High-speed rail in Europe

High-speed rail (HSR) has developed in Europe as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transport. The first high-speed rail lines on the continent, built in the late 20th century, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks, and there are now several cross-border high-speed rail links.

As of 2025, several European countries — among them France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom — are connected to a cross-border high-speed railway network. Spain operates the largest high-speed rail network in Europe with 3,973 km (2,469 mi) and the second-largest in the world, trailing only China. High-speed rail in the region predominantly runs in Western Europe, with comparatively very few having been built in Eastern Europe.

The earliest European high-speed railway to be built was the Italian Florence–Rome high-speed railway (also called "Direttissima"), which opened in 1977. In 2007, a consortium of European Railway operators, Railteam, emerged to coordinate and boost cross-border high-speed rail travel. Developing a Trans-European high-speed rail network is a stated goal of the European Union, and most cross-border railway lines receive EU funding. Alstom was the first manufacturer to design and deliver a high-speed train, which entered service as the TGV in France. Currently, there are several manufacturers involved in designing and building HSR in Europe, with alliances and partnerships, including Alstom, Bombardier (owned by Alstom since 2021), Hitachi, Siemens, and Talgo.