Train route to connect Eindhoven and Brussels in the works

The Netherlands and Belgium have agreed to develop a rail link between Eindhoven and Brussels to improve cross-border connections. More concrete plans should be finalised this summer.

Eindhoven-Brussels rail link to improve cross-border travel

Travelling between Eindhoven and Brussels could soon get a lot easier and quicker with a new train route. Outgoing Dutch State Secretary for Public Transport and the Environment Thierry Aartsen recently signed a declaration with the Belgian Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke to improve rail connections between the two cities.

"If you want to go from ASML to Brussels, the most important city on our continent, it takes three and a half hours and you have to change trains about four times, if the train even runs at all," said Aartsen in a debate earlier this year. Eindhoven is home to ASML, the largest computer chip machine manufacturers, while Brussels is the hub for European policy.

Currently, Dutch rail company NS offers trains to Brussels from Amsterdam and Rotterdam, while “you can’t go anywhere to Belgium by train between Breda and Maastricht”. 

Broader plans to boost Dutch-Belgian rail connections

The new connection will most likely run on existing rail tracks but new tracks may also need to be placed - the plans will be finalised later this year. Dutch and Belgian provinces, as well as infrastructure managers, will also be involved, reports RTL Nieuws.

The Eindhoven-Brussels route is part of broader plans between the Netherlands and Belgium to increase rail cooperation, not only in passenger transport but also for freight. The two countries are exploring a freight train connection between Ghent and Terneuzen.

Restoring the Iron Rhine, a freight connection between Antwerp and Germany through the Dutch province of Limburg, is also being considered. Additionally, the 3RX route is a possibility, which would allow freight trains and military transport to travel from west to east.