Consensus and dissent for rail visions of 2050: Insights from a Delphi study

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine if the rail stakeholders agreed with the Rail Vision 2050 document and agreed or dissented with the vision statements contained within the document. This was important as the next generation of this document is intended to be the basis of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Rail. A Delphi survey revealed the consensus and the dissent in relation to the statements. The methodology is presented along with the results. The impact of this paper is that it has been used to inform the European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) to formulate the research priorities for the EU rail sector and in particular the strategic rail agenda, the SRIA. The SRIA is a key document for the rail sector and the preparation of Shift2Rail's successor within Horizon Europe: “Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking”.