High-speed rail often prioritizes speed over practicality, with many passengers valuing punctual services and good connections over slightly faster travel times.
The European Commission’s high-speed rail action plan, launched in November 2025, proposes investing 345 billion euros by 2040 and 550 billion euros by 2050 in a network connecting the Union’s capitals.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Raffaele Fitto unveiled the plan, which aims to reduce travel times between cities like Berlin and Copenhagen.
However, the Commission’s standard for an upgraded line is 200kph, and 250kph or more for new lines.
In 2018, Oskar Herics and nine colleagues at the European Court of Auditors examined 5,000 kilometers of Europe’s rail network and found an “ineffective patchwork” with trains running at an average of 45% of the track’s built-for speed.
Only two of the 10 lines audited managed an average speed above 200kph, and none exceeded 250kph.
The auditors also found that upgrading conventional lines could achieve similar speeds at a lower cost.
Alon Levy, who works on the Transit Costs Project at New York University, noted that designing railways for high speeds requires significant investments, including tunneling and viaducts.
A railway designed for 360kph needs curves with a seven-kilometer radius or more, making it difficult to steer around hills or towns.
The track must sit on concrete slab rather than ballast, and level crossings are banned.
Air resistance increases with velocity, leading to higher electricity bills and wear on the rail head.
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The average cost of the lines examined by the auditors was nearly 25 million euros per kilometer, excluding tunnelled sections.
In contrast, France finished the LGV Est at 16.5 million euros per kilometer.
Eric Goldwyn of the same New York team noted that America builds “the most expensive high-speed rail projects in the world.”
Spain’s Madrid to Barcelona line, opened in 2008, cost roughly 13.1 million euros per kilometer.
California budgeted 33 billion US dollars for its first 277 kilometers, which is nearly 120 million dollars per kilometer.
Swiss voters approved the Bahn 2000 project in 1987, which included 130 separate projects for 5.9 billion Swiss francs.
The project’s focus was on creating a timetable-centric approach, with trains running as fast as necessary rather than as fast as possible.
The tilting stock tops out at 200kph, and the campaign slogan promised trains that would run on time.
Providing quick, punctual services with good connections is often a more valuable outcome than slightly faster travel times.
The high-speed rail industry would do well to reassess its priorities and focus on creating efficient, reliable, and connected rail networks that meet the needs of passengers, as they consider European supply chains and their potential impact on rail development.