The EU has outlined plans to welcome 10 brand new train lines that will criss-cross the continent. The bloc’s transport department, EU Transport, has outlined the new ongoing projects to “improve cross-border rail” and offer “new and better connections” for Europeans.
While the lines will primarily cross countries within the EU27, they will also stretch outside, taking people to other nations in Eastern Europe and within the European Economic Area (EEA).
Officials expect they will provide a tourism boom as the bloc celebrates a bumper 2023. And, despite Brexit, even Britons can expect to take advantage of the new projects.
Each project is managed by national governments in more than a dozen countries, which were selected to receive support from the European Commission in January this year.
The 10 new lines are being put together by the following organisations and will cover the following routes:
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- Hungarian Ministry of Transport: Hungary, Austria and Romania
- Connection Germany: Denmark to Sweden
- Midnight Trains: Night train from Paris to Milan and Venice
- Flixtrain: Munich – Zurich;
- WESTbahn: Munich to Vienna and Budapest
- Nederlandse Spoorwegen + Eurostar: Enhanced Amsterdam to London service
- European Sleeper: Night train from Amsterdam to Barcelona
- Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane + Deutsche Bahn,: Rome to Munich and Milan to Munich – possible extension to Berlin
- ILSA: Lisbon to A Coruña and Lisbon to Madrid
- Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya: Catalonia and the South of France
The new network has excited Europeans, and two lines in particular have been deemed of special interest to Britons.
Mark Smith, the train expert known by his X account, the Man in Seat 61, said the Paris-Milan-Venice and Amsterdam-Brussels-Barcelona night trains will likely prove especially useful for British tourists.
Posting on the site, he said the lines would be “of direct interest to UK travellers”. Adina Vălean, the European Commissioner for Transport, hailed the project as vital for the rail market and cross-border journeys.
The links will likely bring more activity to the EU at a bumper time for the bloc, which has seen a surge in tourism over the last year.
According to figures released by the EU Commission in September, 193 million people spent the night in tourist accommodation in the first half of 2023, an increase of 11 million compared to the same period in 2019.