Is Deutsche Bahn planning a direct ICE high-speed train link from Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia to Ostend in West Flanders? VagonWeb, the leading website from Czechia that collects train compositions throughout Europe, thinks so. 

“There are plans for a ninth ICE service between Cologne and Brussels during the summer months. It was originally intended to extend this service to Ostend, but the ideas are now leaning more towards Ghent and Bruges“, Het Groot Belgisch Treinen Forum (The Big Belgian Train Forum) user FLV-FGSP says. 

Summer trains

The service would start on 1 June 2026 and would be seasonal, running to 31 August 2026. 

VagonWeb gives a tentative timetables. A departure from Köln Hauptbahnhof at 10:43, call at Aachen Hauptbahnhof, Liège-Guillemins, and Brussels-Midi/Zuid and terminate at Oostende at 13:44. A 3-hour trip.

The return journey would start in Ostend at 14:15 and arrive at Cologne Main Station at 17:15. 

As mentioned, Oostend might not be the terminus. Bruges or Ghent St. Peter’s, both situated before Ostend from German perspective, are also considered. 

Germans and the Belgian coast

Tourism figures for the Belgian coast are usually abundant, but one statistic remains surprisingly hard to pin down: how many Germans actually holiday at the coast?  The North Sea at West Flanders is closer to many Germans living in the west of the country than the North Sea near Frisia Baltic Sea.

A closer look at the available data shows that, despite the importance of German visitors to Belgian tourism as a whole, no public source breaks their numbers out specifically for the coastal region. Still, using official statistics, it is possible to sketch a well-founded estimate – and to show clearly where the uncertainties lie.

The starting point is solid. In 2024, the Belgian coast recorded 7.9 million overnight stays, according to regional tourism data. Statbel, Belgium’s national statistics office, also provides a detailed breakdown of overnight stays in Flanders by nationality. Here, German travellers accounted for 2.26 million overnight stays, or just over eight per cent of all stays in the Flemish Region.

Because no coastal authority publishes a nationality breakdown, the only way to estimate the German contribution to the coast is to apply proportional reasoning. One method assumes that Germans are present at the coast in the same share as they are across Flanders — roughly eight per cent. Applied to the coast’s 7.9 million nights, this produces a figure of around 630,000 German overnight stays.

A second method uses the share of foreign visitors at the coast. In recent years, Westtoer has indicated that foreign guests represent a relatively modest proportion of coastal tourism, often around 12 to 13% of all nights. 

Using 13% as a working figure gives a pool of just over one million foreign overnight stays. If Germans make up the same share of foreign visitors at the coast as they do of foreign visitors to Flanders overall – about 19% – the estimate comes out much lower, at roughly 190,000 German overnight stays.

Both methods rely on assumptions, because the real distribution of nationalities at the coast is not publicly reported. The truth therefore lies somewhere between these two calculated extremes. 

What the data does show clearly is that Germans remain an important segment of Belgium’s inbound tourism, and that they almost certainly form one of the larger foreign groups at the coast — but no official source currently tells us exactly how large that group is.

Until Westtoer or Statbel begin releasing coast-specific nationality data, any attempt to measure German tourism at the Belgian seaside will remain an educated estimate rather than a confirmed statistic.

So?

Technically, it’s perfectly possible. Deutsche Bahn already runs trains from Germany to Belgium. Will it happen? Maybe. Expect an official announcement in the spring of 2026.

