The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it will support 10 cross-border rail links, including Amsterdam-Barcelona via Brussels to be launched by European Sleeper, the company that also will operate the Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin link.
European Sleeper, a young Belgian-Dutch company, expects to launch its first night services on 25 May between Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin, with additional stops in Antwerp and Rotterdam. In a later phase, this train will continue to Dresden and Prague.
The second night train project of European Sleeper is announced for the end of 2023 between Amsterdam and Barcelona, with stops in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, and Lille in the evening and then in Avignon, Montpellier and Perpignan (France), as well as Figueres and Girona (Spain) the next morning. It is one of the 10 pilot projects that the European Commission selected to establish new rail services or improve existing ones. Together, they will improve cross-border rail connections across the EU, making them faster, more frequent and more affordable.
The Belgian capital is also involved in another selected pilot project, the strengthening of the existing Eurostar line between Amsterdam and London with the contribution of Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
In December 2021, the Commission identified the obstacles to the operation of cross-border railway lines, whether related to the allocation of capacity or poor coordination between network operators.
The ten pilot projects selected by Brussels should make it possible to tackle the problems of certification of equipment and other obstacles to links between countries.
“The European Commission now wants to help rail companies create new international train connections – by day and by night – by breaking down the many barriers to cross-border rail,” it wrote in a call for applications, launched last summer.