Recently, we read quite a few big announcements regarding trans-continental train travel in Europe. We love those, but we’re also apprehensive. Let’s take a look.
In the Netherlands, a new train operator, Heuro, has lodged a request for train paths (‘slots’) for the Consumer and Market Authority (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, ACM) to operate trains Amsterdam, Paris and London from 2028. These high speed trains would run through Belgium, stopping in Antwerp and Brussels.
“We just want lower prices and more people off planes and on trains”, founder Roemer van den Biggelaar tells RailTech.com.
Heuro is at the moment predominantly Roemer van den Biggelaar and his father Maarten van den Biggelaar, an established entrepreneur in the Netherlands.
The idea is not new. Ten years ago, Maarten van den Biggelaar talked to SNCF in France to set up a new international operator. But SNCF was already in a partnership with the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and didn’t want to get in their way.
Italy
Roemer van den Biggelaar is inspired by the example of Italy. “Trenitalia has now managed to run trains in France between Milan and Paris, whereas for a long time infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau seemed to be a big bottleneck, having to allocate capacity. You can also see that the newly formed Le Train says they have the permission in to be allowed to run on the French railway.”
Heuro also looks at privateer Italo, which is successfully competing with Trenitalia.
Getting people of planes
“There are still 55 flights from Amsterdam to London and back, which I think is a lot. And that while there is a very nice tunnel with a high-speed line. Personally, I also find travelling by train 10 times nicer than by plane. And towards London, there are still capacity problems in terms of passport control, but something like that can be solved”, van den Biggelaar says to RailTech.
Perhaps ironically, the Dutch Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid (KiM) or Mobility Knowledge Institute published a report stating trains can only replace a very small amount of flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Competition with Eurostar
The inspiration for the name ‘Heuro’ comes from high-speed and Europe. Besides London, Heuro wants trains to Paris. So basically it’s copying Eurostar (and its former brand Thalys).
“The Eurostar is often quite full. If we start running trains there too, we hope the prices will drop.”
16 rides per day
Heuro aims at 16 rides per day between Amsterdam and Paris. Two of which will come from Groningen. Arriva has a similar ambition.
Expertise
Maarten and Roemer van den Biggelaar see themselves as project developers. So they’re bringing in all kinds of people for the necessary expertise from the rail sector. “For buying trains, we are advised by former board members of the NS, and several industry experts from the relevant countries are involved in the project. This is how we are building a team and network that will take the project forward.”
“We ourselves are better at building a brand and selling tickets,” says van den Biggelaar. So they’ll hire people with railway expertise.
Trains
Where to get trains? Heuro takes the Hitachi Rail‘s famous Frecciarossa 1000 as reference. To illustrate: Trenitalia received a 550 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) two years ago. That would be enough to pay for half the purchase cost of 34 of these Frecciarossa trains.
Competition
Heuro is not the only one to want a piece of the pie. Richard Branson‘s Virgin Group company is also planning to run high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel, which links the Pas-de-Calais to Kent.
Both Arriva and Qbuzz previously applied to the ACM for a connection to Paris. Arriva from Groningen from June 2026, and Qbuzz from Amsterdam from January 2027.
New player Evolyn has reportedly reached with French train manufacturer Alstom to buy 12 high-speed trains for a connection between the UK and continental Europe. Alstom responded by toning down that only a “short-term agreement has been reached for initial engineering activities for train systems, should the parties eventually conclude a contract for the purchase and delivery of a certain number of trains”. Evolyn has to find money first.
Reality check
We are sceptical, to be honest. Firstly, Antwerp-Central Railway Station can’t accommodate a terminal for travelling to the United Kingdom.
The UK left the European Union and was never in the Schengen Area anyway. And you need a customs area. In 2016, Eurostar looked into adding an Antwerp stop but saw it was no space for it and it wasn’t worth the investment.
According to Gazet van Antwerpen, NMBS / SNCB hasn’t heard from Heuro and isn’t motivated to adapt Antwerp-Central.
Also, lines 25 and 27, connecting Antwerp to Brussels and LGV Nord, the high speed line in the North of France, is mega congested. So how accommodate 16 train paths, when NMBS / SNCB wants to up the amount of trains between Antwerp and Brussels anyway?
In Dutch we say “eerst zien, dan geloven“. Let’s see first, before we believe it.
More on night trains and transcontinental train travel
- Eurostar and five more train operators joined the European Agreement on Journey Continuation.
- ÖBB’s new Nightjet sleeper cars accommodate solo travellers with Mini Cabins.
- Trenitalia orders new Hitachi Frecciarossa trains suited for France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
- European Sleeper serving Dresden and Prague from 2024, targets Barcelona from 2025.
- Tri-Country Train between Maastricht, Liège and Aachen delayed until spring 2024.
- ÖBB’s Nightjet to connect Berlin to Brussels from December 2023.
- EUROCITY EC-8 | Basel to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
- Trenitalia / FS confirms interest in connecting Spain to Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin.
- Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia want piece of Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris HST service via subsidiaries Arriva an Qbuzz.
- SNCF and NMBS / SNCB to link Paris to Brussels with ‘slow’ classic train in about 3 hours from December 2024.
- Sampling NS’ new train and future Benelux rolling stock ICNG.
- REVIEW | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 Paris – Milan in Business Executive.
- RAIL TOUR OF EUROPE | How easy is touring Europe by train?.
- Midnight Trains secures new night train rolling stock, aims for December 2024 start.
- Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
- REVIEW | ÖBB Nightjet Amsterdam – Zurich night train.
- European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
- GreenCityTrip launches new destinations for its chartered night trains: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Bologna, Firenze, Bolzano, Como, Salzburg, Linz.
- Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
- 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.
- 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.
- MIDNIGHT TRAINS | Unified Rail Europe? Coping with rail network challenges.
- MIDNIGHT TRAINS | Choosing rolling stock is more than following national technical rules.
- Midnight Trains abandon United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Portugal to aim at Nice, Milan, Rome, Venice, Barcelona and Madrid.
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