The Ten-T Network: The Incredible Vision to Connect All of Europe

[@frankhaugen]

I'd like a unified schedule and ticketing system. Getting a train ride from Oslo to Kyiv shouldn't be a 7 website operation that might require a buss ride between stations. A direct route is impossible, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect trains to be like air travel

[@demetronix]

Adam Something has a great video on this in case you are interested and haven't seen it yet

[@swunt10]

The german Deutsche Bahn website is the best in Europe. It has the most information and data and links to buy the tickets.

[@matthouston124]

Talking like Ukraine is already part of EU

[@frankhaugen]

@@matthouston124 it was the first European City I thought of, but good point, it's a couple of years until it's a formal member if ever

[@fynnschumann7661]

Trainline is helpful with that. But they do charge a service fee. DSB Danish trains also offer transnational tickets

[@am53n8]

I just hope we can get a fast affordable train network going, making it a better alternative to flying

[@legallyfree2955]

There are a couple of reasons trains are, over a longer distance, more expensive than flying. The first big problem is they need a rail network to be maintained where as aircraft only need infrastructure at each end (plus a few navigational aids that would likely exist anyway). The second big problem they have is they push through air at ground level instead of thinner air higher up. The third big problem with lowering their costs is how heavy they are, regularly carting around 3000kg of mass per passenger and even fully loaded city trains can be a 1000kg per seated passenger of dead weight. Aircraft are designed to be much lighter weight and are generally well under 600kg mass per passenger. Of course you can electrify a train and currently you cannot really electrify an aircraft and I'm certainly not saying trains have no place when the distance between points is under 500km but there are reasons they are generally all heavily taxpayer subsidized while airlines are generally privately run with much less of their existence dependent on government subsidies. If we wanted to lower the cost of trains I would suggest the best place to start would be lowering the weight of them drastically, it should be reasonably easy to cut their weight in half (for passenger cars), this would mean less wear on the tracks and less energy needed to move them around. I really dont know why modern composite materials or even aluminium haven't found their way into train cars (with very few exceptions).

[@CHMichael]

From Munich to Hamburg you can fly for the same money but you save between 4 to 7 hours. Past 600 miles airplanes win. Rail is king when it comes to freight.

[@kaltaron1284]

@@legallyfree2955 Airlines are also subsidized through lower taxes on kerorsene if any at all. You have a point on reducing weight of course.

[@VisibilityFoggy]

Why? I would much rather fly. Faster, more direct, etc. Personally, I don't really care about carbon emissions or any such nonsense, so that's not a factor here. Just get me to where I'm going with the most speed and comfort possible.

[@VisibilityFoggy]

@@kaltaron1284 Please explain how a lower tax is a "subsidy." It, by definition, the opposite of a subsidy since the government is NOT collecting revenue and distributing it to subsidize something else (ie. something you like personally and fits within your political world view). Taxes should be as low as possible, and only applied when needed for the essential functions of government.

[@KathyClysm]

I was born after the original concept was first proposed, so to me this has always been natural. I travel these highways and railroads daily, I've even worked on some of them (the Austrian part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor), but having the difficulties and sheer manhours for this laid out like this, I am truly in awe. We always only think about the stuff our own country is working on and often forget that all the other ones (some more, some less) are doing the same.

[@trishapellis]

Yeah. The high-speed railway between Madrid and Barcelona has caused many people to prefer train over airplane because you get there so much faster and more comfortable - the only problem is that flying is equally expensive or cheaper than those trains. You can also see construction work on the next leg of the Mediterranean corridor in Barcelona (the railway to Perpignan), but people mostly complain about how long it's taking 😅 Which is valid, because those projects always end up taking so much more time than planned and there's some corruption and some people sticking the money in their own pockets... but if you look at the whole plan, it's really a marvel, and all I can do is wish that humans weren't so human so we could actually get on with things and see this built already. I dream of being able to go on European trips on high-speed trains and avoid the annoyances of flying.

[@KathyClysm]

@@trishapellis Same! For us, our part of the corridor is a massive tunnel through the Alps that was previously impossible as the needed technology had not even been invented yet. But we'll be done soon, and if Germany steps their overhaul of the network up a bit more, you'll be able to take the train from Sweden to Rome in one go :D

[@88blumentopf1]

Yes, you are right. There are national and even more regional interests that don't want to see the big picture. Using the example of Bavaria with the Brenner access route. Or the energy supply/frequency on the rails that has grown nationally. The European unit of communication and signals, automatic couplings, etc. Each of these projects requires political will. A declaration of intent (laws) immediately includes a plan for implementation! A pricing policy with cost-effectiveness of flights, rail transport and travelers and individual transport on expressways. What is a fair price considering the climate-friendly future?

[@iakusz]

I'm a young Pole and it's my deep hope and conviction that our generation can complete the unification of Europe, and a fully shared modern transportation system would be a big leap towards that.

[@philiplokodi6754]

Poland has a better equiped Railnetwork as Germany

[@philiplokodi6754]

correction than

[@iakusz]

@@philiplokodi6754 yes, there have been tremendous improvements, but I don't think it's exactly the 21st century stuff yet

[@lafourmiedesbois5901]

With idiotic PIS at the helm of poland it sounds very complicated though.

[@iakusz]

@@lafourmiedesbois5901 True, but I'd point out there are few governments in Europe currently that seem truly interested in unbiased development of all member states, rather than taking advantage of their own position

[@josephromano6168]

I had the pleasure of riding the rail from Holland to Germany. It was so affordable, fast, and comfortable. It makes Amtrak (US) look ancient

[@sonneh86]

Frankly I'm very unhappy with the rail connection between Holland and Germany. Took a train from Amsterdam to Berlin a few times and it took much longer than it should. At the border you have to wait a long time because they need to change the locomotion or something and the train stops in many insignificant places, especially in Germany. The Dutch-French Connection on the other hand is superb. Amsterdam-Paris in only about three hours, only stopping in a few major cities.

[@josephromano6168]

@@sonneh86 Yeah we had to stop at the boarder as well, but that was mainly because the police was questioning a passenger and they were waiting for a freight train with U.S. military supplies to pass. I'm sure it's probably a reoccurring thing like you said. We got off at Muenster so it was a short trip inside Germany

[@josephromano6168]

@@sonneh86 I'm curious how smooth the Swiss -French connection is. We want to use that for next summer

[@sciencefliestothemoon2305]

@@josephromano6168 Depends where you go, but the TGV goes to Basel/Zuerich. So you should be able to get a direct train from Paris. Basel itself is probably the best entry point, from there you can almost get everywhere quickly. Geneva being a biggest pain to get to.

[@josephromano6168]

@@sciencefliestothemoon2305 Oof, I was looking at landing in Geneva, renting a car to explore the mountains, then take the TGV to Paris. Is it bad leaving Geneva?

[@Sacto1654]

I really hope that Europe sees it fit to reintroduce the Trans-Europe Express (TEE) trains, now based on high-speed trainsets.

