Express train for Europe

Five weeks of travel between 2 September and 7 October, 10,000 kilometres of route and ceremonial stops in 100 cities in the European Union, such is the programme of the "Connecting Europe Express", a special train created as part of the European Year of Railways. It departs from Lisbon and arrives in Paris after crossing much of the continent as far as the Baltic Sea, crossing some 15 countries and symbolically connecting Lisbon, Ljubljana and Paris, the three Portuguese, Slovenian and French presidencies of the Council of the European Union. During the journey, numerous debates and conferences will be held on EU infrastructure policy and the role of the trans-European transport network.

Prior to the departure in the Portuguese capital, the Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, declared that "the railways have shaped our common past. But rail is also Europe's future, our path to climate change mitigation and post-pandemic economic recovery, as we build a carbon neutral transport sector". 

The Commissioner wants the five-week journey to turn the Connecting Europe Express into a laboratory and forum for public debate on the move on how to make rail the transport system of choice for both passengers and business. "We hope you will give us a warm welcome when we stop at a station near you," said Adina Valean to encourage a warm welcome for the special train, many of whose events will be broadcast live, via streaming, around the world. 

The initiative is the result of a unique cooperation between the European Commission and the Community of European Railways (CCFE), operators, infrastructure managers and many other partners at EU and local level.

The current President of the CCFE, who is the CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways, Andreas Matthä, underlines that the initiative sums up the success of this European Year of Railways, while pointing out the common challenges: "The members of the CCFE are committed to making the Green Pact a success. A strong European rail sector is vital to achieve the EU's climate targets.

Andreas Matthä acknowledges that there are still too many technical barriers in cross-border rail transport, and calls for a shift of freight transport from road to rail, efficient services for commuters and the expansion of international long-distance rail passenger transport with day and night services. 

Due to the different track gauges in Europe, the "Connecting Europe Express" actually consists of three trains: the Iberian, the standard and the Baltic, which will meet along the route. The project is a further reminder of the lack of interoperability between various parts of the European rail network, a long overdue problem.

The wagons have been provided by different European railway companies. The Iberian train, which starts the route in Lisbon and runs through Spain, has been provided by Spanish operator Renfe, while LTG, from Lithuania, will run the train through the Baltic countries. A wagon provided by MAV (Hungary) will host the mobile exhibition organised by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Agency (CINEA) and the company Shift2Rail. It will demonstrate the many existing technologies and innovations that enhance the railway experience. The conference car has been provided by SNCF (France), two standard passenger cars have been made available by DB (Germany) and SBB (Switzerland), the restaurant car by FS (Italy) and the sleeping car by ÖBB (Austria). 

Both Commissioner Valean and the members of the CCFE encourage all railway enthusiasts to welcome the train and demonstrate that it is indeed the Europe-wide means of transport of the future.