The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) unanimously adopted the Women in Rail agreement during its 68th General Assembly on 20 September 2021, underlining CER members’ full commitment to promoting more gender equality and diversity policies within their companies. This autonomous agreement, under Article 155 of the TFEU is historic for several reasons. It is, in fact, the first autonomous agreement at European level on gender equality. It is also the first autonomous agreement in the railway sector for over 15 years. Furthermore, it was achieved during the COVID pandemic which necessitated the further challenge of virtual negotiations. (....)