The European Commission’s Ambition for Connecting Europe with Cross-Border Passenger Rail

Executive Summary

Rail travel in Europe is undergoing its most ambitious transformation in decades. Driven by twin imperatives — climate neutrality by 2050 and the need for a more competitive, integrated continent — the European Commission has launched a wave of interlocking policy measures designed to make cross-border train travel genuinely seamless, faster, and more attractive.

This report traces that journey: from the foundational 2021 Action Plan to boost long-distance passenger rail, through the strengthened passenger rights regulation of the same year, to the landmark High-Speed Rail Plan unveiled in November 2025. Together, these measures aim to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and triple it by 2050 — and to deliver a fully functioning European high-speed network by 2040.

Key policy pillars include the removal of cross-border regulatory barriers, modernised and interoperable infrastructure, competitive ticketing systems, strengthened passenger rights, and a dedicated financing strategy bringing together EU funds, Member States, and private capital.

 

7% Share of km travelled by cross-border train today

×2 by 2030 Target increase in high-speed rail traffic

€34.4bn EU CEF investment in rail infrastructure to date

Background: Why Cross-Border Rail Matters

Despite Europe’s extensive railway network, cross-border passenger rail has long been its weakest link. According to the European Commission, cross-border trips account for just 7% of the total kilometres travelled by train in the EU — a strikingly low figure given the continent’s size and density of connections. Passengers face fragmented ticketing systems, incompatible technical standards across national networks, complex booking processes, and journey times that are often uncompetitive compared with air travel.

This underperformance carries real costs: for the climate, for economic integration, and for European citizens. Rail is one of the greenest modes of transport, and its expansion is essential to meeting the EU’s Green Deal target of climate neutrality by 2050. The Commission has therefore made rail transformation a central component of its Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, launched in December 2020.

 

KEY CONTEXT

Cross-border rail trips account for just 7% of kilometres travelled by train in the EU — despite rail being one of the most sustainable modes of transport available. (European Commission, 2021)

The 2021 Action Plan: Setting the Framework

In December 2021 — the European Year of Rail — the Commission published its Action Plan to boost long-distance and cross-border passenger rail services. This document remains the foundational policy framework for the current wave of reform.

Diagnosed Barriers

The Action Plan identified a comprehensive list of obstacles holding back cross-border rail. These included:

• Redundant and incompatible national technical and operational rules
• Shortage of rolling stock (trains, coaches, and locomotives) suitable for cross-border operation
• Inadequate digital tools and slow uptake of technologies for ticketing, scheduling, and capacity management
• Fragmented and complex ticketing — making it difficult for passengers to plan and book multi-operator journeys
• Insufficient infrastructure investment and slow modernisation of key cross-border corridors
• Barriers to new market entrants, reducing competition and keeping fares high

Policy Actions

To overcome these barriers, the Action Plan charted a course across nine action areas: accelerating digitalisation; removing redundant national rules; ensuring better availability of rolling stock; modernising railway staff training; upgrading infrastructure; improving network efficiency; facilitating infrastructure access through fair pricing; making ticketing more user-friendly; and introducing public service obligations where needed for sustainable long-distance routes.

Alongside the Action Plan, the Commission presented a revised Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation, which introduced a minimum speed limit of 160 km/h for all passenger services on core TEN-T rail lines, and strengthened requirements for airport-rail connections. The European Investment Bank simultaneously launched its Green Rail Investment Platform to mobilise private and public finance for rolling stock and electrification.

Cross-border pilot services were announced as a key near-term deliverable, allowing the new measures to be tested in practice from 2022 onwards.

Strategic Milestones

The Action Plan anchors its ambition to two headline targets: doubling high-speed rail traffic by 2030, and tripling it by 2050. These milestones are now embedded across the Commission’s transport and climate policy frameworks.

 

POLICY QUOTE

“Rail is one of the most sustainable modes of transport we have. And yet, this potential risks going to waste — cross-border trips account for just 7% of the kilometres travelled by train. This Action Plan will help us make rail a more attractive option for long and cross-border journeys.” — Commissioner Adina Vălean, December 2021

 

Regulation (EU) 2021/782: Putting Passengers First

Running in parallel with the infrastructure and service policy agenda, the 2021 Rail Passenger Rights Regulation (EU) 2021/782 — which entered into force in June 2021 and applied from 7 June 2023 — significantly strengthened the legal floor of protection for rail travellers across Europe.

