Le tre "capitali" dell'Unione Europea ed il trasporto ferroviario negli anni della transizione post-industriale.

A system draws its strenght from the elements that compose it. The european transport system draws its strenght and increases its potential in relation to the proper functioning of every part that makes it up :means of transport and efficiency of national transport lines. The modifications of the concept of accessibility and mobility , due to the establishment of the European Economic Community first and of the European Union afterwards, had imposed the need to launch a common transport policy in order to integrate and harmonize the national networks between them. With the post-industrial transition of the eighties and nineties and the creation of the european financial and technological market , the integration of natonal transport networks was seen as necessary for the strenghthening of the global network : the borders were outdated. The high-speed train, for example, could however accentuate the center-periphery dichotomy, favoring connections between the main cities, but also generating a " tunnel effect " : the space is crossed but not served. Even the process of technological standardization should not be left to market economic agents to avoid differences and imbalances in the network.