Renew Europe has welcomed a vote on the report Connecting Europe through High-Speed Rail which calls for a European high-speed rail network by 2040, with missing cross-border links built first.
A connected European rail network would mean a stronger economy and single market, cleaner air, a more competitive European industry and more quality jobs. But progress is slow as high-speed rail traffic has grown by just 17% since 2015, far from the EU’s goal of doubling it by 2030.
Closing the gap will take more investment and a truly European approach. This is why European Parliament calls for long-term investment, faster permits, fair competition, interoperable EU rail rules and one ticket for cross-border trips.
The EU’s aims are to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030, but completing the network will cost an estimated €345 billion. To ensure Europe can move faster, the European Parliament has called for a set of concrete urgent measures:
- More EU funding and private investment
- Faster permits and one set of technical rules across the EU, with EU-wide train approval by the EU Rail Agency by 2027
- A European market for second-hand trains, so that new operators can compete
- One ticket for cross-border journeys and a guaranteed onward journey after missed connections
Ana Vasconcelos MEP (Iniciativa Liberal, PT), shadow rapporteur on this file, said:
“Europe already has the ingredients for success: the technology, the engineering and millions of citizens who want cleaner, faster ways to travel. Yet in a Union built on free movement, our fast trains still stop at national borders. We need to mobilise both public and private investment and adopt a truly European approach that puts cross-border links first.
By connecting our regions, from Lisbon to Warsaw, we can make rail a real backbone of the Single Market, enabling people and businesses to move more easily, strengthening economic integration and ensuring that the benefits of a connected Europe reach every region”.
A connected European rail network means a stronger single market, a more competitive European industry and more quality jobs, as well as closer regions, cleaner air and more independence for Europe.
For Liberals, the question is not whether Europe should invest in high-speed rail, but whether we can remove the barriers that prevent it from delivering its full potential.
Vasconcelos emphasised the point:
“Europe cannot be a single market if its trains stop at national borders. Today, slow permits, uncertain funding and 27 different sets of rules keep cross-border links from being built, and high-speed rail traffic has grown by only 17% in eight years.
As Draghi and Letta have both warned, our competitiveness depends on infrastructure that connects Europe as one market. That is why cross-border links must come first. If we succeed, we will build a more competitive, more connected and more resilient Europe.”