Members of European Parliament (MEPs) yesterday backed an update of the European Union’s (EU) plan to build a network of railways, roads, inland waterways and short sea shipping routes connected through ports and terminals across the EU by the end of 2030 to eliminate bottlenecks and missing transport links.

Current trans-European transport (TEN-T) projects include many European links, such as, Rail Baltica, connecting Helsinki and Warsaw, the Brenner Base Tunnel, linking Austria and Italy, and the Lisbon–Madrid high-speed rail line.

Major transport infrastructure projects on the core TEN-T network should be completed by the end of 2030, to secure a comprehensive network by the end of 2050. To accelerate project rollout across the network, an intermediary deadline of 2040 is introduced, an official release said.

MEPs ensured that railways in the core TEN-T network will be electrified, running at speeds of 100 km/h for freight and crossing internal EU borders in less than 25 minutes on an average by the end of 2030.

Major European airports (processing more than 12 million annual passengers) will be connected to the trans-European railway network. To guarantee better rest conditions for professional truck drivers, safe and secure parking places at least each 150 km will have to be set-up along major EU roads.

Under new rules, transport infrastructure projects with Russia and Belarus will be halted, reinforcing instead links with Ukraine and Moldova.

Regarding the involvement of companies from third countries in major TEN-T projects, member states will have to inform the European Commission of measures adopted to mitigate any security risk.

The members convinced EU governments to take into account military needs (weight or size of military transport) when constructing or upgrading infrastructure that overlaps with military transport networks, to ensure the seamless transfer of troops and equipment.

Once The European Council has approved the new rules, they will enter into force 20 days after publication in the official journal.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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