photo: RAILTARGET/Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking at InnoTrans 2026, Berlin, Germany
How can countries build new railways without creating the same cross-border barriers Europe has spent years trying to remove? This was one of the main questions at a discussion on interoperability held at the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking stand during InnoTrans 2026.
Representatives from Europe, Ghana, Panama, Uzbekistan and Southern Africa discussed how common standards can make rail corridors easier to operate across borders. Europe’s Rail is using its System Pillar presence at InnoTrans to focus on a more connected and integrated railway system, with the Information Point located at the European Stand in Hall 4.2.
Europe’s Lesson: Different Railways Still Need to Work Together
Oana Gherghinescu, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), started with Europe’s own experience. Different signalling systems, operating rules, approval procedures and infrastructure requirements have created barriers between national networks.
"Fragmentation is not bad in itself, but it’s bad because it comes with a high price," she said. For manufacturers, this can mean proving that the same product meets different requirements several times. Operators also face additional costs when trains need to cross from one national system into another.
"Our purpose is not to make railways identical in Europe," Gherghinescu said. Instead, the aim is to make different networks work together safely and efficiently.
She spoke about ERTMS as one of Europe’s main tools for achieving this, replacing different national signalling systems with a common approach. ERA itself has interoperability and the deployment of ERTMS among its main priorities. She also said that interoperability is not only a technical issue. Common standards can lower costs, make deployment faster and create a larger market for operators and suppliers.
Ghana Wants to Avoid Fragmentation From the Start
That experience is particularly relevant for countries where large parts of the railway system are still being developed. Dr Frederick Appoh, CEO of the Ghana Railway Development Authority, said Ghana is changing the way it plans its future network. Instead of connecting major cities, the country is looking at economically important corridors linking ports with other parts of Ghana and, eventually, neighbouring countries.
Appoh announced that Ghana expects its first private rail operator in November 2026 as the country opens the network to private participation. He also said ETCS Level 1 is planned for the Tema–Tamale line, with the intention of using the system more widely on Ghana’s standard-gauge network.
The longer-term challenge is beyond Ghana itself. The aim, he said, should be for a train to move from Ghana through neighbouring countries without facing a completely different set of technical and safety requirements at every border. For West Africa, that means agreeing on standards early rather than trying to harmonise different systems later.
Panama Looks at Rail as a Regional Corridor
Manuel Arias, Undersecretary of Panama’s railway project, brought a similar perspective from Central America. Panama already plays a major role in global trade through the Panama Canal, but Arias said the country now also wants to improve land connections.
The planned Panama–David railway is being developed with a possible future connection towards Costa Rica. Recent plans also consider the wider potential for regional connectivity in Central America.
"We have to learn from those experiences," Arias said about cooperation with Europe. The wider idea, he explained, is to think about how future networks could connect Central America and, in the longer term, other parts of the Americas.
Uzbekistan Sees Central Asia as a Growing Rail Hub
Khikmatulla Rakhmetov, First Deputy Chairman of Uzbekistan Railways, talked about Central Asia and its growing role in international freight. He said Uzbekistan Railways currently carries almost 130 million tonnes of cargo per year and expects cargo flows through and within the country to increase by more than 20% in 2026. He also pointed out the new railway corridor being built with China and Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan’s position is challenging because it is double-landlocked, making reliable rail connections particularly important for trade. Rakhmetov said the country already moves cargo towards Europe through the Caspian Sea and sees further growth potential as new corridors are completed. "There is only the way to connect Central Asia with Europe via sea, by rail," he said.
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Southern Africa Still Faces Cross-Border Barriers
Raymond Shoniwa, Executive Director of the Southern African Railways Association (SARA), said the region has a railway network of just under 40,000 kilometres across 11 member states. Some cross-border corridors already work well. Shoniwa gave the example of rail operations between Mozambique and Eswatini, where trains can move across the border without changing drivers.
Other routes still face administrative and operational barriers. According to Shoniwa, the region is looking at Europe as one possible reference when developing more common rules and improving cross-border operations.