Plans to link Europe by huge new train network spanning 20,000km and 39 stations unveiled

Plans to connect 39 European stations by a high-speed rail network have been revealed, with lines linking the UK, Ukraine, Turkey and Portugal.

Starline, a blueprint by the Copenhagen-based think tank 21st Europe, proposes a new European high-speed rail network to “make the continent feel whole again”.

Unveiled at 21st Europe’s first summit in Barcelona, the Starline plans involve 22,000km of high-speed rail, connecting 39 stations across the continent at estimated speeds of between 186mph and 249mph.

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Designed in collaboration with studio Bakken & Bæck, the blue trains will be designed after the EU flag, with stars along the sides of the carriages.

Train interiors will include quiet zones for focus, comfortable seating, cafes and family-friendly areas.

The network would be built on existing infrastructure with a fleet of trains crossing borders on five lines that run on a single timetable as “one seamless system”.

Connecting cities such as Kyiv, Bucharest and Sofia into a continental network, Starline aims to put Eastern Europe on the high-speed map.

The focus is on linking countries rather than developing domestic rail with at least one station in every country on the network not “limited by political borders”.

A proposed train ride from Helsinki to Berlin with Starline would take “just over five hours” while trips from Milan to Munich would be turned into “a high-frequency link between major economic centres”.

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Under the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (Ten-T) plans, 424 major cities will be connected to ports, airports and rail.

According to the think tank, “cross-border travel remains fragmented, slow, and expensive” and Ten-T lacks “speed and ambition”.

It says the new European rail network could ease demand on low-cost airlines by offering affordable and more sustainable journeys between capitals.

The proposal said the plans to introduce the high-speed service are the “best chance” for Europe to meet its 2050 net zero goals, cutting short-haul flights by up to 80 per cent.

The publicly funded, privately operated system would be powered by renewable sources rather than relying on national grids and overseen by a new European Rail Authority (Era).

“Railways were always about more than transport,” said Kaave Pour, founder of 21st Europe. “They shaped economies, cultures, even national identities. Today, we need them to do the same for Europe.”

“A truly integrated rail system is no longer just a matter of convenience; it’s a strategic necessity for Europe’s resilience in the 21st century,” said 21st Europe.

It estimates that the high-speed rail system would create millions of jobs in infrastructure, engineering, and services, as happened in China, where each new high-speed rail line contributed up to 7.2 per cent of urban GDP growth.

The think tank added: “Starline stations will be active public spaces, not just transit points, incorporating cultural institutions, public squares, and venues that make them destinations in their own right.”

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A unified ticketing system on an open platform is planned to centralise sales, with AI-driven security systems at stations.

Ticket prices “should be significantly lower” than short-haul flights and existing rail services, said 21st Europe.

Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: "Starline: where to start? I love the vision: ‘Speed, sustainability, and simplicity, making high-speed rail the most natural way to move across the continent.’

“And we desperately need a complete rethink of European travel where tickets, timetables, stations and trains work as one seamless system’.

“At the moment, a Manchester-Malaga ticket is a few clicks, £100 and three hours away by air. But just planning the rail trip will take three hours, and the ticket is likely to be five times as much.

“But is there any prospect of European coherence happening within, say, a decade? None that I can see. The UK, after all, chose to walk away from the EU.

“Just one line in the prospectus stands out as summing up the problem: ‘Starline should operate under a single set of technical, safety, and labour regulations, ensuring that cross-border travel is as seamless as domestic rail.’ Good luck with that.”

Slow travel experts at Hidden Europe also questioned the proposed new rail lines across Europe.

They said: “Our faith in Starline was slightly undermined when we saw the Starline poster with a new rail tunnel under the Adriatic and the Apennines from Zagreb to Rome.”

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