On 19 April 2013 the ERRAC Plenary meeting was held in Brussels under the Chairmanship of Josef Doppelbauer, Chief Technical Officer, Bombardier. The European Commission was represented by Mrs Manuela Soares, Director of the Transport Directorate at DG Research and Innovation.

Mrs Soares said that

ERRAC is a key actor in the cooperation for rail research, guiding efforts at European level, and she recognised ERRAC’s efforts to achieve the “Rail Route 2050 document and roadmaps”.

The ERRAC Coordination and support actions – named FOSTER RAIL – is currently under negotiation with the EU and will be a good tool to guide the upcoming efforts on SRRIA (Strategic Rail Research and Innovation Agenda).

During this plenary meeting, ERRAC Secretary Teodor Gradinariu submitted the new ERRAC ToR’s (Term of Reference) for approval, which will regulate further activities and bodies of the “Railway Research Platform”.

As a result of the entry into force of the new ToR’s, associated members were requested to nominate their representatives.

UIC has nominated for the Steering Board Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (UIC Director-General) as a full member, seconded by Mr Pierre Messulam (SNCF).

For the Steering Committee the nominated persons are: Bo Olsson (Trafikverket – UIC Chairman of Research Coordination Group – RCG) and Hans-Günther Kersten (Director of the UIC Rail System Department).

These nominations fit in the context of the development of research activities at UIC, with a more active role of UIC members in particular in the RCG and greater collaboration with ERRAC.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, is pleased to highlight that

these appointments should further elevate and strengthen this cooperation”.

Another important issue is the ERRAC preliminary input to Horizon 2020. DG Research is currently working with ERRAC to build together the first work programme for the next call for the first two years of Horizon 2020.