New and Future Rail Links in 2026

Aside from the heat, 2026 has witnessed an unprecedented summer on the European railways in which the conventional ways of launching new routes and services has been upended.
Because most of the recently introduced long-distance rail services have been launched by private operators, who are setting their own rules.

For years and years the national rail operators have co-ordinated their timetables, with the key changes synchronized on the second Sunday in December, with summer specific service changes following on the second Sunday in June.

However, the private rail operators evidently don't have co-ordination as a priority.Because launching new services, primarily using refurbished older trains, outside the conventional timeline attracts attention.

What these recently launched services have in common is that they are long routes.
Near the top of what travellers say they don't want to do on European trains, is to have to make a connection, so these new routes are evidently aiming to tick that box!

Hence these services below , which will still be available after summer 2026 is over, are up and running.

The Czech based rail operator, Leo Express, has launched a very welcome new direct rail link between central Germany and Czechia and southern Poland.

A new daily direct train is now scheduled* to take a Frankfurt (Main) - Fulda - Erfurt - Wiemar - Leipzig - Dresden ↔ Decin - Usti nad Labem - Praha / Prague - Pardubice - Olomouc - Ostrava - Bohumin route.

On five days per week the journey is extended beyond Bohumin to/from Krakow - Rzeszów - Przemyśl (connect for Lviv)>

Heading eastwards the overnight part of the journey is between Usti nad Labem and Bohumin; the arrival into Praha / Prague is scheduled to be around 01:00am.
Heading west the the overnight part of the journey is between Usti nad Labem and Fulda

Not all station calls have been included in the summary.

*= Due to the length of the route the schedule is particularly susceptible to alteration due to works on the railway lines, as most of this is carried out overnight.

Swedish rail operator Snälltåget has transformed rail travel between Germany and Scandinavia.
It is thanks to revival of a direct daytime rail service between [Hamburg]/train-travel-info/journeys/hamburg-to-stockholm-by-train/) and the Swedish capital, after an absence stretching back decades.

Complimenting its overnight train between the two cities, the daytime route is Hamburg - Padborg ↔ Kolding - Odense - Kobenhaven Syd* ↔ Malmo - Lund - Hassleholm - Linkoping - Norrkoping - Stockholm
Not all station calls have been included in this summary.
*= Note that a call at the main station in Kobenhaven / Copenhagen would require a change of direction.
Hence the call at a new rail hub to the south of the Danish capital which is linked to the city centre by both the metro and local city trains.

Heading norththe train is typically scheduled to depart Hamburg Hbf at 09:51 and arrive into Stockholm Central at 21:17.

Heading south the train is usually scheduled to leave Stockholm at 10:43 with an arrival into Hamburg Hbf at 21:57.

Snalltaget has also launched a new daily direct train on an Oslo - Fredrikstad - Goteborg / Gothenburg* - Helsingborg - Lund - Malmo route.
*= a call at the city's main station, Goteborg C would require a change of direction so instead the Snalltaget service calls in Goteborg-Gamlestaden and Goteborg-Molndal stations
Not all station calls have been included in the summary.

Heading east train is typically scheduled to depart Olso S (Sentral) station shortly after 14:45 with an arrival into Malmo at 21:25.

Daily except for Saturdays, it is due to arrive in Malmo 25 mins before the departure of **the 'Berlin Night Express', which also calls in Hamburg.
A connection on to Kobenhavn / Copenhagen / Kopenhamn is also available in Malmo.

Heading west the usual departure from Malmo is at 06:38 with an arrival into [Oslo S](/train-travel-info/countries/norway/cities/oslo/rail-stations/oslo-s/ at 14:48 - with very easily timed connections available on to Bergen and Trondheim

Vy train

The Norwegian national rail operator, Vy, has also extended some of its Oslo ↔ Goteborg C services to/from Malmo via Helsingborg, but its service isn't available daily.

Napoli / Naples is closer to the cities of Bari and Lecce than Roma / Rome, but a quirky aspect of the Italian rail network had resulted in express trains taking the Roma ↔ Bari / Lecce route by-passing Napoli.
So Napoli ↔ Bari / Lecce journeys required a connection in Caserta.

Though the Napoli - Caserta - Foggia (junction with the line to Bari) route is in the midst of being reconstructed and the work has reached a stage which enables a daily, direct Frecce express to take the Napoli ↔ Bari / Lecce route across Italy.

Heading east the train is usually scheduled to depart Napoli Centrale at 06:45 with an arrival into Bari Centrale at 10:19; and into Lecce at 11:48.
In the opposite direction the departure from Lecce is typically at 18:10 and from Bari Centrale at 19:55, with an arrival into Napoli Centrale scheduled for 23:05.
The train also calls at Napoli Afragola station 15 mins before and and after Napoli Centrale.

