High-speed rail network possible by 2040, says European Commission | Rail transport
Want to have breakfast in Berlin, lunch in Copenhagen, spend the morning with a quick and easy train ride? Or after having lunch in Sofia, take the high-speed train to Athens just in time to have an evening snack? Both could be possible if the vision of high-speed rail travel in Europe becomes a reality.
A faster, “truly European” high-speed rail network could be possible by 2040, the EU executive said on Wednesday, as he announced plans to significantly cut journey times between major cities.
The European Commission has outlined a world in which trains could reach speeds well above 250 km/h (155 mph) whenever possible, to enable faster connections across the continent.
If the plan is implemented, rail passengers will be able to travel between the capitals of Germany and Denmark in four hours by 2030, instead of seven hours today. The distance between Sofia and Athens will be only six hours in 2035, instead of almost 14 hours.
The new cross-border connections will significantly speed up travel between Tallinn and Riga to 1 hour 45 minutes, compared to 6 hours 10 minutes currently. On the other side of the continent, the journey between Lisbon and Madrid will be reduced from nine hours to three.
EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, a self-described “train man”, said the plans set out how to create “a faster, truly European high-speed railway”. [network] The Commission estimates that this will make rail travel a more attractive alternative to short-haul and possibly longer flights on many routes.
Despite repeated calls to increase rail travel, fast cross-border train journeys remain rare. Operators’ focus on national priorities, inadequate infrastructure, incompatible systems, conflicting regulations and highly complex ticketing mean high-speed rail has not taken off as quickly or rolled out as widely as advocates had hoped.
Europe’s existing 12,128km high-speed rail network is largely concentrated in four western EU member states (France, Germany, Italy and Spain), while central and eastern Europe has “poor connections”, the Commission said.
External experts, the commission cited, estimate that €546bn (£481bn) is needed to triple the size of the high-speed network to allow trains to run at speeds in excess of 250km/h. The EU administration has promised a financing strategy as part of a long list of actions and will seek to use EU funds to encourage national governments and private investment, particularly the payment of infrastructure and rolling stock.
Other elements of the plan include improved pan-European signaling and ticketing systems.
Tzitzikostas said one day all travelers should be able to book cross-border train tickets and eventually combined rail-air tickets through a single website. He has promised to introduce legislation in early 2026 to enable travelers to buy cross-border tickets, as well as expanding passenger rights to support this method of travel. Currently, passengers need to contact the different national rail operators involved in cross-border travel to ask for assistance or a refund if their train is delayed.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) hailed the plans as a step forward for sustainable travel. “For too long, consumers have faced complex booking and ticketing, limited passenger rights, poor connections and poor quality of service when traveling by train in Europe,” said Robin Loos, BEUC’s chief transport officer. “The plan should deliver much-needed investment and technical alignment and aim to solve the long-standing ticketing problem,” Loos said.
European industry body the Community of Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) also welcomed the plans. He said a standard speed target of 250km/h or much higher for new high-speed lines would create “a benchmark that will ensure rail can compete effectively with short-haul travel and enable a meaningful transition to rail”.
Jon Worth, an independent rail expert and campaigner, cast doubt on whether the faster journeys the commission was pursuing would happen; He highlighted the lack of detail on funding and the relatively small number of existing projects. “Can I name a rail to be built or a train to be purchased that would not otherwise have happened as a result of today’s document? No, I can’t, because after all it’s not actually a plan. It’s more of a kind of enthusiastic hopeful, ‘this is what we want to see.'”
He said that the EU An uneven record in low-speed rail projects With trans-European networks and transport corridors that are “extremely slow” to implement. “Why should it be any different this time just because we’re setting a deadline 10 years ahead and we’re talking about high-speed rail instead of traditional rail?” he asked.
