This agenda brings together the events organised by ERA during InnoTrans 2026, as well as sessions where ERA experts contribute to discussions on safety, interoperability, digitalisation and the future of European rail.
Join us at InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin and visit the EU Stand, where ERA will be present alongside the European Commission and Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking.
This Visitor Guide brings together the events organised by ERA, as well as sessions where ERA experts contribute to discussions on safety, interoperability, digitalisation and the future of European rail.
We look forward to meeting you throughout the week, sharing our work, exchanging ideas and discussing the challenges and opportunities ahead for the rail sector.
The EU Stand is located in Hall 4.2 - Stand 260
Persons who have scheduled a meeting with an ERA expert are kindly requested to present themselves at the EU Stand at the exact time of their appointment.
ERA Programme Highlights
Ahead of InnoTrans, a dedicated European train will transport a high-level delegation of railway stakeholders from Brussels to Berlin.
The journey will provide a unique opportunity for exchanges and collaboration through a programme of high-level discussions, workshops and networking sessions focused on the future of European rail. Topics will include railway resilience, high-speed rail, rail freight, next-generation railway systems and the human factor.
Please note that the train is reserved for invited participants and is not accessible to the general public.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
Both legal and institutional challenges hinder seamless rail transport between EU Member States, including the traffic in border regions which is in need of facilitation. What is the current state of play, what can national stakeholders do to cooperate beside EU legal requirements and what needs to be done?
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
This session will examine how strategic partnerships - such as Europe’s Rail - are pivotal in delivering the next generation of European rail, ensuring it is smarter, more resilient, and fit for the future. As rail stands at the heart of Europe’s sustainable mobility transition, collaboration across public institutions, industry, infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, technology providers and academia will be critical to scaling innovations that enhance interoperability, digitalisation, and operational efficiency at a pan-European level.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
This stand presentation will showcase the ongoing work and the direction of EU policy on military mobility and give examples of interest to the industry.
Place: The Palais (award) / EU stand (presentation)
The winners of the Women in Rail award will have the opportunitiy of presenting their projects (their impact and benefits for the sector) and get questions from the public. Sign up for the award ceremony or join us at 14:30 at the EU stand at InnoTrans to meet our 2026 winners.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Presentation of the Network of Ambassadors for #DiversityInTransport and discussion with Ambassador Matthias Rohrmann.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Panelists:
We will explore the growing role of satellite communication and space-based services in supporting the digital transformation of the European railway system complementing traditional communication networks by providing more coverage or resilience.
Place: Speakers' corner
Moderator: Oana Gherghinescu - ERA
Panelists:
One year after the adoption of the high-speed rail plan, this session will examine the steps taken and actions still planned to better connect Europe by high-speed rail. Infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, including new entrants are among the stakeholders expected to take part in the discussion. Topics discussed will include, among others, the overall competitiveness of the high-speed rail sector, its cross-border dimension but also the challenge of mobilising investment Union-wide to make ambitions concrete.
Place: Stage of the European stand
It will feature the signature of a new agreement with the European Union Agency for Railways, enabling ERA to support partner countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America on rail safety, interoperability and regulatory frameworks.
It will also reveal 12 laureates of the Early-Stage Investment Mobilisation - ESIM call for proposals, designed to support European private-sector engagement and provide start-up financing to companies at the early stages of project development.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderator: Sergio Oliete Josa - DG INTPA
Speakers:
This session will explore how interoperable regional rail corridors can drive growth, integration and higher-impact transport investment across regions, drawing on lessons from the EU experience. It will highlight how technical and regulatory harmonisation - including standards such as ERTMS/ETCS - can reduce operational vulnerabilities, strengthen regional policy coherence, and make corridor development more attractive for Global Gateway and international financing.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
The Single European Railway Area of Skills Alliance (SERAS) project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, is aimed at establishing and expanding a sustainable Rail Skills Alliance for railway skills enhancement, ensuring a resilient, skilled, and mobile workforce across the EU. New stakeholders are invited to join the alliance as associated partners to benefit from opportunities such as networking, access to skills intelligence tools and educational hubs and platforms, visibility and EU cooperation.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
We will explore how innovation is helping the European railway sector reduce costs, improve performance, and be a springboard for strengthening industrial competitiveness and expanding global market opportunities, including for SMEs.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Looking ahead, the session will examine the challenges and opportunities associated with digital rail freight. Speakers will discuss how innovation can accelerate the modal shift to rail, improve the attractiveness of rail freight for customers, and contribute to the development of a truly connected and seamless European logistics ecosystem.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderator: Eric von Breska - DG MOVE
Speakers:
On 13 May 2026 the Commission presented three legal proposals to make rail travel easier and more attractive. Wider availability of rail tickets across various online platforms and the possibility to combine tickets from different operators into a single journey, with full passenger rights. This package will unlock the full potential of rail.