No doubt the train operating company,Lumo, carried out detailed research prior to the launch of its service between London and Stirling, but it wasn't high on our wish-list of rail routes we hope will be available some day.

Though it's a very welcome addition to the rail routes of Britain as in addition to be [a charming city](https://www.yourstirling.com/, Stirling is also a great base for exploring Scotland by train.

Direct daytime high speed train linking the capitals of Belgium and France with Hamburg are very much on our wish-list, so the new link by night trains is very welcome.

Night train operator European Sleeper has in effect diverted its Paris - Bruxelles ↔ Berlin so that it also calls in Hamburg-Harburg station.

The train departs from Paris and from Bruxelles on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; and from Berlin on Monday Wednesday and Friday

The services mentioned above have all been launched by independent train operator, but the Czech national rail operator, CD, has also launched a delightfully epic and useful route to the European rail timetable - thanks to the availalbity of its new and exceptionally smart trains!

Not only has Czechia gained a direct rail link with Scandinavia, thanks to the departures from Praha / Prague and Decin, the German cities of Dresden and Berlin have gained rail links to and from [Copenhagen / Kobenhavn(l/train-travel-info/journeys/how-to-take-the-new-epic-rail-route-from-copenhagen-kobenhavn-all-the-way-to-the-czech-capital/).

There are still more new routes to come before the usual timetable change on the second Sunday in December.

From September 7th 2026 there will be 2 x ICE trains per day taking a Koln Hbf - Aachen Hbf <> Liege-Guilliemens - Bruxelles Airport-Zaventem - Antwerpen Centraal / Anvers-Central route

So both the beautiful city of Antwerp and Brussels Airport will gain direct rail links with a key hub station on the German rail network.

Connections will be available at Koln Hbf with trains to and from the likes of Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
Connections will be available at Antwerp's stunning main station, pictured above, with trains from and to Breda, Brugge, Gent and Rotterdam.

From September 9th 2026 Belgium will gain a direct rail link to/from both Italy and Switzerland and Koln /Cologne will gain direct trains to / from Italy.

On three nights per week a train operated by European Sleeper will be taking a Bruxelles-Midi - Verviers - Aachen Hbf - Koln Hbf - Aarau - Arth-Goldau - Goschenen - Bellinzona - Lugano ↔ Como-San Giovanni - Milano Porta Garibaldi route.

The Swiss connections are:

• Aarau - connect for Basel, Bern, Lausanne and Zurich
• Arth-Goldau - connect for Lucerne and St Gallen
• Goschenen - connect for Andermatt
• Bellinzona - connect for Locarno.

The train will head south on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and return from Italy on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

As mentioned in the introduction the second Sunday in December is the day on which the rail timetables across Europe have a major annual update.
So it is also a key date, which in 2026 is December 13th, on which a swathe of new rail journey opportunities across Europe.

These are the new services which have already been confirmed.

The Italian national rail operator, Trenitalia, is planning for one its super smart Frecciarossa 1000 trains on the Bolzano <> Roma route to have its journey extended daily into Austria and southern Germany

This will create a new Munchen Hbf - Kufstein - Innnsbruck ↔ Bolzano - Trento - Verona - Bologna - Firenze - Roma Termini service by day:
Not all station calls have been included in this summary.

The Eurostar services on the London to Amsterdam route will call at Antwerpen-Centraal station on the outward journey to The Netherlands.

The trains currently have to slow down to pass through Antwerp, so calling there will only add a couple of minutes to the London to Netherlands journey time.
Security and passport control is carried out pre-boarding on the UK Eurostars, so stepping off the train and passing through the station on arrival at Antwerpen-Centraal will be straightforward.

The return journey from Antwerp to London will still require a connection in Bruxelles-Midi because security and passport control won't be available at Centraal station.

Train operator, Go Volta, is launching a Paris - Amiens - Arras ↔ Ghent - Antwerp - Roosendaal - Lage Zwaluwe - Rotterdam - The Hague HS - Haarlem - Amsterdam route.

Because the train avoids the high-speed lines and takes the 'classic' older routes, it also opens up a swathe of new direct journey opportunities to/from locations not on the high speed route.

Those new direct journeys include:

• Paris ↔ Ghent and The Hague and Haarlem
• Amiens ↔ Amsterdam and Ghent and The Hague and Rotterdam
• The Hague ↔ Amiens and Antwerp and Ghent and Paris.