On 14 and 15 June, together with CESI (www.cesi.org), we held meetings with European authorities in Brussels.
On the first day, we met with the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, and that same afternoon we were with the heads of the Directorate-General for Mobility (DG MOVE) of the European Commission.
On the second day, we had meetings with 5 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their assistants.
The topics we discussed directly with them were the following:
– Situation after Covid on the railways
– Job shortage
– Women’s integration
– Loss of railway operations after Covid -19
– Sustainable Transport and Railways
– Safety Culture
– Revision of the Train Drivers’ Directive
We all agreed and welcomed the intention to continue working hand in hand and we have proposed to monitor, with information and data from our side, the evolution of the recovery of rail traffic.
Bearing in mind that being a train driver in Europe does not provide any incentive, nor do the regulations make such a specific profession, with such high psychophysical demands, attractive to the new generations.
The average age of the train driving community and the European railway community is, in general, very high.
If we do not manage to attract professionals to the sector by means of appropriate regulation, we will soon find ourselves unable to put trains on the rails because there are no workers available.
It is time to act accordingly.