Innovation for regional rail services and new guided transport systems

Costs of research and innovation activities leading towards design, development, testing, and validation of lightweight and modular rolling stock for regional rail.

Costs related to the development and testing of automated multi-modal mobility systems, including management systems and digital maintenance planning.

Expenses linked to prototyping and validating new technical solutions (e.g., car body, running gear, powertrain, transport units).

Expenditure for environmental impact assessment, PESTLE analysis, and integration studies into intermodal networks.

Compliance costs for standardisation activities, dissemination and communication as per EU-Rail guidelines.

Excellence: Contribution to expected outcomes; clarity and pertinence of project objectives; credibility of the proposed approach, including plan and methodology.

Impact: Expected impact of the project; measures to maximize impact through dissemination, exploitation, and communication; contribution to the Europe’s Rail Master Plan and EU standards.

Quality and efficiency of implementation: Quality and effectiveness of work plan; appropriateness of resources; competences, experience, and complementarity of the consortium partners.

Additional criteria: Quantitative achievement of KPIs (e.g., CAPEX/OPEX reduction, weight reduction targets), degree of alignment with EU-Rail objectives, level of in-kind contributions from Private Members.

Projects not compatible with the rules and objectives defined in the Horizon Europe Work Programme.

Entities from non-eligible countries unless special provisions apply (see Annex B).

Beneficiaries must deliver annual reports detailing progress against quantitative KPIs, deliver key data/results to the Joint Undertaking, and provide information for linked projects and funding bodies.

Private Members must report on annual in-kind contributions, with audit-possible records as required by the Grant Agreement.

Up to four years after project end, participants must inform EU-Rail if results are expected to contribute to European or international standards.

Submission via the Online Submission System using the application templates provided in the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Applications must follow the Horizon Europe single-stage process, with content aligning with the provided structure and page limits.

Full project proposal (maximum 70 pages) following Horizon Europe template.

Consortium details, including experience and expertise relevant to the work plan.

Evidence of capability to meet in-kind contribution requirements (for Private EU-Rail members).

Detailed work plan, timeline, and budget.

Plan for monitoring, dissemination, and alignment with EU-Rail standardisation and communication guidelines.