First ever direct passenger rail service between Prague and Brussels

BRUSSELS – The ALLRAIL member operator European Sleeper launched the first ever passenger rail service between Prague and Brussels. 

Furthermore, it is a night train, with both sleeper coaches (both couchettes & private compartments) and standard class seating. Last but not least, it is Open Access 100% commercially driven, meaning that this train operates without PSO taxpayer subsidy.

Here we see an example of what could happen across Europe if there were to be a genuine single market, namely: Entrepreneurs who start a new cross-border passenger rail service that has never been offered before .

ALLRAIL’s Policy Officer Salim Benkirane is a strong proponent of European integration. He is on the first train from Prague, which will arrive in Brussels in just over one hour from now. He says: “Next month, it will be 20 years since the Czech Republic (CZ) entered the EU. Therefore, it is great to be on the first-ever direct rail service between CZ and Belgium, the country that hosts the EU Commission and the European Council.”

ALLRAIL advocates for a faster harmonisation of the fragmented EU Member State railway systems. This is so that a genuine Single European Railway Area can come about and enable more new cross-border services like that of European Sleeper.

The article First ever direct passenger rail service between Prague and Brussels first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.