EU lawmakers target 2040 for rail push to rival air travel

European Union lawmakers have put 2040 on the table as the target date for a rail expansion designed to compete head-on with air travel across the bloc, according to a report by The Brussels Times.

The proposal, advanced by members of the European Parliament, sets out an ambition rather than a completed programme. It calls for a substantially enlarged European rail network capable of drawing passengers away from short-haul aviation within roughly fifteen years.

What is actually on the table?

The reporting describes a legislative push, not a funded infrastructure plan. Lawmakers backing the initiative argue that rail must become the default option for journeys where it can match air travel on time and price. The 2040 horizon anchors the proposal politically.

No binding delivery schedule, budget line or route-by-route construction programme appears in the reported material. The Brussels Times frames the initiative as a push by legislators to force the pace on modal shift, leaving implementation questions — financing, cross-border timetable coordination, track access charges — to later legislative stages.

Why 2040?

The date matters for planning cycles. Major rail infrastructure projects in Europe typically run one to two decades from approval to commissioning. A 2040 target effectively means decisions taken in this parliamentary term would need to enter design and permitting within the coming years to hit the deadline.

Air travel remains the benchmark the proposal invokes. Lawmakers promoting the expansion position rail as the substitute for intra-EU flights on corridors where city-centre-to-city-centre journey times are already competitive.

What happens next?

The proposal now enters the EU legislative process, where the European Parliament and the Council of member states would need to agree on any binding measures. Whether the 2040 goal survives negotiations, and what funding attaches to it, will determine whether the expansion shifts from parliamentary ambition to construction programme.

By Rebecca Stone