Three decades after it faded from Europe's timetables, Germany is calling on EU rail operators to bring back the Trans Europe Express which linked major cities of Western Europe starting from the 1950s.
The network of trans-national trains lost traction starting in the 1980s, even as national rail operators began to develop high-speed domestic networks, starting with France's TGV system.
Although it's possible, of course, to travel from country-to-country by rail, there is no wide coordination of timetables to create an efficient network, and most transnational trains do not make for easy trips over really long distances. Germany's proposal is to create a new network, with at least some major routes in operation soon, without requiring significant infrastructure work.
Germany currently holds the EU presidency and this is one of its initiatives; a spokesman suggested that if Europe could coordinate its timetables “train travel would become interesting, even over long distances offering a credible and environmentally friendly alternative to air travel.”
The first four routes proposed are one from Paris to Warsaw via Brussels and Berlin, another connecting Berlin to Barcelona via Frankfurt and Lyon, one linking Amsterdam to Barcelona through Brussels and Lyon, and an Amsterdam to Rome route, via passing through Basel and Milan.
Photo: Kecko / CC BY 2.0
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