High-speed rail in Europe
Line Speed Length Construction began Expected start of revenue services
Western Railway 250 km/h 312.2 km Unknown 9 December 2012 ( Vienna-St. Pölten )
Brenner Base Tunnel 250 km/h 56 km Summer 2006 21 December 2025
New Lower Inn Valley railway 250 km/h 40.236 km Unknown 9 December 2012
Koralm Railway 250 km/h 125 km 2001 2023
Semmering Base Tunnel 230 km/h 27.3 km 2012 December 2024
Future projects adjacent to existing high-speed services -- Austria
Main article : High-speed rail in Austria The Western Railway between the capital Vienna and Salzburg is being upgraded . Most new sections have a continuous maximum design speed of 250 km/h . [ 52 ] German and Austrian ICE trains operate at a maximum speed of 230 km/h , as do Austrian locomotive-hauled trains ( called railjet ) which were launched in 2008 . The 56 km ( 35 mi ) Brenner Base Tunnel under construction will allow speeds of up to 250 km/h . [ 53 ] [ 54 ] The first part of the New Lower Inn Valley railway was opened in December 2012 as part of an upgrade of the line connecting the future Brenner Base Tunnel and southern Germany , which is being upgraded from two tracks to four and to a maximum design speed of 250 km/h . The section is also part of the Berlin–Palermo railway axis . The Koralm Railway , the first entirely new railway line in the Second Austrian Republic has been under construction since 2006 . It includes a new 33 km tunnel ( the Koralm Tunnel ) connecting the cities of Klagenfurt and Graz . Primarily built for intermodal freight transport , it will also be used by passenger trains travelling at up to 250 km/h . The time taken to travel from Klagenfurt to Graz will be reduced from three hours to one hour . The Koralmbahn is expected to be operational by 2023 .
High-speed rail in Europe is emerging as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transport. The first high-speed rail lines in Europe, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks, and there are now several cross-border high-speed rail links. Railway operators frequently run international services, and tracks are continuously being built and upgraded to international standards on the emerging European high-speed rail network. In 2007, a consortium of European railway operators, Railteam, emerged to co-ordinate and boost cross-border high-speed rail travel. Developing a Trans-European high-speed rail network is a stated goal of the European Union, and most cross-border railway lines receive EU funding. Several countries - France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom - are connected to a cross-border high-speed railway network. More are expected to be connected in the coming years as Europe invests heavily in tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure and development projects across the continent, many of which are under construction now. Alstom was the first manufacturer to design and deliver a high speed train or HS-Train, which ended up in service with TGV in France. Currently, there are a number of high-level manufacturers designing and building HSR in Europe, with criss-crossed alliances and partnerships, including Canadian company Bombardier, Alstom itself, the Spanish Talgo and the German Siemens.