# Innovation for regional rail services and new guided transport systems EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA6FA7-01 Retrieved: 2026-11-10T14:00:50.749Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions. ## Public content **topic id:** HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA6FA7-01 **call id:** HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-01 **title:** Innovation for regional rail services and new guided transport systems **programme:** Horizon Europe **cluster:** JU-ER **status:** closed **deadline date:** 2026-05-07T00:00:00+00:00 **deadline model:** single-stage **start date:** 2026-02-04T00:00:00+00:00 **url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA6FA7-01 **description:** Expected Outcome: Building upon the results of S2R, Europe’s Rail FP6-Future and Pods4Rail projects as well as EU-member states rail research and innovation activities, the action stemming from this topic is expected to contribute to provide sustainable, attractive and passenger centred solutions to regional and suburban areas by developing light weight and cost efficient rolling stock and an automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures”. Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster Work-stream 1 aims at further developing a regional railway vehicle which is a small lightweight vehicle based on the results of EU-Rail FP6-Future[1], adapted according to numerous specific requirements influenced by the different lines and the corresponding categories of regional lines (e.g. topography, passenger capacity, etc.). The key objectives are the cost reduction and adaptation to the corresponding infrastructure of capillary lines (poor superstructure, narrow curves etc.). These factors have a high influence on the mechanical and electrical architecture of the vehicle and thus on the car body design and the running gears. To ensure the alignment with the key objectives, close monitoring will be implemented using key performance indicators (KPIs). Within FA6 a set of High level KPIs has been identified, targeting the main impacts foreseen for the Flagship Area. • Reduced vehicle CAPEX & OPEX through innovative and lighter design: The vehicles for low-density lines must be designed to deliver the service at these lines at a significant lower CAPEX/OPEX: • Targeting 50% reduced CAPEX and OPEX, in a LCC perspective. • Notwithstanding the previous KPI, passenger vehicles development should aim for step changes in weight reduction and track force reduction, while being tolerant to higher unevenness of the tracks: • up to 60% for some parts of the vehicle and up to 30% of weight reduction for the vehicle. Work-stream 2: Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures” This work-stream should further develop an Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System system design, based on the results of the EU-Rail Pods4Rail[2] project which defined the foundations for such a system. Design concepts for the Carrier on rail but also on road and conceptual design of a selected sample Transport Units, as well as for components and equipment for the Transport Units were drafted. This work-stream should specify the technical requirements of the main subsystem of a pod system with specific focus on the Carrier, Transport Unit and the Handling System. The focus should remain on the railway application, however, intramodality should be ensured by considering road and ropeway carriers. This workstream should further work on the development of the Mobility Management System already started in the Pods4Rail project and to further detail the technical basis for the autonomous operation of the system, including the investigation of system components of the Mobility Management System in a laboratory environment. In addition, the political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental (PESTLE) consideration of the realisation of a pods system should be assessed as well as developing concepts for integration into existing multimodal mobility environment. Scope: The project stemming from this topic should develop under the following capabilities the enablers and any other which may contribute to deliver the afore-mentioned expected outcome: Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster This work-stream should develop a virtual concept design for lightweight modular regional vehicles for both G1 (Group 1: regional lines with significant connection with mainline) and G2 (Group 2 regional lines with no or limited connection with mainline) lines (TRL4/5) based on the technical parameters defined for solutions developed in FP6-Future D5.1[3] coming from additional requirements collected from regional rail operators and considering potential dual use operation ( civilian and military purposes). The virtualisation should focus on the following not extensive list of key vehicle components such as the car body, running gear and powertrain. • • Car body • virtual model of the car body concept using a cost-effective, sustainable and lightweight design approach which also considers the use of e.g. multi material design and fiber reinforced polymers with specific focus on mechanical performance (e.g. according to EN 12663), crash-worthiness (e.g. according to EN 15227) and functional structure e.g. by 3D printing (combine weight reduction with vehicle functions). The comparison between a design for G1 lines and G2 lines (e.g. for G2 without crash scenario with different trains) is intended here to analyse potential lightweight construction and cost-saving potentials of this application-specific design. Input for the activities must be based from public Deliverables of FP6-FutuRe D5.1 • virtual model of selected component (e.g. front end cab) made of innovative materials (e.g. with natural fiber reinforced polymers) with new production technologies (e.g. based on tooling technologies with additional use of sustainable materials). • Running gear • Based from public Deliverables of FP6-FutuRe D5.1, for G1 application, virtual model of the relevant