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'Single timetable' European rail network plans revealed
The Independent
|March 27, 2025
Plans to connect 39 European stations by a high-speed rail network have been revealed, with lines linking the UK, Ukraine, Turkey and Portugal.
Starline, a blueprint by the Copenhagen-based think tank 21st Europe, proposes a new European high-speed rail network to "make the continent feel whole again" by 2040. Unveiled at 21st Europe's first summit in Barcelona, the Starline plans involve 22,000km of high-speed rail, connecting 39 stations across the continent at estimated speeds of between 186mph and 249mph.
Designed in collaboration with studio Bakken & Back, the blue trains will be designed after the EU flag, with stars along the sides of the carriages. Train interiors will include quiet zones for focus, comfortable seating, cafes and family-friendly areas.
The network would be built on existing infrastructure with a fleet of trains crossing borders on five lines that run on a single timetable as "one seamless system”. Connecting cities such as Kyiv, Bucharest and Sofia into a continental network, Starline aims to put Eastern Europe on the high-speed map.
This story is from the March 27, 2025 edition of The Independent.
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