#cross-border-travel

#cross-border-travel

The European Commission sketched out a world where trains could reach speeds well above 250km per hour, when feasible, to ensure faster connections across the continent. If the plan is realised, rail passengers could travel betweenthe German and Danish capitals in four hours by 2030, instead of seven hours today, while Sofia and Athens would be just six hours apart by 2035, instead of nearly 14.

"Our national roads, especially the major Alpine routes, are congested with transit traffic that brings no benefit to our country," according to MP Marco Chiesa, who instigated this measure in the parliament. "It is unacceptable that Switzerland continues to suffer the consequences of this parasitic traffic." What he and his supporters are proposing is a 'tourist transit tax', levied specifically on people who enter the country by road. Rail and air travellers are exempt.

The ICE high-speed train service from Paris to Berlin represents the first direct, high-speed rail link between the capitals of the EU's largest countries, establishing a new milestone in European train travel.

Instead of the typical inquiries like "Where are you going?" or "What's the purpose of your visit?", we faced more probing questions such as, "Why are you going there?" ...