[@albevanhanoy]

Rendez-vous au Champs-Elysées Leave Paris in the morning With T.E.E Trans-Europe Express Trans-Europe Express In Vienna we sit in a late night cafe Straight connection T.E.E Trans-Europe Express Trans-Europe Express

[@holger_p]

It's just a label. As we see, there is no demand to sit in a train for more than 12 hours. The trains running for 2 days have been outperformed by planes.

[@justaguy9224]

It already exists, but with a different name. It’s called EuroCity

[@SirBalageG]

@@holger_p dunno man, night trains would be nice, you hop on a train in Budapest at 8pm and arrive eg in Paris in the morning, stopping in large cities on the way there, or any other route is possible. price would be a problem, but competition would make sure it's not unaffordable

[@holger_p]

@@SirBalageG If only 20 people want to do it, there will be no offer. Railway ticket would be around €500, flight maybe €200 return. It's the competition who destroys those night trains. Some use them on distances of maybe 700km. That's the distance they are about equal price.

[@martinstallard2742]

1:54 the concept 6:05 the execution 8:40 the present 12:04 the future

[@pingozingo]

You’re amazing

[@volentastudios4673]

Your a giga chad

[@p3chv0gel22]

YOU are breathtaking

[@AEON.]

All of the massive #POLLUTION and #DESTRUCTION to #NATURE and #RESERVES is #IGNORED.

[@TheSaltyAdmiral]

You complete me.

[@ProNice]

I am a German and I truly believe that the European project is the way forward. We share rich cultural, historic, and diverse backgrounds.

[@lafourmiedesbois5901]

The EU is a true contemporary world marvel. Back then we had the Rhode giant, alexandria lighthouse, babylon hanging garden, in 2 millenium from now people will scratch their head to figure out how we achieved such an impactful project for mankind along with the first men who walked in the moon.

[@miles5600]

Well that’s if Germany finally starts investing into their crumbling infrastructure. It’s incredibly bad especially the rail.

[@ProNice]

@@miles5600 Haha! Well, the 'Deutsche Bahn' tries. It had inefficiency issues when it was 100% owned by the government, and since it's been partially privatized DB had investment issues. So we got both: the worst of public and private administration wreaking havoc on the Deutsche Bahn.

[@miles5600]

@@ProNice damn didn’t know that. NS was also owned by the government till like 2000 and then they got privatized which made is much better since and now they’re once again investing heavily into updating stations and new train sets. My hometown Ede is getting a brand new station and it’s absolutely massive for a town of 120.000 residents.

[@ProNice]

@@miles5600 Oh that's great! I'm happy for you! Seeing that privatizing leads to mixed results makes me believe that there is no easy fix to those systemic issues. Sometimes, you get bad management and bad incentive structures, and sometimes you get good management and good incentive structures. It's a gamble really.

[@codychild2665]

There's nothing humans can't accomplish if we all work together. Time will tell for this massive project.

[@carlosandleon]

Except maybe trying to make a human chain around your mom.

[@ShadowareCo]

and this have many benefits, especially in future. Train transportation much more stable than air t.

[@swaythegod5812]

There's nothing Europeans can't accomplish when we work together

[@BruceKenobi]

​@ShadowareCo much more stable? Dunno, trains are cool, and can be reliable in a lot of aspects, except speed of travel, high speed is not as big in Europe as it is in China, and probably will never be, which is why the airplane is here to stay.

[@markuserikssen]

The Lelylijn, connecting Amsterdam via Groningen with Hamburg, is probably also going to be part of the Ten-T network, even though it wasn't shown in the images of this video. The European Union recently gave green light to this project. The Lelylijn project will give a huge boost to the northern part of The Netherlands, which is currently not that well connected with the rest of the country (due to slow trains, constant train failures, and no alternative routes). This will create a new fast speed route from Amsterdam to Hamburg, Copenhagen and even further in Scandinavia (Stockholm or Oslo). It will take at least 15 years before the project is completed.

[@drdewott9154]

As a Dane I'd love to have a good high speed connection between Denmark and the Netherlands and with the Lelylijn that might just get a lot closer to reality. Especially if it could get travel times below 6 hours between Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Though for that you'd need some big works on the German side. They're currently working on a project called Wunderline which looks good for a regional railway but pretty bad for a major international link. But with the Lelylijn becoming a TEN-T corridor, then hopefully there'll be a political will to do something better for the rest of the corridor to Bremen or Hamburg. Like 200-250km/h speeds, rather than just 120-140 which afaik is what's being planned with the wunderline.

[@markuserikssen]

@@drdewott9154 Wouldn't it be amazing if our countries were connected by a fast speed train? I can only dream of that! And yes, there are still some big challenges. Hopefully things move forward thanks to TEN-T!

[@meandwhoism]

i like the idea of night trains between the netherlands' randstad area and Stockholm.

[@GBOAC]

That's because TEN-T has two levels: core and comprehensive. The Lelylijn isn't considered core, but still comprehensive. This video discusses the corridors which by definition are formed from the core network.

[@markuserikssen]

@@GBOAC That's true, but the government of The Netherlands is currently trying to make it become part of the core network. It's still an ongoing fight.

[@purplebrick131]

I live near one of these projects, the fixed Fehmarnbelt link between Germany and Denmark. A tunnel with a motorway and high speed rail is being dug, but alongside this, the rail lines around Lübeck (major town on the german side) got a major upgrade and electrification, better connections between Lübeck and Hamburg running all throughout the night, and just this week brand new Electric Multiple Unit trains with all modern amenities started running between Lübeck and Hamburg. Fascinating to see how these massive scope projects affect our everyday live. Soon the majority of long distance, high speed trains between Hamburg and Copenhagen will be routed through Lübeck without the need of a ferry, making it a journey of just 2 hours.

[@Greksallad]

Europe has come a long way. From fighting and bickering for the past few millennia to working in unison to bring us all together. It is truly a beautiful thing and I am proud to be a part of it. Long live Europe 🇪🇺

[@StefanRiley-v8d]

Blame the Germans for 20th century, and blame the Germans for jumping into bed with russia

[@IIAc3sII]

Not all about the EU is good, sanctions to countries that do not take in illegal immigrants, massive inflation that some poorer countries cannot handle...

[@dristmist7401]

The more connected and unified Europe is the stronger we are, and we need that going forward.

[@Cobbido]

lol the more connected the easier it is to control

[@dristmist7401]

@@Cobbido not a bad thing when the world around us wants us to fall. Produce most goods within the continent and cooperation in trade.

[@Cobbido]

our leaders wants us to fall as well so what does it matter, ccp style government is already here if you haven't noticed@@dristmist7401

[@kev2034]

@@Cobbido So should we destroy the roads connecting us too?

[@darthmaul216]

@@Cobbidothat’s not how anything works bud

[@BardovBacchus]

Imagine a world where we did things for the mutual benefit of everyone, because it made sense from a resource management POV rather than the highest profit per Q

[@synchc]

Be careful what you wish for.

