European travel for passenger railways continue to expand, with a burst of new routes that open and the competition that heat up on key routes, also on the railway line that runs under the sleeve canal. To simplify the booking process in Europe, the plans could also make rail travel more easy and efficient.
The European Commission is encouraging the push. At his confirmation hearing in November, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the new European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, said that the connection of European cities for high -speed railway is “an absolute priority”. He also promised to present a draft regulation for a single booking and digital ticket office for European Rail before the end of his first year in charge, which will fall on December 1st.
The demand for train travel is strong and growing. Transfrontier passenger rail traffic in Europe increased by 7 % in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the community of European railway and infrastructure companies, a group of industry based in Brussels. Passenger railway traffic within individual countries has increased by about 3 percent.
Victor Thévenet, head of the Transport and Environment railway policies, an environmental group based in Brussels, described the possibility of a single booking and ticket office such as “The important thing on the agenda of 2025.”
“In a single ticket, you will be able to buy a journey that connects several railway operators and you will be sure to protect the rights of passengers if something goes wrong during the trip,” said Thévennet, observing that the system would make work work throughout the distance and regional trains throughout Europe. He added that this year there are public consultations on this plan and that the proposed legislation should go to the European Parliament in 2026.
Paris in Milan and beyond
For travelers lovers of the railway, there are many new routes to choose from.
A direct daytime service between Paris and Berlin who has a watch in about eight hours began in December. Tickets for the route – which also stops in Strasbourg, France and Karlsruhe and Frankfurt in Germany – start from 60 euros, or about $ 62. The new route is added to the slower night service that connects the French and German capital, open at the end of 2023.
Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the community of European railway and infrastructure companies, the industrial group, described the new Paris-Berlin route as “an important connection between two important European capitals”. But he added that the path is only partially high; With the right infrastructure, the travel time could go down to five hours. “There is the opportunity to do even better,” he said.
Paris will soon see other new services, in particular when the Italian railway operator Trenitalia increases its presence in the French market.
Trenitalia and Sncf, a French National Railway Company, will reopen the competing services between Paris and Milan this spring, more than 18 months after a landslide in the French Alps forced the line to close. Sncf’s Paris-Milan service will begin on March 31, with tickets starting from 29 euros; The Trenitalia service will open the following day. Both operators will include stops in Lyon and Turin, among other cities, along the way. Elsewhere in France, and also in competition with SNCF, Trenitalia will begin to manage a service between Paris and Marseille on June 15, with stops in Lyon, Avignon and Aix-EN-Provence.
The Spanish operator Renfe is also making his way in France. The company has announced that it will soon begin to manage a high-speed service between Barcelona and Toulouse, in the south-west of France. The three and a half hours trip will include stops in Perpignan and Carcassonne in France and Girona in Spain, among other cities. It will work seasonally, starting from the second quarter of this year and continuing until mid -September.
High -speed connections are also in the works between Belgrade and Budapest; Lisbon and Porto; and Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic.
The new sleep services are also starting this year. The European Sleeper private operator has opened a seasonal night railway connection between Brussels and Venice, offering two services per week in February and March. The company already manages a dormant train all year round between Brussels and Prague, a service started last year.
The rebirth of dormant trains spread in Portugal and Spain, where governments are working to reopen the service during the night between their two countries. The services – which connect Lisbon, Madrid and the French city of Hendaye, on the border with Spain – were interrupted when the pandemic blocks hit in March 2020, but they could start running again as soon as the first half of this year.
Cross -channel competition
The competition is heating along one of the iconic European railway routes: the line that runs under the sleeve channel. Travelers who hope to go by train between London and the continent could travel one day with a railway operator other than Eurostar, even if not before 2029 as soon as possible.
Eurostar, who had a monopoly on the crossed route since the line was opened in 1994, is seeing a strong question. On the other side of his network – which includes connections between London and Paris, and London and Brussels, among other services, the operator hosted 19.5 million passengers in 2024, with an increase of over 5 percent compared to previous year. The company could see another thrust this year, since its direct service between London and Amsterdam begins this month, following a break of almost eight months due to the infrastructure updates at the Centroalal station in Amsterdam.
But the company, which reduced its network during the pandemic, is still facing challenges. In a December report issued by Transport and Environment, the non -profit of Mr. Thévennet, Eurostar arrived last in a ranking of 27 European railway operators, gaining low points for the price, reliability and its rigid bicycle policies. (The completely assembled bikes are not allowed on the Paris-London service, due to the safety restrictions outside the Eurostar control. On other routes, Eurostar allows bicycles “in limited numbers and under certain conditions”, including removal of both wheels.)
The CEO of Eurostar, Gwendoline Cazenave, wrote in an and -mail that did not agree with the results of the relationship and observed the ranking “was unable to recognize the main environmental contributions of Eurostar”, including ” Eliminate flights between Brussels and Paris and abruptly reduce flights between London and Paris. “
Competitors are aligning. The two in front are Virgin Trains-Parte by Virgin Group, founded by Richard Branson-Ed Evyn, a new operator led by the Spanish family Cosmen, heavy travel weights.
Phil Whittingham, CEO of Virgin Trains, said that the company plans to close an agreement for 12 high -speed trains in the first half of this year. He added that Virgin applied for access to Temple Mills, a maintenance deposit in London, where Eurostar trains are currently served. Accessing the deposit is an essential step for the launch of a cross service.
“We believe there is room to enter,” Whittingham said. “We think the competition would be good for them and good for us.”
Lisa O’Brien, a spokesman for the British Rail and Rail Office, confirmed that both Virgin and Eviantn had applied for the space in the depot of the Temple Mills. He added that the government regulator has appointed external consultants to determine the ability of the deposit to manage multiple trains.
“Our next steps will depend on the result of that studio on ability,” he said.
Richard Bowker, a former president of the British strategic railway authority and now conductor of the railway podcast of green signals, said that in the past there have been challenging without success in Eurostar, but “this time he feels different”.
Bowker, who also worked for Virgin Group, noticed the “well -deserved experience of being a disruption” and the depth of experience of the Evybyn team in the transport sector.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “It suggests growth and more travel opportunities and potentially better business for the consumer.”
Paige McClanahan is the author of “The new tourist: waking up in the power and dangers of travel”.
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