Place: Speakers' corner
Moderator: Joachim Luecking - DG MOVE
Speakers:
The cost and complexity of digitalising European railway systems are too high. To reduce them, implementations must shift from complex, legacy-based approaches to a European system based on ERTMS, and harmonised wider CCS system with common operational rules. We will discuss the current situation, the solutions, and the expected impact on the sector.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Speakers:
Panel discussion:
Europe’s rail system is increasingly exposed to climate‑driven disruptions - heatwaves, flooding, landslides - and to a rapidly evolving cyber‑threat landscape targeting digital and energy assets. These are two faces of the same resilience challenge, where physical and digital vulnerabilities reinforce each other and can compromise rail continuity. The sector therefore needs coordinated action, shared standards, and investment in both climate‑proofing and cybersecurity. We will explore how EU institutions, infrastructure managers, operators and financial actors can jointly strengthen the resilience of the Single European Rail Area.
Place: Stage of the European stand
EU rules are often very technical and it is not always obvious how they address peoples’ daily concerns. In this session, we will consider two concrete examples directly relevant to the safety and accessibility of rail:
Come and join us to discuss how EU rules can change peoples’ jobs and lives!
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderator: Pio Guido - ERA
Speakers:
The upcoming CSM ASLP regulation is expected to help railway actors with the risk assessment of their activities enabling more effective preventive actions, through the sharing and analysis of relevant safety information, supported by a pro-active, performing system of data exchange. The European railway sector is confronted with emerging challenges (workforce demographics, disruptive technologies, scarce resources, climate change etc.), to maintain and improve the high levels of safety we need moving towards a new era of structured safety data sharing and collective learning.
This 45-minute panel, organised by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in cooperation with the European Commission, will explore how railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, freight operators and national authorities are today managing, sharing and leveraging on safety data, and how the future Information Sharing System (ISS) will further improve the exchange safety information, identify emerging risks and strengthen safety performance across Europe. The discussion will focus on current practices and experiences, and challenges, and the opportunities and expectations for creating a common European approach to safety intelligence and data-driven decision making. Inspired by the objectives of CSM ASLP and the future Information Sharing System, the panel will examine how better quality, harmonised and timely data can support a stronger safety culture and more effective risk management across the Single European Railway Area.
Place: Speakers' corner
Moderators: Chris Carr - ERA
Speakers:
The session will showcase the progress of the Vehicle Authorisation (VA) Leaning Process launched by ERA and discuss how digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence can help transform authorisation processes into a faster, more predictable, more transparent and more efficient service for European rail stakeholders. The discussion builds on ERA's broader ambition to simplify regulatory processes while maintaining the highest levels of safety, supporting the competitiveness of the European railway sector and accelerating innovation deployment.
The debate should focus on three interconnected themes:
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderator: Antonio d'Agostino
Step into the future of railway operations at the launch of the EP Pilot Project on Languages - where innovation meets collaboration. This event unites regulators, users, Notified Bodies, and digital pioneers like LLM providers to explore groundbreaking translation solutions that will redefine multilingual communication in the rail sector. Join us to shape the next generation of tools and ensure your voice is part of this transformative journey.
Place: Stage of the European stand
The EU’s trans-European transport network policy, the TEN-T policy, is a key instrument for planning and developing a coherent, efficient, multimodal, and high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU. We’ll talk on how this is a key aspect in the rail development at present and in its future.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Panel discussion with representatives of new star ups appearing in the domain of rail, to present their technologies, challenges, good practices how to integrate their ideas into the rail eco-system and lessons learnt.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderators
Youth panellists
To place the everyday experience and expectations of young passengers at the centre of the European rail policy debate. The session should move beyond a general discussion about the attractiveness of rail and identify practical steps that EU institutions, regulators, research programmes, Member States and the sector can take to make international rail:
The youth representatives’ manifesto argues that international rail offers young travellers a sustainable and socially enriching way to experience Europe, but that fragmented booking systems, complex routes, high prices and uncertainty over passenger rights prevent rail from becoming an easy alternative to flying.
Place: Stage of the European stand
The adoption of the rail capacity regulation was just the beginning. Now, the sector is full steam ahead, developing the practical rules and structures that will make smarter capacity management a reality. Infrastructure managers, infrastructure users, rail regulators, and the Commission are working hand in hand to set up new governance bodies, align timelines, and turn legislative ambition into on-the-ground solutions. What’s happening now? This session pulls back the curtain on the ongoing collaboration as the sector continues to shape the future of rail. Join us to hear directly from those driving the change and see how the pieces are coming together to keep Europe’s railways moving forward.
Place: Stage of the European stand
Moderator: karel VAN GILS - EU-Rail
Speakers:
RMCS specifications and their testing should conclude in September 2027. Speakers will discuss the latest status of their development and priorities of pre-deployment activities, based on a sector-wide questionnaire. The discussion will highlight industry’s readiness and migration options to FRMCS compatible ETCS versions.