[@Baron-Ortega]

Sounds like communism

[@nicosmind3]

So have you ever considered the insane cost of these projects and why they take so much money? Well they're lining the pockets of politicians and their friends. That's all about greed, they're gangsters and they have their hands in your pocket and there's nothing you can do to stop them (avoid paying tax and you go to jail). Worst still no one uses the trains in places like Spain and there's no return to them. So it's a continuing liability hurting the economy to support it

[@PrezVeto]

That's exactly what robust, healthy markets give you. In fact, they're the only way to get it because there are no selfless, all-knowing, and all-powerful beings around to be our central planners.

[@user-et6cr6qd8v]

that would be...... i dont belive in god but you made me overthink that and now i thank god that he lets me die before somethig as horrible as that happens

[@johannessamuelsson6578]

One TEN-T project very close to me is the North Bothnia Line, a coastal railway between Umeå and Luleå in the north of Sweden, a distance of 400 km. Though te first 130 km section up to Skellefteå has just been delayed due to processing of complaints from locals along its initially proposed route. This first section is now set for completion in 2032, the entire line will probably be done by 2050. Part of the TEN-T is also a coastal railway between Luleå and Kalix, but this project is not part of the North Bothnia Line and has not even initiated planning.

[@SirBalageG]

okay but who got time to wait so long for it to finish? I mean, regulations should be eased up to speed up the planning/construction, and not be 11 years late on a 10 year long project

[@johannessamuelsson6578]

@@SirBalageG it's the appeals, as is usually the case.

[@mickeybailey1108]

Love this concept. I have a Danish partner and my son just bought a home in Italy. Two of the major projects will greatly affect our ability to travel in Europe. I so look forward to being able to get from Malpensa to Paris in a shorter period of time via rail. The connection of Germany and Denmark is another amazing project that is very exciting to witness. I hope I am not too old to benefit from the great vision of European nations. While my home nation wallows in political turmoil I look to Europe for inspiration.

[@OperationDarkside]

It would be quite nice to be able to board a train and mind ones own business for a few hours until you reach the next bigger body of water. Without changing trains very often I couldn't even reach the closest sea from where I live. For some reason I really would like to visit portugal or spain, but I don't really like flying or driving for days on end. A highspeed train connection would really make things easier.

[@jsplit9716]

if the plan ever works out I would need to switch trains once to get to madrid which would be pretty cool. That being said I would rather take a plane for 2 hours than sit in a train for 10.

[@OperationDarkside]

@@jsplit9716 Sadly, the plane might even be cheaper. But 10h in a first class seat through a beautiful countryside might be worth it on its own.

[@magnetospin]

It wouldn't be a few hours. More like a few days, but still, yea, it would be pretty cool.

[@oerthling]

@@jsplit9716 A plane flight of 2 hours is likely to be 5 hours of travel time, after taking into account time to get to the airport on the outskirts of a city, being there early for security checks, boarding procedure etc and then collecting baggage and getting back into the target city. Sure, that's still faster than a 10 hour train, but the train is much more comfortable.

[@saulshennan6825]

@@oerthling You've just described travel in Japan. The choice is the airport circus and airplane lab rat ordeal just to shave off some travel time, or relax in comfort on a fast train and not look and feel like a zombie when you arrive. Plus the new hella speed maglev trains are coming which will make the actual transit times identical (eg 45 mins Tokyo-Nagoya via air and train, but no airport circus for train travelers)....

[@firenter]

I mean, the whole thing about getting in your car in Spain and getting out in China is technically already possible (if you ignore the fact that the middle bit of it is an active warzone right now) If you follow the E40 highway system you pass not too far from the Chinese border with Kazahkstan near the end of it and from there into the Chinese highway system towards all the major hubs you want

[@sceema333]

i hope europe/the EU will be able to establish itself as an independant superpower in its own right, to withstand the turbulent and dangerous decades ahead of us

[@nothandmade9686]

Talk about all eggs in one basket. This is not a good idea.

[@Kirovets7011]

I hope Europe will NOT become a superpower!! Superpowers tent to want more and more power, with, as a result, more WARS!!

[@sceema333]

@@Kirovets7011yes I totally agree, let me reiterate, a power scary enough so not even superpowers are confident of attacking it

[@Skyl3t0n]

@@sceema333 I mean we kinda already are at that state. A completely unified Europe would be indeed the strongest power on the planet but even as we stand now, nobody would dare anything. Even with Ukraine. They were neither in NATO nor EU but still receive so much help from everyone. Imagine someone tries messing with the Netherlands or something 😂 Now from an economical standpoint the only country that could somewhat rival a United State of Europe would be the US. Maybe China in the future. But a lot of things have to happen until we reach that point.

[@AndrewManook]

@@Skyl3t0n China already exceeds the us and eu in terms of GDP by a significant margin

[@dontfeedthelunatic]

Can't wait for Simon's 30th channel, GigaProjects

[@mothermovementa]

🤣

[@wile123456]

Getting from Denmark to Paris still requires switching at 4 different stations even with this new plan. Pass through trains are so rare and the benolux countries are a dense messy spiderweb

[@the_retag]

If the interchange doesn't take to long it seems ok to me, you still spend multiple hours in each train if im not mistaken

[@drdewott9154]

With the Fehmarn tunnel being built and other high speed rail upgrades underway, including a potential short cut from Northern Netherlands to Northwest Germany, then we'll likely see a trip from Copenhagen to Paris take less than 10 hours by high speed rail in 15 years.

[@wile123456]

@@drdewott9154 yea, definitly. I checked again and its not so bad, possible to do it with only 3 switches. It takes 12 hours and 30 minutes. The biggest issue is that's its twice as expensive as a plane ticket. Its such a robbery. If I fly in the off season I can get a ticket there plus return ticket by plane at a lower price than a single train ticket to there, not counting return

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

This project is extremely important! Hopefully it's done sooner than later. Super Heavy and rival competitors will play a role in the interconnection of the world.

[@acoral1035]

100 years ago (casually): "hey, lets dry a sea and terraform Africa?" now: "these couple of rails are the hugest project of all the time and the greatest endeavor of humanity!"

[@mittensfastpaw]

I really hope they succeed because it would be such a great thing to connect so many. The US needs to be better with its neighbors.

[@fakenews7266]

😂

[@QBCPerdition]

I've often thought about a similar American Union, I mean, before 9/11, going to Canada or even Mexico was hardly more difficult that going from state to state or province to province. And if you work down into Central America, Brazil, Argentina, etc, you could have two continents combined. But there are a lot of difficulties. I could possibly see the US and Canada Maki g some sort of agreement, and with Brexit, maybe the UK would join some sort of Anglophonic Union (hey Australia and New Zealand, wanna play, too?) But getting Latin America to join would be tough. The economic challenges would be all but impossible to overcome, the racism might be even harder. And looking at it the other way, it smacks way too much of American Imperialism and the Monroe Doctrine. But the idea of countries joining forces to truly start to unify the planet as one people is far to appealing to me to get me to stop dreaming.

[@BVonBuescher]

You don’t realize this is a Trojan horse

[@Bob_Smith19]

The human race is tribal and any notions of global unity is a pipe dream. There will be a worldwide dictatorship/communism before that ever happens. And China is slowly working towards that goal w/ the help of currently elected officials.

