RAILPOL

ongoing

RAILPOL is an EU association of Railway Police organisations and composed of 19 EU MS and 4 associated members (UK, Switzerland, Serbia and USA). It is a growing association with ever joining EU MS (the latest two are Greece and Slovenia) and enlarging to the Neighborhood (Serbia). The organisation is connected to INTERPOL, EUROPOL, FRONTEX, ERA, DG HOME, DG MOVE and to private stakeholders such as UIC, CER, COLPOFER and EIM. It aims at reinforcing the safety of the rail-transport by establishing effective cross-border law enforcement cooperation between its members on main EU railway corridors, and at improving international law enforcement cooperation in Europe in the domains of inland- and international rail transport systems (including train stations), both on transport of people and transport of freight. RAILPOL has developed to more complex forms of cooperation, which include external partners, such as EU agencies. This cooperation is based on intelligence and enhances the work between various law enforcement disciplines. Moreover, this project is written in the continuity of the action led by the Netherlands, in the previous RAILPOL project, and its priorities and strategies for 2022-2026 are set by Eu-ISS/DG Home, National Authorities and RAILPOL-member organisations. RAILPOL has a strong operational focus. Its members are connected via a network of “Single points of contact”. RAILPOL reinforces its systems and processes and further connects these members to EU programs, and EU policies, such as interdisciplinary law-enforcement cooperation, cooperation with and between EU agencies and cooperation with private partners. The added value of RAILPOL has been recognised by the conclusions of a DG Home audit to the network (E&Y report 2012). To reach its objectives, the project aims at organizing seminars and meetings, that will gather up to 200 participants (from judicial authorities, law enforcement organisations, other public officials and civil society organizations). Operational railway exercises (RAILEX) could gather also about 200 participants. https://www.railpol.eu/site/home