EUROPE: A discussion group created by MEPs to promote rail industry issues is to be launched in Strasbourg on March 9.
Rail Forum Europe was formally established on February 16 to provide a cross-committee setting where ‘constructive dialogue can take place to improve the understanding of rail-related issues and facilitate co-operation in the development of joint strategies and initiatives between MEPs and the rail sector.’
The MEPs who constitute the forum comprise six members of the transport committee, plus eight representing different committees covering trade, regulatory issues and economics.
It is headed by Brian Simpson, who is Chairman of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee. ‘The Rail Forum should increase the visibility of rail among EU policy-makers and help rail to play a pivotal role in EU transport policy’, Simpson explained.
Read an in-depth interview with Brian Simpson in the March issue of Railway Gazette International.