Several of Europe’s biggest rail industry suppliers and operators have signed up to a new sustainable procurement charter, Railsponsible.
Bombardier, Alstom, Knorr Bremse, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and SNCF launched the initiative on March 4 in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
The founding members are using the launch to invite more rail industry suppliers from around the world to sign up, share best practice and create an industry-wide standard for assessing sustainability across the supply chain.
“The vision of Railsponsible is a global railway industry where all suppliers have in place good ethical, social, environmental and business practices,” said a press release launching the scheme.
Michiel van Roozendaal, who is head of sustainability at NS, said the charter presented an opportunity to “utilise the collective buying power” of the sector.