The Magistrale for Europe[1] [2] (German: Magistrale für Europa;[3] French: Magistrale européenne[4]) or Main Line for Europe[5] is a Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) project for the creation of a high-speed railway line between Paris and Bratislava, with a branch-off to Budapest.[1] It was listed as TEN project No. 17 (Paris—Bratislava) by the European Commission in 1995, and is already under way.[6]
The project was planned to be completed by 2020, however the entire project has not been delivered on time, with only some of the sections running. It will link 34 million people in five European countries. The overall length of the route from Paris to Budapest is 1592km (989miles).
Parts of the route were formerly served by Orient Express trains, which ceased operations in 2009. Today TGV rail connections exist from Paris to Stuttgart or at longest Munich. The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) currently provide direct Railjet and EuroNight connections between Munich and Budapest in addition to direct Nightjet connection between Vienna and Paris since December 2021.
The French part of the line is the LGV Est européenne high-speed railway. Its first section as far as Baudrecourt east of Metz has been in use since 2007 whilst the second section to Vendenheim near Strasbourg opened in July 2016.[7] The new railway line provides a maximum speed up to and reduced the travel time from Gare de Paris-Est to the largely refurbished Gare de Strasbourg to less than two hours.[4]
In Germany, the line follows the Appenweier–Strasbourg railway (Europabahn) from the Rhine Bridge to Appenweier and then the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rheintalbahn) down to Bruchsal. The Europabahn is built for a maximum speed of, while the Rheintalbahn to Rastatt Süd is for . The second part of the new Rheintalbahn (Rastatt Süd to Bruchsal) is to be completed by 2014. At the Bruchsal Rollenberg junction the MoE joins the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway which was built for . Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is currently being rebuilt (scheduled for completion in 2025) as a through station in the course of the controversial Stuttgart 21 project.[2] Despite some protests, a 2011 statewide referendum upheld the majority support and thus the political decision to rebuild the station and let the Magistrale for Europe project proceed.[2] In Stuttgart, the line joins the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway (including the Stuttgart–Wendlingen and Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway lines replacing the Fils Valley Railway), which Wendlingen- Ulm section is completed at the end of 2022 and provides a maximum speed of between Stuttgart and Ulm and on the Ulm–Augsburg railway line. The Munich–Augsburg railway is being upgraded to separate slower traffic (freight and short-distance trains) from high speed trains, which will be able to reach . From München-Pasing station trains may run directly to München Ost without passing München Hauptbahnhof. Plans for the reconstruction of the Munich main station similar to Stuttgart 21 have been abandoned.
Trains from München Ost shall reach Salzburg Hauptbahnhof via the upgraded Munich–Mühldorf railway, providing a maximum speed of, and the Mühldorf–Freilassing railway line. In Freilassing the MoE joins the Rosenheim–Salzburg railway leading across the Austrian border including a new third track serving the Salzburg S-Bahn commuter network.
In Austria, the Western Railway line is to be extended to reduce travel time between Munich, Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna to one hour each. The section between the Attnang-Puchheim rail hub and Wels Hauptbahnhof near Linz was already upgraded until October 2012 to provide a maximum speed of . Between Linz and Vienna a new parallel high-speed railway line (Neue Westbahn) for a maximum speed of is to be completed in 2015, including the Wienerwald Tunnel.
In Vienna, the former Südbahnhof terminal station was demolished and replaced by new Wien Hauptbahnhof. From here, trains run on the Eastern Railway line to Bratislava-Petržalka railway station, including a connection to Vienna International Airport. East of Vienna, a southeastern branch-off leads via Győr to Budapest.
| Section | Distance | Opening | Duration before1 | Recent duration1 | Planned duration1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris–Strasbourg | 476 km | Paris–Baudrecourt 2007 | 237 min (ø 121 km/h) | 110 min (ø 260 km/h) | - | ||
| Baudrecourt–Vendenheim 2016 | |||||||
| Strasbourg–Karlsruhe | 81 km | a portion (Appenweier-Karlsruhe) is in use now | 40 min (ø 122 km/h) | 25 min (ø 194 km/h) | |||
| Karlsruhe–Stuttgart | 90 km | in use | 61 min (ø 89 km/h) | 35 min (ø 154 km/h) | 35 min (ø 154 km/h) | ||
| Stuttgart–Ulm | 25.2 km | Stuttgart–Wendlingen high-speed railway 2025 | 54 min (ø 104 km/h) | 28 min (ø 174 km/h) | |||
| 60 km[8] | Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway 2022[9] | ||||||
| Ulm–Augsburg | 85 km | Ulm–Augsburg railway upgrade 2025 | 41 min (ø 126 km/h) | 26 min (ø 198 km/h) | |||
| Augsburg–Munich | 61 km | 2011 | 37 min (ø 99 km/h) | 18 min (ø 203 km/h) | |||
| Munich–Mühldorf–Salzburg (northern line, 155.3 km) | 85 km | Munich–Mühldorf upgrade | 87 min (ø 106 km/h) | 62 min (ø 148 km/h) | |||
| 65 km | Mühldorf–Freilassing upgrade | ||||||
| 5 km | Freilassing–Salzburg upgrade 2009 | ||||||
| Munich–Rosenheim–Salzburg (southern line, 153.5 km) | 65 km | Munich–Rosenheim upgrade | ? min (ø ? km/h) | ? min (ø ? km/h) | |||
| 82 km | Rosenheim–Freilassing upgrade | ||||||
| 5 km | Freilassing–Salzburg upgrade 2009 | ||||||
| Salzburg–Linz | 127 km | Salzburg–Attnang-Puchheim 2013 | 64 min (ø 119 km/h) | 60 min (ø 127 km/h) | |||
| Attnang-Puchheim–Wels 2011 | |||||||
| Wels–Linz (Linz–Marchtrenk)[10] 2028 | |||||||
| Linz–St. Pölten | 130 km | Doubling to 4 tracks 2024–2030[11] | 48 min (ø 163 km/h) | 44 min (ø 177 km/h) | |||
| St.Pölten-Vienna | 44 km | 2012 | 41 min (ø 64 km/h) | 25 min (ø 106 km/h) | |||
| Vienna–Budapest | 263 km | 181 min (ø 87 km/h) | |||||
| Vienna–Marchegg–Bratislava (northern line) | 65 km | Marchegger Ostbahn upgrade 2025[12] [13] upgrade[14] | 65 min[15] | 57 min (ø 68 km/h) | 40 min (ø 111 km/h) | ||
| Vienna–Parndorf–Bratislava (southern line) | 80 km | 2013 | 55 min (ø 87 km/h) | ||||
| total: | |||||||
| Paris–Budapest | 1592 km | 722 min (12:02)1 2 (ø 132 km/h) | 614 min (10:14)1 2 (ø 155 km/h) | ||||
| Paris–Bratislava (northern line) | 1394 km | 598 min (9:58)1 2 (ø 140 km/h) | 468 min (7:40)1 2 (ø 178 km/h) | ||||
| Paris–Bratislava (southern line) | 1409 km | 488 min (8:08)1 2 (ø 173 km/h) | |||||
| Paris–Munich | 875 km | 484 min (8:04)1 2 (ø 108 km/h) | 317 min (5:17) 1 (ø 166 km/h) | 242 min (4:02) 1 (ø 216 km/h) | |||