Europe wants a high-speed rail network to replace airplanes

(CNN) — Breakfast in Paris, lunch in Frankfurt and dinner in Vienna — all without the hassle and frustration of flying.

Imagine a network of modern, super-fast and comfortable trains hurtling between every major city in the European Union, providing a reliable, comfortable and sustainable alternative to air travel.

That was the vision outlined by rail industry leaders in Lyon, France, on June 29, amid ambitious European plans to double high-speed rail use by 2030 and triple current levels by 2050.

Only a massive — and accelerated — expansion of the high-speed network can achieve these hugely ambitious targets, but are they a realistic and affordable proposition?

Unlike many parts of the world, Europe already has thousands of kilometers of dedicated high-speed railway.

France’s world-famous TGVs, Germany’s ICE and Spain’s AVE have transformed rail travel over the last 40 years, but they remain largely focused on domestic markets.

That’s no surprise. When countries are investing billions of euros in new infrastructure, political pressure to squeeze out the maximum benefit for taxpayers is inevitable.

Building lines across international borders, even within the European Union, creates tension over who pays for what, how the contracts are allocated, conflicting national standards and regulations and a host of other obstacles.

For decades it’s been too easy to kick difficult projects down the road until they become someone else’s problem.

Stifling bureaucracy

Even where international high-speed lines have been built — often at enormous cost — national loyalties, stifling bureaucracy and high access charges are preventing some routes from fulfilling their potential.

Others, such as Paris-London via the Channel Tunnel and Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam/Cologne are more successful but could — and should — be luring many more passengers away from short-haul air travel.

Now a body of European organizations have committed to a new study highlighting the numerous benefits of an expanded high-speed rail network connecting national capitals and major cities.

These include the European Commission, the Community of European Railways, the European Rail Supply Industry and ALLRAIL, which represents non-state-owned railways.

Most importantly the group will investigate how to pay for tens of thousands of kilometers of new lines and how a radical…