Former member of the European Parliament Wim van de Camp has been appointed Dutch Ambassador for the European Year of Rail. State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and Water management asked Van de Camp in consultation with representatives of the Dutch railway sector to strengthen the European Year of Rail in the Netherlands.
Wim van de Camp was a member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019. In his role as rapporteur for the fourth Railway Package, he has participated intensively in the European policy debate on the use of railways for passenger and freight transport.
Role as ambassador
According to the Secretary of State, in his role as ambassador, Wim van de Camp can act as a figure head for the Dutch railway sector during European activities “to show what opportunities travel by rail offers, not only within the Netherlands, but also between European countries and cities. In this way, the ambassador can contribute to an appealing program for the European Year of Rail”, Van Veldhoven writes to the House of Representatives.
The program follows on from the decision of the European Council and the European Parliament to declare 2021 the European Year of Rail. This involves both contributions to national and European policy development for railways, but also to public events, which should contribute to furthering the attention of the European railway sector. At European level, there is regular consultation with national contacts of the Member States on the programming of the European Year of Rail.
Kick-off Year of Rail
During the online conference RailTech Europe 2021, there is a lot of attention for the European Year of Rail. The first congress day on March 30 is all about international train connections and the European Year of Rail.
The day before the event, on March 29, the European Commission in Portugal officially kicks off the European Year of Rail. In the ProMedia Studios in Rotterdam, RailTech together with Wim van de Camp, Corina de Jongh from Railforum, Justus Hartkamp from ProRail and Karin Haaksman from Unife look forward to the opening and do the Dutch kick-off of the European Year of the Railway. After that, the live stream from Portugal will start.