Dutch open-access operator GoVolta has announced its most ambitious expansion plans yet, notifying the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, ACM) of three new international routes while also seeking permission to carry domestic passengers on its Amsterdam to Berlin and Amsterdam to Paris services. Spoiler alert: notifying a government agency such…
Tag: Cologne
European Sleeper, ÖBB Nightjet and OUIGO services through Belgium to change from September 2026
Rail news website Mobilithib, by Thibault Lapers, has uncovered a series of timetable changes affecting international rail services through Belgium.
GERMANY | Italo confirms €3.6 billion investment to launch high-speed trains, signs €3 billion Siemens rolling stock deal
Italian high-speed rail operator Italo Holding has signed a major contract with Siemens Mobility for 26 high-speed trains, with an option for a further 14, as part of its planned expansion into the German rail market. The agreement, signed in Munich in Bavaria, is worth around €3 billion and forms part of a total €3.6…
Belgium tourism reaches new heights as record visitor numbers underline the country’s growing appeal
Today is the National Holiday of Belgium. On 21 July 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha took the constitutional oath to become King of the Belgians.
NMBS / SNCB: International train travel continues to grow in popularity among Belgian holidaymakers
International rail travel is becoming an increasingly popular choice for Belgians heading abroad during the summer holidays, according to new figures from NMBS / SNCB. Belgium‘s national railway operator says bookings for international journeys continue to rise, supported by an expanding network that now offers connections to more than 6,000 destinations across 15 European countries.
A loop as a creative solution for serving Cologne Main Station on a Frankfurt–London route?
Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Eurostar have teamed up to make a Germany to United Kingdom high-speed train link possible. But as independent railway commentator and specialist in cross-border passenger train connections Jon Worth knows, there are a few hurdles.
Deutsche Bahn Cologne – Ostend ICE caters to 700K Belgian Coast-loving tourists from Germany
German tourists are Belgium’s largest foreign visitor group at the coast, and a new direct high-speed rail ICE service between Cologne and Ostend aims to make travel to the North Sea even easier. Deutsche Bahn launched the seasonal weekend connection on Saturday 6 June, marking the return of a direct rail link between the two…
Stockholm emerges as Europe’s next rail hotspot
Stockholm is rapidly moving up the agenda of Europe’s railway operators, as a wave of new and planned train services positions the Swedish capital as one of the continent’s fastest-growing long-distance rail destinations.
EUROPEAN SLEEPER | Brussels to Milan now via Antwerp, Breda and Eindhoven instead of Liège and Aachen
Belgian-Dutch railway cooperative European Sleeper has announced in its newsletter changes to the route of its new Brussels in Belgium to Milan in Italy night train, which will launch on 9 September 2026. The modifications will take effect with the timetable change in mid-December 2026, creating a direct night train connection between the Netherlands and…
European Sleeper from Brussels and Amsterdam to Milan? Yes, but how?
In December 2025, European Sleeper announced a new night train connection: Brussels in Belgium and Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Milan in Italy. Independent railway commentator Jon Worth published some thoughts on that news.