Regional & Suburban Rail

Regional and suburban rail is considered by many as the heart of mass transit, connecting towns and suburbs with urban areas where most jobs and services are located. Both comfortable and quick, it is often regarded as providing the best (if not the only) alternative to car to travel into cities. Take the Paris RER Line A, for example, which carries 1.4 million passengers daily. As it is the most efficient and environmentally-friendly way to transport large numbers of passsengers over land, regional and suburban rail constitutes a key element of our public transport system.

Rail operators work together in the UITP Regional & Suburban Railways Committee on issues related to the various development stages of this transport mode worldwide: planning, construction, operation, and maintenance. Their work encompasses safety and security, quality and customer care, environment, funding and economy, technology, innovation, and the legal and regulatory environment. The Committee also identifies synergies together with UITP’s Light Rail and Metro bodies on topics such as automation and asset management.

The Committee’s activities aim to create and distribute integrated knowledge globally, acting as a platform for exchange, discussion, and benchmarking among peers with high-level expertise. The Committee also delivers study reports and position papers, monitoring industry evolution and acting as an advocate of the transport mode.