The European rail timetable into 2026

The timetables of most European rail operators have an annual update on the second Sunday in December, so in 2025 the changeover date will be December 14th.
The timetable update gives an opportunity to amend, introduce and withdraw routes, hence the summary of the key changes below.

It will be updated as more changes become apparent - SMTJ has yet to study the new timetables for multiple countries in which more minor changes are likely, including France, Italy and Spain.

Also due to needs to wait for both new trains to enter service and for long-term enhancement projects to be completed, some of the most exciting new journey opportunities won't be available until later dates in 2026 - despite that, they have still been included below.

The most impactful changes which have already been confirmed are:

• A new overnight train route connecting Switzerland and south-west Germany with Sweden via Denmark.
• Direct trains taking a Prague ↔ Copenhagen route via Berlin and Dresden.
• A doubling of the number of trains travelling between Hamburg and Copenhagen/ København
• Direct trains between Zurich and Firenze / Florence.
• A new railway line in Austria, which will transform how trains can be taken to and from Graz.
• A daily direct Railjet train will connect Vienna and Trieste.
• More departures and routes to be taken by ICE trains both within and to / from Germany.
• The return of the train service on the Munich - Salzburg ↔ Ljubljana - Zagreb route.
• The restoration of direct trains between Basel and Lausanne.
• More and faster trains on the London - York - Newcastle - Edinburgh route.

Not all station calls have been included in the summaries.

The Hamburg - Padborg ↔ Kolding - Odense - Ringsted - København / Copenhagen route is to be transformed in stages on the new timetable.

From January 16th

The plan is for new trains to fully take over the services which operate between Hamburg and Copenhagen - as from this date they are designated as ECE services on the timetable.
These new trains are already operating on a few departures as the final trial prior to their full launch.

From May 1st

Two brand new Comfort Jet trains per day will be taking a Praha/Prague - Decin - Bad Schandau - Dresden - Berlin - Hamburg - Padborg ↔ Kolding - Odense - Ringsted - København / Copenhagen route.
These two trains per day in each direction will be additions to the Hamburg ↔ København timetable.
They will provide the locations in Denmark with direct daytime trains to/from Berlin, Dresden, Bad Schandau, Decin and Praha/Prague.

From June 14th

A third Comfort Jet train will be added, but it will travel overnight.
Heading south it will travel from København / Copenhagen to Bad Schandau, but going north it will travel from Praha to København.

There will also be two additional ECE trains added to the Hamburg - Padborg ↔ Kolding - Odense - Ringsted - København / Copenhagen route, providing an unprecedented ten trains in each direction between Hamburg and the Danish capital!

The Swiss national rail operator, SBB, is restoring a direct overnight train service between Switzerland and Denmark twelve years after the prior service was cancelled back in 2014.
Plus the new route which commences on April 15th 2026 will also link Switzerland and Sweden by direct train!

The plan is for the EuroNight train, which will convey sleeper cabins, couchette compartments and seats, to take this route:
Basel-SBB - Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf - Karlsruhe Hbf - Mannheim Hbf - Frankfurt (Main) Süd) - Hamburg Hbf, - Padborg ↔ Kolding -Odense - Hoeje Taastrup for central Copenhagen - Copenhagen Airport ↔ Malmo.
A bistro / bar car will be available between Basel and Padborg.
So the new service will also connect numerous locations in Germany by train with Denmark and Sweden.

The train will depart Basel on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 17:35 / 5:35pm, with conveniently timed connections from Chur, Lugano, Interlaken, Lausanne and Zurich.
A train from Milano will typically be due into Basel a little over two hours before the train on to Malmo will depart.
The arrival time in Malmo C station is scheduled to be at 09:35am - with convenient connections on to Göteborg / Gothenburg and Stockholm by express Snabbtåg trains.

Heading south the train will depart Malmo at 18:57 / 6:57pm on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, with convenient connections out of Snabbtåg trains from Göteborg and Stockholm.
The planned arrival time in Basel-SBB station is 11:30am, with conveniently timed connections on to Brig Chur, Lugano, Interlaken, Lausanne and Zurich.

