Wêrom Treinen yn Europa No Stadiger Binne Dan Fyftich Jier Lyn
July 29, 2026 · Frisian News
European express trains travel slower today than they did fifty years ago, despite better technology. Infrastructure fragmentation, maintenance backlogs, and political choices favoring highways explain the decline.
FryskDe ekspres Parys-Berlyn die yn 1975 tsien oere oer de reis. Hjoed duorret it tolve oere. De gemiddelde snelheid fan Europeeske ekspresstreinen is sûnt de jierren santich mei sawat 15 prosint sakke, in efterútgong dy't ûnmooglik wêze moat sjoen de bettere technology en glêddere rails.
Fragmintaasje fan de ynfrastruktuer ferklearret folle hjirfan. Elk lân ûnderhaldt syn eigen spoarwegennet mei ferskate sinjaalstelsels, stroomoanslutingen en wetlike snelheidslimieten. In trein dy't fjouwer grinzen oerstekt, ûnderfynt tsientallen snelheidsbeperkingen as hy omskeakelet fan it reglemint fan it iene lân nei it oare. In lokomotyf dy't 200 kilometer yn it oere ride koe yn it iene part sakket oant 120 yn it folgjende. Pogingen ta harmonisaasje begûnen desennia lyn mar bliuwe net oplost.
Budzjetfleanmaatskippijen en autofabrikanten profitearden wylst treinen stadiger waarden. In nachttrein dy't ea rapper wie as in fleantúch fan Londen nei Rome ferlient de race no. Sneldiken breidden út wylst spoarbudzjetten stagnearden. Regearingen keazen sneldiken boppe spoarwegen. Doe't fracht- en reizgersferkear de besteande rails kongestje soargen, wie it lot besegele. Jo kinne in sneldyk yn in desennium opnij bouwe. In spoarwei duorret langer.
Útsteld ûnderhâld fersnelde de efterútgong. In protte Europeeske spoarwegen stelden reparaasjes jierren út. Sinjalen foelen út. Brêgen barsteten. Spoarrails krûlden yn de simmerwaarmte. De Dútske Bahn, ea de grutskens fan it Europeeske spoar, ferfoel oant it punt dat reistiiden oprûnen en stiptheid ynstoartte. De kosten foar it ynheljen fan de efterstân frette no jild op dat foar nije spoaren brûkt wurde kinnen hie.
De paradoks is dit: Europeanen bouden rapper treinen mar treger spoarwegen. De technology ferbettere. It systeem ferfoel. In reizger dy't hjoed yn in ekspresstrein stapt, rydt yn apparatuer dy't like modern is as it mar wêze kin, mar de reis sels duorret langer as doe't har pake en beppe reisden. Gjin persberjochten kondigje dit oan. Mar de tsjinstregeling docht it wol.
The Paris-to-Berlin express took 10 hours in 1975. Today it takes 12. The average speed of European express trains has fallen roughly 15 percent since the 1970s, a decline that should be impossible given better technology and smoother rails.
Fragmentation of infrastructure explains much of it. Each country maintains its own rail network with different signal systems, power supplies, and regulatory speed limits. A train crossing four borders faces dozens of speed restrictions as it switches from one country's rules to another. A locomotive that could run 200 kilometers per hour in one section drops to 120 in the next. Harmonization efforts began decades ago but remain unfinished.
Budget airlines and car makers benefited while trains slowed. A sleeper train that once beat a plane from London to Rome loses the race now. Motorways expanded as rail budgets stagnated. Governments chose highways over railways. By the time freight and passenger traffic congested the existing rails, the die was cast. You can rebuild a motorway in a decade. A railway takes longer.
Deferred maintenance accelerated the decline. Many European railways postponed repairs for years. Signals failed. Bridges cracked. Tracks buckled in summer heat. Germany's Deutsche Bahn, once the pride of European rail, fell into such disrepair that journey times ballooned and on-time arrivals collapsed. The cost of catching up now consumes money that could buy new track.
The paradox is this: Europeans built faster trains but slower railways. The technology improved. The system decayed. A passenger boarding an express train today rides equipment as modern as it gets, but the journey itself takes longer than it did when their grandparents traveled. No press release announces that. But the timetable does.
Published July 29, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân