▶ The EU Commission is working on a proposal for a new EU budget (Multiannual Financial Framework, ‘MFF’), which will include a new Connecting Europe Facility (‘CEF 3’) that mainly funds infrastructure projects.

▶ While ALLRAIL supports investment in new railway infrastructure, it is equally important to avoid ‘white elephants’ – projects that are underused.

▶ Only by opening infrastructure to competition can we ensure its full use and impact. 

▶ However, this requires stronger, better-resourced EU rail institutions.

Spain’s experience with its high-speed rail network is a good example. Since the 1990s, EU funding supported the construction of Spain’s high-speed network. However, for many years, this infrastructure was significantly underutilised — a classic ‘white elephant’.

This changed in 2021 when the introduction of intramodal competition led to a surge in network usage. This proves that increased competition can transform underused assets into thriving services.

How can we replicate this success across Europe and avoid taxpayer money being “funnelled into a system that doesn’t serve enough customers to be worth the price”?

▷ By strengthening and properly resourcing EU rail institutions to support, monitor, and enforce market opening on CEF-funded infrastructure.

Unfortunately, these EU rail institutions are underfunded compared to their counterparts in other transport modes:

▷ At the EU Commission’s Transport Directorate (DG MOVE), the staffing for aviation is estimated to be three to four times higher than for rail.

▷ The budget of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) is significantly lower than its aviation counterpart, EASA.

ALLRAIL’s Secretary General Nick Brooks urges: “In the next MFF, DG MOVE and ERA must receive the resources needed to ensure that CEF-funded rail infrastructure achieves its full potential, avoiding costly ‘white elephants’.”