Imagine a network of trains, faster than the TGV, linking Paris to Berlin in four hours instead of eight, and providing high-speed links to offshore destinations with connections to ferry routes. Even a through ticket from Paris to Dublin, bypassing Britain as it leaves Europe.
That's the thrust of a plan put forward by the Vienna Institute for Economic Studies in response to a call for projects to implement the €2 trillion package put forward by French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel to spur post-Covid economic recovery.
The institute pitches the plan as "a European green high-speed train network" that could be built over the next ten years, mostly as new routes but including some existing high-speed trackage. The 'green' comes from the idea that the 'Ultra-Rapid' lines could draw many passengers away from intra-European flights, and provide cargo capacity that could eliminate many diesel truck runs.
Alkthough other countries are involved, France and Germany would end up with the most new high-speed track, a bit over 2,000km apiece. Here are the proposed routes.
- Paris to Dublin - from Paris to Brest, taking the Brest-Cork ferry then running from Cork to Dublin. The report describes this route as 'taking on an additional significance in the context of Brexit'.
- Lisbon to Helsinki - running from Lisbon through Spain and France, via Paris, then to Belgium and the Netherlands before splitting into a loop via Berlin and onwards to Helsinki.
- Brussels to Valetta - through Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy before taking the ferry to Malta
- Berlin to Nicosia - with a ferry-based sea link between Piraeus and Paphos and a loop between Vienna and Sofia.
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