On 7 October 2021, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market, went to the Gare de l'Est in Paris, France, where he attend the closing ceremony of upon the arrival of the Connecting Europe Express at its end station. Clément Beaune, French Minister of State for European Affairs, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, French Minister Delegate to the Minister for the Ecological Transition, in charge of Transport, Jean-Pierre Farandou, President and Director General of SNCF, and Henrik Hololei, Director-General of DG Mobility and Transport of the EC, also attended the ceremony.This event was organised in the framework of the Connecting Europe Express, a special train put together as part of the European Year of Rail 2021. From 2 September to 7 October 2021, a train has been set to crossing 26 European countries to showcase the unifying force of rail and to understand the challenges that European rail has to overcome in order to become the mode of choice for passengers and businesses alike.