mechanical part of steering, track-friendly, requirement adapted, highly integrated motorized single axle running gear supporting vehicles by implementing active suspension systems with and without compressed air system. • Powertrain • Based on the activities carried out in FP6, further develop virtual model of the drivetrain incl. range-extender solutions (modular, scalable energy storage system, hydrogen system, power electronics, traction machines) for optimising energy requirements for G2 lines taking into account the interface to the battery recharging infrastructure and their locations. Variable auxiliary loads (e.g. heating, air conditioning and compressed air) should be included in the system design and energy functions for different operating conditions defined, considering several different conditions such as altitude, distance and temperature. The action should demonstrate the safety with an appropriate safety assessment method. In addition, it shoulddemonstrate the benefit deriving from the new vehicle concept on Society Reediness (SR), on weight and energy consumption reduction as well as on cost saving both for CAPEX and OPEX in a quantitative manner. The results should support European standardisation activities to ensure a broad market uptake coming from the new vehicle concept. Develop, test and validate the following components considering a small vehicle concept for G1 lines up to intended environment: • • Based on the virtual concept design, validation of the mechanical lightweight performance of a representative, structural section of the car body in the highly loaded area above the running gear including destructive tests on a test bench. (TRL4/5); • Based on the virtual concept design, physical Demonstrator with alternative materials as a significant part of the front end cab (TRL4/5); • Validation of selected vehicle dynamic performance indicators of the single axle running gear concept supporting vehicles without compressed air system to be realised by 1:5 scale model of the running gear to be tested on a scaled roller rig. In addition, the advantage of active wheelset steering to be demonstrated and validated. Comparison with the simulated performance in the virtual demonstration. (TRL4/5); • Physical demonstration of a running gear with independent rotating wheels (TRL6); • Test the battery electric solutions for the powertrain incl. range-extender solutions for situations where the availability of charging stations is limited and longer range than batteries can offer is needed. The tests should include traction machines, power electronics and electric energy storage to verify the energy savings and the benefit of split power traction machines and regenerative energy capacity with respect to the charge level dependent power limitation of the electrical energy storage which will be carried out in a test bench with the use cases defined in D10.1. (TRL4/5). Work-stream 2: Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures“ • Development of the Carrier: • Detailed specification and interface definition for Carrier-Components, e.g., running gear, energy supply, drive technology, and equipment for autonomous driving, further enhance the concept design based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail (TRL3); • Safety study on “Active versus passive safety” for Rail carrier for structural design to derive recommendations also for lightweight design; • Due to the intermodal aspect for the pod system, design validation of the carriers for ropeway, road and rail based on structural boundary conditions should be carried out (TRL 3). • Development of the Transport Unit (TU) • Study on manufacturing conditions and processes e.g. additive technologies and sustainable materials for different TU based on the design concept developed in Pods4Rail and based on the safety aspects and most promising use cases based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail; • Development and simulation of the TU structure using sustainable materials in lightweight design considering the load cases based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail (TRL3/4); • Validation of mechanical design, safety aspects, ergonomics and user experience for one passenger Transport Unit (TRL4). • Detailed requirement definition for a multipurpose handling system taking into consideration the work carried out in Pods4Rail (TRL 3/4). • Validation of different loading scenarios in industrially relevant environment, such as joint loading with a passenger and cargo TU, interface design positioning tolerances and coupling system design (using a real scale Transport Unit Mock-Up) (TRL5). • Mobility Management System and automation • Optimised and high-performance Pods operational management for intermodal environment (such as rail and road) and communication (TRL3/4); • Digital maintenance planning of the TU, Carrier, Handling Systems, location for storage and infrastructure with the consideration of digital maintenance planning and results from asset condition assessment and predictive maintenance coming from Flagship Area 3 for operations management (TRL3/4); • Operational flow analysis concept integrating pod systems into the intermodal transportation environment rail, road and ropeway. • PESTLE analysis • Design concept study for intermodal connectivity at stations, hubs and logistical hubs, especially for rail, road and ropeway (TRL2); • Proposal for industrial roadmap for Transport Unit; • Characterisation of the normative framework and discussion of the boundary conditions to be created for the realisation of a pod system, based on the “Legislative and normative framework analysis” from Pods4Rail (D3.1) [4]; • Reevaluate the work done in Pods4Rail (D4.3) [4] based on the pods system defined within the project and further detail the economic analysis of the system; • Reevaluate the work done in Pods4Rail (D5.1 and D5.2) [4] based on the pods system defined within the project and develop quantitative Business Case Studie(s); • Carry out an environmental impact assessment based on the benefit