On 16 September 2025, ALLRAIL attended the GRB Plenary Session which took place in the format of a “Quiz with Oana Gherghinescu”, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).

The session was structured around a series of thematic questions to Ms Gherghinescu, focusing on ERA’s mission, innovation, human resources, vehicle authorisation and military mobility.

In particular, Ms Gherghinescu spoke about the following:

• ERA’s Mission: The priority is to reduce costs in the rail sector. Transparent regulation is needed to eliminate unnecessary red tape. Cross-border rail should be the main focus, as coordination is still lacking. On ERTMS, implementation currently stands at only 20%.

• FRMCS and Innovation: There must be a clear set of basic functionalities and a precise plan for phasing out GSM-R. For this, ERA needs sufficient staff and resources, which the sector can help advocate for.

• Vehicle Authorisation: The future lies in identifying which processes could be automated, while ensuring efficiency and safety.

• Military Mobility: The EU’s 202,000 km rail network should be better adapted for dual-use purposes. ERA could promote ETCS deployment across borders, ensure the availability of rolling stock for dual use, and track relevant data in the registers.

Additional observations concerned ERA’s budgetary challenges: while the Agency is negotiating with the European Commission for an increase, its Management Board has just approved a €500,000 cut.

The key takeaway is that greater standardisation and concrete action are needed to move the rail sector forward, for example by granting temporary vehicle authorisations while the necessary evidence is being collected.