The European Railway Timetable for 2025: What is New
On 15 December, the new European railway timetable for 2025 came into effect. Let’s explore the biggest changes and new train services across Europe for 2025.
Railway timetable change
For European railway companies, the New Year doesn’t fall on 1 January but on the second Sunday of December, as that date marks the annual winter timetable change.
For what it’s worth, some railway companies also have a timetable change on the second Sunday of June, though nearly all major changes usually happen when the timetables change in December.
So what are the biggest changes this year across Europe that could be of importance to the avid rail traveller? Let’s have a look!
New trains in the European railway timetable for 2025
There are a couple of new train services making their debut in the new European railway timetable for 2025.
One of the most publicised new train connections is a daily direct ICE high-speed service linking Paris Gare de l’Est with Berlin Hbf via Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, and Frankfurt, with a journey time of around 8 hours.
It’s the first daytime train between Paris and Berlin in ages, complementing the already existing Nightjet sleeper service between the French and German capitals.
Sticking to Germany, there is also a new direct ICE train linking Munich with Amsterdam (via Stuttgart and Frankfurt), with a journey time of around 8 hours.
Another interesting new addition is the introduction of three daily EuroCity trains from Paris to Brussels via Mons, which use the classic railway line instead of the high-speed line.
Although you can travel from Paris to Brussels much faster by taking the direct high-speed Eurostar (in 1 hour 22 minutes compared to the nearly 3 hours the EuroCity takes), this offers a more affordable way to travel between the two cities, especially for those who book late and fail to secure a cheap saver fare for the Eurostar.
Other new additions to the European railway timetable for 2025 include a daily Barcelona-Toulouse high-speed AVE (summer only), four daily EuroCity trains linking Prague via Wroclaw to Gdansk and Gdynia, and two new Ukrainian night trains, one from Budapest to Kyiv and one from Chisinau to Lviv.
Another noteworthy addition is the extension of the Vienna-Munich Westbahn trains to Stuttgart.
ICE high-speed trains. ©AndyBTravels
The biggest changes in the European railway timetable for 2025
Besides all the new train services, there are also a couple of changes in the 2025 European railway timetable compared to this year’s.
Most notable are the changes to the international train service between Brussels and Amsterdam, as these trains will no longer stop at Amsterdam’s central station but will instead be moved to the secondary station of Amsterdam-Zuid.
Although this is inconvenient for most international rail travellers, the upside is that it comes with a significant increase in the number of daily departures between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Rail travellers should be aware that the Tauern Tunnel – a major railway artery in Austria – will be closed for the first half of 2025 due to engineering works, meaning some night trains will either be diverted or cancelled.
In the Baltics, the three national railway companies – LTG Link in Lithuania, Latvijas dzelzceļš in Latvia, and Elron in Estonia – have coordinated their timetables.
This means that you can now travel between Vilnius and Tallinn (or vice versa) in a single day, as the Vilnius to Riga train, Riga to Valga train, and Valga to Tallinn train now connect seamlessly with each other.
Trains at the railway station of Vilnius, Lithuania. ©AndyBTravels
What more to expect in 2025
It is expected that the new railway line between Novi Sad and Subotica will open for traffic in 2025, which should make the train journey between Belgrade and Budapest much easier, requiring only two changes in Subotica and Szeged.
A direct Budapest to Belgrade train – a connection sorely missed by European rail travellers – will likely only be reintroduced once track renovations along the entire line are completed, making journeys from Hungary to Serbia possible at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph).
Beograd Centar, the main railway station in Belgrade. ©AndyBTravels
Conclusion
The annual railway timetable change on the second Sunday of December has introduced some interesting new train connections and changes for 2025.
With new daytime trains between Paris and Berlin, Paris and Brussels, and Munich and Amsterdam, along with a significant increase in the number of trains between Brussels and Amsterdam, there is much to please rail travellers in Western Europe.
However, not everyone will be as happy with the demotion of the Brussels-Amsterdam train to the secondary station Amsterdam Zuid instead of the main station, Amsterdam Centraal.
Rail travellers in Central and Eastern Europe can look forward to a new EuroCity train connection between Prague, Wroclaw, Gdansk, and Gdynia, as well as new night trains in Ukraine linking Budapest with Kyiv and Lviv with Chisinau.
However, works on the Tauern Tunnel in Austria mean some major changes to train traffic, including the cancellation or diversion of many night trains.
