Ten new cross-border rail projects that the EU is getting behind are set to make travelling across Europe by train even smoother and easier.
The pilot routes announced by EU Transport comprise day trains, night trains and potential future services.
Aimed at “improving cross-border rail across the EU” and offering “new and better connections”, some of the trains supported by the European Commission will be of particular interest to British travellers keen to explore without flying.
According to rail guru Mark Smith, AKA the Man in Seat 61, the Paris-Milan-Venice and Amsterdam-Brussels-Barcelona night trains are the ones to watch for UK travellers.
The Paris sleeper service means an easy afternoon connection from London to the French capital via Eurostar, enabling Brits to then whizz across Europe overnight and wake up in Italy the next morning.
The Amsterdam train, meanwhile, facilitates a change at Brussels following the Eurostar from London, before an overnight stint to reach the Catalan capital.
European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “While demand for green mobility is growing, we need the rail market to respond much better and much faster, especially for long and cross-border journeys.
“This is why the European Commission now wants to help rail companies create new international train connections – by day and by night – by breaking down the many barriers to cross-border rail.
“I’m looking forward to working with the rail sector to make these 10 pilots a success and to inspire many more to join!”
Other improved connections include Germany-Denmark-Sweden via various new projects.
One of these will be a new Flixtrain service stopping in Leipzig, Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
There is also a new Madrid-Lisbon train planned, courtesy of ILSA; new services connecting Catalonia and the South of France; and new trains between Munich and Rome and Munich and Milan from Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Deutsche Bahn.
Here’s the full list of EU-backed train projects:
10 cross-border trains supported by the EU
- Hungarian Ministry of Transport: New services connecting Hungary, Austria and western Romania
- Connection Germany: Denmark-Sweden, with participation of SJ (new night train service Stockholm-Copenhagen-Berlin and day train Hamburg-Gothenburg and potentially Oslo, in co-operation with DSB and DB); Snälltaget: Enhanced night train service Stockholm-Copenhagen- Berlin; České dráhy: New service Prague-Berlin-Copenhagen, in co-operation with DB and DSB; and Flixtrain: New service Leipzig-Berlin-Copenhagen-Stockholm
- Midnight Trains: New night train service Paris-Milan-Venice
- Flixtrain: New service Munich-Zurich
- WESTbahn: New service Munich-Vienna-Budapest, extension of existing service
- Nederlandse Spoorwegen: Enhancement of the existing Amsterdam-London service, in cooperation with Eurostar
- European Sleeper: New night train service Amsterdam-Barcelona
- Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane /Deutsche Bahn: New services Rome-Munich and Milan-Munich, with a possible extension to Berlin
- ILSA: New services Lisbon-A Coruña and Lisbon-Madrid
- Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya: New services connecting Catalonia and the South of France.
