A sus­tainable and resi­li­ent trans­port net­work brin­ging Euro­pe clo­ser together

The revi­sed Regu­la­ti­on signi­fi­cant­ly enhan­ces EU efforts to build a sus­tainable and resi­li­ent net­work as the back­bone of the inter­nal mar­ket. This includes strong incen­ti­ves to pro­mo­te more sus­tainable trans­port modes, advan­ce digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on, and impro­ve mul­ti­mo­da­li­ty – com­bi­ning various trans­port modes in a sin­gle jour­ney within the Euro­pean trans­port sys­tem. The Regu­la­ti­on also addres­ses cli­ma­te chan­ge chal­lenges and mili­ta­ry mobi­li­ty on the TEN‑T network.

The revi­sed Regu­la­ti­on sets ambi­tious tar­gets for Euro­pean trans­port infrastructure:

• Rail Tra­vel Speed: By 2040, pas­sen­ger rail­way lines on the TEN‑T core and exten­ded core net­work must sup­port trains tra­ve­ling at speeds of 160 km/h or faster.
• Euro­pean Rail Traf­fic Manage­ment Sys­tem (ERTMS): ERTMS will be deploy­ed across the enti­re TEN‑T net­work as the sin­gle Euro­pean signal­ling sys­tem, enhan­cing rail safe­ty and effi­ci­en­cy. Natio­nal lega­cy „class B“ sys­tems will be pha­sed out, incen­ti­vi­sing indus­try invest­ment in ERTMS.
• Safe and Secu­re Par­king: By 2040, safe and secu­re par­king are­as will be deve­lo­ped on the core and exten­ded core road net­work every 150 km on avera­ge, ensu­ring safe­ty and appro­pria­te working con­di­ti­ons for pro­fes­sio­nal drivers.
• Air­port Con­nec­ti­vi­ty: Major air­ports hand­ling over 12 mil­li­on pas­sen­gers annu­al­ly must be con­nec­ted by long-distance rail, impro­ving pas­sen­ger con­nec­ti­vi­ty and making rail a com­pe­ti­ti­ve alter­na­ti­ve to dome­stic flights.
• Freight Ter­mi­nals: The num­ber and capa­ci­ty of tran­ship­ment ter­mi­nals will be expan­ded to meet cur­rent and pro­jec­ted traf­fic demands. This includes accom­mo­da­ting 740m trains, pro­mo­ting the shift to sus­tainable trans­port modes, and boos­ting Europe’s com­bi­ned trans­port sector.
• Sus­tainable Urban Mobi­li­ty Plans: All 432 major cities along the TEN‑T net­work will deve­lop SUMPs to pro­mo­te zero and low-emission mobility.
• Euro­pean Mari­ti­me Space: The mari­ti­me sec­tor will be inte­gra­ted with other trans­port modes effi­ci­ent­ly and sus­tain­ab­ly. Short-sea ship­ping rou­tes will be upgraded, new rou­tes crea­ted, and mari­ti­me ports and their hin­ter­land con­nec­tions fur­ther deve­lo­ped. Trans­port links with neigh­bou­ring third count­ries, inclu­ding Ukrai­ne, Mol­do­va, and the six Wes­tern Bal­kan part­ners, will be impro­ved through the new Euro­pean Trans­port Corridors.

To ensu­re time­ly completion—by 2030 for the core net­work, 2040 for the exten­ded core net­work, and 2050 for the com­pre­hen­si­ve network—the revi­sed Regu­la­ti­on includes enhan­ced gover­nan­ce mea­su­res. This includes imple­men­ting acts for key cross-border sec­tions and spe­ci­fic natio­nal sec­tions along the nine Euro­pean Trans­port Cor­ri­dors. Impro­ved ali­gnment bet­ween natio­nal trans­port and invest­ment plans and TEN‑T objec­ti­ves will ensu­re coher­ent infra­struc­tu­re and invest­ment priorities.

Next steps

Fol­lo­wing for­mal appr­oval by both co-legislators, the new legis­la­ti­on will enter into force twen­ty days after its publi­ca­ti­on in the EU’s offi­ci­al journal.