the European Parliament earlier this year – will be in boosting rails market share.
Confirmed speakers include:-
Brian Simpson
Chair of ERC Awards Judging Panel and former MEP
Michael Roberts
Director General, UK Rail Delivery Group
Jeremy Long
CEO – European Business, MTR Corporation
Lord Berkeley
Board Member, European Rail Freight Association
Monika Heiming
Executive Director, European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM)
Niall Simmons
Head of Bids Engineering, Bombardier Transportation
Alistair McPhee
Vice President Transportation Systems, Thales UK
Mioara Bourceanu
President of the Board, Grup Feroviar Roman
To book your place at this year’s European Rail Congress please click here
The 2nd annual European Rail Congress takes place on 11th November in London and brings together the European railway industry to discuss and debate important developments that will determine the future of the European rail sector.
Rail has strong advantages over other forms of land transport. It provides efficient, high quality and safe connectivity across Europe; reduces Europe’s emission of greenhouse gases; boosts jobs and economic growth; and facilitates European competitiveness.
However, railways operate in a competitive environment and are vying for market share with road and air competition for both passengers and freight.
Our summit will examine how effective the European “Shift to Rail” initiative – which was backed by the European Parliament earlier this year – will be in boosting rails market share.
SUMMIT – 11 NOVEMBER 2014
13:00 – 14:30 Session One: How technology can make rail more competitive, efficient, environmentally and customer friendly
Chaired by: João Aguiar Machado, Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport
Alistair McPhee, Vice President Transportation Systems, Thales UK
Advanced traffic management and control: safer and more capacity
Bombardier Transportation (Speaker tbc)
The train of the future
Monika Heiming, Executive Director, European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM)
Maximising capacity from infrastructure
14:30 – 15:00 Refreshment Break
15:00 – 16:30 Session Two: Which countries in Europe have been most successful in increasing Rail’s share of the market?
Chaired by: Brian Simpson, former Chair of the European Parliament Transport Committee
Michael Roberts, Director General, UK Rail Delivery Group
What lessons can Europe learn from the UK model?
Jeremy Long, CEO – European Business, MTR Corporation
New routes transforming rail: what the success of London Overground tells us about changing people’s travel habits
Lord Berkeley, Board Member, European Rail Freight Association
Rail market opening – current regulatory conditions stifle new entrants across Europe
To book your place at this year’s European Rail Congress please click here
Having received over 250 entries for the second annual European Rail Congress Awards, the judges have made their decision on the final shortlists for the 20 award categories for 2014.
Brian Simpson MEP, Chair of the Judging Panel, said:
“We know that the European rail sector has an excellent standing across the globe, and so the high standard of the submissions we received did not come as a surprise. However, it has made mine and my fellow judges’ jobs very difficult! Competition for a place on the short-list even for these inaugural Awards has been fierce.
I am pleased that countries from right across Europe have participated in these Awards and that evidence of best practice from both small and larger countries from the West of Europe across to the East, receive the opportunity for recognition of their efforts and innovation.
The full short-list is available for download here.
The winners will be announced at a prestigious Awards Dinner on the evening of 11 November in London.
For more information on how to attend the 2014 European Rail Congress please click here.
With under 4 weeks to go until the European Rail Congress Awards entry deadline, we are calling for companies throughout the European rail sector to submit examples of industry success and showcase best practice at the 2nd annual European Rail Congress awards ceremony being held in central London on 11 November 2014.
The Awards will celebrate and reward railway excellence across 18 different areas ranging from passenger and freight operator of the year to excellence in technology. Entries are accepted from both EU and non-EU European countries. To enter the awards, companies are invited to submit their applications online at www.europeanrailcongress.com by the 30 April 2014. Winners will be announced at the ceremony and dinner in November.
The Awards judging panel is chaired by the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee Chair Brian Simpson MEP, and includes Monika Heiming, Executive Director, European Infrastructure Managers (EIM); François Coart, President, European Rail Freight Association (ERFA); Marcel Verslype, Executive Director, European Railway Agency (ERA); Alain Flausch, Secretary General, UITP; and Willy Smeulders, Board Member, European Passenger Federation (EPF).
