European Commission unveils plan for high-speed rail network by 2040

Many popular rail journeys are to be halved in duration (Berlin–Copenhagen in four instead of seven hours by 2030, Sofia–Athens in six hours by 2035); binding timetables for cross-border bottlenecks are to be set by 2027 and an EU financing strategy drawn up; the report gives no total investment figure.

On 5 Nov 2025 the European Commission presented a plan to create a faster, better-connected high-speed rail network on the basis of the TEN-T by 2040 and to halve the duration of many popular rail trips, for example Berlin–Copenhagen in four instead of seven hours by 2030 and Sofia–Athens in six hours by 2035. It provides for binding timetables for cross-border bottlenecks (to be set by 2027), an EU financing strategy with a multilateral deal to mobilise investment, a market for used rolling stock, better cross-border ticketing and a legal duty for infrastructure managers to cooperate on cross-border long-distance capacity. So far the EU has decided to support 804 rail infrastructure projects with a total of €34.4 billion from the Connecting Europe Facility (68.76% of all CEF investment). DG MOVE was scheduled to present the plan to Parliament's Transport Committee on 24 Feb 2026; the committee intends to adopt a non-legislative report on it. (LOK Report, 5 Nov 2025 and 17 Feb 2026)