Rail is not fine art
Published: 10 November 2025
Updated: 17 December 2025
On Track with the Director
Some thoughts I would like to share after the successful "Cutting Cost in Rail" high-level event, co-organised by ERA together with the Danish Ministry for Transport, DG MOVE, Trafikstyrelsen, and Europe's Rail on 04-05 November in Copenhagen under the auspices of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Huge thanks to the organisers and to all participants!
In my opening address I have put forward a provocative motto: "Rail is special, but should not aim to be fine art".
Fine art | Rail |
... comes with unique concepts. | ... is a masterpiece when it’s based on full standardisation. |
... is custom-made, and replicas are not welcome. | ... should follow an industrial approach, with economies of scale. |
... prices for are huge and increase over time. | ... should be more and more affordable for the wide public. |
... is locked in private collections or in museums. | ... should cross borders seamlessly, easily, with leaned processes, with no further checks and as a true EU solution. It should travel safely. |
ERTMS is an appropriate test case for such an ambition. It is Europe’s flagship for rail safety and capacity, and we can boost its deployment in a harmonised, prioritised, and cost-effective way. A challenging journey, which takes courage and joint action from all the stakeholders. Much looking forward to this journey together to make European rail a masterpiece. Not in the fine art terms.
This article was published as part of the On Track with the Director page, a personal window into the thoughts, insights, and takeaways of Oana Gherghinescu, Executive Director of ERA.
The cost of non interoperability
English (2.71 MB - PDF)