In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, some dream of a renewed direct train connection to Switzerland. Basel SBB Railway Station isn’t that far away from Luxembourg. It could be a night train or a day train, both originating in Brussels.

In France, Minister for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (LREM) recently announced interest in night trains linking European capitals to France. One of those night trains could be Luxembourg – Metz – Nancy – Strasbourg – Montpellier – Perpignan – Barcelona. 

Following some parliamentary questions, Luxembourgish Minister for Defense, Mobility and Public Works François Bausch (Déi Gréng) tempered enthusiasm: there are no firm plans. 

Brussels – Luxembourg – Switzerland – Italy

Another connection mooted is a night train from Brussels to Luxembourg, Basel in Switzerland and then somewhere in Italy. Turin or Milan perhaps. There again, Bausch tempers enthusiasm.

That night train could be a day train. “A quick daytime connection to Switzerland would be interesting. However, there are currently no concrete projects at the level of European railway undertakings”, Bausch is quoted by Luxembourgish newspaper Wort.  

Vauban and Iris

Now, this takes us back to 2016 and earlier. In December 2016 a TGV connection between Brussels- South (Midi) and Strasbourg was launched, ending the long careers of EC Vauban and EC Iris. Those were classic ‘low speed’ intercity trains connecting Belgium to the Helvetic Confederation. 

Danny travelled on the Vauban in 2013 and documented the journey. I also travelled on the Vauban that year. It was fun and romantic, but also long, slow and without catering. It used, then not renovated NMBS / SNCB I6 and I10 coaches. 

Brussels to Luxembourg

Currently, the trip from Brussels to Luxembourg takes 3 hours and 17 minutes. There are many stops and the maximum speed on lines 161 and 161 are not so high. Geography stands in the way. 

So if one wants a quicker service to or from Luxembourg, a train with less stops would be interesting. And an investment in rolling stock capable of higher speeds, such as Pendolino EMU’s. 

So for now a renewed Belgium to Switzerland connection is far off. 

Luxembourg

• My first Swiss rail trip part 1: the classic route via Luxembourg to Basel.
• VIDEO | Train trip Antwerp – Arlon – Luxembourg – Liège – Antwerp.
• Special Royal Train for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium going to Luxembourg.
• REVIEW | LUXury in Luxembourg, a stay at the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal.
• PHOTOS & VIDEOS | A Christmas walk in the city of Luxembourg.

Pendolino

• PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
• Scotland, our first trip together part 7: from Glasgow back to Belgium.
• POLAND | 3 hotspots of gastronomy in Kraków.

More on trains

• Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
• 33 European railway companies call for massive investment in rail travel.
• Trans Europ Express 2.0 advocates a renewed extensive European train network.
• SWITZERLAND | GoldenPass Montreux – Gstaad – Interlaken without changing at Zweisimmen thanks to dual-gauge trains.
• International Railway Union working on facilitating night trains, but very aware of the many challenges.
• European Sleeper RailJet night train to start Brussels – Berlin – Prague services in summer 2022.
• EUROPEAN UNION | The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the European Transport Corridors.
• European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
• Trenitalia Frecciarossa high speed train between Florence and Venice in Business Executive class.
• Orient Express La Dolce Vita: luxury train travel in Italy from 2023.
• ITALY | Turin hosts 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
• By Red Arrow to Milan.
• PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
• Trenitalia aspires to run trains from Milan to Brussels and Amsterdam.
• ‘Green Speed’: Train operators Thalys and Eurostar to become one.
• GREEN SPEED | 2024 Eurostar – Thalys merger marks the end of Thalys brand.
• ‘Disney Express’ by Thalys to Disneyland Paris / Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy.
• REVIEW | Thalys Lounge at Brussels South/Midi station.
• Antwerp – Brussels – Paris in Thalys Comfort 1.
• Travelling in Thalys Premium.
• TGV Inoui Brussels to Lyon in Corona times.
• SNCF inOui (ex-TGV) Marseille to Lille.
• Eurostar ex-Thalys trains will keep ‘ruby’ red livery after 2024 merger.
• On board a TGV Atlantique from Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean.
• Travelling on TGV to Avignon.
• Paris – Geneva – Lausanne with TGV Lyria first class on an Alstom TGV Duplex.
• London – Lille – Brussels in Eurostar’s refurbished e300 / Class 373 / TMST.
• EUROCITY EC-8 | Zürich to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
• Brussels – London with Eurostar in Standard Premier.
• CONFIRMED | 2022 RegioJet night train from Ostend to Berlin, Warsaw and Prague.
• SJ EuroNight announces 2022 night train service from Stockholm to Hamburg, no Malmö – Brussels for now.
• NIGHT TRAINS TO BERLIN | Stronger European Sleeper effectively takes over Moonlight Express.
• Moonlight Express and European Sleeper join forces under the brand European Sleeper.
• Malmö – Brussels night train to become Malmö – Brussels – Paris?.
• Moonlight Express wants a Barcelona – Perpignan – Brussels – Berlin night train.
• Ostende-Vienne Orient Experience plans tourist season night trains from Brussels and Antwerp to Salzburg, Innsbruck and Milan.
• GreenCityTrip: chartered night trains from Breda in the Netherlands to Venice, Prague, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Verona and Innsbruck.
• Not only Prague: RegioJet European Sleeper preparing Ostend – Warsaw night train.
• European Sleeper announces Berlin and Prague as destinations.
• Moonlight Express to offer night train services between Brussels, Liège and Berlin from April 2022.
• The couchette and sleeping cars for the Ostend – Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Prague European Sleeper by RegioJet.
• ‘Hotel on rails’ Midnight Trains to link Paris to Edinburgh, Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Porto.
• The couchette and sleeping cars for the Brussels – Liège – Berlin Moonlight Express.
• Moonlight Express to include bar / restaurant coaches and sustainable quality food on Brussels – Liège – Berlin night train.
• 2021, European Year of Rail.
• ‘Green Speed’: Train operators Thalys and Eurostar to become one.
• European Sleeper to launch night train services from the Netherlands and Belgium in April 2022.
• Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
• NIGHTJET | Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB and Swiss Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS present 2024 Austro-Swiss night train plans for Europe.
• Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
• Reliving the era of the great railway journeys, travelling overnight on Nightjet.
• How we plan a big rail trip.
• Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
• Malmö – Cologne – Brussels Night train.
• BOOK REVIEW | ‘Night Trains, The Rise and Fall of the Sleeper’ by Andrew Martin.
• To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
• Night trains in Europe.
• Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
• Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.
• A passengers train from Antwerp in Belgium to Shanghai in China?.
• Venice Simplon-Orient-Express comes to Brussels in June 2021 and April 2022.
• 2013 Scotland Rail Trip.
• 2016 America Rail Adventure.
• 2017 Eastern Europe, Balkan and Greece Rail Trip.
• 2018 Poland Trip.
• 2018 Rail Tour of France, Italy and Switzerland.
• 2020 Saxony, Bavaria and Tyrol Getaway.