The European Railway Award

The European Railway Award was initiated in 2007 and is jointly organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), and the Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes, the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE).

Award ceremony and annual reception

The European Railway Award honours outstanding political and technical achievements in the development of economically and environmentally sustainable rail transport. The award is held annually in Brussels with over 500 participants. The award includes prize money, which is donated to the charitable organizations of the laureates’ choice. The jury consists of CEOs of rail companies and other stakeholders from the transport sector. Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Brian Simpson, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Transport Committee, are regular guests of honour of the European Railway Award. The Award Ceremony is always followed by the joint CER-UNIFE Annual Reception.

Prior to 2018, a political and technical award were given out to two recipients, but these awards were merged in 2018. In 2017, for the tenth anniversary of the award, no awards were given out.

Award recipients (2017-)

Year	Name	Achievements
2017	N/A	No awards were handed out in 2017, for the tenth anniversary.
2018	The Gotthard Base Tunnel Project	The tunnel is the world's longest railway tunnel, and allowed for a modal shift of freight from road to rail.
2019	Catherine Trautmann	European Coordinator for the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic Corridor, former MEP, and former Mayor of Strasbourg
2020	Geert Pauwels	Geert Pauwels made rail freight profitable as CEO of Lineas, by restructuring the indebted Belgian company

Political award recipients (2007-2016)

The political award was given to personalities who have contributed to the development of economically and environmentally sustainable rail transport in their countries and in Europe.

Year	Name	Achievements
2007	Karel van Miert	As European Commissioner for Transport (1989-1993), Karel van Miert laid the foundations for the creation of an integrated European railway market.
2009	Moritz Leuenberger	Formerly Swiss Minister responsible for Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Leuenberger set out a blueprint for a sustainable transport policy in Switzerland. With the aim of transferring goods traffic from the roads to the rails, he promoted the Swiss “Heavy Vehicles Fee” (LSVA), which came into operation on 1 January 2001 on the Swiss public road network after a national referendum. To reduce Switzerland’s CO2 emissions, Leuenberger also promoted an incentive tax on fossil fuels, which entered into force at the beginning of 2008.
2010	Felipe González	González, former Spanish Prime Minister, was awarded for the decision to build a new, high-speed railway line between Madrid and Seville in 1986, which entered into service in 1992. He was also awarded for the implementation of the "Plan Felipe", which changed the railway's role in Spain’s big cities.
2011	Ken Livingstone	British Labour politician and former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone received the award for his decision to implement the Congestion Charge in inner London on 17 February 2003.
2012	Karel Vinck	Vinck, former CEO of the SNCB, received the Political Award for his contributions to the development of ERTMS as the European ERTMS Corridor Coordinator. Vinck supervised the implementation of ERTMS on the six ERTMS corridors.
2013	Benedikt Weibel	Weibel, the CEO of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), had a major influence on its strategic direction. He received the Political Award for his systematic and successful progress in long-distance, regional and international services. He inaugurated Rail 2000 on 12 December 2004. Under his leadership the density of trains per line kilometer doubled.
2014	Jacques Barrot	Former European Commissioner for Transport
2015	Lord Andrew Adonis	Former UK Secretary of State for Transport
2016	Isabelle Durant	Former Vice-President of the European Parliament

Technical award recipients (2007-2016)

The Technical Award was given to personalities who have contributed to the design of breakthrough solutions and technologies in the rail sector.

Year	Name	Achievements
2007	Jean Dupuy	Dupuy received the Technical Award for his decisive role in designing and putting into operational service Europe’s first high-speed train, the French TGV.
2009	Bengt Sterner	Sterner received his award for his leading role in initiating the UIC ETCS Project and in specifying the European Train Control System ETCS.
2010	Roland Heinisch	Heinisch, a long-standing member of the executive board of Deutsche Bahn AG and head of the German infrastructure manager, has significantly contributed to the technical development of railways.
2011	Stefan Haas	Haas received the Technical Award for the development of eddy current brakes for high-speed train systems that became a regular feature of high-speed train travel.
2012	François Lacôte	Lacôte was the designer of the first TGV trains in 1971.
2013	Johannes Nicolin	Johannes Nicolin received the Technical Award for his innovations, especially those in intermodal freight wagons.
2014	Giorgio Diana	Researcher and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano
2015	Alexander Neumeister	Industrial designer
2016	Eric Fontanel	Railway engineer

Links

• European Railway Award

Press review

• European Voice, Prestigious awards at the European railways industry annual reception, European Voice, 28 February 2013.
• Henri Borzi, European Railway Award 2013 assigned, BrusselsDiplomatic, 27 February 2013.
• Railway Gazette International, Awards encourage European railway integration, Railway Gazette International, 9 February 2012.
• De Standaard, Railway Award, 9 February 2012.
• The Parliament Magazine, Commissioner says railways have 'crucial' role in tackling climate change, The Parliament Magazine, 17 February 2011.
• Transport Business International, Rail sector celebrates European Railway Award, Transport Business International, 2011.
• Railway Gazette International, Kallas calls for change at European Railway Award, Railway Gazette International, 10 February 2011.
• Global Rail News, Ken Livingstone and Stefan Haas receive European Railway Award, Global Railway News, 10 February 2011.
• EurActiv, EU 'wise men' chief wants more rail, less road, EurActiv, 5 February 2010.