This includes €10 billion ring fenced in the Cohesion Fund for transport projects in the cohesion countries, with the remaining 21.7 billion available for all Member States for investing in transport infrastructure. The idea is to improve links between different parts of the EU, to make it easier for different countries to exchange goods and people with each other.

The new core network will remove bottlenecks, upgrade infrastructure and streamline cross border transport operations for passengers and businesses throughout the EU. It will improve connections between different modes of transport and contribute to the EU's climate change objectives.

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: "Transport is fundamental to an efficient EU economy, but vital connections are currently missing. Europe's railways have to use 7 different gauge sizes and only 20 of our major airports and 35 of our major ports are directly connected to the rail network. Without good connections Europe will not grow or prosper."

The new policy follows a two-year consultation process and establishes a core transport network to be established by 2030 to act as the backbone for transportation within the Single Market.

The new core TEN-T network will be supported by a comprehensive network of routes, feeding into the core network at regional and national level.

This will largely be financed by Member States, with some EU transport and regional funding possibilities, including with new innovative financing instruments. The aim is to ensure that progressively, and by 2050, the great majority of Europe's citizens and businesses will be no more than 30 minutes' travel time from this comprehensive network.

The 31.7 billion Euros allocated to transport under the Connecting Europe Facility of the MFF (Multi-Annual Financial Framework) will effectively act as "seed capital" to stimulate further investment by Member States to complete difficult cross-border connections and links which might not otherwise get built. Every 1 million Euros spent at European level will generate 5 million from Member State governments and 20 million from the private sector.
The TEN-T network consists of two layers: a core network to be completed by 2030 and a comprehensive network feeding into this, to be completed by 2050. Both layers include all transport modes: road, rail, air, inland waterways and maritime transport, as well as intermodal platforms.

The implementation of the core network will be facilitated using a corridor approach. Ten corridors will provide the basis for the co-ordinated development of infrastructure within the core network. Covering at least 3 modes, 3 Member States and 2 cross-border sections, these corridors will bring together the Member States concerned, as well as the relevant stakeholders, for example infrastructure managers and users.

The core network will connect:

• 83 main European ports with rail and road links;
• 37 key airports with rail connections into major cities;
• 15,000 km of railway line upgraded to high speed;
• 35 cross border projects to reduce bottlenecks.

The new core network – the funding

It is estimated that the cost of implementing the first financing phase for the core network for 2014–2020 will cost 250 billion. The core network is to be completed by 2030.

The pre-identified airport rail interconnection projects include:

• RailBaltica, connecting Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas and Warsaw;
• Barcelona;
• Ljubljana rail node;
• Prague;
• Helsinki;
• Klaipeda-Kaunas-Vilnius-BY Border.

Rail to airports connections maps:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/infrastructure/connecting/doc/revision/annexe-i-vol03.pdf

Detailed maps and other documents:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/infrastructure/connecting/revision-t_en.htm

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