Valenciennes: Europe has spent two decades knitting its national railways into a single network, but the body that polices rail safety warns the momentum is fading. The European Union Agency for Railways, headquartered in this northern French city, has published its latest report on safety and interoperability, and the verdict is that progress on both fronts is slowing.

Rail safety in Europe remains strong by any global measure. Trains kill far fewer people than cars, and the long-term trend in accidents points downward. Yet the agency cautions that the easy gains have largely been made, and that shaving further risk from an already safe system is proving harder and slower than the headline numbers might suggest.

Interoperability poses the thornier problem. The dream of a train that can cross from Portugal to Poland without swapping signalling systems, drivers or paperwork remains only partly built. Different national rules, legacy technology and patchy deployment of the common European train control system still force operators to clear hurdles at every border, adding cost and discouraging cross-border services.

Since 2019 the agency has issued vehicle authorisations and safety certificates valid across multiple countries, a genuine step toward a single market on rails. The report credits that one-stop system with cutting red tape, but notes that uptake and consistency vary widely between member states.

The timing looks pointed. The European Commission has signalled it will propose a revised regulation for the agency, potentially handing it stronger powers and more resources. Reviewers have argued that a better-funded agency could push harmonisation faster and hold slow-moving national authorities to account, rather than waiting for them to align at their own pace.

The stakes reach beyond convenience. The bloc wants more freight and passengers on rail to hit its climate targets, and a fragmented network undercuts that ambition. Every technical barrier that keeps a German locomotive off a French line, or forces a costly re-authorisation, nudges cargo back onto the motorway and passengers back into cars and planes. Analysts warn that each stalled cross-border project also chips away at public faith in the promise of seamless European travel.

From Valenciennes, the agency’s message is that the single European rail area is real but unfinished. The safety foundations stand solid; the connective tissue does not. Whether the next few years bring a genuinely borderless railway or another cycle of incremental fixes may hinge on how much authority governments are willing to hand the specialists who track the trains.