Essay 3 - Czech high-speed rail for a sustainably connected Europe

By Jiří Svoboda, CEO SZCZ, Prof. Ing. Ondřej Jiroušek, CTU, and Assoc. Prof. Otto Plášek, BUT

The EU Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy (SSMS) sets out ambitious targets to shift more traffic to rail and achieve a 90% reduction in transport emissions by 2050. One of the tools to ensure rail can deliver is the TEN-T network, which should support a European high-speed network. This essay shows the benefits of high-speed rail within Czechia but also for the wider region, giving an example to other Member States to follow suit for rail to be the backbone of sustainable mobility in Europe.