The European Union has begun collecting signatures for the European civil initiative “Connecting all European capitals and people through a network of high-speed trains.”
The authors of the initiative call on the European Commission to adopt a legally binding act to connect all the capitals of the European Union with high-speed railways. The project provides for the use of existing networks for these purposes and the construction of new lines where they do not yet exist.
If the initiative collects more than a million signatures from representatives of at least 7 EU member states in a year, the European Commission will be obliged to consider it and develop an appropriate bill.
At the next stage, along with other legislative initiatives, the draft will be presented to the deputies of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The main objective of this innovation is to create a convenient alternative to short-haul flights. According to a recent report by the European Environment Agency, train travel is almost five times more environmentally friendly than air travel.
In this regard, European countries are increasingly motivating their citizens to choose a more environmentally friendly way to travel. For example, Denmark is going to introduce a passenger tax on all tickets for flights from the country’s airports, which will amount to 1.75 euros, notes Euro Puls. Similar taxes have already been introduced in Germany, England, Norway and Sweden. An additional fee for short flights began to be charged in Belgium.