Overview
The Atlantic Corridor stretches from the ports of the Atlantic flank of the Iberian Peninsula to the ports of Le Havre, Brest and Nantes in Northern France, and cities of Strasbourg and Mannheim on the French/German border. The corridor’s railway component will feature new high-speed rail links and parallel conventional lines, providing for cross-border continuity between Lisbon, Madrid, Porto, Vigo, Paris, Strasbourg, Mannheim and Le Havre. The corridor has strong multimodal dimensions, utilising rail, road, inland waterway and maritime routes. Key projects for the corridor include the Basque Y rail connection and a new high-speed rail connection between Madrid and Lisbon.
Main bottlenecks and missing links
Overall, the Corridor has been progressing well. However, some challenges remain, namely the following:
- The development of the Corridor’s main missing link: the cross-border high-speed rail connection between Lisbon and Madrid.
- The completion of the Y-Basque in Spain and of the second phase of the GPSO Project, connecting Bordeau-Dax in France, as well as the connection between Dax and the Spanish border.
- The electrification of the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line.
- The need to ensure interoperable standard track gauge across the Corridor, and how alternative solutions for simplified track gauge migration (e.g. polyvalent sleepers, gauge changers and third rail) can be considered.
- Ensuring and improving last-mile rail connectivity to ports and airports of the Corridor.
- The integration of urban nodes in line with the revised TEN-T Regulation.
Success stories
In July 2017, the €7.8-billion Tours-Bordeaux high-speed rail line, based on the first public private partnership agreement for a high-speed rail line in France, entered into operation, six years after the signature of the agreement. It had received significant backing from the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) and includes a 50-year concession contract that covers the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the high-speed line.
The Spanish high-speed network is one of the most developed and longest high-speed networks in the world and the longest in Europe. Its length spans over 3 400 kilometres and is interoperable with the 1 435 mm standard EU track gauge.
Spain has worked on expanding its high-speed rail network further. In particular, the Y Basque project is on track to be completed on time, ahead of 2030. Spain and Portugal are seeking to accelerate the works on the Madrid-Lisbon high-speed line.
It is also worth highlighting the recent decision of the Portuguese government on the location of the new Lisbon Airport and the third Tagus Bridge, which will be crucial for ensuring the completion of the high-speed rail connections in Portugal.
The Atlantic Corridor is a frontrunner for ITS and C-ITS deployment, and it is becoming fully compliant regarding the availability of clean fuels. The road sections of the Corridor are compliant with the TEN-T requirements for motorway/express roads.
The ports of the Atlantic are crucial gateways for liquified natural gas, positioning themselves as major energy hubs. The port of Huelva boosted its connectivity with the Canary Islands, ensuring important maritime links with one of the EU’s outermost regions. New transport connections between France and Ireland are offered, which are crucial to ensure maritime connectivity to Ireland, especially after Brexit. This highlights the strong maritime dimension of the Atlantic Corridor.
Ms Julie Buy, Adviser of the European Coordinator
Julie [dot] buyec [dot] europa [dot] eu (Julie[dot]buy[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
+ 32 (0) 2 295 63 36
Postal address:
Atlantic Core Network Corridor / TEN-T
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport
Rue de Mot 28
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Information Note
Information Note CEF Call 2014 Atlantic
Maps
Atlantic TEN-T Corridor Compliance Maps
Workplans
1st Atlantic TEN-T Corridor work plan
2nd Atlantic TEN-T Corridor work plan
3rd Atlantic TEN-T Corridor work plan
4th Atlantic TEN-T Corridor work plan
5th Atlantic TEN-T Corridor work plan