Keep it Rail! has left the station: UITP highlights urban rail for sustainable mobility with new campaign
Rail can be considered the beating heart of public transport
If public transport is the backbone of urban mobility, rail can be considered its beating heart. Rail has proven to be one of the most sustainable, comfortable and safe modes of transport. Our railways facilitate economic development and create employment, they connect places and people.
2021 is the European Year of Rail
Therefore, it is no wonder that the European Commission has declared 2021 as the European Year of Rail, highlighting one of our most sustainable and innovative modes and planning various activities to put the benefits of rail transport in the spotlight.
The EU Year of Rail aims to create momentum to help increase rail’s share of passenger and freight transport, cutting transport greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. The campaign supports the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve a 90% reduction in transport emissions by 2050.
2021 will also represent an important leap towards the Single European Railway Area: a more efficient European rail network with seamless mobility across borders.
Keep it Rail! puts a global spotlight on our railways
To support the EU’s objective of promoting rail, UITP now launches Keep it Rail!: a campaign with a global focus highlighting urban rail as essential means for sustainable mobility.
As an international association, UITP will showcase the work being done across the rail sector worldwide to promote regional, suburban, urban and local rail transport. Throughout 2021, UITP will organise events and launch new publications and projects: from the APTA-UITP Rail Conference in June, to three new Statistics Briefs on Metro (World), Light Rail (Europe), and Suburban and Regional Rail (Europe), to a report on Rail Success Stories later in the year.
In the Keep it Rail! Digizine, you can find out more about our Rail Committees and publications, dive into UITP’s rail history, and of course keep track of our rail activities in 2021.
“Regional and suburban rail, metro and light rail hold a vital position in our mobility landscape: Urban rail is the backbone of transport in many cities. Especially now, as we look towards building back better and ensuring sustainable cities for the future, we must dedicate much attention to advancing the attractiveness of urban rail and make sure rail receives the institutional and financial support it deserves. Therefore, bringing rail stakeholders from across the world around the table and innovating together is an essential way to maintain excellence in the sector.”
Join the APTA-UITP Rail Conference
On 8 and 9 June 2021, UITP and the American Public Transportation Association are joining forces for the APTA-UITP Rail Conference, exploring urban, commuter, high-speed, and intercity rail modes and taking on board topics such as technology, safety & security, finance, workforce development, diversity and inclusion, and more.
There will be live roundtables and panel discussions across both days alongside networking breaks and evening happy hours where you will find plenty of opportunity to connect in a virtual world with your industry peers.
With recognisable industry voices, including our keynote speaker Rishad Tobaccowala, our programme will be packed with those who will help deliver the future of rail in cities across the globe. More information at the link.
Find out how Shift2MaaS advanced multimodal EU travel
Another upcoming activity on the rail timeline is the Final Event of the EU-funded project Shift2MaaS. Held together with other project MaaSive, the event will showcase how both projects contributed to Shift2Rail’s Innovation Programme 4, which aims to facilitate multimodal travel in a highly diverse European environment. Among others, the consortium will demonstrate the results from the Shift2MaaS pilots that tested IP4 technologies in Lisbon, Malaga and Central-East Corridor.
Register for the event here!
Keep track of Keep it Rail!
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