A total of 53 proposals were submitted from non-members of Shift2Rail with an average of five proposals per topic. The request for funding is nearly five times the amount available in this year’s budget. Out of 412 participants, 29% are small and medium enterprises.
“I am confident that the proposed projects will bolster Shift2Rail’s ambitious objectives to foster competitive research and innovation actions in the railway industry through developing market-driven solutions that meet European Union transport needs,” says Henrik Hololei, the European Commission’s director general for mobility and transport.
“In comparison with the number of topics available, the proposals submitted are almost double that of last year,” says Mr Carlo Borghini, executive director of the Shift2Rail JU. “This confirms that the Shift2Rail JU is recognised as an efficient, open and transparent partnership to defragment research and innovation in order to bring together innovative solutions to the railway system.”
Evaluation of the proposals is expected to be concluded by early June and applicants will be informed about the outcome by mid-June. Research on the selected projects is expected to start on September 1.
