The Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) has awarded a €45 million (£38 million) contract to the System Pillar Consortium to oversee the transformation of the European rail system.

EU-Rail is the new European partnership on rail research and innovation established under the Horizon Europe programme (2020-2027). It is the successor to the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.

The aim of the organisation is to establish a high capacity, flexible, multi-modal and reliable integrated European railway network by eliminating barriers to interoperability both for passengers and cargo.

The System Pillar Consortium, comprising public- and private-sector bodies from across the European Union, will “operationalise the role of a single coordinating body of Europe’s Rail, bringing together the rail manufacturing industry, the rail operating community and other rail private and public stakeholders,” explained Carlo Borghini, executive director of EU-Rail.

The partnership aims to accelerate research and development in innovative technologies and operational systems in support of EU policies and objectives and the Single European Railway Area.