In March 2025, Basque Minister of Sustainable Mobility Susana García Chueca (PSE Euskadi) recently embarked on a two-day trip to Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium as part of a European cooperation project focused on cross-border rail connectivity. The Minister and others were hosted by the Aachener Verkehrsverbund (AVV) or Aachen Transport Association.
Tag: Maastricht
REVIEW | Rijksmuseum van Oudheden or National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden
May 2025. I have a few days off so I decide to take a train to Leiden (Leyden, Leyde) in the Dutch province of South Holland to visit the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, or the National Museum of Antiquities. Steve, my former Latin and Ancient Greek teacher in my teen years, says it’s quite good. As…
27 SEPTEMBER 2025 | Farewell Tour for ‘Benelux’ Intercityrijtuig (ICR) coaches in the Netherlands and Belgium
On Saturday 27 September 2025, a special heritage train will operate across the Netherlands and Belgium to mark the approaching withdrawal of the last Intercityrijtuig (ICR) coaches from regular service.
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.
Hamont – Weert on foot, because the train connection still isn’t there
Dutch rail infrastructure manager ProRail counts the Weert – Hamont rail connection as one of the future links between the Netherlands and Belgium. But while there are tracks, there is still no (passenger) train connection. So I walked it it on a February 2025 Wednesday. Also, crossing a border on foot has a lot of…
TRI-COUNTRY TRAIN | Taking a peek at Heerlen and Aachen
After years of being in the pipeline, the (in)famous Tri-Country Train started running in the summer of 2024. Operated by Arriva and with NMBS / SNCB personnel on the Belgian side of the route, the Drielandentrein, Dreiländerzug or Train des trois pays connects Liège in the eponymous province in Belgium to Maastricht in the province…
VIDEO | NS present CAF Civity Duo ‘Dubbeldekker Nieuwe Generatie’, poised to be the NMBS / SNCB AM30
Today, 5 March 2025, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) present its Dubbeldekker Nieuwe Generatie or Double-Decker New Generation. This train is a Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) Civity Duo. This type of train is poised to become the NMBS / SNCB‘s AM30 / MR30. A coincidence? Probably.
Flanders wants to revive Iron Rhine between the Port of Antwerp and Ruhr Region
Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works Annick De Ridder (N-VA), formerly Alderman for the Port in Antwerp, aims to revive the rail connection between the Port of Antwerp and Germany’s Ruhr region. Once a new German government is in place, she plans to restart discussions with the Netherlands and Germany to move the long-standing…
Spanish CAF to provide trains for NMBS / SNCB AM30
Train manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) from Spain is said to have won a major contract to build hundreds of new AM30 / MR30 electric multiple units (EMU) for Belgian railway company NMBS / SNCB. The CAF Civity Duo then could be a base for the AM30.
Belgium to host Eurovision Song Contest 2026? But in which city?
Coming Saturday, 1 February 2025, a jury and the television watching public will decide will represent Belgium for Flemish public broadcaster VRT at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel in Switzerland. Oddly, Belgium has been on top of the bookmakers’ charts for the outright win. Íf, and it’s a big íf, that happens, which…
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