The wrong kind of speed

The wrong kind of speed

High-speed rail sells saved minutes. Most passengers would settle for a train that turns up, runs often and meets a second train on arrival. Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Raffaele Fitto stood up in Brussels in November 2025 to launch the European Commission’s high-speed rail action plan, which proposes some 345 billion euros by 2040, and perhaps 550 billion by 2050, on a network joining the Union’s capitals. The transport commissioner promised Berl…