The 2023 European Railway Award has been held in Brussels in a 16th edition strongly marked by current events in Ukraine.
Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The Rail Champion prize was presented to Ukrainian Railways (UZ) for their “remarkable resilience and continuation of transport services in times of war and unimaginable hardship.”
Additionally, Eglė Šimė was recognized as this year’s Rail Trailblazer for her focus on empowering women in railways while ably steering her company, LTG Cargo “through tumultuous times.”
The awards were given out on Tuesday during a ceremony at Belgium’s Royal Museums of Fine Arts, in the presence of high-level European Commission officials, Members of the European Parliament, the Swedish Presidency of the EU represented by Swedish Minister for Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson, and Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said, “Rail transport, she said, will play an important part in Europe’s plan to become climate neutral by 2050.”
Andreas Carlson, Sweden’s Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, presented the outlook for rail policy during the Swedish EU Presidency, noting “I would like to stress the importance of well-functioning, efficient transport systems for Europe’s competitiveness. Transport is the backbone of our economy, and rail plays a significant part.”
The European Railway Award’s Rail Champion title is an honorary recognition jointly bestowed by the organizers.
Recent tragic events in Ukraine and the remarkable efforts to keep transport lines open made Ukrainian Railways (UZ) a clear winner for this year’s prize.
The organizers said, “Since the start of the war, Ukrainian Railways have provided a lifeline to millions of displaced citizens and kept vital aid and supplies flowing through the country.
“Working under the most difficult and dangerous conditions, UZ employees’ heroic efforts are ensuring the continuation of transport services according to a regular railway schedule. These efforts demonstrate the enormous resilience and crisis fitness of the railway system and the importance of strong railway companies.
“Ukrainian Railways’ everyday struggle and ongoing achievement were deemed highly deserving of the Rail Champion Award, which also served to underline the EU community’s solidarity and support.”
Board Member of Ukrainian Railways Oleksandr Pertsovskyi was present to collect the Award on behalf of UZ and its entire workforce. In his acceptance speech, he said: “It’s an honor for the Ukrainian railway workers who keep doing their job on a daily basis despite constant shellings and infrastructure damage. We have managed to evacuate more than 4 m people by rail, 1 m of them being children. So, my first point here is a massive “thank you” to all railway workers in Europe who ensured their route to safety, and to ordinary Europeans for generously hosting and caring about our children. It’s important for us, the railwaymen, to know that those children that we have saved – and paid with 327 lives for that – are cared about.
“My second point is that war is no excuse for us to not keep enhancing our service quality and find new Euro integration routes. More railway connections with Poland and Romania in recent months are vivid proof of that, and we are striving for more. So, I hereby invite all the railways in Europe and beyond to help Ukraine speed up the victory, to work with us on establishing more connections, and to personally visit Kyiv by safe and comfortable trains of Ukrzaliznytsia.”