that the pods system brings to an intermodal transport network; • Develop a system architecture for the overall pods system including subsystem; description and the interfaces between the subsystems based on Pods4Rail results (D2.1) and based on developed requirements and specification defined in the project. System architecture shall be assessed against key customer criteria: reliability, efficient handling, affordability, accessibility, comfort. null Activities are expected to achieve a minimum between TRL 4 and TRL 6, depending on the enabler addressed, or higher by the end of the project – see part B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes for a guide to the TRL definitions and criteria to be used. [1] https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp6-future/ [2] https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/pods4rail/ [3] https://rail-research.europa.eu/pages/fp6-future/deliverables [4] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables [5] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables [6] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables **conditions:** General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout Regarding admissibility conditions and related requirements, part A of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes applies, with the following exception: the limit for a full Research and Innovation Action application is set to 70 pages. described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds The granting authority can fund a maximum of one project. are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes The award criteria included in part D of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026 – 2027 General Annexes are complemented with additional criteria as specified in Annex VIII to this Work Programme. are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants The starting date of grants awarded under this topic may be as of the submission date of the application. Applicants must justify the need for a retroactive starting date in their application. Costs incurred from the starting date of the action may be considered eligible. As specified in section 2.3.8.1 of the Work Programme, in order to facilitate the contribution to the achievement of the EU-Rail objectives, the options regarding 'linked actions' of the EU-Rail Model Grant Agreement and the provisions therein, is enabled in the corresponding EU-Rail Grant Agreements.The action that is expected to be funded under this topic will be complementary to the following projects: • FP6-FutuRe (GA number: 101101962) • FP7-Pods4Rail (GA number: 101121853) The action that is expected to be funded under this topic will be complementary to the actions that are expected to be funded under the following topics: • HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-FA1-TT-01: Network management planning and control & Mobility Management in a multimodal environment and Digital Enablers • HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-FA2-01: Digital & Automatic up to Automated Train Operations • HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-FA3-01: Intelligent & Integrated asset management • HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-FA4-01: A sustainable and green rail system • HORIZON-JU-ER -2025-FA6-01: Regional rail services / Innovative railservices to revitalise capillary lines Please note that the list is non-exhaustive as additional Linked Projects may follow at a later stage of the programme implementation to complement the activity. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]]. In addition, as specified in section 2.3.8.1 of the Work Programme, and to facilitate contributions to considering the key contributing role of this topic, in designing the dissemination and communication activities, the proposal shall consider that the project will be part of the overall EU-Rail Programme and to ensure coherence across the programme and alignment with Europe’s Rail objectives will have to follow the Europe’s Rail Communication and Dissemination Guidelines for Europe’s Rail Funded Projects as described in the EU-Rail Governance and Process Handbook (https://rail-research.europa.eu/about-europes-rail/europes-rail-reference-documents/functioning-of-the-europes-rail-ju/) described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions Indicative Budget The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 3.1 million. Applicant Private [As defined in Article 2(5) of Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085.] Members of the EU-Rail part of consortia responding to this topic must provide in-kind contributions to additional activities to be declared via the template model available on the F&T portal. The amount of total in-kind contributions (i.e. in-kind contributions for operational activities and in-kind contributions for additional activities) must be no less than 1.263 [In order to support a leverage factor of no less than the ratio between the contribution from members other than the Union and the Union financial contribution, as on the basis of Articles 88 and 89 of Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085.] times the funding request, in aggregate, of these applicant Private Members. Any discrepancy must be well and duly justified. In this respect, the grant agreements will set, in principle, annual deliverable on in-kind contributions for the projects selected under this topic, as well as mandatory reporting requirements, for those applicants who are Private Members of EU-Rail. Indicative Project Duration 42 months. This does not preclude submission and selection of a proposal with a different project duration. Contribution to the monitoring and implementation, standardisation, of the EU-rail Programme Applicants are expected to deliver relevant information (data, results, etc.) as mutually agreed, to the JU and the Linked Project[s] to contribute to the advancement of the Innovation and System Pillars [Refer to the revised Multi-Annual Work Programme available