Calling at København H, the main station in the Danish capital, would require a reversal, hence the train will take a route which avoids it.
The train will call at Hoeje Taastrup station as it offers an easy transfer into very frequent, local S-Tog trains which call at stations closer to the city centre than København H, as well as at the main station.

The Copenhagen Metro links the station at Copenhagen Airport / Lufthavnen with other locations in central Copenhagen including Kongens Nytorv, the closest station to the popular Nyhavn area.

At last Firenze / Florence will have a direct train from and to Zurich, as the existing Zurich ↔ Bologna EC service will be extended at its southern end.
The train's other station calls will include Bellinzona, Lugano and Como, so they will also gain a direct rail link with Florence.

Heading south the train will typically depart Zurich shortly after 14:30 and arrive into Firenze S.M.Novella station at 21:30 / 9:30pm - in time for connections on to Pisa and Rome.

Heading north the departure from Florence / Firenze will be shortly after 07:45am and the arrival into Zurich HB station will typically before 15:30 / 3;30pm - with conveniently timed connections on to Koln / Cologne and Stuttgart.

Krakow will gain another connection with Germany as two new daily EC trains will be taking a Leipzig - Katowice - Krakow route, with one of the trains in each direction having its journey extended beyond Krakow to/from Przemysl.
Connections will be available at Leipizg with trains to/from Frankfurt, Hannover, Magdeburg, Nurnberg, Stuttgart and other locations in Germany which lack direct trains to and from Poland.

The Polish rail operator, PKP, operates a long standing sleeper train service named the 'Chopin' that links both Budapest and Wien/Vienna to Warszawa / Warsaw; the trains to/from the Austrian and Hungarian are joined together / separated at Bohumin, a junction station in Czechia.

A few years ago the journey taken by the service to and Wien was extended to and from Munchen/Munich on a route which also calls in Salzburg and Linz.

In Poland the 'Chopin' train currently takes a route to/from Warszawa / Warsaw which calls in Krakow.
However, on the timetable which commences on Dec 14th 2025, the 'Chopin' train is to be diverted on to as faster more direct route which avoids Krakow.

But Krakow isn't to be deprived of its link by direct night trains to/from the likes of Budapest, Munchen, Salzburg, Linz and Wien, as from Dec 14th, a new night train service named the 'Carpatiato is to be added to the timetable.

On departures to/from Budapest, Munchen, Salzburg, Linz and Wien it will be attached to the 'Chopin' train.
Then at Bohumin station some additional manoeuvres will be required so that the 'Carpatiato' train can travel to/from Krakow.

Plus the 'Carpatiato' service will travel on beyond Krakow to and from the cities of Rzeszow and Przemysl - plus connections are likely to available in Przemysl with trains to from Lviv and Kyiv, though this is still to be confirmed.
Hence from December 14th the 'Carpatiato' train will be travelling on these routes:

• Budapest - Bratislava ↔ Krakow - Rzeszow - Przemysl
• Munchen - Salzburg - Linz - Wien ↔ Krakow - Rzeszow - Przemysl

The Railjet trains which travel between Wien / Vienna and Venezia / Venice are to take a new route via Graz and will maintain their station calls in Klagenfurt and Villach.

A new Railjet service will be taking a Wien / Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach ↔ Udine - Trieste route
Heading south it will usually depart Wien Hbf before 07:00 and will be typically scheduled to arrive shortly after 13:30 (1:30pm).

In the opposite direction it will usually leave Trieste after 14:20 and arrive in Wien / Venice shortly after 21:00 (9pm).
It will be providing the only direct link between Wien / Vienna and Trieste, as from December 14th 2025 the existing EuroCity service on the Wien - Graz ↔ Maribor - Ljubljana - Trieste route will only be available between Wien and Ljubljana.

Hence on the new timetable the easiest Ljubljana ↔ Trieste journeys will involve a transfer between trains in Villach - With the easiest / fastest end-to-end connections usually available when departing Ljubljana at around 07:50 and 19:25; And from Trieste they will typically be available shortly before 05:45 and after 14:35.

ICE trains will be taking a new Frankfurt (Main) - Heidelberg – Stuttgart - Ulm – Augsburg – Munich ↔ Salzburg – Bad Gastein - Klagenfurt – Villach – Graz route.

