Today, EIM aisbl is celebrating its 20^th anniversary! The association of independent European rail infrastructure managers was established in October 2002 as spin-off of the adoption of the first Railway Package of the EU.

Since then, EIM membership has doubled to total today 17 rail infrastructure managers in 10 EU Member States plus Norway and the UK. In over two decades, rail infrastructure managers have become a strategic actor in terms of liberalisation, digitalisation and innovation, connectivity, sustainability, resilience and geostrategy.

Likewise, EIM’s scope of activities has evolved over time, ranging from advanced data analytics, asset management, corridors, cybersecurity, drones, ERTMS, funding and finance, Green Deal, energy, infrastructure assets, interoperability, networks, R&I, stations, resilience and maintenance, to mention just a few.

Gorm Frimannslund, President of EIM, states that “the 20th anniversary of EIM provides the right moment to celebrate the successful evolution of our association. EIM has been instrumental in numerous EU initiatives and platforms and will continue to do so. Rail infrastructure managers are essential for the single European Railway Area, the EU Green Deal, energy-efficient mobility, resilient networks, innovation and the enlargement of the EU”.

Monika Heiming, Executive Director of EIM, complements, that “EIM has evolved, not least due to the growing importance of infrastructure management on EU level. IMs have been essential in terms of market opening, interoperability, connectivity, energy-efficiency, innovation, digitalisation and enlargement. In the past years, EIM has also developed more ‘business’-related activities to offer more upfront exchange and analyses among the members”.