At the invitation of LINEAS, the sherpas of the Freight CEO TF met in Brussels on 23 October to discuss the levers on which to act in order to create a dynamic towards modal shift and ultimately enable sustainable profitable growth.

The brainstorming session was organised and moderated by Lineas, Rail Cargo Group and UIC. It is the second one of this kind, the first one having been held in Vienna in September with the participation of Clemens Först, CEO RCG and Chairman of the High Level Freight and UIC Freight Forum.

The workshop of 23 October was opened by Geert Pauwels, CEO Lineas, who engaged in a constructive discussion with participants on how to foster modal shift but also on how to steer a change in the way rail is perceived. Geert Pauwels said “you can make that change by focusing on the big picutre and not on focusing exclusively on a couple of issues. We need a drastic change rather than an incremental one and it is our role to define in what direction it needs to go.”

After this initial discussion, the meeting attended by RCG, BLS, DB, PKP, SNCF, Lineas, ERFA, UIC, CER was split into two groups. The first one brainstormed on two of the four levers identified as being the foundation for the mental shift. The second one focused on how the “story telling” could be improved.

A follow-up session is scheduled on 8 November.