Chair of the Awards judging panel, Brian Simpson MEP, who is also Chair of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee, said: “Following last year’s successful inaugural awards, we are looking forward to seeing further evidence of excellence and innovation across a wide spectrum of railway professionalism on the European rail network. Winners of these prestigious awards will truly be representing best practice in the European rail sector, especially given it will be the views and opinions of highly regarded peers that determine the award winners.”
The European Rail Congress combines a prestigious award ceremony and summit designed to celebrate achievements of the European rail industry in providing efficient, high quality and safe connectivity across Europe; reducing Europe’s emission of greenhouse gases; boosting jobs and economic growth; and facilitating European competitiveness. It also provides the chance for key rail industry figures from right across the European continent to come together and discuss and debate key challenges and opportunities for the European rail sector.
ENTRIES:
Entrants can make their submissions online to the 18 different award categories.
Deadline for entries: 30 April 2014
Entries are welcome from both EU and non-EU European countries.
Award winners will be announced at the 2014 Awards ceremony in London on 11 November 2014.
The European Rail Congress is calling for companies throughout the European rail sector to submit examples of industry success and showcase best practice at the 2nd annual European Rail Congress awards ceremony being held in central London on 11 November 2014.
The Awards will celebrate and reward railway excellence across 18 different areas ranging from passenger and freight operator of the year to excellence in technology. Entries are accepted from both EU and non-EU European countries. To enter the awards, companies are invited to submit their applications online at www.europeanrailcongress.com by the 30 April 2014. Winners will be announced at the ceremony and dinner in November.
The Awards judging panel is chaired by the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee Chair Brian Simpson MEP, and includes Matthias Ruete, Director General, European Commission – DG Move; Monika Heiming, Executive Director, European Infrastructure Managers (EIM); François Coart, President, European Rail Freight Association (ERFA); Marcel Verslype, Executive Director, European Railway Agency (ERA); Alain Flausch, Secretary General, UITP; and Willy Smeulders, Board Member, European Passenger Federation (EPF).
Chair of the Awards judging panel, Brian Simpson MEP, who is also Chair of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee, said: “Following last year’s successful inaugural awards, we are looking forward to seeing further evidence of excellence and innovation across a wide spectrum of railway professionalism on the European rail network. Winners of these prestigious awards will truly be representing best practice in the European rail sector, especially given it will be the views and opinions of highly regarded peers that determine the award winners.”
The European Rail Congress combines a prestigious award ceremony and summit designed to celebrate achievements of the European rail industry in providing efficient, high quality and safe connectivity across Europe; reducing Europe’s emission of greenhouse gases; boosting jobs and economic growth; and facilitating European competitiveness. It also provides the chance for key rail industry figures from right across the European continent to come together and discuss and debate key challenges and opportunities for the European rail sector.
ENTRIES:
Entrants can make their submissions online to the 18 different award categories.
Deadline for entries: 30 April 2014
Entries are welcome from both EU and non-EU European countries.
Award winners will be announced at the 2014 Awards ceremony in London on 11 November 2014.
The winners of the inaugural European Rail Congress Awards were announced in front of 600 European rail officials at last night’s prestigious Awards Ceremony in London. The awards were part of the European Rail Congress – a two day industry rail summit and annual rail awards ceremony.
The awards were presented by UK comedian and TV personality Rory Bremner at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel in London. A total of twenty awards were given out on the night.
European Freight Operator of the Year went to ERS Railways – a 100% privately owned railway undertaking with five offices in four countries across Europe. Its modern fleet of 16 E locomotives and over 500 leased container platforms as well as (mega) trailer capable double pocket wagons makes it a major player in the growing European intermodal transport market. So far it has been granted railway licenses in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and it has 450 customers to date.
European Commuter Operator of the Year went to London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL). LOROL has managed significant growth in all aspect of its operations since taking over the new franchise in 2007 and successfully opened a major extension to its network in South London. There was a 25% growth in passengers last year – which LOROL has achieved whilst maintaining industry leading levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction.
London Underground beat off competition from Metro de Madrid to win the European Metro Operator of the Year. LU continues to achieve record-breaking numbers of passengers, service delivery, customer satisfaction and excess journey time reductions. It is also providing more capacity and higher service frequencies. This has been achieved in the midst of the biggest ever upgrade programme as well as the 2012 Olympics which saw 35% more passengers carried than normal.
