Abbreviations and glossary Executive summary Introduction Paragraph I - XI 1 - 13 1-2 3-4 5-9 5-7 8-9 10-13 14-20 21-95 21-36 21-22 23-26 27-36 37-58 37-44 45-48 49-51 52-58 CONTENTS High-speed rail in Europe The EUŐs high-speed rail network is growing in size and in rate of utilisation EU policies for high-speed rail Transport policy Cohesion policy EU support for building high-speed lines: significant, but a fraction of total cost Audit scope and approach Observations EU co-funded investments in high-speed rail can be beneficial, but there is no solid EU-wide strategic approach High-speed rail is a beneficial mode of transport which contributes to the EUŐs sustainable-mobility objectives The Commission's powers are limited, and its plan to triple the length of the high-speed rail network is unlikely to be achieved Member States plan and decide on their national networks, leading to a patchwork of poorly connected national high-speed networks Decision-making lacks reliable cost-benefit analyses ŇVery high speedÓ is not needed everywhere Cost-efficiency checks are rare Cost-benefit analyses are not used as a tool for decision-making in the Member States Cost overruns, construction delays and delayed entry into service: a norm instead of an exception 2 A citizenŐs view: a real-life assessment of travel times, prices and connections, of passenger-services and of stations and their catchment area Travel times and ticket prices, are important factors for success Further improvements needed to rail ticketing, and in monitoring passenger-services data The number and location of stations are both important High-speed rail sustainability: effectiveness of the EU co-funding at risk Passenger data analysis: three of the seven completed high-speed rail lines carry fewer passengers than the benchmark of nine million per year Catchment-area analysis of the number of people living along the lines: nine of 14 audited high-speed lines and stretches do not have sufficient high number of potential passengers The competitiveness of high-speed rail compared to other modes of transport: there is no Ňpolluter-paysÓ principle yet Seamless and competitive cross-border high-speed rail operations: not yet universal With many barriers still existing, there is a long way to go before markets become open and competitive on high-speed lines in the EU Track access charges: overly complicated, and a potential hindrance to competition A strong and independent regulator: necessary, but not always a reality Conclusions and recommendations High-speed rail operations have many advantages but there is no realistic long term EU plan, and there is no truly EU high-speed network The principles of sound financial management have not consistently been applied for the audited high-speed rail infrastructure investments Assessing the situation for the EU citizens highlights the advantages of high-speed rail, while the sustainability of the EU co-funding to high-speed lines is at risk Seamless and competitive cross-border high-speed rail operations are still some way off 59 - 77 59 - 63 64 - 67 68 - 77 78 - 85 79 80 - 82 83 - 85 86 - 95 86 - 88 89 - 92 93 - 95 96 - 106 96 - 98 99 - 100 101 - 103 104 - 106 3 
INNEHLLSF RTECKNING Frkortningar och ordfrklaringar Sammanfattning Inledning Jrnvg fr hghastighetstrafik i Europa EU:s jrnvgsnt fr hghastighetstrafik vxer bde nr det gller storlek och utnyttjandegrad EU:s politik fr hghastighetsbanor Transportpolitik Sammanhllningspolitiken EU-std till anlggning av hghastighetsbanor: betydande, men en brkdel av de totala kostnaderna Revisionens inriktning och omfattning och samt revisionsmetod Iakttagelser EU-medfinansierade investeringar i hghastighetsbanor kan vara frdelaktiga, men det saknas en solid EU-omfattande strategi Hghastighetstrafik p jrnvg r ett frdelaktigt transportstt som bidrar till EU:s ml fr hllbar rrlighet Kommissionens makt r begrnsad och dess plan att tredubbla strckningen av jrnvgsntet fr hghastighetstrafik kommer troligen inte att genomfras Medlemsstaterna planerar och fattar beslut om sina nationella nt, vilket leder till ett lapptcke av bristflligt sammanlnkade nationella hghastighetsnt Beslutsfattandet saknar tillfrlitliga lnsamhetsanalyser ÓMycket hg hastighetÓ behvs inte verallt Kontroller av kostnadseffektivitet r sllsynta Punkt 1ĐXI 1Đ13 1Đ2 3Đ4 5Đ9 5Đ7 8Đ9 10Đ13 14Đ20 21Đ95 21Đ36 21Đ22 23Đ26 27Đ36 37Đ58 37Đ44 45Đ48 2