Transport ministers from the EU, Switzerland and Norway have
signed a letter of intent at a rail summit held by Germany's Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure to establish a new Trans
Europ Express (TEE) network that will link the continent with a mesh of high-speed
services.
The new TEE 2.0 services would connect at least three states or two
states over at least 600 kilometres and reach speeds of at least 160 km/h on a substantial part of the route or an average speed of 100 km/h on the entire route. The services would offer free WiFi,
restaurants and possibly sleeper and couchette cars for night trains.
The proposal sees routes introduced in three phases: in the very near future,
by the mid-2020s and by the 2030s.
Routes that may be introduced soon include: Munich–Bregenz–Zurich–Milan; Berlin–Strasbourg–Barcelona–Madrid–Málaga; and Barcelona–Nice–Milan–Venice. Proposed phase two routes include Amsterdam–Cologne–Basel–Rome and Paris–Strasbourg–Stuttgart–Munich–Vienna–Budapest. Proposed phase three routes include Stockholm–Copenhagen–Hamburg–Brussels–Paris and Prague–Dresden–Frankfurt.
The ministers also called on the European Commission to launch an
EU financial assistance programme for investment in rolling stock that can
operate across borders.
Germany’s federal transport minister
Andreas
Scheuer said, “By rail through Germany and Europe in an environmentally friendly way -
that means high-speed and night train connections that can compete with
airplanes. This is exactly what our TEE 2.0 concept does. And
that is exactly why we received broad support from all over Europe today.”