High-Speed Rail in Europe (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. High- speed rail is emerging in Europe as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transport. The first high-speed rail lines in Europe, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks, and there are now several cross-border high-speed rail links. Railway operators frequently run international services, and tracks are continuously being built and upgraded to international standards on the emerging European high-speed rail network. In 2007, a consortium of European railway operators, Railteam, emerged to coordinate and boost cross- border high-speed rail travel. Developing a Trans- European high-speed rail network is a stated goal of the European Union, and most cross-border railway lines receive EU funding. Today only the core countries of Western Europe are 'plugged in' to a cross-border high-speed railway network. This will change rapidly in the coming years as Europe invests heavily in tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure and development projects across the continent.