[@QBCPerdition]

@@Bob_Smith19 the human race is tribal, but what we define as "our tribe" is often changing and is mostly based on who or what we experience in our lives. Our tribes used to be largely familial, then regional, then national, then racial, then political. Nothing tells me it can't be species or even planetary, the main thing being the ability to actually get out and experience different people and places

[@MarushDenchev]

It would be great if I can hop on a train in Sofia, Bulgaria at 6 am in ther morning, be in Vienna by 12pm, enjoy a nice walk, drink coffee, watch a concert in Stadthalle from 9pm till 11pm, and then hop on the train back to Sofia which will arrive at 5:30am. No passports, no border checks, no airports ... Yeah, it will cost money, but I dream about such inter-connected Europe.

[@valojj3197]

vienna? exactly the ones opposing your dream and keeping both our countries out of schengen?

[@aurelije]

In time of cold war you could get night train in Belgrade on Friday and get tomorrow morning in Munich to buy some Spectrums and Commodores (they were much cheaper there than in Yugoslavia) spend a lovely weekend and get back on Monday.

[@mikatu]

And why would that be good?? What a waste!

[@aurelije]

@@mikatu so that poor Germans and Austrians in retirement that from their pension can't afford life in Vienna or even worse Munich can few times in a year feel like being in their homeland. Also for middle class Bulgarians to feel like they live in EU, go for shopping, buy same products offered in Sofia but by western quality standards not lower in quality but more expensive variants for eastern markets :D In time of cold war people from Belgrade would take a car and go to Trieste in Italy for a weekend. There was a pretty good road till there (partially autobahn), people had money and time, go there, maybe visit Venice, drink nice Italian coffee, buy cheap jeans and leather jackets and go back to Belgrade

[@norlockv]

Simon, you and the team really did it right on this one. Clear, insightful and informative educational.

[@tubz]

Europe actually working on doing this incredible project with several different nations involved. while here in the US all of our infrastructure is crumbling and we don't even have any high-speed rail in the whole nation.

[@SeArCh4DrEaMz]

yes but that is because americans do not care about issues such as investing in PUBLIC transportation/infrastructures (not much money in that), single payer healthcare, tuition free universities and good governance in general... These few things alone should be paid for and provided by the state, because it is an investment in society and it pays for it many times over... and why would you be a citizen of the US and pay taxes if the government isnt doing what it is supposed to do ?

[@Domihork]

As a Czech, I squeel with glee looking at those maps. Three corridors of the Ten-T going through Czechia AND potentially the Belt and Road network going through here as well (and probably connecting to it, since it would take the same route), just makes me so excited (the controversial political situation with China aside). But why do I doubt that I'll live to see this?

[@drdewott9154]

Probably because it takes decades to complete. Like you'll likely be a lot older when it's done but it'll still be done in your lifetime for sure. And they'll be there for future generations to enjoy and benefit from

[@kamukameh]

Thanks for this video! I am so happy to live in the EU, the profits (that not so smart people in my country don't see) are stunning for all participants. And I believe that war in Ukraine puts us in the EU (hopefully in the future with Ukraine) stronger together.

[@LeMerch]

I agree. I’m Irish, the EU has been amazing for us. We used to be a third world country, destroyed by decades of British colonialism. Now we are a good country, yes we have our issues but compared to what it used to be.. it’s amazing

[@izoyt]

yes, eu have big potential (or better to say to be even better that it is today). but eu also fail miserably at ukraine. it should never let war extent to this what it is now and should always retain good or at last tolerable connections with russia, war could be avoided. brussels basically kills itself under nato pressure.

[@bcnmanhattan5022]

@@izoyt Troll

[@izoyt]

@@bcnmanhattan5022 is this is only argument, you could ad to debate, troll? this days is anybody, who is not following media agenda seems like it.

[@adapienkowska2605]

@@izoyt but most of the EU HAD good connections with Russia. Russia managed to achieve its economical goal within the EU. It didn't stop the war.

[@someidiotwithnoname]

Osijek, Croatia, is waiting for the 5C corridor to complete. It will connect Budapest, Osijek, Sarajevo to Ploče, near Dubrovnik and in general will allow continuous travel from the Baltic to the Adriatic and the connection to Atlantic-Black sea corridor.

[@RFGfotografie]

I wish there was just 1 card for ALL transport systems where you could travel with trough the whole of Europe without ever needing to change the card. Like the OV-card system is in the Netherlands. Just 1 card for all. You can use all public transport by the simple use of putting the card on the terminal. And then the payment is secured trough the bank, where you can choose between immediat pay, pay beforehand (saldo) or pay after a month with everything in 1 invoice. It would be perfect if at least the train network could work this way, as crossing borders by train is so expensive and disasterously annoying, that you rather take the car. As the airplane sucks to. It's time this changes and I do hope this plan will fix that. As Europe isn't beloved by many, it needs this!

[@JamesSarantidis]

A Eurotrip with a couple of friends is in the top five of my to do list, but it's currently not something my pocket can afford. Making it accessible to most people it would probably help longterm against racism, nationalism and euroskeptisism too. Despite recent hickups, I think the Union is in a positive track.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

A unified paying system like the Dutch would be a game changer. Right now occasional train users end up frustrated and paying too much because you need to figure out which transport options are available for every part of the route, where to look up the prizes for the different companies, and what discounts are available.

[@themartinnovak]

If you just want to go for trip through europe you can use interrail pass, it makes it easier to travel with trains across whole europe

[@Kletterhaus]

Not a perfect system but an Interrail Pass already solves most of this problems.

[@Floren_Andro]

You only need a card... Visa/mastercard :)

[@peterdollins3610]

Using less energy is a great idea but a missing piece in your jigsaw is the growth of energy connectors & interconnecters. The most important aspect in my view. As a Brit I'm hoping the UK will rejoin the EU as soon as is possible depending on the EU's agreement.

[@Morkhard]

nope, sins the early days of the eu, uk always acted like a spoiled princess. There is no way back.

[@NorseGraphic]

The EU is rotten, Britain is a vassal to the EUSSR. The European Comission is unelected and unanswerable to anyone. Just a different face of Stalin/Hitler. Just because they're nice while bludgeoning you, doesn't make it right.

[@Arrynek01]

@@Morkhard Oh yes there is. But they will be just another country. No special treatment this time around.

[@achenarmyst2156]

Young people are more openminded, more connected. They have the greater potential of unifying Europe, including GB, which is the best way to the pursuit of happiness.

[@Arrynek01]

Czechia finally started work on the highspeed rail connecting Prague(from Germany) and Brno(towards Austria). The last time I went through, there were signs about it all over the place.

[@lafourmiedesbois5901]

EU finally started in Czechia* this is a collaborative effort and not a small one. We need to start and break our back and brains to make it work and by this process alone everybody in Europe is gaining precious experiences.

[@steffenberr6760]

This makes me incredibly proud

[@Ma1ne2]

I am from Berlin and living in Napoli right now, can't wait for that railway line connecting these cities and more, right now you have no choice but to take a plane if you don't want to switch trains 3 - 4 times, take one bus and go crazy doing it.

