Europe's Plan to Unify its Economy

[Your Old Comrade]

You really are delusional and living in a fantasy world.

No, Lily. You are. That's why you support tyrants that invade their neighbours while speaking ill of your own country. Some patriot you are.

[Sebastianus Rex]

What's the point if all of this is to feed tens of millions of parasitical third worlders that will attack us freely on the streets ?

[Your Old Comrade]

What's the point of all if this is to feed tens of millions of parasitical third worlders that will attack us freely on the streets ?

It will also feed us and drive down prices. Lower prices mean more money in our pocket, money that can be saved up to start a family.

[Zohor]

Yeah, why to unify economies, let's split it as much as we can so elites could rule thanks to divine, this is genius



Seriously though, unification of economy if at all will take decades and for sure it's time for EU to expand further economically, because Russia and China do huge deals in Africa already

[SilverKnight]

No, Lily. You are. That's why you support tyrants that invade their neighbours while speaking ill of your own country. Some patriot you are.

Tyrants? .. Tyrants support corrupt regimes such as the ones in Kiev.. Real tyrants blow up pipelines in the Baltic sea.. Real Tyrants invade countries in the middle east and Africa without those country's permissions.. REAL tyrants arrest those whom disagree with their government and support the arrest of people such as Gonzalo Lira for freely speaking about wars, and the realities of those wars.

Tyrants are found in Western Europe, the same place that claims to embrace "freedom" and "democracy".

[Your Old Comrade]

Yeah, why to unify economies, let's split it as much as we can so elites could rule thanks to divine, this is genius



Seriously though, unification of economy if at all will take decades and for sure it's time for EU to expand further economically, because Russia and China do huge deals in Africa already

China, yes. Russia can claim all it wants, as it doesn't have the ships. And the Chinese only buy on the dirt cheap, with little money going to the Africans.

[Your Old Comrade]

Tyrants? .. Tyrants support corrupt regimes such as the ones in Kiev.. Real tyrants blow up pipelines in the Baltic sea.. Real Tyrants invade countries in the middle east and Africa without those country's permissions.. REAL tyrants arrest those whom disagree with their government and support the arrest of people such as Gonzalo Lira for freely speaking about wars, and the realities of those wars.

Tyrants are found in Western Europe, the same place that claims to embrace "freedom" and "democracy".

Cool story. Do journalists get polonium tea here ? Have you been arrested yet for writing what you write from the safety of the US? Has Lily been arrested in the UK yet for her views ? Had you criticised the government in Russia, North Korea, China, Cuba or Nicaragua. You would already been in prison..or dead. You are not.

In the US and in Western Europe, you can say whatever the hell you want, protected by a constitution and the rule of law.

[Your Old Comrade]

The keywords of this video are Megaproject, Poland, and Intermodal transport.

As you could see in many videos on Railways Explained, there’s a surprisingly significant number of interesting and complex railways projects, especially in Europe. However, this project is slightly different. Namely, it includes the construction of a transportation hub, which is in fact a combination of an aviation hub and a high-speed railway station.

This innovative transport hub, or as it is called today Solidarity Transport Hub (STH Project), is planned as one of the world's top airports and, at the same time, it will be integrated into a high-speed rail network, which will enable, first, connectivity within Poland, and then, connectivity of Poland with its neighboring countries.

After completion, it will ensure efficient travel times (of two and two and a half hours) within the largest cities in Poland, and it will provide connections to the largest economic centers in the Central Eastern Europe, including Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest. Also, via Rail Baltica, it will connect to Baltic cities including Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn.

Besides all relevant aspects of the projects, such as background, scope, transport effects, and financing, we also discussed the railway system of Poland as a whole.

Big thanks to the guys from Solidarity Transport Hub Poland for helping us in making this video!

This video was sponsored by Brilliant.

Throughout the centuries, numerous transportation routes have been developed to connect the eternal city of Rome to the rest of Europe. Initially, roads traversed the Alpine valleys, but as technology advanced, tunnels through the mighty Alps emerged. Nowadays, we witness the marvel of base tunnels that span the foothills of the Alps, facilitating efficient railway connections.

In our previous videos, we explored remarkable tunnels like the Brenner Base Tunnel linking Austria and Italy, as well as the Lötschberg, Ceneri, and Gotthard Tunnels connecting Switzerland and Italy. Today, our focus shifts to the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel, forging a vital link between France and Italy.

This tunnel's construction is an integral part of the ambitious high-speed rail project connecting Lyon and Turin. However, the project hasn't been without its fair share of controversies. From protests and skyrocketing costs to questionable justifications, political manipulation, and a multitude of stakeholders with competing interests, the journey to realize this ambitious railway project has been anything but smooth.

Join us as we uncover the complexities surrounding the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel and delve into the fascinating world of railway politics, engineering marvels, and the challenges faced in bringing nations closer together through efficient rail connectivity.

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section!

[Your Old Comrade]

- Our today’s topic is another European mega railway project - the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel, the future longest railway tunnel in the world, that will connect the Austrian and Italian railway networks.

The Brenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It lies 1370 m above sea level and it is the lowest Alpine pass and can be crossed all year round. For thousands of years, the Brenner Pass has been the most important trade and traffic route connecting Northern and Southern Europe and its importance has grown as trade has grown.

The present-day Brenner railway line was built between 1860 and 1867 and the line crosses the Alpine pass with a slope of up to 26 ‰. A hundred years later, in 1974, the highway was built and, since then, ten million tons of goods were freighted over the Brenner every year.

In 2019, 223,5 million tons of goods were transported across the Alps, and the number of trucks reached a record-high level of 11.5 million. Approximately 22% of all trucks, i.e. 2.5 million vehicles, crossed over the Brenner Pass with over 30% of all transalpine freight traffic.

This led swiftly to capacity bottlenecks and the decision to improve the Brenner railway connection. As most of you know, the EU policy is environmentally driven and thereby promotes ecological rail infrastructure and sustainable development.

In that sense, the construction of a railway line between Austria and Italy with a tunnel through the Brenner Pass has become the number one project on the priority list.

Today on Railways Explained we are discussing another European mega project called the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA) - taking place in Switzerland.

Its name might be too general to arouse your interest, but if we tell you that it includes the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, currently the world’s longest railway tunnel, but also two other tunnels dug through the Alps, Lötschberg and Ceneri, we think there’s an excellent chance to get your attention.

The construction of these tunnels was a huge game changer for the European continent, as they significantly facilitated transport over the Alps and enabled the railways to provide attractive services at the heart of the European international transport system.

The story of the launch of this project and its background is quite fascinating that we decided to start this video with those, and then, we in detail discussed the construction of the three tunnels located on 2 axes: the Gotthard axis with the Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Ceneri Base Tunnel, and the Lötschberg axis with the tunnel of the same name.

We covered scope, timelines, some engineering, funding schemes, and of course, the effects of the NRLA on Europe’s traffic flow and performance.

Today, Railways Explained brings you the story of a future fixed link between Denmark and Germany in the form of an underwater tunnel whose construction began this year.

It is known as Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, it will be the future longest immersed tunnel in the world (18 km!), and it aims to connect the cities of Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Berlin. Also, it will fill the gap in the Central European Corridor.

It will be fully financed by the Kingdom of Denmark and the financing model is based on state-guaranteed loans, which will be repaid using revenue from users of the tunnel i.e. toll collection from the road and track access charges from the railways.

German participation is limited to the development of land-based facilities on the German side.

The current investment value of the project is about 7.1 billion euros and the estimated payback period is 36 years.

Enjoy!