Do you speak English?

Some transport sub-sectors already use a unified English language. Now it may be the turn of the railroad. The European Parliament has adopted an action plan to expand rail transport and English should become the working language of train drivers across Europe. This will bring the Common European Railway Area closer to reality, but there is still a long way to go. Railway Supply magazine writes about this with reference to Kurier Kolejowy.

For the first time, the European Parliament supports the introduction of English as a unified working language for train drivers in the EU. When a train enters a country, a change of train crew inevitably occurs if the driver does not know the language of this country. On the other hand, English will enable travel throughout the EU, thereby increasing the competitive advantage of rail transport over road transport, where truck drivers do not need to receive instructions from traffic controllers by radio or written commands at stations.

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The creation of a unified European rail space faces obstacles, as borderless rail transport is often hindered by various technical systems, labor and safety standards, and operational and organizational rules for infrastructure managers.

“In addition to accelerating the construction of new rail lines and infrastructure projects, the plan also relies on a more efficient distribution of cross-border rail tracks. At the same time, it is especially important that English be recognized as the language of communication on railways across the EU. A truck can get from Portugal to Finland with no problem, and dozens of artificial barriers on the railroad delay the same result. This is not the way to achieve sustainable competition. In the future, every railway kilometer in Europe must speak English,” the European Parliament noted.

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