The EU’s European Railway Agency is throwing its support—technical, moral and political but not likely financial—behind a series of rail projects to improve connections among key European cities.
The goal of better connections between national rail systems is part of an initiative to ‘green’ Europe’s transportation systems and reduce short-haul flying. Adina Vălean, the EU Commissioner for Transport, told press that “While demand for green mobility is growing, we need the rail market to respond much better and much faster, especially for long and cross-border journeys.”
The agency will prioritize support to solve cross-border obstacles by providing coordination, compatibility assessments and identifying possible solutions. The map above shows the ten projects selected as pilots for the program. They are:
- An initiative by the Hungarian Ministry of Transport to connect Hungary with Austria and western Romania;
- Various initiatives as part of a collective project connecting Germany, Denmark and Sweden (SJ, DSB, DB, Snälltaget, České dráhy and Flixtrain);
- Midnight Trains’ new night service between Paris, Milan and Venice;
- Flixtrain’s new service between Munich and Zurich;
- WESTbahn’s new service between Munich, Vienna and Budapest, which is an extension of an existing service;
- Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s enhancement of the existing Amsterdam to London service, in cooperation with Eurostar;
- Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Deutsche Bahn’s services between Rome and Munich, and Milan and Munich;
- ILSA’s Lisbon – A Coruña and Lisbon – Madrid services
- Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya’s new services connecting Catalonia and the South of France
