FEDECRAIL meeting in Padua on heritage railways
At its General Assembly held in Padua in April 2015, FEDECRAIL, the European Museum & Heritage Railways Federation, invited EUROPA NOSTRA’s Council member and Chair of its Industrial and Engineering Committee – IEHC – Pierre LACONTE as a keynote speaker. He described the activities of EUROPA NOSTRA in support of industrial and engineering heritage and expressed its approval of FEDECRAIL’s exemplary action in favour of heritage railways.
Its President David MORGAN, member of IEHC, emphasized the successful lobbying of heritage railways towards EU institutions, in particular the European Parliament, through former MEP Brian SIMPSON, who was the Chair of its Transport and Tourism Committee, and the European Rail Agency – ERA – responsible for rail regulations and access of historic railway equipments to the tracks.
The French Heritage Railways Association UNECTO, which is promoting the ‘Train for Peace”, a French-German rail network project, formally applied for Europa Nostra membership. The Italian Railways took the unprecedented initiative two years ago to create a FS Foundation exclusively in charge of its own Historic Rail Heritage. This Foundation is eligible for EN membership.
More than hundred delegates from all over Europe attended the meeting to share information and funding experiences at national and European level.