More on night trains and transcontinental train travel

• Berlin-Hamburg-Stockholm night train saved by RDC Deutschland after Sweden stops subsidies.
• Rail should be functional, not fine art: EU leaders call for standardisation and lower costs.
• Subsidies for night trains? “You cannot fix this until someone builds more sleeper and couchette carriages”.
• European Sleeper to operate Paris – Brussels – Berlin night train route from March 2026.
• Leo Express and Arenaways plan direct train between Prague and Venice.
• Italo targets the German high-speed rail market.
• Trenitalia eyes expansion into Germany’s high-speed trains market.
• European Commission wants to link all EU capitals by high-speed train by 2040… and that’s not going to happen.
• Travellers in Europe increasingly open to choosing trains over planes for short-haul journeys.
• SBB CFF FFS announce night train to Malmö from April 2026.
• REVIEW | European Sleeper night train.
• Paris Nightjet axed: France’s withdrawal threatens Europe’s night train revival.
• TRAIN TRAVEL | European Union records 429 billion passenger-kilometres in 2023 but domestic travel still dominates.
• 2026 | Deutsche Bahn plans 4 ICE’s per day between Cologne and Antwerp and 16 per day between Frankfurt and Brussels.
• France opens rail network up for new domestic night train operator under new EU rules.
• Back-on-Track Europe warns the ‘night train revival’ is a false dawn.
• Iron Rhine gets renewed political attention in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
• Spain’s Renfe sends Talgo VI rolling stock to Leo Express in Czechia and Slovakia.
• Leo Express: Bratislava – Ostend night train not a firm commitment.
• NMBS / SNCB sees popularity increase of international train travel.
• ÖBB prioritises Railjet over Nightjet: Is the night train revival a False Dawn?.
• Deutsche Bahn’s Antwerp – Brussels Airport – Leuven – Cologne ICE aims to attract tourists and Port of Antwerp-related business.
• VIDEO | Berlin start-up Nox to launch night trains with entirely private rooms from 2027.
• EUROPEAN SLEEPER | Brussels to Barcelona night train to stop in Avignon, Montpellier, Narbonne, and Girona.
• Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB launch Frecciarossa EuroCity trains linking Berlin, Munich, Milan, Rome and Naples.
• The end of the Brussels – Berlin ÖBB Nightjet.
• Eurostar scraps direct Amsterdam – Brussels – Marseille summer train service.
• European Commission commits to single-ticket train travel, Back-on-Track unconvinced it will happen.
• SNCF Réseau confirms feasibility European Sleeper night train linking the Netherlands, Belgium, France to Barcelona in Spain.
• European Sleeper night train service from the Netherlands and Belgium to Barcelona now delayed to 2027.
• EU train travel report sees increase in cross-border passenger trains and easier bookings.
• Brussels to Luxembourg by train under 2 hours by 2030?.
• 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.
• EUROCITY EC-8 | Basel to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
• Trenitalia / FS confirms interest in connecting Spain to Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin.
• 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?.
• Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
• REVIEW | ÖBB Nightjet Amsterdam – Zurich night train.
• 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.

Channel Tunnel updates

• #CROSSCHANNELRAIL | Expanding UK-Europe train links most realistically leading to Switzerland.
• Deutsche Bahn and Eurostar team up for Germany – London train link in early 2030s.
• CHANNEL TUNNEL | Virgin Trains gains access to Temple Mills, ORR snubs links to Germany and Switzerland.
• Eurostar unveils €2 billion Alstom ‘Celestia’ fleet of double-decker sustainable trains.
• Channel Tunnel competition plans hinge on depot access as Gemini Trains reveals Siemens–Uber partnership.
• Gemini Trains partners with Uber for Stratford to France Channel Tunnel route.
• CHANNEL TUNNEL | UK and Germany renew London-Berlin vows, Virgin Trains promise Alstom Avelia Stream train sets.
• 2025 | The Channel Tunnel prepares for more trains, more competition and new destinations.
• United Kingdom and Germany are aiming for a direct London – Berlin train link.
• Eurostar and St. Pancras Highspeed back major station expansion to double capacity amid growing international demand.
• EUROSTAR | London – Frankfurt, London – Geneva and Amsterdam – Antwerp – Brussels – Geneva from 2030?.
• Alstom wants its double-decker trains to ride through Channel Tunnel.
• CHANNEL TUNNEL | Uber Trains-branded Gemini Trains plan London-Brussels and London-Paris route via Stratford.
• London to Switzerland direct train moves a little closer with new bilateral agreement.
• Eurostar calls for UK national strategy and investment to shape future of Channel Tunnel Rail and promises 50 new trains.
• Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) plan to launch a new high-speed link between London and Paris.
• London St. Pancras Highspeed pledges financial support for cross-Channel rail services.
• Competition for Eurostar? Temple Mills International Depot has space for competitor’s trains.
• London St Pancras Highspeed and Getlink aspire to to triple train services to France, Belgium and the Netherlands and add services to Germany and Switzerland.
• Heuro wants to operate high speeds trains between Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris and London from 2028.