The EU’s rail sector is a global leader in developing innovative technologies needed to make rail systems more agile, resilient and competitive. But all too often, as in other sectors of the European economy, those brilliant ideas never quite make it to the tracks – and when they do, it doesn’t happen fast enough. 

In this seventh episode of The European Railcast, host Jacki Davis explores what is needed to ensure that groundbreaking innovations are taken up and deployed in the real world at the speed and scale required to realise the enormous benefits they can bring to both rail passengers and freight customers.

She is joined by Karel Van Gils, Senior Programme Manager, Europe’s Rail; Davide Pifferi, a member of Europe Rail’s Governing Board responsible for the coordination & Management of Europe’s Rail & European R&I projects at Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane; and Christian Sagmeister, Head of Railway Systems at ÖBB-Infrastruktur Railway Systems & Member of Europe’s Rail’s High-Level Deployment Group. 

They discuss the challenges that need to be met to overcome the obstacles and accelerate the take-up of innovative solutions; the work being done by Europe Rail’s Deployment Group to address these issues; what more is needed to support implementation of those solutions; and where we go from here.

The European Railcast: A Podcast About the Future of European Mobility is brought to you by Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, the European partnership for rail research and innovation under the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

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Erscheinungs­datum: 16.2.2026, 10:15:00