Strengthened Passenger Rights

The regulation provides significantly improved protection in the event of travel disruptions. Key provisions include:

• Compensation of 25% of the ticket price for delays of 60–119 minutes, rising to 50% for delays of 120 minutes or more
• A right to self-routing: if no timely re-routing solution is offered within 100 minutes of a disruption, passengers may independently organise alternative transport by rail, coach, or bus and be reimbursed
• Improved re-routing requirements, ensuring operators actively offer alternatives
• Through-ticket obligations: carriers qualifying as a ‘sole railway undertaking’ must offer long-distance and regional services under a single, integrated through-ticket
• Real-time travel information requirements: infrastructure managers must distribute live traffic data to railway undertakings, ticket vendors, tour operators, and station managers
• Dedicated spaces for full-size assembled bicycles on new and significantly upgraded trains
• Strengthened accessibility: the pre-notification period for disability assistance requests is reduced from 48 to 24 hours; tickets must be offered to persons with disabilities at no additional cost

Broader Scope

Unlike its predecessor, the new regulation significantly curtails the ability of Member States to grant exemptions. No rail service category is automatically exempt. Certain exemptions remain possible for urban, suburban, and regional services, but cross-border international rail journeys between EU countries may not be exempted — ensuring that the very services targeted by the wider rail reform agenda are fully covered.

In 2024, the Commission further complemented the regulation with a standardised reimbursement form (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/949), making it simpler for passengers to assert their compensation rights regardless of which operator or country was involved.

 

KEY PROVISION

Under Regulation (EU) 2021/782, cross-border international rail journeys between EU Member States cannot be exempted from passenger rights protections — a fundamental guarantee underpinning the Commission’s wider rail ambition.

 

2024: Momentum Builds

By mid-2024, the foundational policies were beginning to translate into tangible improvements. The Commission published a progress overview highlighting that the EU’s new TEN-T rules had entered into force, bringing stronger legal requirements for rail connectivity and green infrastructure across the network.

Ten pilot cross-border rail services were formally announced — a concrete deliverable from the 2021 Action Plan — designed to improve connections across the EU and demonstrate that faster, more affordable cross-border journeys are achievable.

The DiscoverEU programme continued to offer free travel passes for 18-year-olds to explore Europe by train, building a new generation of rail passengers while reinforcing the cultural and environmental case for train travel. Applications for a new round of passes were expected in autumn 2024.

Passenger rights, interoperability, and digitalisation all continued as active work streams within the Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, laying the groundwork for the more comprehensive plan that would follow in late 2025.

 

The 2025 High-Speed Rail Plan: A Step Change

The most significant recent milestone came in November 2025, when the European Commission unveiled its comprehensive High-Speed Rail Plan — described as a step change in ambition, moving from incremental reform to a systemic transformation of European rail travel.

The Vision

The Plan’s central ambition is to cut the duration of many popular European rail journeys by half compared to today, and to deliver a well-functioning, high-speed TEN-T rail network by 2040. Specific journey-time targets illustrate the scale of the vision:

• Berlin to Copenhagen: from 7 hours to 4 hours by 2030
• Sofia to Athens: reduced to 6 hours by 2035
• New cross-border connections linking Baltic countries
• A new Paris–Lisbon via Madrid corridor

Beyond speed improvements, the Plan is designed to ease congestion on conventional lines, increase capacity, and improve services for regional and night trains — building a more complete rail ecosystem.

Four Strategic Pillars

Pillar 1 — Investment and Interoperability

Binding timelines for removing cross-border bottlenecks will be set by 2027, along with identification of options for higher speeds — including above 250 km/h where economically viable. A dedicated EU financing strategy is being developed, supported by a strategic dialogue with Member States, industry, and financial actors. The goal is a multilateral High-Speed Rail Deal committing to mobilise investment for priority projects.

Pillar 2 — Attractive and Competitive Services

A 2026 legislative proposal will overhaul cross-border ticketing and booking systems, making it significantly easier to plan and purchase seamless journeys using multiple operators. Additional measures will support a second-hand market for rolling stock, banning anticompetitive scrapping of functioning trains. Track access conditions will be reformed to lower barriers for new market entrants and boost competition.

Pillar 3 — Innovation and a Harmonised Sector

A 2026 Europe’s Rail research call will fund development of next-generation high-speed rolling stock capable of seamless cross-border operation. Train driver certification rules will be simplified. The 2026 European ERTMS Deployment Plan will ensure a harmonised rollout of the European Rail Traffic Management System — a critical enabler of interoperability.

Pillar 4 — EU-Level Governance

Infrastructure managers will be legally empowered to cooperate in providing predictable cross-border capacity. A new Commission scoreboard will monitor high-speed rail progress. The mandate of the EU Agency for Railways will be revised in 2026 to enable it to remove redundant national rules and issue authorisations more efficiently.

