What will the European high-speed rail network look like in 2020?
Including both new and upgraded lines, it’s going to be nearly twice the size it is now. But it’s not just the size of the network that matters, it’s the sort of connections it makes. If you look back to the first high-speed rail projects, the focus was on improvements to national rail networks. These were essentially ‘islands’ of high-speed travel that stopped at national boundaries. The emphasis now is increasingly placed on joining these national ‘islands’ together to create a truly international high-speed rail network for Europe. This will provide seamless cross-border travel in the same way that airlines do now. The next milestone will be the liberalisation of international rail passenger services in 2010. Opening up the market will attract new players and incumbent national operators will have to adapt quickly. Some of the new passenger rail operators might well be owned by airlines and we could see the emergence of low-cost rail carriers. What are the main challenges for the hi
