TEN-T and CEF: another string to the railway sector’s bow

The Council of the European Union formalised the adoption of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Guidelines and its related financial instrument Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), today. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes this adoption as it represents a key step toward the realisation of an efficient and effective European Single Railway Area.

The main focus of the new TEN-T Guidelines is to improve the interoperability and interconnections between modes. The multimodal Core Network Corridors will increase the coordination between Member States and stakeholders in the planning and investment of corridors. CER welcomes this approach as it is expected to enable efficiency gains for the rail sector in the long run.

The new technical requirements, which go beyond the current Technical Specifications for Interoperability for Infrastructure, will help the railway sector in achieving the ambitious modal shift targets set out in the Transport White Paper; CER therefore strongly supports them as enablers needed to make rail more efficient.

The CEF has a budget of EUR 23.2 billion in order to co-finance these ambitious projects. It is now up to Member States to respect the TEN-T implementation deadlines and create a highly resource efficient and interconnected infrastructure network in Europe at the benefit of all transport users.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said: “I am very delighted with this final adoption. I want to warmly thank the European institutions for having achieved such a comprehensive agreement that will bring added value to the European railway sector and stimulate economic growth across Europe.”