photo: Archives/Railway
The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy has been published by the European Commission. The strategy aims to transform the EU's transport system and support the achievement of The European Green Deal.
This strategy has a total of three milestones: 2030, 2035 and 2050. These three dates are intended to help achieve the goals of achieving sustainable transport, which is a key area in achieving the goals of The European Green Deal. For this reason, European high-speed rail transport should double by 2030. The plan is that it will even triple by 2050. Rail freight transport should double in the coming decades according to the Strategy.
By 2030, at least 30 million zero-emission cars should be on Europe's railway roads. The Strategy also foresees that 100 European cities should be climate neutral. All mass travels up to 500 km should be CO2-free. High-speed rail transport should be doubled. Automated mobility systems should also be deployed on a small scale. Marine ships producing zero emissions shall also be launched on the market.
There is also a plan for aircrafts: by 2035 planes not producing any emissions should be placed on the market.
In 2050, most cars on the road shall be emission-free. Rail freight should also be doubled. The multimodal trans-European transport network (TEN-T) for sustainable and intelligent transport with high-speed connections should also be fully operational.
According the Strategy, together with the action plan of 82 initiatives, Europe must achieve a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050. This should be achieved through an intelligent, competitive, safe and affordable transport system. The Strategy addresses both achieving the goals of The European Green Deal and increasing resilience to future crises.
"The Strategy will shift the way people and goods move across Europe and make it easier to combine different modes of transport in one way. We have set ambitious goals for the entire transport system to ensure a sustainable, intelligent and resilient return from the COVID-19 crisis," said Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President for The European Green Deal.
Next year is declared the year of the railway. There will also be a number of support action plans that should make more people use rail transport. This, too, should make a significant contribution to achieving long-term environmental goals. At the same time, an action plan should be proposed in 2021 to support long-distance and cross-border rail passenger transport.