New TEN-T plans reveal how far Europe is slipping beyond 2030

The European Commission has released its latest TEN-T corridor work plans, putting firmer dates on where Europe’s rail network is likely to miss the legally binding 2030 core-network deadline. RailFreight.com picks out ten of the most important updates. The European Commission has published its new generation of TEN-T corridor work plans , showing where each corridor stands and what still needs to be done. The picture is mixed: three corridors explicitly acknowledge that full compliance by 2030 will not be achieved, while several of Europe’s biggest rail projects are now scheduled beyond the 2030 deadline. ERTMS deployment also remains particularly far behind. Here are ten of the key updates from the new plans. 1. Three corridors explicitly concede that 2030 will be missed The Atlantic , Baltic Sea–Black Sea–Aegean (BBA) and Western Balkans–Eastern Mediterranean (WBEM) work plans all acknowledge that their current project pipelines will not deliver full TEN-T compliance by 2030. The Atlantic plan says “full compliance of the core network will not be reached” by the 2030 milestone. Key stretches are expected to be completed by 2034, but some projects extend to 2040 and beyond, while 20 still have no confirmed completion date. The outlook differs further east. The WBEM plan says there are “reasons to assume” all sections could meet the required parameters by 2040, although this will need to be reassessed in future work plans. The BBA assessment is more pessimistic: it says the projects currently identified will not be sufficient to achieve full compliance and operation by either 2030 or 2040. Image: © Wikimedia Commons 2. ERTMS remains far behind the 2030 target If the new corridor plans show the scale of the challenge project by project, ERTMS presents an even starker network-wide picture. The Commission’s separate ERTMS work plan was published in February, but its figures underline the same trajectory. ETCS was operational on only around 10% of the EU TEN-T network at the end of 2024. Even with another roughly 28,000 km planned before 2030, the ERTMS coordinator says current planning would achieve “only about 50%” of the core-network target. The Atlantic Corridor illustrates how that plays out at corridor level. Just 31% of the entire corridor is currently expected to have ETCS in operation by 2030, rising to only 39% by 2040. 3. Brenner Base Tunnel slips to 2032, with access routes later still The Brenner Base Tunnel is now scheduled to enter service at the end of 2032, and the ScanMed plan warns that further delay remains possible. Several southern access sections will follow after 2030, while the German northern access route is not expected to be completed before 2040. The plan also warns that once Brenner opens, capacity constraints on surrounding sections will already be “real and not hypothetical”, with consequences for international freight. Fehmarnbelt tunnel. Image: © Femern 4. Fehmarnbelt no longer has a reliable opening date The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link and its German access route are both expected to miss their previous deadlines. Problems with the vessel required to immerse the tunnel elements have delayed the fixed link, while German planning and permitting have slowed the hinterland connection. Denmark and Germany are now drawing up revised commissioning schedules and discussing what the plan calls “a possible new, reliable opening date”. 5. The France–Spain Atlantic missing link slips beyond 2040 The new Dax–Spanish border railway is part of the core network, which is supposed to be completed by 2030, but no completion date has yet been defined and national planning currently points to completion beyond 2040. Preparatory work is still at study stage. The Atlantic coordinator warns that while some corridor sections are expected to be completed after 2030, “further delays, notably on the cross-border section between Spain and France, are not an option”. 6. Emmerich–Oberhausen will remain under reconstruction until at least 2034 On the North Sea–Baltic Corridor, the German upgrade between Emmerich and Oberhausen, one of the main freight connections between the Netherlands and Germany, is not expected to reopen fully until 2034 at the earliest. The project includes a third track and major bridge works and forms part of a wider group of German TEN-T projects which the plan says “face delays and risk missing deadlines”. RFC North Sea – Baltic map. Image: © RFC 7. Several Mediterranean rail projects now run into 2032–34 The Mediterranean plan lists the Lyon–Turin cross-border railway for completion in 2033, and Vicenza–Padova in 2034. The Terzo Valico to the port of Genoa should be ready by 2028, but the rest of the Genoa node will have to wait until 2032/ Vicenza–Padova had previously been targeted for 2029, with the five-year postponement attributed to additional design work and the need to identify the necessary financial resources. Several major French projects still have no confirmed completion