Rail transport in Europe

The special European Year of Rail six-coach train 'Connecting Europe Express' will start its journey from Lisbon on 2 September. Announcing the route and timetable of the train, the Commission said that it will travel across 26 countries in 36 days.

Ljubljana, 28 March – A EuroNight train taking passengers from Slovakia’s Bratislava via Vienna to Croatia’s coastal city of Split later this year will cross Slovenia, with stops in the Slovenian towns of Maribor, Celje, Sevnica and Dobova.

In a major milestone, the first train carrying goods from Turkey to China reached its destination on Dec. 19, Turkey's transport and infrastructure minister said.

"Announcing Turkey's power in logistics to the world from every city it passed through, the China Export Train is our victory in rail transport," Adil Karaismailoğlu wrote on Twitter.

The Silk Route train connecting Turkey to China passed through Ankara on Dec. 7.

This new connectivity project called Iron Silk Road or Central Corridor is delivering its first export cargo through railway from Turkey to China, which is a short, safe, economical, and climate-friendly corridor between the Asian and European continents.

The first train carrying export goods from Turkey to China departed from Istanbul on Dec. 4, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The train "will follow the Trans Caspian East-West Middle Corridor via Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, covering 8,693 kms, passing two continents, two seas, five countries and forwarding its freight to China in 12 days," according to the ministry statement.

Traveling by train in Bulgaria is not like walking in the park at all, according to an Euronews publication on European rail transport entitled 'A world of train': Where in Europe is rail travel a nightmare?

From France's high-speed TGVs to Moldova's Soviet-era services with wooden benches, Europe's train network is a patchwork of varying standards.

Turkey and Azerbaijan will jointly produce freight cars for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (BTK), the Turkish transportation and infrastructure minister said on Dec. 5.

The European Union will invest EUR 293.4 million from the Cohesion Fund for modern, faster and safer rail links between Plovdiv and Burgas, connecting some of Bulgaria's largest cities with one of the most important Black Sea ports, said the press office of the EC Representation in Bulgaria.

290.4 mln. euros will be invested in a modern, fast and safe rail links between Plovdiv and Burgas, connecting some of the largest cities in the country with the Black Sea, reported the press office of the EC Representation in Bulgaria.

EU targets investment to help build high-speed railway corridor Orient / East Mediterranean TEN-T (TEN-T), connecting Central to Southeast Europe.

Bulgaria could become a bridge for Chinese cargo and open the "New Silk Road"(One Belt One Road Initiative) to Central and Western Europe, said Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski in response to a question on the Trans-Caspian transport corridor, reports Bgnes.