Mediterranean Corridor
Pre-identified sections Mode Description/dates Algeciras – Madrid Rail studies ongoing, works to be launched before 2015, to be completed 2020 Sevilla – Antequera – Granada – Almería – Cartagena – Murcia – Alicante – Valencia Rail studies and works Valencia – Tarragona – Barcelona Rail construction between 2014 – 2020 Barcelona Port interconnections rail with port and airport Barcelona – Perpignan Rail cross-border section, works ongoing, new line completed by 2015, upgrading existing line Perpignan – Montpellier Rail bypass Nîmes – Montpellier to be operational in 2017, Montpellier – Perpignan for 2020 Lyon – Torino Rail cross-border section, works base tunnel to be launched before 2020; studies access routes Milano – Brescia Rail partially upgrading, partially new high-speed line Brescia – Venezia – Trieste Rail works to start before 2014 on several sections Milano – Mantova – Venezia – Trieste IWW studies, upgrading, works Trieste – Divača Rail studies and partial upgrading ongoing; cross-border section to be realised until after 2020 Koper – Divača – Ljubljana – Maribor Rail studies and upgrading/partially new line Ljubljana node Rail rail node Ljubljana, including multi-modal platform; rail airport interconnection Maribor – Zalalövö Rail cross-border section: studies, works to start before 2020 Boba- Szekesferhervar Rail upgrading Budapest-Miskolc-UA border Rail upgrading
The Mediterranean Corridor will link ports in the south-western Mediterranean region to the Ukrainian border with Hungary, following the coastlines of Spain and France, and crossing the Alps towards the east.
This corridor of about 3,000 km, integrating Priority Projects 3 and 6 and ERTMS corridor D, and based in part on rail freight corridor 6, will provide a multimodal link to the ports of the western Mediterranean with the centre of the EU. It will also create an east-west link through the southern part of the EU; contribute to intermodality in sensitive areas such as the Pyrenees and the Alps; and connect some of the major tourist areas of the EU with high speed trains.
Main missing links
The main cross-border missing sections are the Lyon–Turin rail connection and the connection from the Ukrainian border to Italy. Multimodal connections with the ports in Spain have to be developed, and some railway sections in Italy need to be upgraded in order to remove key bottlenecks.