Plus an additional daily ICE train will be taking a Munster - Essen - Dusseldorf - Koln - Messe/Deutz - Siegburg/Bonn - Frankfurt Flughafen - Mannheim – Stuttgart - Ulm – Augsburg – Munich ↔ Salzburg – Bad Gastein - Klagenfurt – Villach – Graz route.

Two of the Czech Railjet trains per day in each direction on the current Praha - Brno - Breclav ↔ Wien - Graz route will have their journeys extended south of Graz to/from Villach via Klagenfurt.

As a result direct journeys will be available between the Worthersee, the most popular summer holiday destination in Austria and Czechia - Plus connections will be available in Villach with trains to/from Bad Gastein, Ljubljana and Spittal.

Despite having a proximity closer than any other European capital cities Bratislava and Wien / Vienna have been linked by regional trains, which are in effect extensions of the Viennese suburban rail network.
The only exception was the daily extension of one of the Railjet services which take the Zurich ↔ Wien route.

However, from December 14th 2025 four additional express trains (EC trains) per day in each direction will be connecting the main stations in Wien and Bratislava in only 47mins.
The trains will take a Wien Westbahnhof - Wien Meidling - Wien Hbf - Bratislava hln route.

More than 99% of the European rail routes which were withdrawn as result of the pandemic have already resumed, but the long-standing direct EC train between Munich and Zagreb was an exception - a connection is currently required in Villach.

So it's great to see that the direct train has now restored to the timetable, heading south it will typically depart Munchen Hbf shortly after 10:15 and from Salzburg shortly after 12:05.
It will also depart from Villach at 14:45 where a connection will usually be available with a Railjet train that departs Venezia-Santa Lucia shortly before 10:00.

The train will also restore direct rail links between both Munich / Munchen and Salzburg with locations in Slovenia including Ljubljana and Lesce-Bled.

From September 12th 2026 two ICE trains per day in each direction will be taking a brand new Antwerp - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Liege ↔ Aachen - Koln/Cologne route!

The daily Berlin ↔ Paris service by ICE train is to be diverted on to a new route between Frankfurt and the German capital.
It will cut 20 mins off its journey time despite new station calls in Erfurt and Halle; plus it will also call at Frankfurt (Main) Hbf instead of at Frankfurt (Main) Sud.
Its departure times in each direction will also be significantly altered - from December 14th it will leave Paris at 11:07, so on Monday to Friday a connection will typically be available from the first Eurostar of the day from London.

Night trains

From December 14th the Nightjet service on the Paris ↔ Berlin is to be discontinued, despite being launched only two years ago.

However, European Sleeper train has announced that it will be launching a Paris ↔ Berlin overnight service from March 2026.

The Lausanne - Geneve ↔ Lyon - Avignon - Marseille service by TGV Lyria train is to be expanded.
It will return as a daily service in July and August, but what's new is that in April, May, June, September and October it will also be available on Thursday to Monday.

Unfortunately what stands out on the new timetable is the withdrawal of some night train services / routes.

The Nightjet trains on the Paris ↔ Berlin and Paris ↔ Wien via Munich and Salzburg routes are to be discontinued from December 13th 2025; Though as mentioned above, trains operated by European Sleeper, will be taking a Paris ↔ Berlin route from March 2026.

Another Nightjet route which is being discontinued from Dec 13th 2025 is the Milano - Verona ↔ Wien service.

Also being taken off is the overnight service by IC train on the Rostock - Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Nuremberg - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels - Linz - Vienna route.
The Nightjet train on the Berlin - Dresden - Prague ↔ Vienna route will still be available.

The Nightjet trains on the Wien ↔ Firenze - Roma and the Wien ↔ Verona - Milano routes will be diverted so that they can also call in Graz.
The train on the Zurich ↔ Graz route will also be taking a new route via Villach and Klagenfurt.

New trains will enter service on the Zurich - Basel ↔ Amsterdam / Hamburg routes.

