The railway networks of most European countries have been disregarded for decades, making them obsolete for the current needs of freight and passenger transport. With the beginning of the 21st century, and particularly in the past decade, the European Union has entered a new phase where rail is expected to play a protagonist role in enhancing connectivity across borders.
There are currently dozens of infrastructure upgrade projects ongoing all over Europe, but some stand out for their size, costs, timeline, importance and controversies: Rail Baltica, the Turin-Lyon and the Brenner Base Tunnel.
Rail Baltica
Take Rail Baltica, for example, arguably the largest rail project in the EU, aimed at implementing a standard-gauge network in the Baltics. The initial idea was to create a brand new line crossing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and leading into Poland and thus the rest of the EU, signalling a clear break between the Baltics and Russia.
After a very ambitious start, the project had to be re-evaluated, especially for the Latvian section, where the government is pushing to build a single track rather than a double one. Moreover, the capital Riga, where more than half of the Estonian population lives and works, will be bypassed by Rail Baltica, at least in the initial stages.
The new direction chosen for Rail Baltica was forced by the skyrocketing cost estimations. Between 2017 and 2023, they went from €5.7 to €25 billion and believing that they will stop rising might be seen as wishful thinking. Other than a downgraded version of the initial idea, higher costs will translate into construction delays.
And this is where a(nother) vicious cycle might start. EU funding for the construction of the line is conditional on deadlines. More specifically, the main line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian border with Poland needs to be ready by 2030. If this does not happen, the parties involved might miss out on EU funds. If this happens, the project is likely to take even longer to be completed, consequently rising costs and the merry go round and round.
Tunnels across the Alps
Given Europe’s geography, many of the other most important rail projects in the Old Continent are tunnels, and this includes the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel, which rose to fame as the Turin-Lyon, and the Brenner Base Tunnel. Both these projects concern Italy and will provide an easier way to cross the Alps by rail, respectively towards France and Austria.
The Turin-Lyon tunnel will create a much needed new line between Italy and France under the Mont Cenis, east of Turin. The current mountainous line via Modane is very old (built in 1871) and comes with many traffic restrictions both in terms of train speed and size. Despite all these difficulties, this is still the main rail border crossing between the two countries.
In a similar fashion, the Brenner Base Tunnel will also replace the aged Brenner Railway (built in the 1860s) connecting Italy to Austria. This is one of Europe’s most trafficked freight corridors, and there are often tensions between the two countries over restrictions (often implemented by Austria) on heavy road vehicles.
Just like for Rail Baltica, the costs and timelines for the Turin-Lyon and the Brenner Base Tunnel have changed (for the worse) over the past few years. The current estimates say that they should be ready by 2032 and 2033 respectively with costs skyrocketing. They went from €8.6 to €11.1 billion for the Turin-Lyon, while for the Brenner Base tunnel from €8.8 to €10.5 billion.
What’s at the end of the tunnels?
Both projects will be part of larger corridors, which might not be as well-equipped as them. The ‘Turin-Lyon’ tunnel, for example, will connect Susa (IT) with Saint Jean de Maurienne (FR). As most might have guessed, this is only a tiny portion of the distance between the two cities that give the name to the project (57 out of over 300 kilometres). The two entrances to the Brenner Base Tunnel, stretching for roughly 55 kilometres, will be in Fortezza (IT) and Innsbruck (AT). Similarly to its neighbour on the west, it is often seen as a key part of the Verona-Munich artery, stretching for over 400 kilometres.
This begs the question of what kind of infrastructure will await trains exiting the state-of-the-art tunnels. For the Turin-Lyon, France has made it very clear that it does consider a priority the upgrade of the Saint Jean de Maurienne-Lyon axis, which is even older dating back to the 1850s. Instead, it will focus on creating better links between the tunnel and Dijon. On the Italian side, the country is still missing more than two out of the €3 billion needed for the new planned line between Avigliana and Orbassano, leading into Turin.
If the situation looks quite dire for the Turin-Lyon, it should be slightly better for the Brenner Base Tunnel. The section between Innsbruck and the German border has been recently renovated, while Italy is working on quadrupling the Verona-Fortezza line in time for the opening of the Base Tunnel. When it comes to the German section of the corridor to Munich, the timeline is a little blurry, as some projects might not be ready before 2050. The impact of these projects is necessarily linked to the state of the infrastructure around them. Without improving the rest of the lines they are a part of, their full potential might not be reached.
The money problem
All three projects require several billion euros to be finalised, and the geopolitical developments of the past few years further increased costs. For all of them, funding is planned to come from the EU and national governments. The main European financing mechanism for these and other similar initiatives is the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a 7-year multi-billion euros plan in place since 2014. The scheme was recently renewed for a third round for the 2028-2035 period.
Rail Baltica is the highest beneficiary of EU support out of the three projects, with 85% of the total cost. The remaining 15% needs to be covered by the three Baltic governments. For the Turin-Lyon and the Brenner Base Tunnel, the EU is committed to cover 50% of the costs for the construction of the main tunnel and for studies and design. Moreover, it will fund 85% of the work needed for access routes and signalling. The remaining costs will be split between the countries involved. For the Brenner Base Tunnel, Italy and Austria will equally divide the expenses, while for the Turin-Lyon Italy will pay a little more (57.9%) than France (42.1%).
This article was originally published in our RF Magazine: Leaders in the Spotlight.