[@Kletterhaus]

You can take a fast train to Rome, from there the night train to Munich. And then a fast ICE to Berlin. Switching 2 times and no bus ride.

[@Lorre982]

but there is a fast train from Milan to Paris

[@ballenboy]

Imagine falling asleep on the train, missing your stop and waking up two countries past your stop. What a trip that would be.

[@rogerbeck3018]

wow .... at least there is a vision. From my southern hemisphere bubble this is the first i have heard of this. Great video Team Simon

[@michaelhart7569]

Visions are free, not just cheap. The EU has been built on grand visions that no one could realistically object to. The price? Not so cheap. Hence Brexit etc. Simon's whole article could have been paid for by the EU Commission.. There will be no united Europe before there is only one language used. That's what the US had to do.

[@ChristiaanHW]

@@michaelhart7569 ah yes the US that doesn't have an official language and where there are millions of people that don't even speak "your language" (English) in Europe almost everyone is bilingual (the percentage grows in every new generation of citizens). so we can use our own language when speaking to people from our own country (and sometimes even several countries) and when visiting some other European country we switch to English, or even to the language of that country.

[@michaelhart7569]

​@@ChristiaanHW Yes, I'm well aware that many do speak it. But it's far from universal. I still speak better French than many of them do English. One of my college friends (from the US, speaks both German and some Japanese) recounted to me how he was ignored and treated with contempt in a busy Paris bar. I've always got by alright because they can see I make the effort and they have said my accent is good. But it is still a long way from being the Lingua Franca (if you'll pardon the joke). People who speak different languages often can't make a properly unified nation/state work. I'm not saying they should, just remarking on the difficulties. And Americans speak American, not English. 🙂 The opportunities for misunderstandings and miscommunication of ideas are very large, as George Bernard Shaw so memorably commented.

[@michaelhart7569]

​@@ChristiaanHW I'll add an extra comment, which is probably more important than what I said above. Apart from immigration difficulties, what keeps the (mostly Hispanic) poor underclass poor in the US, is because they don't speak 'English'. That puts a lid on their employment and educational opportunities. Similarly, after the Brexit vote I heard English students bellyaching about how their employment opportunities were now diminished in Europe. What a load of garbage. I would have loved to ask each one of them "So, are you fluent in German, Romanian, Polish, Portuguese etc etc?". Of course they are not. That is what really stops them from emigrating from the UK. Sure, some universities in Holland and Sweden may teach some courses all in English. But try being a bricklayer, car mechanic, or electrician and see how that works out.

[@srfrg9707]

I as a Greek have heard a lot of this. Those stupid imperial infrastructures do not suits our needs and means. Greece's infrastructure is called "the sea". And it's free. We are not Germany or Belgium. Our landscape is not made of vast plains and forests. Greece is a mountain bathing in the sea with thousands of islands. They forced us to builds those stupid highways. The Thessaloniki to Ioanina highway included 2000 bridges and 1500 tunnels. The Rio-Antirrio bridge is is one of the world's longest fully suspended multi-span cable-stayed bridge. The traffic is light-years below what could justify the cost for either infrastructure. Imperial decisions favoring the French and German road building cies to the detriment of the locals taxpayers and commuters (the fees are very expensive). By the way, I live on a small island in the Aegean, as 30% of the Greek population does. We will never use those roads. But we pays the taxes to bail them out anyways.

[@Samael1410]

Simon, you can make a Megaproject video about how china is using the B&R initiative to buy out parts of countries worldwide. There are many things about how they use money, politics and B&R to create more military bases.

[@BurritoKingdom]

He's already done it. It's listed as one belt one road. In the controversy part he listed how it puts these counties in severe debt that they are at the mercy of china

[@darrencox150]

What about the USA? They have invaded most of the Middle East and bombed the rest back to the Stone Age, just for its oil! And people moan about china?!?

[@Bob_Smith19]

It’s a debt trap plain and simple. Leaders worldwide are selling out their citizens who are completely unaware of the ramifications.

[@synchc]

Similar to what the U.S has been doing for the past eighty years?

[@graemeking7336]

@@synchc Ouch. That hurts my Yankee doodle.

[@RazingthenRaising]

Our society is built on three things: 1) Power (whether electrical or mechanical) 2) Communication 3) transportation And failure of any of these (even mostly) will bring the other two down with it. This is a project that depends on no failures of those three. We shall see.

[@homobohemicus]

Mobility is so important and essential.. fast, efficient and connected transportation is key. I saw how difficult that is in north America....

[@nick066hu]

66 years of united Europe, and I still pay 18 Euros for a package from Germany (Passau) to Austria (Linz) 80 kilometers of delivery, while I pay 4 Euros for the same package from Passau to Hamburg, 800 kilometers of delivery. such a simple thing is not yet solved.

[@LeotusHex]

UK gonna miss out on this one

[@ahabkapitany]

@UCMB4liaDXSXfUsT2dDU-AYA cope

[@TalesOfWar]

@UCMB4liaDXSXfUsT2dDU-AYA Instead we're getting a cut down HS2 and lack of investment in... well, anything. This is all thanks to Westminster though. Can't have those plebs outside the M25 having nice things.

[@chrisyoung9653]

uk also makes more oil than all of europe combined somehow so its good to stay connected

[@melissareohorn7436]

@@chrisyoung9653 Norway (aside from Russia) are Europe's biggest producer of oil from

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

@@chrisyoung9653 ah yes, oil, that's what we need in this age

[@Fireheart318]

You’ve provided some much-needed hope for the future. Thank you.

[@RANVEER.4321]

Flight tickets are cheaper in Europe compared to train. Trains is the most convenient way to travel. 1. No airport frisking. 2. Directly into the city center rather than far away airport. Every country should build a vast train network. Kudos to Europe and India...

[@connorbrotcke254]

Even as an American it would be insanely cool to road trip from Madrid to Shanghai

[@andrewkaminskas7721]

China does not want you lol

[@TheLukanda]

Maybe start in Lisbon. Simon was a bit of a dick towards Portugal here.

[@CHMichael]

Trans Siberia or the orient express should get you there . Take a ship from Vladivostok

[@EAWanderer]

Take you the best part of a few months or 1/2 a year to travel the roughly 7,000 miles 😅, not taking into account various types of terrain That would be equal to driving round the whole US in 1 big circle

[@Inkling777]

Given the increasing militarism of China, we should take care to make sure it is not easy to get from there to Europe.

[@Roque-Cachamuiña-gs1wd]

I share the comment of someone who says that in Europe, at least in the European Economic Area, a reservation center would be needed that would make it possible from a single platform to hire trains to make a trip from Lisbon to Sofia or from Oslo to Seville, showing the corresponding links and different alternative routes.

[@Jonas-uh7bb]

I actually live in south germany close to the main rail network to the south( swizerland) they are building high speeds tracks and tunnels and one actually collapsed now its delayed for 7 years 😅 if you wanna search it up it happend in the „Rastatter Tunnel“

[@iBeast_M0de]

I like how the 1990 map at 2:05 has Czechoslovakia instead of the current two countries.

