On May 7, 2026, Eckhard Roll, Director at ECTRI Member DZSF represented ECTRI in an informal roundtable, organised by the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, in the premises of the European Parliament.
This informal roundtable sought to inform the current formulation of an INI report on the High-Speed Rail, occurring in the broader framework of the High-Speed Rail Plan, proposed by the European Commission in November 2025.
In this context, ECTRI would like to highlight the following key aspects:
➡️ Rail research is essential to support the implementation of the High-Speed Rail Plan. Funding for rail research should be secured in FP10, addressing current research concerns.
➡️ A reliable and attractive high-speed rail should meet societal mobility needs and support economic development, also considering regional rail networks.
➡️ User needs should be at the centre of all considerations.
➡️ Significant public resources are needed to mitigate the infrastructure limits posed by speed increases on existing routes, thus affecting the implementation of the High-Speed Rail Plan.
➡️ Improved interurban bus-rail connections are needed accross the EU.
Special thanks to Eckhard Roll and the ECTRI Task Force on EU Policy for contributing to this debate.