The EU needs more high-speed trains.
There is an EU petition going around to get the European Commission to put in place a legally binding act to establish a European high-speed train network, connecting EU capitals, as quickly as possible.
The link to the petition, as well as the site with more information, are in the pinned post.
These official EU petitions are actually meaningful, and are not your typical online petition, as they require confirmation of identity (e.g., through DigID). It is only open to residents of the EU.
Please consider signing it if you are a resident of the EU.
Obviously this initiative would only be part of the solution. What we really need are more regional trains throughout Europe, and better public transit for everyone.
Nevertheless, a trunk of high-speed train routes between capitals would go a long way towards building a viable alternative to flying and driving within Europe. Just as the Shinkansen (literally “new trunk line”) do in Japan.
My point here is: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Please sign and share the petition, and let’s get the EU committed to trains.
Petition: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/035/public/#/screen/home
More information: https://www.connect-capitals-hsr.eu/
Jason of Not Just Bikes on YouTube
@poVoq @Vittelius i don’t think high speed trains and low speed have to exclude each other. For example between Kassel and Frankfurt are high speed and low speed trains. Currently the only obstacle is that both are so popular that it maxes out the capacity of both ways (one line goes through Fulda and the other through Marburg and giessen). The high speed trains only halt in a few trainstations, while the low speed trains at least cover all of the stations between to high speed stops.
@poVoq @Vittelius i life near of one of the low speed halts. Lets say I want to go to Sylt. I take a low speed train to an high speed stop and then use the train to go to sylt. from the local trainstation to sylt i have 3 stops and in 7 hours im there. Coexisting is possible.