These routes are not included on the new timetable which commences on December 14th 2025:

• The EC/IC trains on the Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Karlsruhe ↔ Basel - Bern - Interlaken route are being surprisingly discontinued; A new service by ICE train will be taking an Interlaken to Cologne route, but it will travel via Frankfurt Flughafen so won't call in Mainz, Koblenz and Bonn.
• The EC train on the Frankfurt (Main) - Stuttgart - Munich ↔ Salzburg - Seltzhal - Graz route; In effect it has been replaced by ICE trains taking a Frankfurt (Main) - Stuttgart - Munich ↔ Salzburg - Villach - Klagenfurt - Graz route.
• The Railjet train on the Frankfurt (Main) - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Friedrichshafen - Lindau ↔ Bregenz - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Linz - Vienna route is being taken off; An ICE train on a Dortmund - Essen - Dusseldorf - Koln Messe/Deutz - Frankfurt Flughafen - Heidelberg – Stuttgart - Ulm - Friedrichshafen - Lindau - Bregenz - Feldkirch - St Anton - Landeck-Zams - Innsbruck will still be available.
• From June 13th the Railjet train on the Bolzano - Bressanone - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Linz - Vienna route is to be discontinued.

Not all of the significant maintenance and enhancement projects which will be occurring in 2026 have been confirmed, but what's already known is that that three of Europe's key international routes will be impacted at various times during the year:
More info is available on this travel planning guide.

1. Nuremberg ↔ Linz = From Feb there will be major impact on the ICE trains which typically connect Berlin, Frankfurt (Main), Hamburg and Koln to Wien/Vienna.
2. Buchs ↔ Feldkirch = From June 14th to October 14th work will impact on trains taking the Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Wien/Vienna route.
3. Brig ↔ Domodossola = from May 30th to July 27th the EC trains on the Geneva - Brig - Milano route and the Basel - Bern - Brig - Milano route will be turning around in Brig.

Additional departures will be available on these routes:

• Zurich - Bellinzona - Lugano ↔ Como - Milan
• Berlin ↔ Poznan - Warsaw
• London ↔ Bruxelles - Rotterdam - Amsterdam

From December 14th a full service will begin operating along the Koralmbahn which is a new 127km / 79 mile higher speed railway between Graz and Klagenfurt, on which trains will travel at up to 230 km/h.

The express trains which travel between Wien / Vienna Villach via Klagenfurt will be switched to the new line so that they can call in Graz.
Hence Graz will be transformed from a station on the route which links Vienna to Zagreb, that also has a connection into Hungary, into a rail hub, which is also at one end of a new east-west route which crosses Austria via Bad Gastein, Villach and Klagenfurt.

The railway between Klagenfurt and Villach serves the resort towns on the shore of the Worthersee

The swathe of alterations justifies this separate guide which summaries all of the changes to the timetable.

As the national rail operator, ÖBB, is rolling the dice and is also using the December 14th timetable change as an opportunity to introduce a new category of train service to Austria - the InterRegio trains, which will be used on six routes that link multiple cities, towns and ski resorts.

The German national rail operator, DB, is using the December 14th timetable update to make a swathe of changes to the national rail timetable.
They have been captured on this guide

The ICE services are being impacted by new principles that DB has applied to the timetable as much as possible:

• The core routes are to be standardized, with the same pattern of station calls per route.
• Trains will no longer be split and joined along their routes.
• One type of train will be allocated to each route.

Though some of the changes won't come into affect until May 1st, as the work to enhance the Hamburg ↔ Berlin is due to complete on April 30th.

Locations which will be particularly impacted by the changes include Bonn, Bremen, Kiel and Koblenz.

The pattern of the IC services has also been rationalized, as a long term project to fully replaced the older IC trains with the double-deck InterCity 2 trains will reach its completion.
There are just twelve core IC routes on the new timetable with no IC routes to/from both Frankfurt (Main) and Munchen.

DB has also made sweeping changes to the IC routes between Germany and Switzerland which have been summarised on this travel guide.
The most significant changes from December 14th 2025 are:

• Koln / Cologne will have direct ICE trains to and from Zurich and Chur
• Berlin will have direct ICE trains to and from, Brig, Visp and Zurich
• Brig and Visp will have a direct ICE train from Hamburg and Koln / Cologne
• Interlaken will have a direct ICE train to Koln / Cologne.

The most impactful changes to train times in Great Britain from December 14th 2025 will occur on routes operated by LNER and CrossCountry.

