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 propose a legally binding act to connect all European capitals with high-speed rail using existing networks and building high-speed lines where they do not yet exist.
The Europeans will have a year to support the initiative. If it collects more than a million signatures from representatives of at least 7 EU member states, the European Commission will be obliged to consider it and develop an appropriate bill. After that, it will be considered by the deputies of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, as well as other legislative initiatives.
The main goal of this innovation is to create a convenient alternative to short-haul flights (according to a recent report by the European Environment Agency (EEA), traveling by train is almost five times more environmentally friendly than flying by plane).
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.
