The Rail Sector Vision paper – Challenge 2050

Rail is vital to the well-being of Europe’s society and the strength of its economy. To maintain and develop this role in the future, the sector needs to meet enormous challenges. There is a need to protect the social, economic and environmental fabric. The railway community has developed Challenge 2050, a vision that identifies these challenges and makes a commitment to addressing them.

Challenge 2050 is the European rail sector’s shared perception of where the rail system could be by 2050. The document first gives a brief overview of the rail sector and then sets out the sector’s shared vision. It also identifies the many goals that are complementary to the vision and support a rail system that is responsive to the needs of Europe’s citizens.

The supporting paper describes many of the important drivers that were either the foundation or the catalyst for the changes necessary to arrive at our vision and goals for the rail system. Whilst the main Challenge 2050 document has been written as if the reader is in 2050 and looks back at the route taken, this paper builds from today and outlines some of the sector’s key drivers.

The paper follows an iterative process that demonstrates how we aligned the vision to the goals and then developed this vision to achieve successful delivery.