Planned New Activities

Challenges facing the Railway Sector today
	Increase overall competitiveness and attractiveness of rail transport in terms of speed, availability, comfort, punctuality, reliability
	Maintain and improve railways advantages in terms of environmental performance
	Increase capacity, enhance infrastructure to meet growing demand for transport in the EU
	Improve value for money to achieve economic sustainability vis-à-vis other modes

The Railway Sector is committed to:
	Capitalising on growing demand for transport in an enlarged EU
	Increasing capacity in order to reduce congestion on major European corridors and within urban centres
	Shifting medium- to long-distance freight from road to rail
	Contributing to sustainable development by reducing damage to the environment
	Further improving rail safety performance

Main future activities of ERRAC
General tasks
	Ensuring the best alignment of the research programmes with the identified ERRAC research priorities
	Identifying synergies among various corporate, national and EU research programmes and promoting better co-ordination
	Nurturing and endorsing new research initiatives
	Evaluating on-going and completed projects
	Driving training and development of engineers with new skills for the emerging technologies = > key role for EURNEX
Specific tasks
	Acting as an advisor on future rail research needs to the European Commission for the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) and beyond
	Drawing up the second Strategic Rail Research Agenda
	Promoting ERRAC activities and implementing an efficient communications strategy

Contribution to the 7th Framework Programme
Produce ‘Rail 21’ Vision
	Present complex technological options in an easily understood manner
	Summarise the results of a sector-wide consultation
	Nurturing and endorsing new research initiatives
	Identify research areas that require special attention
	Prioritise research to be undertaken up to 2013
	Cluster these research priorities around the global transport objectives set out by the European Commission for FP7
Draft the SRRA II
	Use the Rail 21 Vision as the basis for SRRA II
	Produce the first draft by April 2006 to make an effective contribution to the FP7 Work Programme for rail
	Focus on the identification of gaps and update SRRA I objectives