BRUSSELS (CN) - Travelers will zip from Berlin to Copenhagen in four hours instead of seven, from Madrid to Lisbon in three hours instead of nine, and planes will run on fuel made from hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide - all in 15 years, European officials said Wednesday.
The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - unveiled its vision, backed by a price tag to make even Brussels blush: up to 445 billion euros ($476 billion). The package includes a high-speed rail plan to complete a continent-wide network by 2040, and a sustainable fuels push committing 2.9 billion euros by 2027 toward producing 20 million tons of renewable jet and shipping fuel by 2035.
Europe's track record suggests a dose of caution. High-speed rail traffic grew just 17% between 2015 and 2023, far short of the goal to double it by 2030. Most lines are concentrated in Spain, France, Italy and Germany. The bloc operates about 7,520 miles of high-speed track that largely stops at national borders.
The EU committed 2.9 billion euros by 2027 to boost fuel production - less than 3% of the 100 billion euros needed by 2035. Officials drew a line in the sand: Investment decisions and construction must start by 2027 to meet 2030 targets. "It's as simple as that," European Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said.
The announcement follows Wednesday's agreement by EU environment ministers to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, as world leaders convene in Belem, Brazil, for the COP30 climate summit on Thursday and Friday.
Ambitious goals, fuzzy details
The new rail plan would connect major cities at speeds of at least 124 mph, with some stretches hitting 155 mph. Berlin to Vienna via Prague would fall to four and a half hours from over eight. New routes would also stitch together Baltic capitals that lack direct high-speed connections.
Completing the network by 2040 will cost an estimated 345 billion euros, officials said, though they didn't spell out where that money will come from.
The commission wants to broker a deal with national governments and private investors by next year. It aims to double transport infrastructure funding to 51.5 billion euros in its next seven-year budget, though that requires approval from EU countries watching their spending.
The challenge goes beyond funding. European rail manufacturers already struggle to meet demand, with new train orders facing four- to six-year delivery times. "We cannot afford to lose another strategic industry to Asia," Tzitzikostas said at a news conference Wednesday.
The plan needs "more clarity on the financial instruments that will be available for the purchase of new and secondhand trains to go beyond a simple wish list," European environmental group Transport & Environment told Courthouse News.
The rail industry also complained about unfair competition. Aviation and maritime fuels remain exempt from EU energy taxes under current rules, with negotiations underway to extend that exemption until at least 2035 - even as Brussels seeks billions to help those sectors decarbonize.
The fuel challenge looks even tougher. Aviation and shipping each account for 13% of EU transport emissions, and both keep growing. Transport is the only major economic sector in Europe where greenhouse gas emissions have increased since 1990, making the fuel transition urgent.
Current EU production can meet near-term biofuel targets through 2029, but officials acknowledged investment isn't sufficient beyond 2030. The EU needs 20 million tons of biofuels and synthetic e-fuels by 2035, requiring an estimated 100 billion euros in total investment.
More than 40 e-fuel projects are at the planning stage across Europe, but not one has reached a final investment decision. The main obstacle: Renewable fuels cost two to 10 times more than conventional jet fuel and marine diesel.
"We face a clear market failure," said Tzitzikostas, despite Europe having the largest pipeline of renewable fuel projects ready for production. Europe holds 60% of global patents in the sector but risks losing that technological edge without major investment, officials said.
Transport & Environment said the plan "contains promising steps to boost e-fuels production" but warned that "the EU must now follow through on these commitments if it is to help preserve Europe's technological leadership in e-fuels."
The plans tacitly acknowledge past failures. Both Mario Draghi's competitiveness report and a study by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta noted that while high-speed rail transformed national economies, it largely stopped at borders - leaving Europe fragmented despite decades of single-market rhetoric.
Courthouse News correspondent Yuval Molina is based in Brussels, Belgium.
Source: Courthouse News Service
