Trans-European Transport Networks

The Trans-European Transport Networks are a planned set of road, rail, air and water transport networks designed to serve the entire continent of Europe. The TEN-T networks are part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunications network (eTEN) and a proposed energy network (TEN-E or Ten-Energy). The European Commission adopted the first action plans on trans-European networks (transport, energy and telecommunications) in 1990. The transport network is known as TEN-T.

TEN-T envisages coordinated improvements to primary roads, railways, inland waterways, airports, seaports, inland ports and traffic management systems, so as to provide integrated and intermodal long-distance high-speed routes for the movement of people and freight throughout Europe. A decision to adopt TEN-T was made by the European Parliament and Council in July 1996, and as a result of this, the EU works to promote the networks by a combination of leadership, coordination, issuance of guidelines, and the funding of aspects of development through a series of projects.

These projects are technically and financially managed by the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA), which was established exactly for this purpose by the European Commission in October 2006.

Timeline for TEN-T guidelines

• TEN-T guidelines were initially adopted on the 23rd of July 1996, with Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network.

• In May 2001, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Decision No 1346/2001/EC, which amended the TEN-T Guidelines with respect to seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals.

• In April 2004, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Decision No 884/2004/EC (added to the list by Decision No 884/2004/EC), amending Decision No 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network. The April 2004 revision was a more fundamental change to the TEN-T policy, intended to take account of EU enlargement and consequent expected changes in traffic flows.

A document, in which the Decision No 1692/96/EC and the amending decisions have been consolidated, is available here (13 MB).

Timeline for TEN-T funding

In order to give financial support to the implementation of the TEN-T guidelines, the Parliament and Council adopted the following rules:

• Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks.

• Regulation (EC) No 1655/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 1999 amending Regulation (EC) No 2236/95.

• Regulation (EC) No 807/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95.

• Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of the trans-European transport and energy networks.

In general, TEN-T projects are nonetheless funded to a major extent by from national governments. Other funding sources include: European Community funds (ERDF, Cohesion Funds, TEN-T budget), loans from international financial institutions (e.g. the European Investment Bank), and private funding.

List of Trans-European Transport networks

The Trans-European Transport networks are:

• Trans-European Road network
• Trans-European Rail network, which includes the Trans-European high-speed rail network as well as the Trans-European conventional rail network
• Trans-European Inland Waterway network and inland ports
• Trans-European Seaport network
• Motorways of the Sea (added to the list by Decision No 884/2004/EC)
• Trans-European Airport network
• Trans-European Combined Transport network
• Trans-European Shipping Management and Information network
• Trans-European Air Traffic Management network, which includes the Single European Sky and SESAR concepts
• Trans-European Positioning and Navigation network, which includes the Galileo

TEN-T Priority Axes and Projects

At its meeting in Essen in 1994, the European Council endorsed a list of 14 TEN-T ‘specific’ projects, drawn up by a group chaired by then Commission Vice-President Henning Christophersen. Following the recommendations of 2003 from the Van Miert high-level group on the TEN-T, the Commission compiled a new list of 30 priority projects to be launched before 2010.

The 30 axes and priority projects are listed below. A map showing the 30 projects, in PDF format, may be found here:

1. Railway axis Berlin–Verona/Milan–Bologna–Naples–Messina–Palermo - map
2. High-speed railway axis Paris–Brussels–Cologne–Amsterdam–London - map
3. High-speed railway axis of south-west Europe - map
4. High-speed railway axis east - map
5. Betuwe line - map
6. Railway axis Lyons–Trieste–Divača/ Koper–Divača–Ljubljana–Budapest–Ukrainian border - map
7. Motorway axis Igoumenitsa/Patras–Athens–Sofia–Budapest - map
8. Multimodal axis Portugal/Spain–rest of Europe - map
9. Railway axis Cork–Dublin–Belfast–Stranraer - map
10. Malpensa Airport - map
11. Øresund Bridge - map
12. Nordic triangle railway/road axis - map
13. United Kingdom/Ireland/Benelux road axis - map
14. West Coast Main Line - map
15. Galileo - map
16. Freight railway axis Sines/Algeciras-Madrid-Paris - map
17. Railway axis Paris–Strasbourg–Stuttgart–Vienna–Bratislava - map
18. Rhine/Meuse–Main–Danube inland waterway axis - map
19. High-speed rail interoperability on the Iberian peninsula - map
20. Fehmarn belt railway axis - map
21. Motorways of the sea - map
22. Railway axis Athens–Sofia–Budapest–Vienna–Prague– Nuremberg/Dresden - map
23. Railway axis Gdansk–Warsaw–Brno/Bratislava–Vienna - map
24. Railway axis Lyons/Genoa–Basle–Duisburg–Rotterdam/Antwerp - map
25. Motorway axis Gdansk–Brno/Bratislava–Vienna - map
26. Railway/road axis Ireland/United Kingdom/continental Europe - map
27. ‘Rail Baltica’ axis Warsaw–Kaunas–Riga–Tallinn–Helsinki - map
28. ‘Eurocaprail’ on the Brussels–Luxembourg–Strasbourg railway axis - map
29. Railway axis of the Ionian/Adriatic intermodal corridor - map
30. Inland waterway Seine–Scheldt -map

Related networks

In addition to the various TENs, there are ten Pan-European corridors, which are paths between major urban centres and ports, mainly in Eastern Europe, which have been identified as requiring major investment.

The international E-road network is a naming system for major roads in Europe managed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. It numbers roads with a designation beginning with "E" (such as "E1").

See also

• Transport in Europe

External links

• Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency
• Maps and Guidelines for TEN-T from the European Commission
• TEN-T - The Trans-European Transport Networks on the European Commission website
• Trans European transport network - The Trans-European Transport Networks - non-official comprehensive website
• Map of the 30 priority axes and projects