Europe’s Rail JU Launches €6.1M Call for Future Transport Concepts

Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking has opened its first call for proposals for 2026, allocating a total European Union contribution of EUR 6.1 million. The call targets future-oriented transport concepts, with a submission deadline set for May 7, 2026. An online Info Day to present the call and its two included topics will take place on February 9, 2026. External verification data confirms the funding total and the focus on advanced rail sector solutions.

The first major topic area seeks further development of a small, lightweight regional rail vehicle. The project’s primary objectives are to reduce operational costs and adapt rolling stock to the specific infrastructure of branch lines. These lines are frequently characterized by poor superstructure conditions, tight curves, and other constraints that limit the use of standard vehicles. These factors have a direct impact on the required mechanical and electrical architecture of any proposed vehicle. The design of the vehicle’s body and running gear must explicitly address these demanding environmental conditions.

A second focus of the call is the advancement of an automated multimodal mobility system. This work will build directly upon the results of the EU-Rail Pods4Rail project, which defined the foundational principles for such a system. The prior project produced design concepts for a carrier vehicle capable of both rail and road use, along with a conceptual design for a sample of transport units and their associated components. The new call requires a more detailed definition of technical requirements for the main subsystems.

Proposals for the pod-type system must concentrate on the Carrier, the transport unit, and the handling system. While the main application remains on rail infrastructure, the design must ensure intramodality by incorporating road transport and cable mobility. The Mobility Management System, initiated within Pods4Rail, is also slated for further development. This sub-project will detail the technical basis for autonomous operation and will involve investigating system components within a laboratory environment to validate their performance and integration capabilities.

The call also contains a significant component dedicated to establishing safety and certification guidelines for hyperloop systems. This element is considered essential for a completely new transport mode operating in a low-pressure environment. The work is not only for gaining public acceptance but for demonstrating the safety and reliability of the unconventional system. The project must produce safety guidelines and performance requirements that can support future European standardization activities.

Given that hyperloop is envisioned as a cross-border transport solution, the development of a coherent and harmonized safety framework is a primary requirement. This framework must specify the regulatory requirements and establish clear certification procedures in collaboration with relevant authorities, institutions, and technical committees. In parallel, the call mandates the validation of key hyperloop safety components. These technologies must be tested in a laboratory environment against the defined safety requirements and procedures to assess their compliance.

Finally, a complete proof of concept must be developed and tested to validate the safety requirements in a practical application. This phase will demonstrate that the proposed certification procedures can be successfully applied and verified. The results are intended to directly support hyperloop promoters in building a solid regulatory framework, which is necessary for the deployment of this high-speed transport mode.

The project resulting from this call must develop the enabling factors and any other elements that contribute to the expected outcomes. The funding directs industry research toward solving specific challenges in both existing and prospective transport networks, from optimizing low-density regional lines to creating the foundational safety case for hyperloop technology.