Progress in cross-border passenger rail connection within the European Union in 2025?

In a bid to revolutionise rail travel across Europe, Commissioner for Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas has outlined a series of ambitious plans.

Tzitzikostas, who has demonstrated a greater grip of railway issues than his predecessor Adina Vălean, wants to help the revival of night trains in Europe, a service that has been absent for the past two decades. However, the absence of new night trains poses a significant challenge.

The Commissioner also aims to make the continent's railways more customer-friendly. To achieve this, he plans to propose a Regulation on cross-border train travel in 2025. The regulation is expected to include provisions for open booking systems, allowing passengers to purchase trans-European journeys with several providers, without losing their right to reimbursement or compensatory travel.

In addition, Tzitzikostas aims to supplement the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) core network with a plan for a Europe-wide high-speed railway network. This initiative is part of the Commission's broader goal to address the financial, operational, and technical problems faced by the cross-border rail market, which currently lags behind its share nationally.

Despite these efforts, some hurdles remain. For instance, the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) has refused to sell tickets for night train startup European Sleeper, while SNCF this year reduced rather than increased its international ticket offer. The Commissioner aims to find money for fleet procurement and persuade railway companies there is a market for slower overnight services.

The Commission has focused largely on investment in infrastructure and liberalisation of rail services. However, some of these initiatives have led to poor outcomes in some cases. Nonetheless, the Commission is determined to hold Member States accountable for investments in cross-border rail infrastructure by 2030.

The efforts to improve European rail travel have not gone unnoticed. 2023 was a record year for the sale of Europe-wide Interrail passes, a leisure product. Moreover, rail contributes only 0.4% of EU transport emissions and 57% of Europe's railways are electrified, making it a sustainable mode of transport.

In her Political Guidelines for her second term, Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged the difficulty of cross-border train travel for many citizens and proposed open booking systems for trans-European journeys. This initiative, if successful, could pave the way for a more seamless and accessible rail travel experience across Europe.

As Tzitzikostas and the Commission navigate these challenges, they are hopeful that their efforts will lead to a more integrated, customer-friendly, and sustainable rail network across Europe.

Progress in cross-border passenger rail connection within the European Union in 2025?