European railways are often praised for their comprehensive continental coverage, yet it frequently falls short of meeting the evolving needs of the public. This episode of Standard Time discusses public investment and corruption, and how railway systems could transform.
According to Eurostat, as of 2023, the European Union had more than 8,556 kilometers of dedicated high-speed rail lines. However, the overall size of the European railway network has contracted by 1.3% between 2013 and 2023. This is hardly the direction to meet the challenges of the climate crisis, especially when it comes to public transport connecting smaller settlements.
UNIFE has identified three primary areas of development: the creation of a unified European Rail Traffic Management System, the implementation of a next-generation Future Railway Mobile Communications System, and the development of digital automatic coupling technology. These initiatives are undoubtedly ambitious and, if executed effectively, could transform rail transport across the continent – especially cross-border rail rides, which today are a vat of chaos.
One thing is for sure: rails need development, but also maintenance, and in an age of financial restrictions, this keeps a lot of us awake at night.
This episode was recorded in Novi Sad, Serbia, the location of a devastating railway disaster, prompting the discussants to also examine the extent to which systemic corruption has contributed to the tragedy. A previous episode of Standard Time addressed the wave of protests that erupted on 1 November 2024:
Bojan Pajtić served as the Prime Minister of Vojvodina for 12 years, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the province. From 2014 to 2016, he also held the position of President of the Democratic Party, which at the time was the largest opposition party in the country.
Ádám Kovács is a Youtuber under the name Adam Something, with a current following of 1.3 million subscribers. He advocating for equality, human-centric urbanism, and practical, useful transit. And regularly rips Elon Musk a new one in his takedowns on the craze for electric cars.
Jon Worth is an independent campaigner and writer about European railways. Through his crowd funded #CrossBorderRail project he has been investigating international railway lines all over the continent, and putting proposals to the European Union to improve them.
Europrospects correspondent for Serbia Maja Vujović is based in Novi Sad. With a background in linguistics and media, she focuses on human and animal rights, feminism, and EU policy.
Réka Kinga Papp anchor
Daniela Univazo writer-editor
Merve Akyel art director, Eurozine
Szilvia Pintér producer
Julia Sobota captions and translations
Zsófia Gabriella Papp digital producer
Judit Csikós head of finance
Priyanka Hutschenreiter project manager
Csilla Nagyné Kardos office administration
Maximilian Lehner managing director
Gergely Áron Pápai DoP
Dániel Pitz camera
István Nagy sound
Nóra Ruszkai video editor
István Nagy lead video editor
Milán Golovics dialogue editor
Dániel Nagy dialogue editor
Victor Maria Lima animation
Crypt-of-Insomnia theme music
Disclosure
This talk show is a Display Europe production: a ground-breaking media platform anchored in public values.
This programme is co-funded by the European Commission and the European Cultural Foundation.
Importantly, the views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and speakers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Published 29 June 2025
Original in English
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