The Trans-European high-speed rail network (TEN-R), together with the Trans-European conventional rail network, make up the Trans-European Rail network, which in turn is one of a number of the European Union's Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T). It was defined by the Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996.
The European Union council decision 2002/735/EC defines technical standards for interoperability of the system.
The ten Pan-European transport corridors were defined at the second Pan-European transport Conference in Crete, March 1994, as routes in Central and Eastern Europe that required major investment over the next ten to fifteen years. Additions were made at the third conference in Helsinki in 1997. Therefore, these corridors are sometimes referred to as the "Crete corridors" or "Helsinki corridors", regardless of their geographical locations.
These development corridors are distinct from the Trans-European transport networks, which is a European Union project and include all major established routes in the European Union, although there are proposals to combine the two systems, since most of the involved countries now are members of the EU.
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