Thread by @euronewsnext

This could be Rotterdam or anywhere 🎵

Liverpool or Rome 🇮🇹

'Cause Rotterdam is anywhere 🇳🇱

Anywhere on a European high speed rail 🎵

Picture this: the year is 2045. You’re standing on a platform in Berlin awaiting a sleek pod to whisk you off to Paris within the hour, ready for your morning meeting. 🚄

In the afternoon you’ll pop on another pod for a leisurely trip to Barcelona. 🌆

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Do you prefer to take a flight or a train for short-haul journeys?

Think it could never happen? 🧐

Well perhaps it’s time to think again.

Experts believe that a faster and more interconnected cross-border railway system is more than just a pipe dream. 🚆

So how might it work? 👇

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Option 1: A Single European Railway Area

This is about a seamless and simple cross-border network on the continent. 🛤️

Rail in Europe is a patchwork of different national systems currently and there is no comprehensive European-wide strategy. 🇪🇺

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The result is that cross-border train travel can be an expensive, unreliable, and inconvenient alternative to flying. ✈️

For example, there are no direct train services linking Berlin and other major capitals like Paris, Brussels, or Copenhagen. 🇩🇪

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Do you think you would take the train more often if they were quicker?

Option 2: MagLev trains and Hyperloop

If there’s one thing that could lure passengers to trains, it’s likely the tantalising possibility of drastically reduced travel times between major European cities at zero emissions. 🚊

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The hyperloop aims to increase speeds by reducing friction. 🚅

They put the vehicle in a tube so there is less air resistance and use magnets to make it levitate so there is no ground friction. 🌬️

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Option 3: Magrail

This system is based on magnetic levitation technology which uses magnets to elevate a train off the track and another set of magnets to propel it along the track. 🧲

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The key to this option is that it uses existing rail infrastructure so it would be much quicker to implement. 🚉

The EU is keen to eliminate short-haul European flights and with various technologies popping up you wouldn’t bet against them. 🛬

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Read in full. 👇
euronews.com/next/2021/08/1…