Motorways and railways: EU’s most connected regions

Motorway networks tend to be most concentrated in urban areas, industrial zones and major seaports, where population density and transport demand are typically highest.

In 2024, the densest motorway networks in the EU were in Bremen, Germany (169 km of motorways per 1 000 km² land area), and Zuid-Holland (134 km/1 000 km²) and Utrecht (124 km/1 000 km²) in the Netherlands. These were followed by the capital regions of Budapest (120 km/1 000 km²), Wien (109 km/1 000 km²) and Noord-Holland (108 km/1 000 km²).

In contrast, there were 20 regions with no motorways. Most of these were island regions: 6 regions in France (5 outermost regions and 1 island region), 3 island regions in Greece, 2 in Portugal and 1 in Finland. In addition, there were 4 regions with no motorways in Poland, 2 Spanish autonomous cities in the North African coast, as well as a single region in Bulgaria and one in Romania.

Source dataset: tran_r_net

Compared with 2014, the most significant expansion of the motorway network took place in Andalucía, Spain, where 242 km of new motorways were built in the 10-year period. The second largest expansion was recorded in Stredné Slovensko, Slovakia, with 214 km, and the third largest in Spanish Castilla y León, with 191 km of new motorways.

Railway density highest in Berlin and Hamburg

In 2024, the most extensive railway networks were in German regions Berlin (764 km/1 000 km²) and Hamburg (639 km/1 000 km²). These were followed by Budapest, Hungary (484 km/1 000 km²), Praha, Czechia (433 km/1 000 km²) and Bremen, Germany (389 km/1 000 km²). Hamburg and Bremen are two regions where extensive freight lines to and from seaports contribute to a high railway line density.

In contrast, 3 Greek regions had the lowest density with less than 10 km/1 000 km² (Peloponnisos, Dytiki Makedonia and Thessalia). Among European regions, 13 had no railway network: 5 in France (outermost regions), 5 in Greece (mostly island regions) and 3 in Spain (2 autonomous cities in North African coast and an outermost region).

Source dataset: tran_r_net