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The Rail Working Group welcomes the European Commission’s recognition of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol as key to financing Europe’s high-speed rail future
The Rail Working Group warmly welcomes the European Commission’s new Communication “Connecting Europe through High-Speed Rail” (COM(2025) 903 final) and the Commission’s clear recognition of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention as a crucial instrument to stimulate private investment in rolling stock and support the delivery of Europe’s ambitious high-speed rail network.
The Commission acknowledges that its goal of a fully connected European high-speed rail network by 2040 cannot be achieved without substantial private capital, explicitly noting that ratification of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol by EU Member States will “furhter help stimulate investements in rolling stock”.
The Rail Working Group applauds this acknowledgment of the Protocol’s central role in creating the legal certainty necessary for large-scale, cross-border investment in railway equipment. It also looks forward to contributing actively in 2026 to the development of the planned ‘High-Speed Rail Deal’, described by the Commission as “a multilateral commitment to mobilise the investments needed for priority high-speed rail projects.”
In this context, the Rail Working Group invites the Commission to include it in the forthcoming strategic dialogue with Member States, infrastructure managers, promotional banks, investors, the rail supply industry, and railway undertakings.
“The inclusion of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol in the Commission’s strategy confirms what the industry has long known: that a robust, transparent international legal framework is essential to unlock private capital for Europe’s rail sector,” said Howard Rosen, Chairman of the Rail Working Group. “By giving lenders and lessors greater legal certainty, the Protocol makes rolling stock more bankable, and delivers private finance for rolling stock that is more affordable, more innovative and more widely available to operators—public and private alike.”
The Protocol establishes an international legal framework for the recognition and enforcement of security interests in railway rolling stock, making it a cornerstone of the EU’s emerging rail financing strategy. By introducing a uniform global unique numbering system for all types of rolling stock, an international public registry recording security interests and clear creditor rights, it reduces legal and financial risk, lowers the cost of financing, and broadens access to private investment.
Moreover, it lays the foundation for a dynamic cross-border operating leasing market, lowering barriers to entry for new operators while increasing flexibility for established ones. This is particularly relevant as several major European rail undertakings are now exploring operating lease models for their next generation of high-speed trains.
The Rail Working Group fully supports the Commission’s call on Member States to ratify the Luxembourg Rail Protocol without delay. Swift ratification will strengthen Europe’s capacity to deliver its high-speed rail network efficiently, sustainably, and with the full confidence of global financial markets.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment is a new global treaty under the auspices of UNIDROIT, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law. The Protocol will make it much easier and cheaper for the private sector to finance all types of railway rolling stock. It sets up a new system for recognition, priorities and enforcement of creditor and lessor rights, which will be registered in an international registry based in Luxembourg, accessible to everyone over the internet 24/7 and introduces, for the first time a new global unique permanent identification system (URVIS) for rolling stock. The United Nations has now adopted global Model Rules setting out minimum standards for the permanent marking of railway rolling stock with URVIS numbers. The Protocol entered into force in contracting states on 8th March 2024.
The European Union (in respect of its competences). Gabon, Luxembourg, Paraguay, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden have ratified the Protocol. France, Germany, Switzerland, Mozambique, Italy, and the UK have already signed the Protocol and are working towards its adoption. Many other states, including Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malta, Eswatini, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Mauritius, are actively looking at ratification of the Protocol. The Protocol is endorsed by many international rail organisations (including the African Rail Industry Association, OTIF, CIT, UIC, UIP, ERFA, ALLRAIL, UITP, CER and Eurofima) and actively supported by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
The Rail Working Group is a Swiss-based not-for-profit association focused on the adoption and implementation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol. It has about 90 direct members and hundreds of additional rail stakeholders represented indirectly by various industry organisations that belong to, and support the objectives of, the RWG.
For more on the Luxembourg Rail Protocol and the Rail Working Group visit www.railworkinggroup.org.
Further information from the Rail Working Group:
Tel. +41 41 760 28 88
WhatsApp +41 79 340 21 53