Rail operator LNER is to exploit the completed works, which enable increased capacity on the routes taken by its trains, to introduce a new pattern for its train services.

From December 14th 2025 its new regular daily timetable, to/from King's Cross station in London, will comprise:

1. An hourly train only calling at King's Cross ↔ York - Newcastle - Edinburgh; This takes more than 10 mins off the regular current timings of its trains between London and both Newcastle and Edinburgh.
2. An hourly train calling at King's Cross ↔ Peterborough - Newark - Doncaster - York - Darlington - Newcastle - Alnmouth or Berwick upon Tweed - Edinburgh; With 3 trains per day extended to/from Aberdeen via Dundee and 1 x train per day extended to/from Inverness via Stirling and Perth; So the trains which travel beyond Edinburgh will be making more station calls, but the end-to-end timings will be little altered.
3. An hourly train calling at King's Cross ↔ Stevenage - Grantham - York - Northallerton - Darlington - Durham - Newcastle; which gives Newcastle an additional hourly train to/from London
4. Every other hour there will be a train calling at King's Cross ↔ Peterborough - Retford - Doncaster - York; which gives York an additional 7 x trains per day to/from London; From Dec 14th one of these trains will be extended to/from Middlesbrough, but from May 15th the plan is for all of these trains to serve Middlesbrough
5. An hourly train calling at King's Cross ↔ Stevenage - Newark - Doncaster - Wakefield Westgate - Leeds; with extensions to Bradford Forster Square in every other hour and extensions to Harrogate in every other hour; This will give Bradford an additional six trains per day to/from London
6. An hourly train calling at King's Cross ↔ Peterborough - Grantham - Doncaster - Wakefield Westgate - Leeds
7. Every other hour there will be a train calling at King's Cross ↔ Peterborough - Grantham - Newark - Lincoln

Trains operated by Lumo

Lumo, which competes with LNER on the London ↔ Edinburgh route, will also be enhancing its timetable.

From December 14th two of its five trains per day on its King's Cross ↔ Newcastle - Morpeth - Edinburgh service will have their journeys extended to/from Glasgow via Falkirk; which will more than double the number of trains making direct journeys between Newcastle and Glasgow.
Lumo will also be introducing an additional King's Cross ↔ Newcastle service.

Plus from April there will be an entirely new route operated by Lumo which is; London Euston - Milton Keynes - Nuneaton - Crewe - Preston - Carlisle, Lockerbie - Motherwell - Whifflet (serving Coatbridge) - Greenfaulds (serving Cumbernauld) - Larbet - Stirling
Thus multiple locations in North Lanarkshire will be connected by direct train with multiple locations in England.
Stirling will also gain a second daily train from and to London.

From Dec 14th CrossCountry is expanding its service between Reading and York to give seven trains per day in each direction between the two cities.

• One additional train per day will be taking a Southampton - Winchester - Basingstoke ↔ Reading - Oxford - Leamington Spa - Birmingham New Street - Derby - Sheffield - Doncaster - York - Newcastle route; which provides Southampton with a new direct link to these locations north of Birmningham
• One additional train per day will be taking a Reading - Oxford - Leamington Spa ↔ Birmingham New Street - Derby - Sheffield - Doncaster - York route
  not all station calls have been included in these summaries

From December 14th, the Swiss national rail operator, SBB, is making changes to the long-distance trains which take the Jura Foot Line which runs along the western shores of Lake Biel and Lake Neuchâtel.

• A once per hour IC service is being restored to the Basel - Délemont - Moutier - Biel/Bienne - Neuchatel - Yverdon-les-Bains - Renens VD - Lausanne route; This will give a direct train service between Basel and Lake Geneva; transforming its access to/from Germany thanks to connections in and out of ICE trains at Basel SBB station; Connections to/from Geneve will be available at Renens VD.
• One of the two hourly IC trains which currently take a St Gallen - Zurich - Olten - Biel/Bienne - Neuchatel - Yverdon-les-Bains - Renens VD - Lausanne route is being taken off the timetable, to be replaced by an InterRegio services taking a Zurich - Olten - Biel/Bienne route and IC trains taking a St Gallen - Zurich route.