Commission launches plan to accelerate high-speed rail across Europe

In November 2025, the European Commission unveiled a comprehensive plan to accelerate the development of high-speed rail across the EU, offering passengers significantly reduced travel times. By boosting fast, comfortable, safe and reliable rail services, the plan supports the EU’s twin goals of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 and strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness.

Building on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), the plan sets the ambition of cutting the duration of many popular rail journeys across Europe by half compared to today. For example, by 2030, passengers will be able to travel from Berlin to Copenhagen in four hours instead of seven. By 2035, Sofia and Athens will be just six hours apart by rail, while new cross-border connections will link the Baltic countries and enable passengers to travel from Paris to Lisbon via Madrid.

The plan aims to deliver a well-functioning and faster high-speed rail network by 2040, with key actions structured around four pillars:

1. Accelerating the investment and harmonising a truly interoperable European high-speed rail network.

• Removing cross-border bottlenecks through binding timelines to be set by 2027 and the identification of options for higher speeds, including well-above 250 km/h when economically viable.
• A dedicated EU financing strategy will be prepared in the coming months, supported by a strategic dialogue with Member States, industry and financial actors. The objective is to better coordinate funding sources and private investment, and to strengthen the EU financing ecosystem for high-speed rail projects, ensuring completion of the TEN-T network by 2040. The strategic dialogue will culminate in a High-Speed Rail Deal, a multilateral commitment to mobilise the necessary investments for priority projects.

2. An attractive and competitive framework for rail services

• Legislation will support the development of a second-hand market for rolling stock. The Commission will propose, in 2027, measures to ban anticompetitive scrapping of functioning and safe rolling stock, and to establish transparent conditions for its resale and operation across all Member States.
• A 2026 proposal will aim to improve cross-border rail ticketing and booking systems, making it easier for passengers to plan and purchase seamless cross-border journeys, with better access to passenger rights protection when using multiple operators.
• Removing entry barriers for new high-speed operators. Better coordination of track capacity, fair track access charges, and non-discriminatory access to service facilities will make it easier for new companies to offer high-speed rail services, boosting competition and making high-speed rail more affordable.

3. Supporting a strong, innovative and harmonised European rail sector.

• A 2026 Europe’s Rail research call will support the development of next-generation high-speed rolling stock. It will fund research and innovation to overcome technical barriers that currently prevent individual high-speed trainsets from operating seamlessly across Europe.
• EU rules will be revised in 2026 to simplify train driver certification making it easier for train drivers to operate cross-border services.
• The 2026 European ERTMS Deployment Plan will ensure enhanced interoperability through a harmonised rollout of ERTMS.

3. Strengthening EU-level governance to coordinate and deliver the vision.

• To better coordinate the use of rail infrastructure capacity, infrastructure managers will be empowered and legally required to cooperate in providing predictable and attractive cross-border capacity for long-distance services, in line with the proposed Regulation on the use of rail infrastructure capacity.
• Barriers to the establishment of new services between key cities will be discussed and addressed in roundtable discussions with stakeholders and progress towards the identified solutions will be overseen by the European TEN-T Coordinators.
• The Commission will establish a scoreboard to monitor progress on high-speed rail.
• The mandate of the European Union Agency for Railways will also be revised in 2026, enabling the Agency to remove redundant national rules and issue authorisations and certifications more efficiently, thereby supporting the implementation of innovation.

Beyond cutting journey times, the plan will ease congestion, increase capacity on conventional lines, and improve services for regional and night trains. It will also strengthen Europe’s security, by facilitating the swift movement of troops and military equipment alongside civilian freight.

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