Europe really is upping its train game – just look at all these new sleeper services taking off this year – and announcements about new trains and new routes just keep coming.
Leo Express, a Czech public transport operator, is planning the introduction of a new service that’ll cross a huge stretch of the continent – travelling all the way from Belgium to Slovakia – with a tonne of stops on the way.
It just submitted plans to Belgium’s Regulatory Body for Railway Transport which outline a daily 19-hour route from Ostend to Bratislava, which will run in both directions.
Departing just after 6am, the service will stop in locations including Bruges, Brussels and Liège in Belgium before passing through some of Germany’s most exciting cities, including Cologne, Hanover, Leipzig, and Dresden.
After that, it will continue through Czechia (also known as the Czech Republic), including a stop in Prague, before terminating in Bratislava at between 1 and 2 am the following morning. In total, it will make nearly 50 stops.
The same rail operator has also just taken over the Bratislava–Komárno route, where they commenced their service on December 10. Thanks to their new fleet of trains, they’re on track to offer nearly 100 daily connections.
The Ostend–Bratislava proposal still needs approval, and the decision depends on access to Belgian infrastructure, according to Belga. But should it all go ahead, this mahoosive route could commence sometime between late 2024 and early 2025.
Did you see that there could be a speedy new train along Spain’s Costa del Sol?
Plus: Italy and Germany will soon be linked by a new high-speed train.
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