Rhine-Alpine News
13.08.2025
EU to boost sustainable and connected mobility with € 2.8 billion investment
Symbolic picture by Jai79 on Pixabay
The European Commission has allocated €2.8 billion in grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to invest in 94 transport projects to enhance sustainable and connected mobility across Europe.
The projects will modernise railways, inland waterways, and maritime routes across the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), enhancing connectivity and competitiveness in the EU’s internal market. Rail transport will receive the largest share of the funding, with investments directed towards infrastructure upgrades across the TEN-T core and extended networks, particularly in cohesion countries. High-speed rail lines will also be developed in the Czechia and Poland.
Additionally, 32 projects in 11 Member States will implement the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), improving rail safety and interoperability across borders. The EU is also investing in greener ports and increased resilience, including shore-side electricity for ports in Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, and Poland, multi-purpose icebreakers in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden, and digital traffic management systems in France and Spain.
The projects will also support smarter and safer transport networks, including safe parking areas, Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), air traffic management, and urban mobility. The funding is part of the EU’s commitment to a modern, sustainable, and resilient transport network.
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Survey of green infrastructure plans as part of the GILL Project
Symbolic picture by Jarret Tan on Unsplash
The GILL project (Methodology for Quantifying the Demand for Green Infrastructure at Local Level) aims to create a standardised methodology for measuring green infrastructure demand at the local level, aided by data-driven urban planning and policy decisions. The analysis will provide evidence-based tools to justify investments in green infrastructure in line with EU policies and support climate adaptation and sustainability projects.
The expected results will include a standardised methodology for quantifying green infrastructure demand, case studies, a user manual for policymakers, digital tools integrated into the ESPON Portal, and policy recommendations for green infrastructure use in urban development.
As part of the process, a survey was launched to gather examples of planning documents relevant to green infrastructure. The goal is to build a repository of good examples of green infrastructure plans, urban nature plans, green structure plans etc. This repository will serve as inspiration and guidance for other cities and towns developing green infrastructure and urban nature plans.
The GILL project is funded by ESPON.
You can access the survey by clicking here
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German implementation of ETCS still low
Symbolic picture by Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash
Germany is making slow progress in digitising its rail network, with only 1.6% of the federal railway equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) by the end of 2024.
The federal government aims to convert the entire rail network to ETCS by 2040, but the German Allianz Pro Schiene (Pro-Rail Alliance) believes this is not achievable without a clear strategy. Both infrastructure and vehicles must be converted to the new ETCS train control system, with the signalling technology currently on the tracks being replaced and information displayed for train drivers on a screen in the cab.
Dirk Flege, managing director of the Pro-Rail Alliance, calls for a jointly developed strategy to determine when and by when the conversion will occur. The importance of a central strategy is evident in the area of general renovation, where the Riedbahn line was converted to ETCS during the renovation of the Berlin-Hamburg line to avoid high costs of dual equipment with ETCS and classic safety technology. The digitisation of the railways was accompanied by promises of increased efficiency, but the railways must see successes to ensure these gains become tangible for rail transport by the next legislative period.
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