On 16 June 2026, UIC organised the conference “Low Traffic, High Value: Activating the Potential of Rail Services in Europe’s Rural Areas” in Florence, Italy. The event brought together railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, stakeholders from the tourism sector, regional authorities, and researchers to discuss the future of rural railways and their contribution to regional development.
The conference was organised as part of the Tour&Rail initiative, and explored a central question: how can the value of regional rail services, which serve rural and low-density areas, be assessed beyond passenger numbers alone? Opening the event, representatives from UIC and the University of Florence highlighted the growing need to recognise the broader benefits produced by these services, including improved accessibility, social cohesion, increased tourism, environmental sustainability, and regional resilience.
The first session introduced the objectives and preliminary results of the Tour&Rail project, with researchers from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and UIC presenting ongoing work which examines how rail tourism can contribute to revitalising low-density areas and support more sustainable mobility patterns across Europe.
The conference then focused on two case studies which illustrated different ways in which rail services support rural regions. The Douro Line in Portugal was presented by representatives from Trains of Portugal (CP) and Turismo do Porto e Norte as an example of how scenic and heritage railways can strengthen the international attractiveness of the region while supporting local communities, as has been the case for the Douro Valley.
The Aulla–Lucca Line in Tuscany was then presented by the Tuscany Region, Trenitalia, and the Italian Railway Network (RFI), who highlighted the contribution of regional rail services to accessibility, maintaining local identity, and developing sustainable tourism. The discussion demonstrated how railways can act as a backbone for mobility in rural areas while supporting broader regional development objectives.
The conference concluded with a round table discussion bringing together representatives from Trenitalia, the Catalan Government Railways (FGC), CP, and academic institutions. The session focused on governance models, multimodal integration, climate objectives, and the long-term public value generated by regional rail services.
By bringing together experts from the railway, tourism and research sectors, discussions at the Florence conference underpinned how low-traffic railways can benefit regional communities, and highlighted the importance of developing new approaches to assessing railway performance and strengthening cooperation between transport and tourism stakeholders to support the future of rural rail services across Europe.
As the conference was live-streamed with simultaneous interpretation in English and Italian, interested stakeholders can access the full programme online and explore the presentations, case studies, and round table discussions that examined the contribution of regional rail services to tourism, regional cohesion, and sustainable development.
To learn more about the Erasmus+ Tour&Rail project, its objectives, and ongoing activities, please visit the project website: https://tourandrail.com/.
Additional information about the conference, including the full event recording, is available here: https://tourandrail.com/en/activity/dissemination-event-uic/.