[@rcisneros8567]

That's awesome. Cooperation?? Maybe we should try that here in the states.

[@intractablemaskvpmGy]

pound sand lol

[@tnickknight]

Republicans say NO

[@PrezVeto]

How do you think the interstate highway system was planned? It's not cooperation; it's centralized government with the power to force its will.

[@The_king567]

Nope

[@The_king567]

@@tnickknightgood

[@truemoayyed8482]

Good Morning Simon 😊

[@rchltrrs]

It's crazy to see that the EU is more unified in this than the states that make up the USA. It's why our rail systems are so behind most other countries. A plan like this would be stuck in limbo forever.

[@PrezVeto]

They're not. Are you unaware of the federal government? We've had the interstate highway system for decades and our rail network has spanned the continent for 150 years. We use rail differently than they do primarily because the different population distribution changes the economics of rail vs. aviation.

[@rchltrrs]

@milflyboy whaaa? Federal government? Interstate highways???? Never heard of 'em! Aside from your condescension, I know the federal government exists but the states have a lot of say and it's part of the reason we don't have a system of high-speed rails. As a country, we could benefit from it. Look at the state of air travel and traveling via interstate highways takes a long time because of the sheer size of the US. Sure, we have rail lines but they're nothing compared to some of the awesome train lines in Europe and Asia.

[@lours6993]

@@rchltrrs I wouldn’t worry about him. He’s one of those Americans who has a need to believe the US is the best no matter what the evidence. You can’t reason with them.

[@Dhjaru]

The US has more rail miles than the EU shame your rail owners prioritise freight.

[@qjtvaddict]

All American countries have terrible rail systems

[@Max-zu8xj]

Great work

[@diditbreak]

I like the weird hole in that map at 1:00 where UK is.

[@synchc]

Not half as much as I do. It's where I live.

[@anglo-dutchsausage344]

Haha yes, the only thing we have well connected here is our head with our inner arse

[@nothandmade9686]

The UK part is HS2

[@anonbefallen4807]

As an Americam who grew up with the Interstate Highway system, I had always assumed traveling around the EU would function pretty much the same. Find your closest accesspoint to the Interstate, and then take it until you get to the state you wanna be in. Its kind of an underrated piece of infrastructure and im glad Europeans will be able to have that ease of travel on the roads as well!

[@Games_and_Music]

Would love to have a ticket to travel everywhere, take a month off and make my way around Europe and maybe even Asia. If it's affordable of course.

[@RegebroRepairs]

They kinda did it with the E-road network already. But trains, for some reason, seems more nationally sensitive, where Deutsche Bahn for example doesn't seem to want to adopt the TGV standards, for no apparent reason.

[@Axonteer]

I like how switzerland isnt part of the project but a major crossing for the eu while having everything already fully built even before that plan was put into action 😂 Our country would grind to a halt without our public transport network.

[@lours6993]

Uhm, No. Switzerland has built the Gotard Base Tunnel (Austria - Italy axis) only very recently and the Brenner Tunnel is under construction. Both of these are pillars of this plan.

[@chiaracavanelli9584]

@@lours6993 There was already a gotthard tunnel , the connction was aready ther, the new tunnel heled more the nationa distribution of the train than the international route

[@lours6993]

@@chiaracavanelli9584 No. The new base tunnel was intended to remove freight from polluting trucks in the Alps and moving it to rail as part of a north south axis, plus’s accelerate passenger traffic on the same route

[@chiaracavanelli9584]

@@lours6993 No, Alptransit was approved in 1992, Ten-T was adopted by the European Parliament in 1996. The gain in time with alptransit compared to when it wasn't there is 20 minutes in the Zurich-Lugano route, nothing if you look at the distance traveled on international sections. Alptransit was mainly made to relieve the Lugano-Zurich route and make nearby villages more accessible. The decision to remove trucks from the higway is secondary. In 1994 there was a referendum where the transport of goods only by train was obliged, Alptransit had already been accepted and planned. However, even if it should be like this today there are more and more trucks carrying goods still on the road, so the problem of pollution and danger remains.

[@Axonteer]

@@chiaracavanelli9584 what ours wrote clearly shows the issue with my country, most ppl think they know everything there is to know about CH but they actually know nothing really, there is so much coverage about the eu uk us etc but barely anything about switzerland leading to this issue. Im no better, never ever heard any mention of the ten t here in switzerland until this video, but i dont presume to know everything i always assume i miss smth. Like exact dates. All i know is that the rail tunnel wich was build in the late 1800s, often gets mixed up with the road tunnel and the new additions to the rail tunnel.

[@adeemuff]

02:01 the year on the screen is a bit misleading because the Maastricht treaty was signed in 1992.

[@mamertens99]

Btw, on the official TEN-T map you can see that not only EU countries are part of the comprehensive network, but also non-EU countries like Türkye/Turkey or Ukraine. (Even before the invasion)

[@tnickknight]

Turkey is not in Europe, and connections with Ukraine are done more through regional groups, which might change after the war

[@minakatahizuru]

Looking forward to this

[@Hollandstation]

great in depth video! I hope that such a network will increase travel ease in Europe. which is now a bit hard...

[@TheAslakVind]

The 18 km Fehmarn Belt immersed tunnel between Denmark and Germany is under constructon with the connecting rail and car bridge in Denmark Storstrøm bridge also under construction, Fehmarn Tunnel will be the world´s biggest lowering tunnel, 3 times the length of the current record holder Trans-Bay Tube Bart Tunnel in San Francisco. Denmark has done our part, could be finished earlier if Germany didn´t delay the build.

[@nicolasblume1046]

3:30 most of Europe ueses Standard gauge. Electrification and especially signal systems are a bigger problem

[@Lorre982]

The higt speed line have the same gauge, same security system and multi modal alimentation. infact the frecciarosssa1000 can work in a lots of EU country.

[@patrickhasachannel]

There is so much possibility here. I took the OBB from Vienna to Budapest in 2016 and it was a pleasant experience, more connections is what will end ignorance

[@Cantina-Jack]

American here hoping it all works out for Europe. I know i wont see anything like this in my time in United States

[@AL-lh2ht]

They already did this. The US literally has the best highway system in the world.

[@NightBlado]

@@AL-lh2ht : I guess you did not watch the video. The European network is way more about trains, ships and busses - than about wasteful personal car traffic jams. The whole of USA train network pales in comparison to even Finnish train network - that means it is roughly 30 times insufficient!

[@B1gLupu]

Well, as an American your passport is pretty powerful. How about you just ditch the capitalistic hellhole, travel to Europe, find yourself a nice Swedish/Estonian/Spanish girl and make a life here?

[@SuperchargedSupercharged]

If I was 35 years younger I would.@@B1gLupu

[@qjtvaddict]

Nothing a revolution can’t fix

[@roboko6618]

International train travel - I don't mind changing trains, so long as my rail ticket gauruntees me passage all the way to my destination. If I have the threat of a fine for being on the wrong train because a connection was late, then I'm more likely to take the plane to reduce the stress and probably cheaper too. They need to make a Europe-wide special travel ticket, that all major rail operators in Europe recognize with this gauruntee and then I would be more likely to consider long distance international train travel as a viable option.