I am pleased to be involved as a judge for these inaugural awards that celebrate and highlight outstanding achievements in European rail.
Awards to recognise industry excellence help to inspire others to take similar steps in the same direction and to help newcomers learn from more established operators. Sharing knowledge, expertise and experience is extremely important, not only as a way to disseminate best practice but to encourage innovation to keep Europe’s railways at the technological cutting edge.
These are important times for our industry as we expand and modernise into a seamless continental rail network, building on the achievements of the last decade.
Rail is well suited to cope with the expected increases in transport demand and, as a sustainable way of travel, will help to lessen our dependency on oil and meet the EU’s ambitious but necessary targets on reducing greenhouse emissions.
The award finalists know very well that rail has to move with the times – and they have been instrumental in making sure that it has done so. I applaud all the efforts that the European rail industry has made to improve its efficiency and move passengers and freight users towards the heart of its development strategy.
The finalists also, I am sure, share my own aims. These are to increase rail’s overall attractiveness by improving the efficiency, quality and punctuality of services to be offered across Europe at competitive prices. And of course, keeping our railways safe at the same time.
This is how rail can enhance its position as a real travel alternative – for both passengers and freight.
The Commission’s proposals in the Fourth Railway Package are designed to turn this vision into reality. They focus on interoperability and safety, in particular strengthening the powers of the European Railway Agency; they will extend market opening to domestic passenger traffic; they will reinforce requirements on institutional separation between infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
It is by working together, sharing ideas and experiences, and by following the example of those highlighted by these awards as industry success stories that we can make all this happen.
REGISTER NOW to attend our prestigious Awards Dinner and Summit on 12 and 13 November in London, which brings together the European Railway Sector to showcase and debate best practice.
With EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas providing the keynote speech and top comedian Rory Bremner as host, the Awards Dinner promises to be a highly enjoyable and informative evening.
There is an excellent programme of high-level European speakers confirmed for the two-day Summit across 12-13th November, including the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin MP, Brian Simpson MEP, Vladimir Yakunin, President, Russian Railways; Marcel Verslype, Executive Director, European Rail Agency and David Martin, CEO Arriva. Click here for a full list of speakers.
You can book your places for the Awards and Summit directly online or the team will be happy to register your attendance over the phone. Please call + 44 (0) 207 036 8571 for assistance.
Having received over 300 entries for the first ever European Rail Congress Awards, the judges have made their decision on the final shortlists for the 19 award categories for 2013.
Brian Simpson MEP, Chair of the Judging Panel, said:
“We know that the European rail sector has an excellent standing across the globe, and so the high standard of the submissions we received did not come as a surprise. However, it has made mine and my fellow judges’ jobs very difficult! Competition for a place on the short-list even for these inaugural Awards has been fierce.
I am pleased that countries from right across Europe have participated in these Awards and that evidence of best practice from both small and larger countries from the West of Europe across to the East, receive the opportunity for recognition of their efforts and innovation.”
The full short-list is available for download here
The winners will be announced at an Awards Dinner on the evening of 12 November as part of the two-day European Rail Congress taking place across 12 and 13 November in London. European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas will be providing the keynote address on the night.
Europe’s railways provide efficient, high quality and safe connectivity; reduce Europe’s emission of greenhouse gases; boost jobs and economic growth; and facilitate European competitiveness. The European rail sector is considered the world leader, employing around 800,000 people, generating a turnover of €73bn and growth expected to reach 2.7% each year for the next five years.
For more information on how to attend the 2013 European Rail Congress please click here
“I am delighted to see so many from the European rail sector have put themselves forward for these Awards. With over 300 entries received, it is a measure of the expertise, innovation and success that exists right across the continent. It is also a reflection of the pride and ambition of those working in the sector, providing safe, green and efficient transport for millions of people while supporting local and national economies. I look forward to announcing the winners of these Awards in November to reward best practice on Europe’s railways and to further raise the profile of rail’s important social, economic and environmental contributions.”
Brian Simpson MEP, Chair of European Parliament Transport & Tourism Committee and Chair of European Rail Congress Awards Judging Panel