The federal government is allocating separate resources in the budget to encourage travel on an international night train. It concerns 2 million euros for next year, reports Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo).
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‘More trains, less flying’, the minister motivates the decision. He calls the interest in the means of transport very great. ‘More and more people want to travel more climate neutrally and are looking for an alternative to traveling by car or plane.’ He refers to a poll by the Federal Public Service Mobility, which shows that 62 percent of Belgians would be willing to travel by night train. ‘Sleeping in Brussels and waking up after a train ride in Vienna, Milan, Malmö or Barcelona: the train makes us dream.’
In recent years, however, it has become apparent that it is no easy task to (re)introduce new night lines. For example, for a connection with the Swedish Malmö no candidate owner found it. The train to Austria ran for half a year not.
The budget from the budget must serve to persuade potential investors to put the train on the tracks. ‘We decided together with the Belgian government to provide the night train with 2 million euros extra support, to encourage new providers to take the plunge and grant them direct support.’
Gilkinet points out that ‘several possible train providers’ have shown an interest in establishing a connection with Brussels, ‘both with the traditional train operators such as ÖBB and the new players such as European Sleeper’.
In order to attract the traveler, the minister wants to work on ‘better information and a simpler booking system for trains throughout Europe’.
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