Accessibility impacts of the trans-european railway network

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has an uneven distribution of the stock of public capital in infrastructures between the Member States. As a result, the peripheral countries are demanding an investment policy in order to achieve social cohesion for countries that must compete in a single market. The European Commission considers that the improvement of transport infrastructure plays an important role in the reduction of social disparities within the EU.1 In this sense, the Commission is promoting the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). However, the development of TEN-Ts may, in certain circumstances, widen rather than reduce the differences in both accessibility and economic opportunities of.