Summer is finally here! It is time to get ready, pack your bag and travel in Europe.

If you do decide to travel, why not choose train as your mode of transport? Still sceptical? Fine.

Let me give you, as a young professional who recently joined EIM, a couple of reasons to convince you that rail travel is for you:

• Rail is green and sustainable. It is actually one of the most sustainable modes of transport. Rail carries around 8% of all passengers and 18% of all goods but only accounts for 0.4% of emissions of  greenhouse gas emissions from EU transport and for 2% of transport energy consumption in the EU [1]. Rail is the only transport mode that has continuously reduced its emissions and energy consumption. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of the railway network is electrified. In 2018, around 60% of the railway network in the EU was electrified [2] and this figure is only increasing.

• Travelling by train is convenient. You don’t need to arrive 2 or 3 hours before your flight. There are no endless check-in or security lines and, therefore, no intense moments of stress where you are stuck in line with the clock ticking and the feeling that you will not make it in time to board the plane. By train, you only need to arrive at the train station a couple of minutes before departure. There are no check-in or security lines. Another advantage with train travel is that you arrive right in the city centre, no need for a transfer from the airport to the city centre.

• Last but certainly not least, trains are comfortable. We all have experienced the middle seat when flying. You get stuck between two people, you can’t move or stretch your legs, the seat is not comfortable, your back hurts. Well, this does not happen on trains: you have a lot more legroom, you can stretch your legs and the seats are way more comfortable. 

Speaking of rail, have you ever heard of rail infrastructure managers? Probably not, and that is fine! Infrastructure managers are actually essential actors. Without them, trains can’t run. They are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the existing infrastructure and the development of the railway network. They are also in charge of traffic management which helps to manage the train flow.

Infrastructure managers must not be confused with railway undertakings. Railway undertakings run trains, for example, on the train tracks managed by the infrastructure managers. Just one example to be more concrete: in Belgium, SNCB (the railway undertaking) runs trains on the rail tracks managed by Infrabel (the infrastructure manager).   

Let’s get back to your vacations. What can infrastructure managers do for you? Well, thanks to them you can travel all around Europe. Here are only a few examples of destinations: 

• Based in Paris? Thanks to SNCF-Réseau you can travel high speed to Bordeaux, Marseille, Brest, Lyon, Toulouse. Pretty much all the big French cities.
• Living in Spain? Hop on ADIF’s network to travel between Madrid and Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. It is even possible to go all the way up to the Basque Country and the French border or all the way south to Granada.
• Want to cross the Channel and visit the UK? It is possible with Getlink’s Channel Tunnel.

Infrastructure managers never stop investing or upgrading their network to offer you new destinations to explore. For example, in a few years, you will be able to travel from London to Bordeaux on a new direct high-speed route thanks to the work of HS1, SNCF-Réseau, Eurotunnel and LISEA. In Portugal, IP is investing in its North-South corridor, which will allow you to travel faster and more comfortably from Lisbon to Porto.

Dylan Mollard – Legal Trainee – EIM

[1] https://europa.eu/year-of-rail/why-rail_en

[2] 7th Rail Market Monitoring (RMMS)