Transport in Europe
This fragmentation, along with increased movement of people since the Industrial Revolution, has led to a high level of cooperation between European countries in developing and maintaining transport networks.
Freight transportation has a high level of intermodal compatibility and the European Economic Area allows the free movement of goods across 30 states.
[2] A review of critical success factors for the delivery of transport infrastructure projects in Europe is presented in a 2017 report.
[3] Powered rail transport began in England in the early 19th century with the invention of the speed train.
The modern European rail network spans almost the entire continent, with the exception of Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Malta, and San Marino.
The Channel Tunnel connects the United Kingdom with France and thus the whole of the European rail system, and it was called one of the seven wonders of the modern world by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The European Rail Traffic Management System is an EU initiative to create a Europe-wide standard for train signalling.
Rail infrastructure, freight transport and passenger services are provided by a combination of local and national governments and private companies.
The European Union (EU) aims to make cross-border operations easier as well as to introduce competition to national rail networks.
EU member states were empowered to separate the provision of transport services and the management of the infrastructure by the Single European Railway Directive 2012.
[citation needed] Across the EU, passenger rail transport saw a 50% increase between 2021 and 2022, with the 2022 passenger-kilometers figure being slightly under that of 2019 (i.e. before the COVID-19 pandemic).
[7] Switzerland is the European leader in kilometres traveled by rail per inhabitant and year, followed by Austria and France among EU countries.
Public transport timetables, including rail, are amended yearly, usually on the second Sunday of December and June, respectively.
1264, the Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries,[12][13] signed in Geneva on 16 September 1950, which defined the first E-road network.
[citation needed] The declaration was amended several times until 15 November 1975, when it was replaced by the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries or "AGR",[14] which set up a route numbering system and improved standards for roads in the list.
[17] Within the European Union, the complete freedoms of the air and the world's most extensive cabotage agreements allow budget airlines to operate freely across the EU.
[18] Cheap air travel is spurred on by the trend for regional airports levying low fees to market themselves as serving large cities quite far away.
[21] The Rhine is an important route for cargo ships, transporting goods from Rotterdam (Netherlands) upstream as far as Basel (Merchant Marine of Switzerland).
