Have you heard? Europe’s rail renaissance is back, baby.
Despite some disheartening cuts to sleeper services this year, it looks like high-speed rail is taking off across the continent. Earlier this year, plans for a new metro-style ‘tube for Europe’ were announced – and now the European Commission has shared details of its own initiative to cut travel times and improve cross-border links.
The EC has outlined plans to shorten the duration of several routes across the continent through an integrated high-speed rail network. With trains travelling up to 250km an hour, connections between Europe’s major cities and capitals could see journey times slashed by half.
While the high-speed network should be operating in full by 2040, some routes will be introduced as early as 2030. Travelling between Berlin and Copenhagen, for example, will take four hours instead of seven by the end of the decade.
The route between Sofia and Athens will also be slashed by 2035, taking six hours instead of nearly 14. There are also brand-new connections to get excited about, including Paris to Lisbon via Madrid and Warsaw to Tallinn via Riga.
Here’s how the proposed network would look, including details of reduced travel times between cities.
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As you can see, travel times will be significantly reduced across the board. We’re talking Prague to Rome in ten hours and Stockholm to Copenhagen in four.
Long story short, seeing Europe by train will soon get a lot easier, with faster, reliable services available left, right and centre. Plus, of course, the whole thing will make European travel a lot more sustainable. How much it’ll all cost is to be seen, but we’d definitely prefer a high-speed rail jaunt over a budget airline standing seat.
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It’s all part of the EC’s ambitious Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which is essentially exactly what it says on the tin: a Europe-wide network of new roads, railways, ports and the like. You can read more about the EC’s four-pillar plan to improve high-speed rail on their website.
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