The EU has announced its intentions to develop a rail link across a portion of the continent that will eventually connect the Mediterranean region (southern Spain) and Ukraine (Lviv).
At the end of 2023, Spain, which chairs the EU Council, reached an important preliminary agreement with the European Parliament on the revision of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation. The agreement allows for the financing of the basic transport network, including the historically important Mediterranean corridor, which will reach into Ukraine. The Mediterranean corridor will extend to Lviv and through the whole of Europe.
It is noted that passenger trains will move along it at a speed of 160 km per hour. The Mediterranean Corridor will be the only TEN-T corridor to cross Europe from west to east.
The new regulation sets clear deadlines for the completion of the TEN-T, stating that the core network should be ready by 2030, the extended core network by 2040, and the global network by 2050.