The Baltic–Adriatic Corridor or Baltic–Adriatic Axis (, ) is a European initiative to create a high capacity north–south railway and road corridor connecting

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

with

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. The line traverses

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, connecting heavily industrialized areas such as

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and the Upper Silesian Coal Basin,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and south-east Austria, and

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. It developed from the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) project No. 23 of a Gdańsk-Vienna railway axis set up in 2003. Carrying 24 million tons of freight per year, the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor is considered among the most important trans-Alpine lines in Europe.

Description

Railway lines

* Gdańsk Główny railway station –

Warszawa Wschodnia railway station Warszawa Wschodnia, in English Warsaw East, is one of the most important railway stations in Warsaw, Poland. Its more official name is ''Warszawa Wschodnia Osobowa'' (translated as ''Warsaw East Passenger''). It is located on the eastern side of t ...

(

Polish State Railways The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...

PKP rail line 9) * Warszawa Centralna –

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki () is a town in central Poland, the capital of Grodzisk Mazowiecki County in the Masovian Voivodeship, with 34,718 inhabitants (2024). Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town that developed from an Early Middle Ages, early medieval forti ...

( PKP rail line 1, former Warsaw–Vienna railway) *

–

Zawiercie Zawiercie () () is a town in southern Poland located in the Silesian Voivodeship with 49,334 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. The town lies near the historical region of Sil ...

( PKP rail line 4) *

–

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

(PKP rail line 1) *

–

Czechowice-Dziedzice Czechowice-Dziedzice (), known until 1958 as Czechowice, is a town in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. The town has 35,684 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It lies on the northeastern edge of the historical region of Cieszyn ...

(PKP rail line 139) *

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

( Southern Railway)

Areas served

Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland. Geography The western part of Gulf of Gdańsk is formed by the shallow waters of the Bay of Puck. The so ...

with the seaports of

and

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

Warsaw metropolitan area The Warsaw metropolitan area (known in Polish language, Polish as: or ) is the metropolitan area of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The metropolitan area covers ten List of counties in Poland, counties in the Masovian Voivodeship, with an area ...

, with connection to

Rail Baltica Rail Baltica is an under-construction rail infrastructure project that is intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve ra ...

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area The Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan areaBrookings Institutionbr>Redefining global cities: The seven types of global metro economies(2016), p. 16. European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON"''Metroborder: Cross-border Polycentric Metropol ...

(

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

) *

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

urban zone *

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

metropolitan area *

metropolitan area (the city and surrounding

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

), with connection to the Magistrale for Europe *

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, the city of

, and

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

in the

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

region *

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

with (

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

) *

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

with

and

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

(

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

)

History

Following an initiative by the Austrian transportation ministry in 2006, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Italy signed a Letter of Intent to expand the TEN-T railway project 23, in order to form the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor. The goals of the initiative were to eliminate bottlenecks, create intermodal linking of traffic flows and connect with other European main corridors, eliminate structural and geographical disadvantages for under-served areas (such as the southern Austrian states of

and

), increase the competitiveness of rail with roadway (truck) transport and to realize the market development potentials of passenger traffic along the corridor. 14 European countries signed a declaration calling for implementation of the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor between Gdańsk and Bologna in 2009. Work began in late 2008 on the first phase of the Austrian Koralm Railway between

and Klagenfurt, including the long

Koralm Tunnel The Koralm Tunnel is a railway tunnel that is under construction in Austria under the Koralpe mountain range. It forms one section of the -long Koralm Railway which will link Graz with Klagenfurt. Once complete, the Koralm Tunnel shall be Austri ...

, the largest infrastructure element of the line. It is expected to be operational by 2025. In 2012 construction of the Semmering Base Tunnel started, expected to open in 2030, bypassing the gradients of the

Semmering Pass Semmering () is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border. Location Semmering Pass is located west of Sonnwendstein and Hirschenkogel and east of the ...

. By resolution of 19 October 2011, the Baltic Adriatic Corridor was linked with the TEN-T

project from Warsaw via

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

(including the proposed

Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

). In a discussion with Member of the European Parliament Debora Serrachiani on 24 April 2012, the Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Corrado Passera reaffirmed the Italian government's commitment to extend the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor as far as

, south of Venice.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic-Adriatic Corridor European Union transport policy TEN-T Core Network Corridors Rail transport in Europe