I'm sorry to say that your wishes for a brave Eutopian future for rail don't appear to be in step with the views of the supranational organisation itself.
While you may get your "single market", that doesn't appear to be for the passengers' benefit or convenience, but instead just big pan-EU business.
No through-ticketing, no single pan-EU network with one company running everything with efficiency, not even single networks inside member countries. Just company competing against company, just like we have here.
New EU regs compel EU countries to liberalise their previously successful nationalised railways along UK lines, on the basis of a) stopping state subsidy in order to create a level competition playing field (L0L), and b) meaning any country's companies can run any country's railway system (and indeed across countries) - quite why this should be considered an issue is beyond me given the ownership of the "UK's" railways. (Ludicrous) separation of track and train, "equal" competition above all else - this is creating a single market for the sake of it, or rather for the sake of the EU project, rather than any benefit you or I will get. Settling on the UK model as a way of doing things should give you enough inkling as to whether it's a good thing or not. Yes the HSR standards can facilitate through journeys, but even with this - as far as the UK is concerned at least - is this really what it's about, or is it more about making sure that companies across the EU can bid for the work and associated work, and so that in the future company AN Autre from country X can plonk its rolling stock in country Y instead of the home countries having any sort of advantage?
So,
one day in fifty years time you
may be able to get a train ticket from Leeds to Lannion with some pan-EU train company (after shopping around with several companies) - but at what cost? Both literally and consequentially.
And then there's this:
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2014/04/30/spain-high-speed-trains/ Note the para on competition ruling.
Sorry, but no - in this case it's very much a case of "the grass is always greener". The EU is
not the best thing to happen to our trains.
The best thing to happen for railways is for the EU to take its mitts off, and appreciate that member countries
need to intervene in what is essential infrastructure, to keep things going.
The best thing to happen for our railways is not to put control even further away, but for local devolution to become the norm (with total control), and for longer distance railways to be under sensible national (and nationalised) control. Should there be in the future any commercial desire to run services into other european countries, then by all means facilitate that, but that doesn't require ownership to be taken away. Talk about sledgehammer to crack a nut. The numbers of people going to and from european countries by rail will
always be far, far less than those travelling domestically.
If anyone is unhappy about not being able to get through ticketing on Eurostar (inc with deals), then I would say the more achievable goal there is simply to lobby the people who matter and ask them to get it sorted.