https://rail-research.europa.eu/wpcontent/uploads/2024/06/Annex_GB-Decision_08_24_Revised_MAWP.pdf] activities, as well as in view of the development and implementation of EU policy and legislation (including Technical Specifications for Interoperability and Common Safety Methods) and the development of European standards. As specified in section 2.3.8.1 of the Work Programme, and to facilitate contributions to European or international standards, the EU-Rail grant agreements will include an additional information obligation related to standards. Beneficiaries must inform EU-Rail (up to four years after the end of the action) if the results can be reasonably expected to contribute to European or international standards. Key Performance Indicators Work-stream 1 should actively contribute to measure and monitor the specific quantitative KPIs as defined in the expected impact, including its contribution to the Europe’s Rail Master Plan impacts. Outcomes are to be delivered at a calendar annual basis by each year end. Collaboration work required with other Destinations Work-stream 1 should foresee activities/tasks related to the regional rail architecture and integrated demonstration concept to the actions to be funded under HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-FA6-01. Interaction with the System Pillar The System Pillar aims to guide, support and secure the work of the Innovation Pillar (i.e. to ensure that research is targeted on commonly agreed and shared customer requirements and operational needs, compatible and aligned to the system architecture), and the Innovation Pillar will impact the scope of the System Pillar where new technologies or processes mean that innovations can drive a change in approach, as well as delivering detailed specifications and requirements. In this respect, the proposal should allocate necessary resources that would be dedicated to areas linked to the System Pillar conceptual and architecture works – particularly addressing specification development and demonstration activities following architectural aspects. The alignment of the activities will primarily take place during the Grant Preparation Phase and ramp up phase of the awarded proposal, and there will be continued, structured and regular interaction through the life of the project. The action should actively contribute to the update of the EU-Rail Standardisation and TSIs input plan (STIP) wherever relevant. Similarly, the action should contribute to the development and implementation of EU policy and legislation including Technical Specifications for Interoperability (especially input on weight reduction impacting the TSI LOC and PASS) and Common Safety Methods, as well as to publications of the System Pillar. Gender dimension In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement. Other It is expected that the project stemming from this topic: • will involve sufficient European geographical representation of academia and ensure that all needed expertise for the described activities reflects the Special skills and/or capabilities expected from the Applicant(s) as described in the specific topic conditions. • will be compliant with the EU Data Policy 2020 and associated legal instruments. This requires adherence to EU framework, including but not limited to the Open Data Directive (EU) 2019/1024 and associated implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 on high-value data sets, the Data Governance Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/868), the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), and the Interoperable Europe Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/903). Ensuring compliance involves verifying that data management, processing and sharing comply with applicable EU framework. • will consider the necessary resources – FTE and/or other – to ensure the monitoring of the project via regular reporting, reporting of data for the Programme KPIs, etc. The EU-Rail Governance and Process Handbook is available here for more information: https://rail-research.europa.eu/about-europes-rail/europes-rail-reference-documents/functioning-of-the-europes-rail-ju/ Europe's Rail - Work Programme 2026 • WP 2026 Europe's Rail Master Plan • Master Plan Europe's Rail - Multi Annual Work Programme • MAWP Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Application form - Part B (HE EU-RAIL, RIA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Evaluation form (HE EU-RAIL, RIA/IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA  Call-specific instructions  Information on financial support to third parties (HE)  Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual  Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions  Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement **action type:** HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions **budget:** **budget Years Columns:** - 2026 **budget Topic Action Map:** **113682:** - **action:** HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA7-01 - HORIZON-JU-RIA HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2026:** 3000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2026-05-07 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 3000000 **min Contribution:** 3000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2026-02-04 **113683:** - **action:** HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA6FA7-01 - HORIZON-JU-RIA HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2026:** 3100000 **deadline Dates:** - 2026-05-07 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 3100000 **min Contribution:** 3100000 **planned Opening Date:** 2026-02-04 **keywords:** HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-FA6FA7-01, HORIZON-JU-ER-2026-01, Automotive engineering, Disruptive innovation, Multimodality, Rail Operations, Rail Services, Rail projects, Railway, Regional development, Sustainable transport, Transport Railway **last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00 ## Review record No independent verification record is available. ## Source metadata