Europe Rail News: 28 October 2021
Dreams of a Trans Europe Express revival, Spanish rail company to bid for Paris to London route, and this vintage train is the best way to sightsee in Italy.
Europe Rail News
Rail enthusiasts dream of a Trans Europe Express revival
“The celebrated international train service of the 1960s and ’70s could get a contemporary reboot as an alternative to short-haul air travel.”
Spanish rail company to bid for Paris to London route
🇧🇪 Belgium
Thalys presented its new trainset on Tuesday at Brussels Midi
Visitors to embark on Orient Express adventure at Brussels exhibition
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
BiH, Montenegro, and Albania will be connected by railway
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Bulgaria, Albania, N. Macedonia pledge to finish Corridor VIII by 2030
🇫🇮 Finland
Helsinki – Turku high speed planning gets underway
VR aims to restart Russian services by Christmas
🇫🇷 France
French railway company is recycling abandoned trains into new ones
🇩🇪 Germany
Deutsche Bahn launches more station-based coworking spaces
All aboard except the driver? A fully autonomous train takes to the tracks in Germany
🇬🇧 Great Britain
Train vs Plane: which is fastest between London and Edinburgh?
“As Lumo makes its first run between the English and Scottish capitals, our travel correspondent sets off by air – and rail, bus and foot – to race the train.”
Wes Anderson shapes classic carriage for cinematic journeys
“Filmmaker Wes Anderson has helped redesign a 1950s British Pullman train carriage for luxury travel company Belmond.”


🇬🇷 Greece
TRAINOSE promises new Athens-Thessaloniki trains by mid-January
🇭🇺 Hungary
Transport: Hungary starts modernisation of railway to Serbia
“The project will include the construction of a dual-track line with a maximum speed of 160 km/h and will be completed by 2025.”
🇮🇹 Italy
This vintage train is the best way to sightsee in Italy—if you can snag a seat
“The Arlecchino train from the 1960's has been meticulously restored to its former retro glamour, and will only operate on the country's “most beautiful” routes.”
🇱🇻 Latvia
Call it what you will: Rail Baltica asks for votes on station names
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
Brussels to Luxembourg by train in two hours soon possible
🇲🇹 Malta
Malta metro study proposes three-line network
This newsletter doesn't usually cover urban rail transit (such as metro rail and trams). I will make an exception here for Malta seeing that the country is a small island that doesn’t have a railway (though it used to have a railway).
🇳🇱 Netherlands
It’s on: Dutch railway in a battle against graffiti sprayers
🇳🇴 Norway
Thamshavnbanen: A piece of railway history in the heart of Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
Train from Poland to Croatia. Reggio does not exclude daily departures for Jet Split and Regica.
🇵🇹 Portugal
Thales to deploy ETCS on Portuguese Cascais railway
🇸🇮 Slovenia
Wine train to offer a different view of Vipava Valley
“Aboard the Wine Train, passengers will be able to observe the landscape while tasting local wines and meet winemakers in the vintage passenger carriages, said the project developers.”
🇪🇸 Spain
Andalusia pushes for Faro-Seville railway link ahead of Iberian Summit
Calls to bring back night trains that have disappeared due to ‘laziness’