The European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) held a significant plenary meeting at the Maison Irène et Frédéric Joliot-Curie Auditorium in Brussels. The event began with a welcome from ERRAC Chairman Dr. Andrzej Massel and approval of the agenda. Judit Sandor, Programme Manager of Europe’s Rail JU, gave a keynote speech on ERJU updates. Reports were presented by Johan Jonsson on WG2 projects and collaborations, and by Marion Berbineau on the Academic PAG. Davide Zamboni highlighted RRIA and WG1 activities. A networking lunch allowed attendees to exchange ideas.
In the afternoon, Andrea Gentili from DG RTD spoke about clean transport transitions, and Wawrzyniec Perschke from DG Move discussed European rail policy. Artur Fojud (UIC), Nicolas Furio (UNIFE), and Armando Carrillo Zanuy (EURNEX) briefed on the nomination process for the ERRAC Chairman and Vice-Chairmen for the new term starting on 01 July 2024, lasting three years. During this mandate, the UIC representative will also serve as ERRAC Secretary to enhance collaboration among stakeholders.
The meeting endorsed R. Kaminsky as the next ERRAC Chair and Ms. Berbineau as the Academics Vice-Chair. The ROC-nominated ERRAC Vice-Chair will be presented by UIC for endorsement in June 2024. Discussions included alternating the meeting location, with UIC HQ in Paris as the next potential site, and updates from WG3. The event concluded with the 2024 Master and PhD students ERRAC-EU-Rail-EURNEX competition awards, presented by Marion Berbineau and Ian Conlon. Winners included Florian Roessl (DLR, Master 1st Prize), Laurens Lanzillo (Politecnico di Milano, Master 2nd Prize), Joelle Aoun (Delft University of Technology, PhD 1st Prize), and Yuanchen Zeng (Delft University of Technology, PhD 2nd Prize).
This meeting reaffirmed ERRAC’s commitment to innovation and collaboration in the European rail sector.
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