[@thiagoluna4381]

Hey Simon, I'm brazilian and I watch a lot of your videos from your various chanells. I love your content and the way you react to the script (like in Decoding the Unknown). That said, given what happened here in Brazil this Sunday (Jan 8th, 2023), it would be really great if you did a video about Brasília, our national capital. We have a lot of really big projects in our country, but this city is problably the biggest, not only its planning and construction, but the reasons behind its creation and simbology of the various buildings designed. Our country is being attacked from within, our democracy was hurt, and I think it would be very important if guys like you and your team helped raise people's awareness to the rise in facism and other extremist movements not only here, but around the globe. Thank you for the amazing videos here in megaprojects, TIFO, Sideprojects, The Causal Criminalist, Decoding the Unknown, Biographics, Warographics, Into the Shadows and others (yeah, I really watch a lot of your content haha).

[@Heewson]

simon already did a video about brasilia in his other channel called Sideprojects, the video is "Brasilia: The Capital City Built from Nothing in Three Short Years"

[@Telencephelon]

15:00 Could have mentioned that "Most of the affected countries use the standard gauge with a width of 1,435 mm, but Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus use the broad gauge with a width of 1,520 mm.Jun 26, 2019"

[@gaetanovindigni8824]

Looking forward to your episode on the 'Teraproject'. That effort/episode would cross over into geo-engineering.

[@artistwithouttalent]

The most obvious candidate for a Teraproject would probably be terraforming Mars, funnily enough.

[@gaetanovindigni8824]

@@artistwithouttalent Experiment on Mars first. Good idea! But we will probably develop geo-engineering techniques on Earth as we respond to severe climate change among other problems.

[@death_parade]

@@gaetanovindigni8824 Welcome to the Anthropocene. But our understanding of climate change is rather limited. We are so laser focused on dealing with singular issues that we are not adopting a holistic approach. By singular issues I mean first it used to be CFCs and Ozone. Then it became GHGs. Now there are some green shoots on international biodiversity conservation and limiting species excitation levels to below 20 per annum. The biggest hurdle in all this is the human mindset and the economics that inevitably creates runs directly counter to the kind of economics needed to support a holistic approach a Kardashev Level 1 civilization like ours ought to have (if we ever plan to make it to level 2). Ofcourse it does not help that our understanding of Earth itself is p!ss poor. Lets just hope our piecemeal approach doesn't trigger a global cascade failure on Earth.

[@gaetanovindigni8824]

@@death_parade Failure to act would likely be as bad as acting to save, ultimately, our species not just the planet. "The operation was successful but the patient died."

[@andrewsmith2591]

I always enjoy these videos, even if Simon talks too fast at times (I slow the playback speed to 0.75).

[@AndrewChilders]

More rails, possibly a rebirth of the Orient Express line?

[@Charlestic]

the thing with such a project as this is that every incremental part of it brings benefits with it without every other part having to be completed for it to start getting returns on investment. where other megaprojects might have a sunk cost falacy this one can chip away at it at whichever pace

[@benjaminlamey3591]

Even if not completed, it will be a great step forward for lots of people. The crossing of the borders is indeed still a pain. at least for some of the borders.

[@donvoisko]

I am able to see the evolution of this project in my own country. I am from Romania and i am a train engineer; and right now i must say it’s chaos. Because of the works trains are sometimes canceled, delayed even more than “usual delays”… pair that with Romanian beurocracy and petty corruption, the project won’t be finished by 2030. I love traveling by rail, especially since the pandemic plane tickets are expensive; i can only hope that by the time i retire i will be able to travel on a sleeper train from Romania to Portugal with one ticket and no bottlenecks.

[@Krzysiex7pl]

It looks like highway system, at least in basic routes, might be nearly completed until 2030. For example look at the Polish highway system growth in recent years. But it is the easiest part, as it needs nearly no interoperability. Unfortunately the connecting all of European railway systems in a competitive way is more likely to be achieved in 2050 or later.

[@meandwhoism]

On every map it is notable that Amsterdam is a stub. The North-Sea corridor should connect amsterdam with bremen via northern regions. there's a group in the country advocating for this since the 80's and it's one of the most desired unbuilt rail lines in the country. Pathetically for one of the world's busiest and best networks there's a SINGLE national between the north and the west of the country. connecting the netherlands to the scandinavian body would be highly beneficial for freight traffic on a shorter term and on a longer term passengers to copenhagen. it's just so short sighted not to connect the country to the fehrmann-belt link. The lelylijn is the line im talking about Ten-T has greenlit the line under their initiative if political will aligns nationally then it's just a matter of shovels into the ground for speeds up to 250!

[@Gothic7876]

When people scoff at the idea of a United Europe becoming a world superpower, I can point to feats such as this. Massive undertakings, that aren’t flashy, they aren’t visually impressive, but offer massive benefits.

[@worstchoresmadesimple6259]

Yeah most Germans don't want to learn a new foreign language, let alone be so forgiving of any of their EU member friends. They prefer English. I know they miss the Brits and vice versa. Germany and UK the love story that never was, but yet might happen :)

[@geertvanschaik7976]

MEGA! Make Europe Great Again!

[@mathieuvanhulle324]

its so incredible to see the Flemish region that clearly light up at 0:47 . you can really see the border between France and Wallonia. unreal.

[@Leopold_van_Aubel]

It's not just the Flemish region, it's also the North of Wallonia. The North of Wallonia is as densely populated as Flanders.

[@richardbloemenkamp8532]

I was a bit disappointed that SNCF did not propose a reasonable train-solution from Paris to Bilbao. In the end I took a plane. Last year, Paris-Milan was excellent by train however.

[@MrToradragon]

It seems like Ukraine, once war is over, plans to switch to standard gauge, so in the long therm this will not be that huge Issue, but in the meantime it will be necessary to heavily upgrade transloading facilities in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

[@Andrii87]

It would cost A lot to shift to european gauges. There is a lot of track in Ukraine.

[@MrToradragon]

@@Andrii87 I know, but that is what I have read in several articles. We as well must consider two other factors, strategic as it would significantly slow down possible invasions in the future, and that significant part of railway network was damaged and must be repaired. Not to mention that all lies have to be completely overhauled once in a while, roughly once in 30-60 years. So at that occasion they can change gauge as well. As well there are systems for gauge change. e.g. Spanish used on Talgo trains (I believe it allows for change of gauge of powered wheelsets as well), If Ukraine will have virtually whole fleet equipped with this system, then they can switch lines or regions quite easily. But I would guess that they will, beside short stretches to Lviv, convert line from Kovel to Kyiv to standard gauge and for speeds of 160-230 kph, that line is not electrified and is shortest line between Warsaw and Kyiv. Then the standard gauge can be easily extended eastwards to Sumy and Kharkiv. But there is as well the issue with loading gauge, in other words size of carriages, while all carriages from Europe can easily fit into loading gauge used in Ukraine, Ukrainian carriages can't fit on all lines in Europe. There was proposal to ship US made grain hoppers to Ukraine and to equip them either with system for gauge change or to have their boogies swapped at the border as the loading gauge in the USA is smaller than that in Ukraine, but still bit larger than that used in Europe, but I don't know how this have ended.

