As the sun rose over France on the day of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, there was almost unbelievable news from SNCF, the state rail company. Saboteurs had planned night-time arson attacks to hit the four high-speed rail lines that radiate from the capital. Three of the attacks were successful in their mission to close the lines.

For people in Britain, where high-speed rail is both limited and a political hot potato, the news was a reminder of just how integral the network has become in countries such as France.

In Europe, rail is having a bit of a moment. Across the Channel, a new line from Paris to Bordeaux slashed journey times in 2017, while six further projects are underway to expand the TGV network, with the Bordeaux-Toulouse extension expected to open first in 2032. Work will also begin this year on a high-speed line between Porto and Lisbon in Portugal. The first 89-mile phase between Porto-Campanha and Soure will be complete by 2028.

In Spain — where nearly 2,500 miles of high-speed track make it the second-biggest network in the world, surpassed only by China — two new lines have opened over the past three years, while other projects, including the ‘Basque Y’, are underway. The number of high-speed train passengers in the country hit 23.7 million in 2022 — up 76% year on year.

Even further east, where rail connectivity in the past has been lacking, plans are afoot for a rail revolution. In the Czech Republic, the government has drawn up plans for new high-speed routes that will connect major cities and link into the wider European network. Construction on six new lines — five from Prague, one from Brno — will start in 2026.

And a new route between Budapest, in Hungary, and Belgrade, the Serbian capital, is being built, with the first stretch open, as is a line linking Athens Airport and Patras in Greece.

“There’s been a really big focus on high-speed networks,” says Christian Wolmar, a rail expert and host of the Calling All Stations podcast. “There’s been huge investment in lots of European countries and with it has been a massive improvement in fast services, although the downside is that, in places, there’s been some neglect of the existing networks.”

Officials in Brussels have drawn up bold plans to double high-speed rail use by 2030 and triple current passenger levels by 2050. In 2022, the EU agreed to pump €5.4bn (£4.6bn) into 135 transport projects to help achieve these goals. In July this year, it pledged a further €7bn (£6bn) in grants, with a focus on rail infrastructure for the bloc’s planned Trans-European transport network (TEN-T), which includes roads, rail, shipping and aviation.

Wopke Hoekstra, European commissioner for climate action and transport, says: “The projects will help transform Europe’s transport network, making cleaner transport modes more efficient and attractive for both passengers and freight while also enhancing safety.”

Industry leaders, as you’d expect, are throwing their weight behind the plans. Demand, they say, is already there. Across the EU, passenger rail traffic jumped 50% between 2021 and 2022 as pandemic restrictions lifted and borders reopened. At 245 billion miles travelled, use of the network was just 5% shy of 2019.

The numbers are expected to climb further in 2023, supported in part by initiatives such as the ban of some domestic flights in France. Routes where the same journey can be made by train in under 2h30m have been outlawed, although connecting flights are unaffected.

Soaring demand

“There’s currently more demand than there is supply,” says Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), a Brussels trade body. “This is especially the case when it comes to long distance, as people want to travel sustainably.

“But we need to improve our infrastructure and that’s a challenge in some countries. While there’s been a lot of investment, we need more cross-border connectivity and also more consistent maintenance. This has been a big problem in Germany.”

The current lack of cross-border collaboration is certainly a topic of contention. “I think most people would agree that cross-border trains could link up better,” says Mark Smith, founder of The Man in Seat 61, a rail travel advice website.

“Back in the 1980s, all the trains from Paris to northern Spain crossed the border to Irún and connected with Spanish services. Now, TGVs from Paris to Hendaye, on the French side, aren’t authorised to go to Spain so can’t cross the one stop to Irún.”

The same is happening between France and Italy, says Smith, due to the lack of cooperation. “There’s no longer a direct service between Nice and Milan; passengers have to change in Ventimiglia.”

CER also wants reforms to the way train ‘paths’ — a time slot and route allocated to a train for its journey — are assigned, crucially agreeing timetables much earlier.

“At the moment, we get about four months’ notice,” says Mazzola. “We’d like to see a process where the schedule is set one year in advance. That will help the railways compete with the airlines.”

A desire for more sustainable travel, as well as a burgeoning network of sleeper services in Europe, is also helping drive demand across the continent.

Eurostar, which operates cross-Channel services as well as Franco-Belgian services following a merger with Thalys, has ambitions to carry 30 million passengers a year by 2030.

Passenger numbers on services from London during 2023 were up by 38% to Amsterdam, by 33% to Brussels and by 25% to Paris year on year. Eurostar also faces the threat of competition on the line, which will be good news for fares, says Smith. Evolyn, a new Spanish operator, announced last year it had agreed a deal with Alstom, the train manufacturer, for between 12 and 16 trains to run from London to Paris.

Yann Leriche, director general of Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel, said the deal “confirms the economic and technical attractiveness of Eurotunnel as well as the huge potential for growth in high-speed rail traffic.”

Tour operators are also reaping the rewards. “France is by far our biggest seller by rail because it’s the quickest to reach and has one of the most reliable rail systems in Europe,” explains Kylie Anderson, who oversees the rail programme for Inntravel. She says the three most popular routes in France are those with direct connections from Paris or Lille — the Dordogne, Provence and Alsace.

The frequent connection between Paris and Zurich — direct in 4h5m — is also popular with Brits. “Some opt for an overnight stay in Zurich before taking a scenic journey down to Milan, where you can connect to high-speed services throughout Italy,” she says.

Sunvil reports almost 10% of holidays it sells to Spain are now to people looking to take the train. “The increased promotion of no-fly holidays alongside developments on Europe’s high-speed network in recent years have led to heightened demand,” says Rachel Jelley, the company’s sales manager, adding that the “Spanish programme has benefited most from the high-speed routes”. Travellers can take a morning Eurostar from London, connect in Paris and catch a mid-afternoon TGV to arrive in Barcelona by 9.30pm.

In the future, they may be able to take the Eurostar to Brussels and catch an overnight sleeper to the Catalonian capital. At least if European Sleeper, the newest night train operator, gets its way. It launched from the Belgian capital to Berlin in 2023 before extending to Prague in March.

ÖBB, the Austrian operator, has expanded its sleeper routes with Nightjet trains crisscrossing Europe; they now also operate on routes such as Munich to Bologna, Salzburg to Florence and Vienna to Rome. There are also a growing number of overnight trains in France after President president Emmanuel Macron, pledged to revive services.

Others have been less successful. Midnight Trains, a Paris start-up, had planned ‘hotels on wheels’ from the French capital to Spain and Italy to launch from next year. However, announcing the “death of a dream” in June, Adrien Aumont, the co-founder, bemoaned a sector that favours legacy operators. He urged the EU to “build a railway capable of welcoming new, innovative companies … so that other entrepreneurs can succeed in creating new uses and improving the train travel experience.”