R3: Shifting Europe's Transport Infrastructure Towards Sustainability and Justice: The European Rail Network at the Centre

Gathered in Lisbon, a city with little to no train connection to the rest of Europe, we Greens are acutely aware of the urgent need to place rail transport at the centre of Europe’s mobility strategy. The Portuguese example demonstrates the urgency of this need. Since the 1990s, significant portions of the country´s rail network have been de-activated, while roads and highways have been massively expanded. Lisbon has lost
its direct train connection to Madrid and the broader European network – and may have to wait another 5-10 years before a new high speed line is established.

Gathered in Lisbon, a city with little to no train connection to the rest of Europe, we Greens are acutely aware of the urgent need to place rail transport at the centre of Europe’s mobility strategy. The Portuguese example demonstrates the urgency of this need. Since the 1990s, significant portions of the country´s rail network have been de-activated, while roads and highways have been massively expanded. Lisbon has lost
its direct train connection to Madrid and the broader European network.

In light of the current geopolitical context in Europe and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, the rail network must be recognized as critical security infrastructure. It ensures the movement of military logistics, civilian evacuation and supply continuity during crises, and must be fully integrated into the EU’s defense and mobility strategy. From the EU security perspective, it is very important to develop it and understand its importance.

Across Europe, there are many similar stories. Public transport and rail networks have been dismantled and left to decay due to underinvestment and privatisation. Night trains have been discontinued or left without improvements, reducing alternatives to short-haul flights.

Across Europe, there are many similar stories. Public transport and rail networks have been dismantled and left to decay due to underinvestment and privatisation. Night trains have been discontinued, such as recently the lines Paris-Berlin or Paris-Vienna, or left without improvements, reducing alternatives to short-haul flights.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium or Austria contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — in most countries remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

This does not only generate a vicious circle of reduced attractiveness for passengers, financial losses, lack of further investment and maintenance ending up in lines being shut down, but also an increase in incidents and major accidents, like the recent one in Tempi.
According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

(-15.650 km.) over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and, Roma Fiumicino Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, the construction of a port in Fiumicino and new motorways in Belgium, as well as the bridge over the Strait in Messina, contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona, Warsaw and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Meanwhile, airports and roads keep expanding. Projects such as the expansion of Barcelona and Heathrow airports, the port of Valencia, and new motorways in Belgium contradict the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU’s climate commitments. Europe’s infrastructure model still depends excessively on cars and planes, while trains — the most reliable, sustainable, and socially equitable mode of transport — remain underfunded and underdeveloped, leading to decreased quality and safety. According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Europe’s rail network shrunk by 6.5% over the past 30 years, while motorways grew by over 60%.

Our societies were built on cheap fossil energy, ignoring its devastating costs. To achieve energy sobriety and sustainable mobility, Europe must rethink how we move and meet. The Greens call for a radical shift in European infrastructure policy,shift placing rail at the heart of European mobility and the green transition.

The Greens call for a radical shift in European infrastructure policy, opposing the above mentioned projects, placing rail at the heart of European mobility and the green transition.

Europe’s current transport model is unsustainable, unjust, and increasingly incompatible with climate goals. The mass use of cars, proliferation of flights, and the high cost of train journeys favour the wealthiest and exclude peripheral and rural areas, exacerbating mobility poverty. At the same time, large destructive infrastructure projects are further increasing emissions, destroying habitats, and undermining the goal of climate neutrality by 2050, while jeopardising energy sovereignty, geopolitical autonomy, and security .

Europe’s current transport model is unsustainable, unjust, and increasingly incompatible with climate goals. The mass use of cars, proliferation of flights, and the high cost of train journeys favour the wealthiest and exclude peripheral areas, exacerbating mobility poverty. At the same time, large destructive infrastructure projects are further increasing emissions, destroying habitats, locking Europe into fossil fuel dependence and undermining the goal of climate neutrality by 2050, while jeopardising energy sovereignty, geopolitical autonomy, and security .

