The EU plans to double high-speed rail use by 2030 and triple current levels by 2050. The vision was announced in Lyon, France, on June 29th, during the Connecting Europe Days 2022, organized by the European Commission. Several projects are underway across Europe. According to CNN, the Czech Republic is working with the French railway industry to develop new 350 kilometers per hour (217 mph) lines that will revolutionize journey times between Prague, Brno and Ostrava and deliver much faster international links between Austria, Slovakia, southern Poland and eastern Germany.
Some 135 transport infrastructure projects have been selected for EU grants totaling EUR 5.4 billion. The funding will support post-pandemic economic recovery in all EU Member States while also contributing to the construction of missing transport links across the continent, supporting sustainable transport, improving safety and interoperability, and creating jobs.
The projects selected were submitted in response to calls for proposals issued under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU’s funding instrument for strategic investment in transport infrastructure. The projects selected for support all lie on the Trans-European Transport Network, the system of roads, railways, inland waterways, short-sea shipping routes, ports and airports that links the EU’s Member States and beyond.
These projects will improve missing infrastructure links, make transport more sustainable and efficient, increase safety and interoperability, as well as create jobs.
Adina-Ioana Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport
According to some experts, progress has been made but the expectations has been set very high. “While a lot has been achieved so far (Paris-Lyon, Milan-Rome, Barcelona-Madrid and Berlin-Munich are national success stories for rail) much more is needed if the ambitious objectives of the European Green Deal and Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy are to be met,” Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the Community of European Railways told CNN.
The Commission’s objective is to complete the TEN-T core network by 2030 and the comprehensive network by 2050, while also ensuring that its infrastructure helps the EU deliver its climate objectives, as set out in the European Green Deal.
Several projects will boost the EU’s railway network, including cross-border links and connections to ports and airports. Rail infrastructure projects located on the TEN-T Core Network and selected for funding include the Fehmarn Belt tunnel, which will link Denmark and Germany.
Another key project will upgrade the existing rail-road transhipment terminal in Haniska pri Košicich near the city of Košice in Slovakia. The upgrade will make it easier to move freight between rail and road, and to adapt the railway gauge so that trains built to use gauges of a different width, including that used in Ukraine, can be accommodated.
These challenging times have reinforced the importance of our EU transport sector.
Adina-Ioana Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport
Other projects will reinforce maritime navigation through the upgrading of basic port infrastructure and the installation of on-shore power supply. Ports will then be in a position to help docked ships reduce their emissions. Projects to improve inland waterway transport include the Seine-Scheldt cross-border waterway connection, which will help create a cross-border inland waterway connection between France and Belgium.
Rolling out Intelligent Transport Systems on certain sections of the road network will improve road safety and create secure and safe parking infrastructure for heavy goods vehicles in Spain, Romania, France, Hungary and Italy. For smart, interoperable and safer railway services, several projects will digitize operations across Europe through the European Rail Traffic Management System. A series of pilot Digital European Sky Demonstrators in green aviation and urban air mobility will support air transport.
In total, 399 applications were submitted under the CEF Transport calls that closed on 19 January 2022. Following the evaluation, 135 proposals were selected and retained for CEF funding, amounting to about EUR 5.4 billion. These numbers do not include the Alternative Fuels and Military Mobility calls, which have been launched at the same time but evaluated separately.
The European Union is once more investing in the future of its citizens by supporting the creation of a sustainable, green, safe and smart transport system.
Dirk Beckers, Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
Under the CEF Transport program for the period 2021-2027, EUR 25.8 billion are available for grants to co-fund TEN-T projects in the EU Member States. Since 2014, CEF has supported over 1030 projects for a total amount of EUR 23 billion in the transport sector. The EU contribution will take the form of grants co-financing the total project costs.
Following the EU Member States’ approval of the selected projects on 21 June 2022, the Commission will adopt the financing decision. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will start the preparation of the grant agreements with the beneficiaries of the 135 selected projects. Further financing opportunities exist in CEF Transport, with the Military Mobility and Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility calls open, and further calls to be launched in September 2022.
According to CNN, excess carbon emissions from airliners, trucks and cars are currently charged at 50 euros per tonne in the EU, but this could soon rise to €80 per tonne. If just 10% of that revenue is re-invested in transport it could add around 8 billion euros a year to the pot for rail upgrades.