 

POLICY QUOTE

“High-speed rail is not just about cutting travel times — it is about uniting Europeans, strengthening our economy, and leading the global race for sustainable transport. With today’s plan, we are turning ambition into action.” — Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, November 2025

 

Policy Timeline at a Glance

Year	Milestone
2021	Action Plan for Cross-Border Passenger Rail launched; Year of Rail
2021 (revised)	TEN-T Regulation revised — minimum 160 km/h on core network corridors
June 2023	Regulation (EU) 2021/782 on rail passenger rights enters into application
2024	10 pilot cross-border rail services announced; new TEN-T rules enter into force
Nov 2025	High-Speed Rail Plan launched — target: halve journey times by 2040
2026	Proposals on ticketing, train driver certification, rolling stock market & ERTMS rollout
2027	Binding timelines for removing cross-border bottlenecks; High-Speed Rail Deal
2030	Target: double high-speed rail traffic vs. baseline
2040	Target: fully functioning high-speed TEN-T rail network
2050	Target: triple high-speed rail traffic; EU climate-neutral

 

Cross-Cutting Themes and Implications

Climate and Sustainability

Every element of the Commission’s rail agenda is anchored in the European Green Deal. Rail emits a fraction of the CO₂ of aviation and road transport. Achieving the 2030 and 2050 modal shift targets is essential to keeping Europe’s decarbonisation trajectory on track. The High-Speed Rail Plan explicitly positions faster rail as a substitute for short-haul flights and car journeys.

Competition and Market Structure

The Commission is pursuing a dual approach: opening markets to new high-speed rail operators (through fair track access and reformed rolling stock rules), while also ensuring public service obligations where commercial markets alone cannot deliver viable long-distance or cross-border connectivity. Both strands are essential to a balanced network.

Digital Transformation

Digitalisation runs through every pillar of the rail reform agenda — from ERTMS for safer, more efficient network management, to real-time passenger information systems, to seamless multi-operator ticketing and booking platforms. The 2026 ticketing proposal will be a critical test of whether the Commission can break down the fragmented booking landscape that currently deters cross-border travel.

Social Inclusion

Passenger rights protections, accessibility improvements for people with disabilities, and initiatives such as DiscoverEU all reflect a commitment to making rail an inclusive mode of transport — not just for business travellers or those who can afford to navigate complex booking systems, but for all Europeans.

Security Dimensions

The 2025 High-Speed Rail Plan also notes that faster, higher-capacity rail infrastructure will strengthen Europe’s security by facilitating the movement of troops and military equipment alongside civilian freight — a dimension that has gained increasing salience in the current geopolitical context.

Challenges and Open Questions

Despite the ambition and coherence of the Commission’s rail agenda, significant challenges remain:

• Financing at scale: The TEN-T network completion by 2040 requires sustained, coordinated investment from EU funds, Member States, and private capital. The planned High-Speed Rail Deal must translate political commitment into binding financial pledges.
• Member State implementation: National governments vary considerably in their enthusiasm for rail investment, regulatory liberalisation, and market opening. The Commission’s ability to enforce binding timelines depends on political will in capitals.
• Interoperability in practice: ERTMS deployment and technical harmonisation have been promised for decades. Delivering by 2026–2027 will require concerted effort from railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, and national authorities.
• Ticketing fragmentation: A 2026 legislative proposal on cross-border ticketing is welcome, but aligning commercial interests of competing operators — and the technical systems behind their booking platforms — is a deeply complex undertaking.
• Night trains and regional connectivity: While the High-Speed Rail Plan promises benefits for night trains and regional services, the primary investment focus on high-speed corridors risks leaving peripheral regions and slower services behind.

 

Conclusions

The European Commission has constructed, over the past four years, a remarkably comprehensive policy architecture for cross-border rail. The 2021 Action Plan established the diagnosis and the direction. The revised passenger rights regulation created a legal floor of protection commensurate with the ambition. The 2025 High-Speed Rail Plan provides the clearest vision yet of what success looks like — a network where the fastest European city pairs are four to six hours apart, where ticketing is seamless, and where competitive markets drive down prices.

The gap between ambition and delivery remains the defining challenge. Rail infrastructure projects operate on decade-long timescales. Regulatory harmonisation requires consensus across 27 Member States. And the traveller experience is ultimately shaped at the point of service — by operators, station managers, and national enforcement bodies far removed from Brussels policymaking.

Nevertheless, the trajectory is clear and the political commitment, at Commission level at least, is stronger than it has been for a generation. If the financial, governance, and legislative measures now in the pipeline are delivered on schedule, European rail travel in 2040 will look radically different from today — more connected, more affordable, and better protected for every passenger.

Written by

LarsGoran Bostrom

Expert of Data Ethics and Developer/Author of the Course: Data Ethics – Navigating the Ethical Landscape of Emerging Technologies and helping businesses and other organisations to Re-Digitalise with European Products and Services

European trends

 

Sources

1. European Commission (2024). Transforming rail: More convenient and sustainable train travel in the EU. 17 July 2024.
2. European Commission / DG MOVE (2021). Action Plan to boost passenger rail. 14 December 2021.
3. European Commission / DG MOVE (2025). Commission launches plan to accelerate high-speed rail across Europe. 5 November 2025.
4. European Parliament and Council (2021). Regulation (EU) 2021/782 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations (recast). OJ L 172, 17 May 2021, pp. 1–52. Applicable from 7 June 2023.