BRUSSELS, 19 January 2024: This month, eighteen European mobility companies and start-ups have joined forces to launch the EU Future Mobility Taskforce. ALLRAIL is very proud that two of our members – Omio and Flix – are founding members of this groundbreaking initiative.

The taskforce was formally launched in a meeting with the European Commissioner for Transport, Mrs Adina Vălean, in Brussels, with the goal of “providing guidance to policymakers for the next legislative mandate (of the EU Parliament and Commission) in the area of innovation and startups in the transportation sector”.

Omio is a multimodal travel platform committed to connecting travellers with accessible, affordable, and sustainable transportation options. It is driving a transformation in travel by empowering more people to make conscious decisions about how they arrive at their destination.

Flix is the parent company of FlixTrain, which provides competitive long-distance passenger rail services in Sweden and Germany, with plans to expand with new cross-border services. Like Omio, Flix wants modal shift to collective modes of transport to meet the goals of the EU Green Deal.

ALLRAIL Secretary General Nick Brooks says: “The status quo in EU passenger rail does not work. Multiple tens of billions of taxpayer euros are paid every year to subsidise the system, but the market share of rail is stagnant at just 8%, and only 4% for cross-border travel.
By contrast, it is these European mobility companies in this Taskforce that will drive innovation, sustainability, and growth.”

However, Europe’s rail entrepreneurs need strong regulation that leads to faster market opening, fair access to finance, and data accessibility. Otherwise, there will never be a Single European Railway Area. The main beneficiary of maintaining the status quo is the car industry.