The guidelines agreed on Monday evening are the EU’s plan to build a network of railways, roads, inland waterways and short sea shipping routes connected through ports and terminals across the European Union. Current TEN-T projects range from Rail Baltica, connecting Helsinki and Warsaw, to the Brenner Base Tunnel, linking Austria and Italy, or the Lisbon–Madrid high-speed rail line.

Deadlines

The agreement restates the EU’s commitment to complete major transport infrastructure projects on the core TEN-T network by the end of 2030 and on a comprehensive network by the end of 2050, focussed on eliminating bottlenecks and missing transport links. To accelerate project roll-outs, negotiators agreed an intermediary deadline of 2040.

Intermodal transport

MEPs secured more focus on intermodal transport undertaken primarily by rail, inland waterways or short-sea shipping. This will be reinforced by electrified railways in the core TEN-T network, running at speeds of 160 km/h…