Europe’s current transport model is unsustainable, unjust, and increasingly incompatible with climate goals. The mass use of cars, proliferation of flights, and the high cost of train journeys favour the wealthiest and exclude peripheral areas, exacerbating mobility poverty. At the same time, large destructive infrastructure projects are further increasing emissions, destroying habitats, and undermining the goal of climate neutrality by 2050, while jeopardising energy sovereignty, geopolitical autonomy, and security .

Tourism monocrop driven by cheap flights, the use of housing infrastructure for vacational rental, labor exploitation, and the organisation of macro-events with little real economic impact on local communities is nowadays an economic pillar especially, but not only, in Southern European countries, which exacerbates inequalities and increases the environmental footprint and resources consumption.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.Road traffic will be electrified within a few decades – but in the mean time CO2 emissions will still contribute signignificantly to global warming. An in the long run, the environmental impact of congestion and noise, as well as road construction, will continue to grow – also with electric vehicles.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

Relying on offsets, alternative fuels, or other techno-fixes distracts from a simple truth: green flying doesn’t exist. Aviation is inherently energy-intensive, and no fuel can make it energy-sober. In the crucial years ahead, we must reduce flying, not just rebrand it.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. Aviation’s real climate impact far exceeds the often-cited 2% of global CO2 emissions, closer to three times higher when non-CO2 effects are included. With EU air traffic expected to grow by over 5% annually, unchecked aviation is increasingly projected to be a huge driver of the ecological catastrophe. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising, while rail operators still need to pay track access charges. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

whereas rail is only 0,4% of the total transport emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

Increased aviation and road traffic produce high greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and air pollution, that harm public health. It is illogical tha plane tickets are often cheaper than train fares. Despite this, subsidies are still flowing disproportionately toward aviation, with kerosene still tax-free and touristification rising. Road traffic represents as much as 20% of Europe’s total emissions, but governments insist on expanding motorways, inducing further demand, while online shopping and last-mile logistics add even further pressure.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. In many cities and townships lack of green, car- and emission free zones and of bike friendly roads and public transportation result in heavy congestion, noise and pollution. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

A just transition must recognise that aviation’s impact is driven by a privileged few: 1% of people cause half of all emissions, while 80% have never flown. Yet those least responsible, often the poorest, will suffer most from climate breakdown.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege. Rail transport generates more than €150 billion in added value annually for the European Union economy and plays a key role in achieving climate targets by reducing transport sector emissions by up to 75% compared to road transport.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

Rural and less connected territories are left behind, further maintaining inequalities.
Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights for every citizen and every community, not an economic privilege.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. The current model places disproportionate pressure on cities and fragile ecosystems, particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. As the Greens we want people to be able to get around easily and cheaply on sustainable public transport especially across borders. Mobility is crucial to everyone, every day. It connects people, communities, and businesses, while traveling to see friends and family or for leisure should be one of life’s pleasures. We therefore welcome the European Commissions High-Speed Rail Action Plan for a faster connection of european cities and new cross-border links. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

Europe’s infrastructure model remains based on the outdated belief that massive road and port expansion drives economic growth. Human- and nature centred means of transportation are overlooked and disregarded. Wetlands, forests, and coastal areas are particulary harmed, with irreversible consequences for local flora and fauna. The current model, including expansion of airports, ports, and motorways, places disproportionate pressure on cities and and directly contributes to habitat loss, fragmentation of fragile ecosystems, and biodiversity extermination, while jeopardising particularly in peripheral regions, where access to mobility, economic opportunities and social services remains limited. Sustainable mobility should be seen as a meta-right, necessary to exercise other rights, not an economic privilege.

If Europe continues this path, it will remain geopolitically fragile, economically inefficient and socially unequal. It will be impossible to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, mitigate climate change and protect life on Earth. A fundamental shift toward sustainable, public, accessible and affordable transport centred on rail is essential to protect the planet, ensure energy independence, and guarantee fair mobility for all citizens.

If Europe continues this paththe model of road and airport expansions, it will remain geopolitically fragile, economically inefficient and socially unequal. It will be impossible to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, mitigate climate change and protect life on Earth. A fundamental shift toward sustainable transport centred on rail is essential to protect the planet, ensure energy independence, and guarantee fair mobility for all citizens.