Zaragoza: The European Parliament has asked the EU to speed up its high-speed rail network, adopting a resolution in Strasbourg on 20 October 2026 by 558 votes to 23, with 73 abstentions. The text asks the Commission and member states to treat fast rail links as core infrastructure for the next decade. The Committee on Transport and Tourism had endorsed the report by a large majority in early October.
Spanish Greens/EFA member Vicent Marzà i Ibàñez led the file. He argued that fast trains between major European cities can pull passengers away from short flights, and he tied the project to jobs, strategic autonomy and lower dependence on fossil fuels. Cities such as Zaragoza, which already sit on a Spanish high-speed line, show how quickly rail can win customers once journey times drop below a few hours.
The resolution sets out three main demands for the high-speed rail network. It wants the main urban centres in every European region joined up, including links to key neighbouring countries. It asks for sufficient and predictable funding, since large rail projects run for years and stall when budgets shift. It also calls for affordable tickets and transparent pricing, so that travellers can compare a train fare with an airline fare without hunting through several booking systems.
Ticketing may be the most practical of the three. Passengers who cross borders by rail still face separate operators, separate booking sites and uneven rules on connections, and those frictions explain why a flight often looks simpler even when the train is quicker. Parliament wants the high-speed rail network to feel like one product rather than a patchwork of national services.
Parliament’s text is a non-binding recommendation, so it cannot force a single euro into new track. Its weight lies in the signal it sends before the talks on the 2028 to 2034 EU budget, where transport competes with defence, competitiveness and agriculture for money. A resolution backed by 558 members gives rail advocates a strong argument when they ask the Commission to put cross-border lines on its priority list.
The vote also follows a run of rail legislation. On 19 May 2026 Parliament approved the Council’s position on a regulation covering the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area, which will replace the older rules on freight corridors. Better capacity management matters for the high-speed rail network, because fast passenger services and freight trains share many of the same tracks.
Several questions remain open. The Commission has not tied the resolution to a specific funding amount, and member states hold the pen on national budgets. Rolling stock, signalling standards and track access charges will also decide how fast new services appear. Those choices sit with governments and infrastructure managers, not with Strasbourg.
Even so, the message is clear. Lawmakers want a high-speed rail network that reaches beyond the largest capitals, keeps fares fair and gives travellers a credible alternative to short-haul flights. The Commission now has to say how it will answer in 2026 and in the budget proposals that follow.
