Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and…
Tag: Rail
Trenitalia (FS Group) and Certares agree strategic partnership to expand international high-speed rail operations
The Railways of the Italian State, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Gruppo FS / FS Group), better known under the brand Trenitalia, signed at the end of December 2025 a strategic partnership agreement with American global travel investment firm Certares aimed at accelerating the development of international high-speed rail services, with an initial focus on France…
Nox night trains: a smart new cabin concept or just an unachievable dream?
Announced in June 2025, the Franco-German night train initiative Nox (Latin for ‘night‘) has drawn immediate comparisons with the defunct start-up Midnight Trains, which folded in 2024. Back-on-Track.eu’s Juri Maier weighs up the viability of Europe‘s latest night train start-up.
KORAIL | South Korea unveils EMU-370, its next-generation 370 kph high-speed train
Autumn 2024. Ten years after my first trip to Seoul in 2014, I am returning to the Republic of Korea, better known as South Korea. Not solo this time, but with Oriol, who has never been to Korea. On the itinerary: flying with Qatar Airways to Incheon via Doha, the capital Seoul, the historic city…
How firm are Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn’s “2030s” Germany to London train link plans?
Deutsche Bahn and Eurostar have taken a significant step towatrds establishing a direct high-speed link between Germany and London in the United Kingdom, revealing in a joint press release on Thursday 4 December 2025 that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore a shared long-distance service connecting London with major German cities such…
Leo Express now links Germany to Poland / Ukraine and ÖBB links Vienna to Trieste
Two major developments in European rail underline how international long-distance services are expanding both through new open-access routes and major infrastructure upgrades. Private operator Leo Express from Czechia is preparing its first move into the German passenger market with a trans-European service from Frankfurt to the Polish–Ukrainian border, while Austria’s ÖBB has launched a dramatically…
2026 | Bpost marks 100 years of NMBS / SNCB with a stamp
In 2026, the National Railway Company of Belgium, or Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS) in Dutch and Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges (SNCB) in French, turns 100 years old. To commemorate this anniversary, bpost is issuing a series of stamps.
Leo Express files plans for extraordinary 2026 Bratislava–Ostend and Venice–Northern Germany services
Leo Express has formally notified Schienen-Control in Austria of its intention to launch two unusual new open-access rail services: a year-round Bratislava–Ostend line from December 2026, and a seasonal Venice–Heringsdorf / Kiel service beginning in summer 2026. The filings, submitted on 11 December 2025, appear in the Austrian regulator’s register of planned new commercial rail…
European Sleeper to launch Amsterdam and Brussels to Milan night train service, delays Barcelona plans
European Sleeper, the Belgian–Dutch cooperative behind several recent night train initiatives, will launch a new three-times-weekly night train linking Amsterdam Central and Brussels-South with Milan from 18 June 2026. This marks the company’s second new international night-train route for next year, following the previously announced Paris–Brussels–Berlin service that begins at the end of March 2026.
Reorganising train travel in Belgium by 2050: going for the Swiss or the Dutch model?
On 4 December 2025, the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport has published the executive summary of a groundbreaking study – ‘Lange termijn exploitatiemodel van het spoornetwerk‘ – that redefines how Belgium plans the future of its rail system. This is the first feasibility study ever produced for an integrated long-term timetable covering the entire…
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