NMBS / SNCB sees popularity increase of international train travel 

Year after year, Belgian railway operator NMBS / SNCB is seeing growing interest in international train travel during the summer months. Since 2019, the number of bookings via NMBS / SNCB International has increased by more than 50 per cent, the operator says in a press release. 

Back-on-Track.eu criticises lack of EU action as ÖBB cuts into Nightjet order

On 11 July 2025, Back-on-Track.eu, a European network advocating for night trains, voiced serious concern following the announcement by the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB, the European Union‘s largest night train operator, that it will reduce its order with Siemens Mobility for new Nightjet trains from 33 to 24 units. 

ÖBB prioritises Railjet over Nightjet: Is the night train revival a False Dawn? 

Austrian state railway ÖBB has amended its rolling stock contract with Siemens Mobility, RailTech reports. This decision puts a hold on further deliveries of its new-generation Nightjet sleeper trains. The move marks a shift in investment priorities, with ÖBB responding to rising passenger numbers by focusing instead on expanding its Railjet 2 daytime fleet.

Leo Express wants night train service from Slovakia to Ostend, Belgium

Leo Express, a Czech railway operator, intends to introduce a night train service between Ostend in Belgium and Bratislava in Slovakia via Germany and Czechia from mid-December 2026; Thibault Lapers reports on his Mobilithib Substack. Leo Express notified the Czech Office for the Protection of Economic Competition (Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže) of its intentions.

Introducing the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

We haven’t travelled to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg since 2018 and 2019, but in January 2025 we returned to get a taste of the Alstom Coradia Stream HC which the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL) runs under the name Série 2400. The Coradia Stream HC was a candidate to become NMBS…

KASSEL | Bad Wilhelmshöhe ft. Bergpark, Palace, Löwenburg and Hercules

October 2024. During a week-long whistle-stop tour of Germany, we visit Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt, Weimar in Thuringia, Coburg in Upper Franconia (Bavaria) and Kassel in Hesse. Smaller cities, yes. But each with their own significance. Untouched by overtourism. We’re avoiding using the white trains of DB Fernverkehr, Deutsche Bahn‘s long-distance section and opt to use…