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2021 European Year of Rail

The European Commission has proposed declaring 2021 the European Year of Railways because next year one will celebrate a number of important anniversaries for rail: the 20th anniversary of the EU’s first railway package, the 175th anniversary of the very first rail link between two EU capitals (Paris-Brussels), as well as 40 years of TGV and 30 years of ICE.

The main objective of the European Commission is to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the European Green Deal in the field of transport. A series of events, campaigns and initiatives will promote rail as a sustainable, innovative and safe mode of transport in 2021. They will highlight the benefits of rail for the population, the economy and the climate, as well as the remaining challenges to create a true European railway area without borders.

It is therefore not a campaign focusing on the history and heritage of the railways.
But railways and tramways, both their buildings and infrastructure and rolling stock, are an important industrial heritage. That is why EFAITH, together with our members, partners and contacts, wants to make clear the impact of railways on the social, economic and political fabric and events in Europe from the 1840s onwards. And in what way their heritage still has an impact on and can contribute to the identity of regions and municipalities today.

In preparation for the European Year of Railways 2021, EFAITH, the European Federation of Industrial and Technical Heritage Associations, has therefore launched a campaign to draw attention to the endangered railway heritage. This campaign is also supported by Fedecrail, the European Federation of Tourist Railways.

The aim is to provide an overview of the endangered railway heritage in the member states of the Council of Europe. This overview, together with existing problems, will then be presented to the European institutions and national and regional authorities at a workshop in 2021.
Over the next few months and next year, we would like to call on associations and citizens to work together to conserve and enhance this heritage.  To engage, to support each other, across borders.

After an initial call, fourteen days ago, EFAITH was inundated with reports of endangered railway heritage. To date, 35 alarm calls from 14 countries have already reached us, and this seems to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Old railway lines are decommissioned. Stations, signal boxes and workshops are decaying into ruins or being demolished – while they could easily be redeveloped as a form of sustainability. Written-down rolling stock is stored in poor conditions or ends up in railway cemeteries. Disused iron railway bridges rust or are demolished and sold for scrap value. Old railway lines can be transformed into Greenways, Voies Vertes, quiet and ecologically sound cycle paths and footpaths… Tourist railways, often run by volunteers, are threatened by the loss of income due to COVID-19, while they are a tourist attraction in rural areas.
A first overview of the alerts can be consulted here.

For more information, please go to EFAITH website.