This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
EU guidelines for developing the trans-European transport network
SUMMARY OF:
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 aims to build a reliable, seamless and high-quality transport network that ensures sustainable connectivity across Europe without physical interruptions, bottlenecks or missing links.
KEY POINTS
- The trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy seeks to build a multimodal network of railways, roads, inland waterways and short sea shipping routes linked to urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, and airports and their terminals across the European Union (EU). It has four objectives:
- sustainability – in particular by promoting low and zero-emission mobility and greater use of more sustainable modes of transport;
- cohesion – by making all EU regions accessible and connected, especially the outermost regions and other remote, insular, peripheral and mountain regions, along with sparsely populated areas;
- efficiency – by eliminating bottlenecks and tackling missing rail connections;
- increasing the benefit for users – by ensuring accessibility in particular for those in vulnerable situations, including people with disabilities or reduced mobility.
- The policy was previously based on 2013 EU guidelines that established the technical requirements for the infrastructure and defined the network layout.
- This regulation updates and replaces those guidelines, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1153 (see summary) and (EU) No 913/2010 (see summary), and repeals Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013.
Development
The network will be developed or upgraded in three steps.
- A core network will be completed by .
- An extended core network will be completed by .
- A comprehensive network will be completed by .
Transport corridors
- To ensure that infrastructure planning is aligned with operational needs, the regulation integrates the core network corridors and the rail freight corridors to form European transport corridors.
- These cover the most important long-distance transport flows, cross at least two borders and involve at least three modes of transport.
- In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to ensure better connectivity with key neighbouring countries, the regulation extends four transport corridors to Moldova and Ukraine, whilst downgrading cross-border connections with Belarus and Russia.
Rail transport infrastructure
The regulation highlights the importance of railways in the shift to sustainable modes of transport. To this end, and to ensure the TEN-T rail network performs better, it focuses on a number of measures designed to ensure sufficient capacity and smooth, uninterrupted operation across the network. These include:
- deploying the European rail traffic management system;
- developing an extended core and comprehensive network;
- migrating to European standard nominal track gauge;
- ensuring 740-metre-long freight trains can circulate;
- imposing a 160 km/h minimum line speed for passenger trains.
Inland waterway transport infrastructure
The regulation sets minimum infrastructure standards and levels of service for waterways and ports to ensure efficient, reliable and safe navigation conditions for users along the inland waterway network.
Maritime transport infrastructure and the European maritime space
The regulation sets minimum infrastructure standards for maritime ports to promote short sea shipping and hinterland (rail) connectivity. Furthermore it introduces the European maritime space in order to efficiently, viably and sustainably integrate the maritime dimension with other transport modes.
Road transport infrastructure
- The regulation requires all core and extended core network roads to be specially designed, built or upgraded for motor traffic. It also requires the provision of separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic. These carriageways should be separated from each other by a dividing strip not intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means.
- It also requires safe and secure parking areas on the core and extended core networks to guarantee better working conditions and rest for professional drivers.
Air transport infrastructure
The regulation requires major airports with over 12 million passengers annually to be connected by long-distance rail, making rail a competitive alternative to domestic feeder flights.
Infrastructure for multimodal freight terminals
The regulation promotes an increase in the number and capacity of trans-shipment terminals to meet traffic demands. This includes accommodating 740-metre-long trains, promoting the shift to sustainable transport modes and boosting Europe’s combined transport sector.
Urban mobility
The regulation requires all major cities along the TEN-T network to develop sustainable urban mobility plans to promote zero- and low-emission mobility.
Governance
The regulation widens the scope of the coordinators’ mandate to reflect new TEN-T priorities and to enable coordinators to engage with participating non-EU countries. Furthermore, it gives the Commission the possibility to adopt implementing acts for each European transport corridor, and requires greater alignment between national transport plans and TEN-T policy.
Horizontal provisions
The regulation requires that the TEN-T network be planned, developed and operated in a resource-efficient way, through:
- the maintenance of existing transport infrastructure over the lifetime of the infrastructure;
- the optimisation of infrastructure use, in particular through efficient capacity and traffic management and fostering multimodality;
- the optimisation of possible synergies with other networks (trans-European energy networks, trans-European digital networks, military mobility);
- the resilience of the transport network and its infrastructure and services with regard to a changing climate and geopolitical context.
FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?
The regulation has applied since .
BACKGROUND
For further information, see:
- Trans-European transport network (TEN-T) (European Commission).
MAIN DOCUMENT
Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1153 and (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 (OJ L, 2024/1679, ).
last update