Peter Reinshagen was elected president of the  International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP), the European organization of freight railcar owners. The new UIP leader says that rail freight transport must be viewed as a competitive service for customers, not merely as a “mode” of transport promoted for political reasons.

The International Union of Freight Railcar Owners (UIP), the organization representing freight railcar owners in Europe, has confirmed Peter Reinshagen, elected in May 2026, as president. He succeeds Johann Feindert, who previously stepped down from his role as GATX representative and UIP president.

The decision was made by the UIP Executive Board, composed of representatives from the four largest railcar owners and the four national associations. Reinshagen was already a member of the UIP Board and is currently Group Business Development Director at STREEM, a European group specializing in the leasing and management of freight railcars.

Prior to this role, he served as CEO of Ermewa, where he oversaw the company’s fleet development and digital transformation. His career includes experience in the automotive, consulting, construction, defense, and logistics industries, with work in Europe, China, India, and Russia.

In an interview published by the UIP, Peter Reinshagen says that rail freight has been in a difficult position for some time, but that the sector still has a major role to play in European logistics chains.

“Rail freight has been in a difficult position for some time. But it’s still here, and I intend to use the UIP’s voice and influence to put rail freight on the political agenda,” said the new UIP president.

He emphasizes that the UIP represents companies that own and lease railcars—that is, the rolling stock in which goods are transported. These are distinct from the operators that haul the trains and the administrators that manage the infrastructure.

However, Reinshagen cautions that rail freight transport must be viewed as a unified system, with multiple stakeholders working toward the same goal. The goal, he says, must be performance that motivates shippers and industrial customers to choose rail.

“Together with rail operators and infrastructure managers, we must start thinking of ourselves as a transportation service, not as the ‘rail mode.’

The customer isn’t interested in modes; they want reliable, green, and competitive transport. Our priority must be to meet this demand, and for that we need the right policy framework and the right operational conditions,” said Reinshagen.

One of the central themes of the interview is the digitization of freight railcars. When asked what the railcars would say if they had a voice, Reinshagen replied that they would probably complain that “they hate sitting empty on sidings and in repair shops.”

He explained that a railcar justifies its existence only when it is moving and serving the logistics chain. In this regard, railcars are already beginning to “speak” through telematics equipment—that is, onboard sensors that transmit their position, mileage, cargo, and technical condition in real time.

This data allows owners to keep the railcars in service and perform preventive maintenance before malfunctions occur, rather than after they have already caused disruptions.

Reinshagen also says that rail freight transport should better capitalize on its role in decarbonizing logistics chains, since transporting goods by rail produces only a fraction of the emissions generated by road transport over the same distance.

The new UIP president outlines four priorities to enable railcars to travel more safely and efficiently across borders.

The first is the creation of a true Single European Railway Area, in which common technical and safety rules are established and applied uniformly. Reinshagen supports the role of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) as the body responsible for common safety and interoperability rules.

The goal is simple, he says: a single set of European rules, applied everywhere, instead of a patchwork of national standards that a railcar must meet country by country.

The second priority is closer cooperation between rail operators and railcar owners through the General Contract of Use (GCU), the standard contract that establishes the rights and obligations regarding the use of railcars in transport. Reinshagen also calls for closer collaboration with infrastructure managers across Europe.

The third priority is maintenance based on a common standard, set forth in a single, digital, and continuously updated European Maintenance Guide. This standard should be applied by all railcar owners, regardless of whether the work is performed in the field or in workshops.

The fourth priority is openness to innovations that enhance safety. Reinshagen mentions the GS1 projects, through which each railcar receives a common digital identity so that it can benefit from monitoring systems installed along the railway.

He also mentions Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC)—digital automatic coupling—a technology that is set to replace the manual railcar coupling system, which has essentially been in use for over 150 years. DAC enables the transmission of power and data along the train and is considered a key prerequisite for the full digitalization of rail freight transport.

When asked how he would evaluate his term in office at the end, Peter Reinshagen said he would choose a single metric: the achievement of GCU 2030.

This would entail a reformed governance structure for the General Contract for the Use of Railcars, featuring a common and mutually beneficial contractual framework for rail operators and railcar owners, shared insurance services, and a single European maintenance guide for railcars.

“If this structure is up and running by the end of my term, I will consider it a success. It would mean that the entire sector operates under a single set of rules, rather than multiple ones,” said Reinshagen.

Beyond the professional sphere, the new UIP president declares himself a supporter of a free, prosperous, and democratic Europe. He says that Europeans should work, both professionally and in their private lives, toward a Europe where different cultures and people live together in peace.