BERLIN — The Railway Supply Institute and its Canadian and European counterparts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish future collaboration between the rail supply industry groups.
The agreement between RSI, the Canadian Association of Railway Suppliers, and the European Rail Supply Industry Association, or UNIFE, was announced Tuesday at the InnoTrans trade fair.
The memorandum, available here, includes calls for the organizations to work to promote best practices and establish quality standards worldwide; reduce trade barriers; advocate for fair global procurement rules; and strengthen protections regarding infrastructure, cybersecurity, and intellectual property.
“I’m proud to be joining these two organizations in a commitment to address some of our most important challenges facing the industry today,” RSI President Patty Long said in a press release. “Recent international events have truly underscored the strategic importance of freight and passenger rail to world markets.”
The agreement opens the door to deepened collaboration need to foster the health and future growth of the industry, while enabling the identification of emerging opportunities for the organizations to work together in advancing those objectives.
“The railway supply industry in Canada, the United States and Europe are strategic manufacturing sectors. Currently, significant investment in rail projects is occurring on both sides of the Atlantic. This MoU further solidifies the recognition that rail is the greenest and safest means of moving both people and freight,” said CARS President Sylvia Newell.
