High-Speed Trains in Europe: An overview

High-Speed Trains in Europe: An overview

The invention of trains and their usage were the main reasons for the success of the Industrial Revolution of the 19^th century. They revolutionized how goods were transported amongst vast distances and completely changed city planning as well as usage

Then again in the late 20^th century and 21^st century we are seeing the emergence of a new type of transport dubbed high speed trains.

France

The first high speed train network built in Europe linked Paris with Lyon in 1981 and was capable of speeds of up to 200km/h. Since then, France has built an extensive network of tracks for a total of 2,734km making it the fourth largest high-speed network in the world. The system has had a great success and in 2021 celebrated its’ 3 billion passengers.

Germany

The Deutsche-Bahn Intercity Express Network (ICE) is Germany’s high speed train network that links 32 major cities not just in Germany but also to France, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The first high-speed train was launched in 1991 but through constant innovation and improvements a new version of the train was launched in 2000 capable of reaching speeds of 300km/h. The brand-new model called ICE 3neo scheduled to launch in December 2022 would be able to reach speeds of 320km/h.

Spain

Spain boasts the second largest high-speed network in the world with 3,567 kilometers. The first route opened in 1992 and linked Madrid with Seville Spain’s high speed AVE trains on some routes can reach speeds of 350km/h. For example, a train route from Madrid to Barcelona takes just 2h and 30min to complete.

Italy

Italy is another European country that has invested heavily in creating a unique high speed network with up to 1,467km of rail network. Run by TrenItalia there are three different categories of high-speed trains, each with their own unique name- Frecciarossa (“Red Arrow”), Frecciargento (“Silver Arrow”), and Frecciabianca (“White Arrow”). The first train to launch was in the distant 1977, when it connected Rome with Florence, however the first high speed service was launched in 1988/89 and connected Rome with the financial capital Milan. Some of the Frecciarossa are designed to reach speeds of up to 360km/h.

Why are high speed trains important?

High speed trains are an important component of the European Union’s strategy for reducing carbon emissions but also to increase connectivity and trade between member states with the help of the European Investment Bank (EIB) via the Green Rail Investment Platform. The main reason is that trains in general emit much less carbon emissions than a comparable journey via planes.

That is why the EIB has invested 39.6 billion EUR between 2011 to 2020 EIB in the rail sector. In general, trips in the EU via rail have been steadily rising since 1995, but so has air travel.

The high-speed rail network in the EU has expanded from 1001km in 1990 to 9169km by 2019, with another 2059 km under construction. The EEA report has also looked into the various studies around the impact of high-speed trains on air travel https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/transport-and-environment-report-2020 and found that domestic city flights tend to get reduced with high-speed trains present but for non-domestic flights the network was less strong. Another interesting example investigated by the report is the example from Japan, where the Shinkansen trains have a very strong tradition and hold a much larger share than internal air travel, especially for routes of up to 960km.  The main difference between Europe and Japan with regards to high-speed trains vs low-cost airlines is the timing of their immergence as pointed out in the report. Shinkansen trains were much more established before the arrival of low-cost airlines, whilst in Europe they emerged relatively close to each other, but another aspect is that Europe has less concentration in large cities and spans a much bigger area, thereby creating a different framework, where low-cost airlines can operate successfully.

Nonetheless air travel is very carbon intensive and the top 10 emitters in the period 2013-2019 can be seen here.

Overall air travel in Europe emitted 144 megatons CO2, with domestic travel accounting for 15 megatons and international for 129 megatons much higher than the rail network.

High Speed rail vs Airline: Italy’s example

One example in Europe of where high-speed trains led to the decline of air travel was in the case of Italy, and the failed national airline-Alitalia.

Travel by rail between Italy’s two biggest cities Rome and Milan had quadrupled in just 10 years, from 1million in 2008 to 3.6 million in 2018.The chief reason is the high reliance, speed and relatively short trip (only 2h 59minutes), where the train takes you directly to the city center. The comfort and reliability of the service meant that it has won a lot of people, who prefer to use it instead of flying, especially in the domestic market as the comfort levels are not comparable to a flight. This is quite evident, when also examines the figures for the number of tourists using the high-speed network, gone up from 1.8 million in 2008 to 7.3 million in 2018.

Conclusion

High speed trains have developed extensively from a novelty in Europe over the last 20 years to a major infrastructural and transformational marvel that has changed connectivity within the EU. Furthermore, as part of the climate goals and targets taken up by the EU and the lower by passenger emissions make high speed trains a viable alternative to air travel that could be expended more on a national level but also intra-national, thereby bringing more connectivity, trade, and resourcefulness to more regions within Europe. The main drivers for this are already in place and with the backing of European institutions such as the EIB and the European Commission more development and planning would be needed to bring those goals to fruition.