UNIFE, the European rail industry association, called for a successor to the current Rail Joint Undertaking (RJU) at a high‑level event held at the European Parliament on 5 October 2026. The meeting was attended by MEPs Sophia Kircher and Christian Ehler of the EPP, UNIFE Director General Enno Wiebe, and representatives of the European rail sector. UNIFE argued that terminating the public‑private research partnership after the present programme would weaken coordination among manufacturers, railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, EU institutions and Member States. The association is seeking a new dedicated rail research programme covering the 2028‑2034 EU budget period and has called for at least EUR 3 billion to be made available for research and innovation.
UNIFE highlighted the need for coordinated European funding because individual companies and national programmes cannot alone address technologies intended for deployment across several railway systems. The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), the successor to the GSM‑R radio system, is cited as an immediate example. Research programmes also support Digital Automatic Coupling and other technologies aimed at reducing deployment costs and improving interoperability. UNIFE warned that stopping the joint research programme could delay these technologies and increase the cost of introducing them across European networks.
The association framed the discussion within the broader context of competition with non‑European suppliers, noting that Chinese competitors now spend considerably more on research and innovation than Europe’s largest rail suppliers. UNIFE said that losing a common European programme could weaken the position of European manufacturers. The European rail supply sector employs more than 650,000 people, including construction activities, and UNIFE’s members reinvest around 3.6 % of annual revenue in research and innovation. MEP Sophia Kircher urged that the next EU budget retain a dedicated railway research structure to keep Europe’s rail industry a global leader and to regain momentum in modal share. UNIFE also linked the programme with work on satellite applications, cybersecurity, climate resilience and reducing the cost of commercial deployment of new railway technologies, insisting that these activities should continue through a standalone rail public‑private partnership under the EU’s next research framework.