[@IanAlcorn]

@@Andrii87 Much will probably have to be repaired anyway, so might as well upgrade while you're at it.

[@Hugomad2]

I cannot wait !!!!

[@Empress_Theresa]

Wouldn't be nice if world governments stopped fighting each other like a bunch of children and started working together towards a common goal?

[@dangermouse9348]

That's called Globalism and is exactly what the WEF wants. Nice idea. Won't work. Just like Communism.

[@patrickdurham8393]

Yeah that might work as long as you took humans out of the equation. Build a better road and it makes it easier for the next conqueror to come through.

[@synchc]

There is, and always was, a common goal: individual and generational wealth and power.

[@nizm0man]

not while greedisgood is still active

[@graemeking7336]

And the I awoke..

[@BallisticDamages]

Let's go! More Simon!

[@charlesvaughan3517]

Never make episode suggestions but I would really enjoy a companion video that cover more of the component projects. Obviously this is a huge body of material to cover and i totally understand you can't go too in depth in a single episode( and that you have/plan episodes for component projects. But I would be interested in how the system increases the interconnectivity/efficiency of rail, air, ground and sea. The challenges faced by adapting, adopting, and future proofing. How geopolitical disagreements are/where resolved. Basically the infrastructure of the planets 2nd or 3rd largest infrastructure system. It seems China and the US have such an advantage planning. But it would be awesome if different E.U. countries focused on their strenghts I.E. Germany efficiency France high speed rail Great Brita.. I mean Dutch shipping. Norway oil production Italy sexy design Finland dog sleds/skis Poland tanks Greece debt management Ireland ??? Sweden dirt roads So that instead all countries having to be a jack of all trades say the Swedes could help design roads through the alps. Let the Germans handle the way passengers move through all airports while the Italians add panache so they aren't boring. Countries experience in the shipping industry could help Poland develop port systems. The Dutch could share experience in water management with countries that haven't been but will be dealing with sea level rise

[@liesjelualockse6377]

As a dutch person i can say; we do. We help countries with waterworks around the world. New Orleans for example, Dubai, Austria.. just from the top of my hat

[@icicle_man4971]

Ireland corporate tax dodging 🤣. I mean the pharma industry or dairy industry is big here but I don't see that as being that helpful to a European wide infrastructure project. Best we can do is sweet talk the Americans into throwing some funding our way for it

[@viquiben4919]

The South also exists, you know? Spain is the 2nd country in the world with most kilometers in HS railways after China. Our industry Talgo has successfully delivered the Haramein high-speed railway line that links the Saudi cities of Medina and Mecca, all our large cities are connected by high-speed trains and french Ouigo and italian Yrio companies are already operating in Spain competing with spanish high-speed Renfe wich has meant reduced prices, you can go Madrid-Barcelona or Valencia for just €9. Spain and Portugal are part of the Ten-T Network and the Medierranean corridor will channel the bulk of trade with Africa.

[@Balmalu]

Brillant very well done - informative and fun 🎉

[@bruceschlee1188]

The first view of a Simon video. My KZbin quest is complete 😂

[@realhawaii5o]

"Madrid to Shanghai" Portugal: 🥺

[@atay6413]

0.58 Sad to see the UK missing.

[@gravedigger301]

Some say that winter is coming, we know that winter is here :P

[@ddleupriandboast]

Europe doing what it's good at. Working together.

[@sayuas4293]

haha no

[@ddleupriandboast]

@@sayuas4293 ha ha yes

[@sayuas4293]

@@ddleupriandboast Nope. Europe is not good at working together at all. Actually famously bad.

[@ddleupriandboast]

@@sayuas4293 Thanks for your detailed explanation and enumeration of facts.

[@sayuas4293]

@@ddleupriandboast You are welcome. European countries have competing interests and constantly quarrel over them.

[@anthonyk597]

Simply amazing.

[@canadianatheist3578]

As a north american (Canadian) this is surprising that this doesn't exist, we've had a rail system connecting coast to coast for like a century, and now days you can drive from Canada to south America!

[@bozhijak]

That's a LONG trip and not consistent.

[@PrezVeto]

Only with the help of a boat. The Darien Gap still hasn't been closed.

[@JiiJiitalo]

There are roads and rails connecting all europe, by that part this video is a bit misleading. This project is to make them more direct and faster, and add some missing tunnels and bridges and building more rails and more lanes to roads so it can take more traffic.

[@gre894]

I think you misunderstood something. This is about making those corridors function more effectively. I can take my car any time and drive from Helsinki to Lisbon already obviously.

[@ChristiaanHW]

as someone already said under a comment from an aussie. the difference is that this is through Europe a continent made up of dozens of countries, not just one country. megaprojects are difficult, megaprojects that span two countries are a complicated, a megaproject across 40 countries (a few are city states like the vatican) was impossible for eons. only thanks to the EU and all the streamlining that's done in Europe since it's start is this now a possibility. and the EU is still a very young institution. the (earliest) predecessor of the EU is only 70 years old, and it started with just 6 countries.

[@motrebal]

Well done writers and Simon, this is probably the most positive review of a big big project you have ever done, We like positivity :)

[@leonhardreche8593]

Germany is pretty behind in every single piece of infrastructure we where supposed to handle. While Swiss and Italy alreadyhammered tunnels through the alps we‘re still debating where the track should go.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

The problem with cross border rail traffic was not so much different track gauges, as only Ireland, Spain, Portugal at the west end and Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia on the east end of the EU have different track gauges. The problem was mainly in different overhead catenary systems, signalling and train protection systems and the the national railway companies being bound to their own network and no other companies allowed to run on them unless by special agreement, like the TEE network in the past. In more recent times we have seen the networks decoupled from the railway companies operating on them, open access, privatisation and the introduction of locomotives and trainsets that can easily operate under different catenary systems and train control and protection systems. This enables freight trains to run from the Netherlands to Italy or Poland to France for example to run directly with the same locomotives at the front without lengthy stops at border stations or marshalling yards. Cross border passenger traffic is almost completely in the hands of high speed trains now, mainly on new built high speed lines and sometimes using the existing old network. The classical loco hauled passenger (night) train is something almost of the past, except for some border crossing regional traffic.

[@agamemnom]

so simon's next youtube channel is Gigaprojects then lol

[@pamelamays4186]

Evan. A new Blazement "guest"!

[@Lunch2391]

yes the newest autobahn extencion makes traveling so much faster and easier I just have to take some pothole riddled roads to get there Not even exaggerating, there was this one road where, in the end, they got the speedlimit down to 20 to prevent damages to the cars. luckly this one was finally remodeled last year

[@blueredbrick]

I once drove to a destination via backroads from a to b on the border of NL- Germany, the roads weren't the best, but I had fun dodging tree roots and preventing scraping the bottom of my car.

[@storytime118]

As an American who has traveled through the eu i found the transportation system rather easy and enjoyable to navigate if you discount France and their strikes.