Speaking in Brussels on 5 November, EU transport commissioner Adina Vălean presented a flagship strategy to link every EU capital by high-speed rail within 15 years. The plan combines upgrading existing corridors – including the Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin axis – with new cross-border lines intended to slash journey times and coax passengers away from short-haul flights.
Under the indicative map, a traveller could reach Barcelona from Brussels in under five hours by 2040, compared with more than seven today, while Berlin-Copenhagen would fall from seven to under four hours. The Commission estimates that shifting just 10 percent of intra-EU air journeys under 600 km to rail could cut annual aviation CO₂ emissions by 4 million tonnes.
![European Commission unveils 2040 high-speed rail map placing Brussels at heart of continent-wide network]()
Financing will blend Connecting Europe Facility grants, green bonds issued by the European Investment Bank, and private-sector debt backed by traffic-risk guarantees. Member states, including Belgium, must submit updated national investment plans by mid-2026 to secure the first tranche of funds. Belgian infrastructure minister Lydia Peeters welcomed the proposal, noting that Brussels-South is already Europe’s second-busiest international rail hub and that capacity upgrades around Leuven and Liège would unlock faster east-west links.
For global-mobility programmes the project promises tangible benefits: greater choice of low-carbon point-to-point options for executives, reduction in trip-time variability compared with congested air corridors, and expanded talent-pool catchment areas for companies with operations along the network. Travel-policy teams, however, will need to monitor construction-phase disruptions and the potential for ticket-price volatility as operators phase in new rolling stock.
The rail blueprint forms part of a twin package that also boosts mandates for sustainable aviation fuel, signalling the EU’s multi-modal approach to decarbonising mobility.
Under the indicative map, a traveller could reach Barcelona from Brussels in under five hours by 2040, compared with more than seven today, while Berlin-Copenhagen would fall from seven to under four hours. The Commission estimates that shifting just 10 percent of intra-EU air journeys under 600 km to rail could cut annual aviation CO₂ emissions by 4 million tonnes.
Financing will blend Connecting Europe Facility grants, green bonds issued by the European Investment Bank, and private-sector debt backed by traffic-risk guarantees. Member states, including Belgium, must submit updated national investment plans by mid-2026 to secure the first tranche of funds. Belgian infrastructure minister Lydia Peeters welcomed the proposal, noting that Brussels-South is already Europe’s second-busiest international rail hub and that capacity upgrades around Leuven and Liège would unlock faster east-west links.
For global-mobility programmes the project promises tangible benefits: greater choice of low-carbon point-to-point options for executives, reduction in trip-time variability compared with congested air corridors, and expanded talent-pool catchment areas for companies with operations along the network. Travel-policy teams, however, will need to monitor construction-phase disruptions and the potential for ticket-price volatility as operators phase in new rolling stock.
The rail blueprint forms part of a twin package that also boosts mandates for sustainable aviation fuel, signalling the EU’s multi-modal approach to decarbonising mobility.
