This ambitious proposal would radically reinvent Europe’s rail system

[ResidentialBusiness]

A bold blue train zooms by at more than 200 miles per hour. Passengers on board are typing away at their laptops or sitting down for a coffee in the cafe. The train is on its way from Paris to Madrid, or perhaps from Amsterdam to Warsaw, or maybe even on a long haul from Naples to Helsinki. As it zips through international borders and across cultures, the train doesn’t slow down, and the people aboard hardly notice.

This is the vision for Starline, a proposal to reinvent the European high-speed rail network into a single seamless system. The idea comes from 21st Europe, a new think tank focused on large-scale ideas for the future of Europe. Founded by Kaave Pour, who previously ran Ikea’s global innovation lab Space10, this new venture is using design as the lens to view the biggest challenges and opportunities for the European continent in the 21st century.

“If a continent like Europe should become stronger we need to be more connected,” says Pour.

[Image: 21st Europe]

“There’s a narrative to be changed with trains, that they are back and they are amazing and they can do quite remarkable things,” Pour adds. “But design has been missing from that equation.”

The Starline concept is a comprehensive reimagining of a rail system that has linked the continent for centuries, complete with train and station design concepts, unified ticketing systems, cross-border security protocols, and a framework for EU-wide governance. Starline proposes five main routes, with 39 stations and at least one in every European country, and connecting hubs in major cities like Paris, Berlin, and Milan.

[Image: 21st Europe]

It’s long been possible to make the kinds of end-to-end journeys Starline maps out in this new European high-speed rail network, but as of now travelers have to complete their journey on a mix of regional and high-speed trains. The journey is slower than what the proposed Starline would offer, and is often bogged down in cross-border complications, including misaligned schedules, differing levels of rail infrastructure, and varying labor laws determining how long train conductors can work a shift. “Networks are good within nations. France has a great transportation network, and we do in Denmark as well,” says Pour, who’s based in Copenhagen. “But as soon as trains cross borders things start to crack.”

“If we can’t travel freely from country to country, the whole idea of a single market and a more unified continent is impossible,” Pour says.

[Image: 21st Europe]

A unified Europe is suddenly a more pressing concern. Within the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, alliances between the U.S. and European countries have faltered to the point where many European leaders are looking inward for strength.

The Starline project was in development before this geopolitical turmoil, but Pour says the idea for better connections between European nations and cities has been bubbling up in policy circles for years. With the rise of low-cost airlines, train travel has fallen out of favor with many European travelers. But the environmental toll of air travel is high, especially for short-haul flights, which have a much higher carbon footprint than high-speed rail. Some countries have explored banning flights for routes that can be traveled by train within a few hours. Starline’s proposed connections and speed suggest a more proactive effort, focused on improving rail service to the point where it outcompetes those short-haul flights.

[Image: 21st Europe]

Developed in partnership with design and technology studio Bakken & Bæck, and in consultation with experts in mobility, infrastructure, and European policy, the concept uses current transportation policy and planning as a springboard. The European Commission has developed a framework called the Trans-European Transport Network, or TEN-T, which envisions a continent-wide approach to transportation planning, from roads to rails to waterways. For the rail portions, it’s a more modest plan than Starline’s European high-speed rail network, with a goal of having trains in its core network traveling at 100 miles per hour or faster by 2040.

[Image: 21st Europe]

“The TEN-T network is already laying a foundation for policy and for which routes are essential for Europe’s connectivity. 21st Europe’s approach is that we build on existing studies and existing policy frameworks,” Pour says. “We have then expanded the ambition of that network.”

[Image: 21st Europe]

Starline’s approach combines Europe’s high-speed rail with an emphasis on logistics. It proposes building new transportation hubs just outside of crowded or historic city centers that can accommodate airport-scale passenger loads while also serving as processing points for freight.

“I think it’s quite simple that if we’re able to move better we’re also able to trade better, and for Europe to have that ability is quite essential to our economies,” Pour says. These hubs also create the potential for ambitious design, which Pour says would be critical for ensuring the system becomes a new kind of essential infrastructure. “We do hope that these stations, when designed, are seen as an attempt for Europe to build new landmarks for the next century rather than always being teased as being the museum of the past,” Pour says.

Part of that design-centric approach is the train itself. Pour says 21st Europe chose a bold blue for the train as a way of making it an iconic object, like New York’s yellow cabs or London’s red buses.

“Europe has been bad at building the brand around transportation as much as the infrastructure itself,” Pour says. “This train needs to be a landmark for Europe’s next chapter.”

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