Leo Express has unveiled plans for a sleeper service that would call at stations including Brussels, Cologne, Hanover, Dresden, and Prague, running from Ostend in Belgium with the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, by next year
A night train could connect Ostend in Belgium with the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, by next year.
Leo Express has unveiled plans for a sleeper service that would call at stations including Brussels, Cologne, Hanover, Dresden, and Prague. The Czech-based subsidiary of the Spanish national operator, Renfe, wants to run the service down the 750-mile route from December 2026.
Over the course of 19 hours, passengers would be taken from the North Sea coast to the Danube at an average speed of 39 mph. While this might not seem overly fast, UK passengers will be able to travel out from London St Pancras in the evening, hop on the train at Brussels Midi, and arrive in Bratislava at 2:18 p.m. the following day, The Independent reports. The news comes after The Mirror compared taking the train to Spain with going via plane.
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In total, the rolling stock will be able to carry 450 passengers, with some compartments housing six bunks—presumably rendering the overnight ticket price fairly reasonable.
Another big draw of the service will be the stations the train stops in, which include Bruges and Ghent in Belgium, plus Aachen and Dresden in Germany. It is likely to be popular with those concerned about the environment, as travelling by train is typically much greener than travelling by plane.
To turn the plans into a reality, Leo Express will need to gain permission and train paths from rail authorities in Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The company will also be competing with budget airfares that link the likes of Brussels and Bratislava for £16.
The service is not the only one that could be coming to Europe in the coming years. A series of massive rail projects is currently underway, with train travel in Europe likely to look very different in less than ten years from how it does today.
One of them will link Hamburg and Copenhagen. The vast undersea tunnel is being built and will carry two rail lines and a pair of two-lane highways under the Baltic Sea. Construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel has started on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the south of Denmark. Once finished it will link the country and Germany. The project will be the world’s longest road and rail tunnel, and the world’s longest immersed tunnel, stretching 11.2 miles.
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The tunnel will enable both freight and commuter traffic, reducing carbon emissions, freeing up capacity on the roads and railways, and moving freight from lorries to more environmentally friendly electric trains.
Another will go between Budapest and Belgrade. It is currently possible to travel between these two great cities on the Danube, but it takes a while and three changes. Next year that will change when a high-speed line built with Chinese backing gets going. The difference in effort required as well as the length of journey will be significant. Passengers will be whisked between the two cities in just two hours and 40 minutes instead of seven.