Unife Press release

Brussels, 3 February 2010

The European Railway Award 2010 was presented today to former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González for political achievements and to former Deutsche Bahn Board Member Roland Heinisch for technical achievements. Since 2007, the European rail sector has honoured outstanding achievements in the development of competitive and environmentally sustainable rail transport. The European Railway Award 2010 attracted more than 450 guests from all over Europe, including high-level politicians and transport stakeholders.

The former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González received the European Railway Award 2010 for his decision to boost the Spanish economy by making large investments in high speed rail infrastructure. The prize was handed over by the European Commission’s Vice-President Antonio Tajani. In his laudatory speech, Mr Tajani underlined the personal role Felipe González played in transforming the Spanish rail infrastructure into one the most modern systems in Europe. Vice-President Antonio Tajani said: “Giving the ‘European Railway Award’ to Felipe González is a recognition of the effort undertaken by a whole country, Spain, to keep pace with other EU member states in the field of high speed trains. This modernisation project was also constructed thanks to the intelligent and extensive use of EU structural and cohesion funds.”

Prime Minister Felipe González, who regretted not being able to attend the ceremony in person, said in his video message that the future of Europe will depend much on a the future of the railways: “The idea was to transform Spain. It was a project of modernisation of Spain, to gain in efficiency and productivity, to change from more polluting transport modes to a much more environmentally friendly mode. We made a shift with a certain vision which was, if I am allowed to say, historical. In the past, railways were a response to industrialisation and changing times, and it will be so again in the future. With the dimensions of Europe, rail is the answer, not only for passengers but also for goods.”

The European Railway Award 2010 for technical achievements was presented to the German rail engineer Roland Heinisch by Karel Vinck from the European Commission. As a long-standing member of the executive board of Deutsche Bahn AG and head of the German infrastructure manager, Roland Heinisch has significantly contributed to the technical development of railways on both a national and international level, not least driving the implementation of high-speed connections between France, Belgium, and Germany. In a personal laudatory speech on Roland Heinisch, Karel Vinck, rail corridor coordinator for the European Commission, said: “The reason why rail has such a potential today, is because people like Roland Heinisch have contributed so much, without respite, by their creativity, their innovative capability, their common sense and their extraordinary knowledge accumulated during their long careers. Let us hope that the decision-making stakeholders will build on this and set the right priorities and commit the necessary means to give the railway sector a chance to unfold its economic and environmental potential.”

When receiving the European Railway Award 2010, Roland Heinisch looked back at his long and successful international career: “My concern has always been to ensure the railways’ ongoing competitiveness on the transport market, including rail’s environmental assets, both at system and company level. As fascinating as they are, technical concerns were for me never an end in themselves but a means – indeed a pre-requisite – to achieve an end, to make the railways a marketable and competitive prospect. ”

The European Railway Award is organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), and the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM). In previous years, the European Railway Award was awarded to outstanding personalities like the ‘father’ of TGV Jean Dupuy, the key ERTMS developer Bengt Sterner, late Transport Commissioner Karel van Miert, and Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger.

Pictures of the European Railway Award 2010 and the CER, UNIFE, and EIM Annual Reception will be available as of 4 February at www.annualreception.eu.

Please download the full news release including the laureates' speeches here