Travel from Budapest could be cut by hours with the EU’s new high-speed rail network!
The European Commission’s new rail plan aims to connect Europe’s capitals with a single high-speed network. If the Hungarian sections are completed, travel from Budapest to other major cities could be shortened by several hours.
The new network would link the EU’s capitals and large cities, making high-speed rail a genuine alternative to air travel. According to the Commission, it would simultaneously serve climate, economic, and transport policy goals.
Budapest’s role on the high-speed map
The Commission’s plan envisions Europe’s major cities connected through a single high-speed network that would effectively cover the entire continent by 2050, although some sections could be ready as early as 2030 or 2035. The project aims to make rail competitive with air travel while reducing carbon emissions from transport and boosting economic ties.
The development is part of the TEN-T network (Trans-European Transport Network), which links the EU’s main transport corridors. The Commission expects that on the new tracks, designed for speeds of at least 200–250 km/h, current travel times will be significantly reduced. Notable examples include:
- Berlin–Copenhagen: about 4 hours instead of 7
- Paris–Rome: around 9 hours instead of 10 hours 50 minutes
- Sofia–Athens: roughly 6 hours instead of 13 hours 40 minutes
- Vienna–Ljubljana: 4.5 hours instead of 6
- Lisbon–Madrid–Paris: a new, connected route by 2035
- Tallinn–Riga–Vilnius–Warsaw: the first high-speed rail link connecting the Baltic states by 2030
Hungary is also included in the plan. Budapest would connect to the western network via Vienna, while a new line eastward through Transylvania would shorten travel to Bucharest. If the planned Hungarian sections are completed, estimates suggest that travel from Budapest to Berlin or Bucharest could take about six hours, and to Vienna around 1 hour 40 minutes.
Source: European Commission
The total cost of building the European high-speed rail network is estimated at around EUR 546 billion. Funding would come from EU sources, favourable loans, and private investment, with high-speed projects receiving priority in EU funding allocations.
Central European connections through Budapest
In addition to upgrading the Budapest–Vienna line, the plans include an eastbound corridor through Transylvania to Bucharest, which would strengthen Budapest’s role in Central Europe’s rail network.
Implementation, however, remains uncertain. Several high-speed rail projects have stalled in recent years due to political or financial reasons. Ultimately, Hungary’s participation will depend on how the European Union prioritises funding and projects in Central Europe in the coming years.
Simpler ticketing for international travel
As part of the plan, a legislative proposal is being prepared to make ticketing easier for travellers planning trips across multiple countries or operators.
Passengers would eventually be able to use a single digital booking and ticketing system, allowing them to purchase all tickets for their journey in a single transaction on one platform.
The proposal would also strengthen passenger rights, ensuring full protection across the entire journey in case of delays or cancellations, regardless of the number of rail operators involved.
An alternative to air travel?
High-speed rail is not new in Europe: the first line opened in Italy between Florence and Rome in 1977. Since then, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and several other countries have built extensive networks, which are now partially interconnected.
Spain currently operates the largest high-speed rail network in Europe at 3,973 km, second only to China worldwide. In Western Europe, trains are already competitive with air travel, while in Central and Eastern Europe, the network is just beginning to gain momentum. The new EU plan aims to reduce this gap and make fast, environmentally friendly rail travel accessible to all countries.
Not even my great-great-grandchildren will live to see this. We know how it goes: There will first be “feasibility studies,” which will take 20-30 years. Then there will be several abortive tenders before one is finally accepted, taking another 20-30 years. Amid all of it, dozens of “green” “nonprofits” and the like will file hundreds of legal challenges against the project due to the deleterious environmental impact thereof. It’ll take the best part of a half a century to wrap those up, including the inevitable appeals and counter-appeals. When they finally get a backhoe out there to start doing the digging, it’ll be all of two minutes before they come across an owl’s nest or some such. That will cause all work to immediately cease while said owl is relocated or, far more likely, another feasibility study is conducted on rerouting the whole thing. That’s another 20-30 years.
So, yeah, they won’t lay a single sleeper until right around 2150 at the earliest. I dare surmise we’ll have teleportation by then, rendering this obsolete.
Oh, and there’s also this little tidbit: “Funding would come from EU sources[.]” The E.U. has no “sources” of anything except seemingly endless supply of hot air. This is European countries’ citizens’ tax money.