High-speed rail network could cover Europe by 2040, says EU

Breakfast in Berlin, lunch in Copenhagen, with a fast and easy train journey to pass the morning?

- Jennifer Rankin

Or a midday meal in Sofia, then taking the high-speed line to arrive in Athens just in time for an evening aperitif? Both could be possible if a vision for European high-speed rail travel ever becomes a reality.

A faster, "truly European" high-speed rail network could be possible by 2040, the EU executive said yesterday, as it revealed plans to dramatically cut journey times.

The European Commission sketched out a world where trains could reach speeds well above 250km/h, when feasible. If the plan is realised, rail passengers could travel between the German and Danish capitals in four hours by 2030, instead of seven hours today, while Sofia and Athens would be just six hours apart by 2035, instead of nearly 14.

New cross-border links would hugely speed up travel between Tallinn and Riga to 1hr 45min compared with 6hr 10min now. On the other side of the continent, a journey between Lisbon and Madrid would be cut from nine to three hours.