Between Aachen in Germany and Liège in Belgium you can travel on board of direct trains along 3 routes served by 4 companies. In this video we’ll take the most affordable option what’s also the fastest regional train along this route. This is on board of the Regional Express train RE29 operated by the Belgium railway company SNCB (/NMBS). This train also serves many smaller towns in between.
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Liege – Maastricht – Aachen (Arriva): https://youtu.be/JJPmMXuyarg
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▬▬▬▬▬▬ VIDEO CONTENT ▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Aachen Hauptbahnhof railway station review
03:50 Regional train Aachen – Netherlands & other trains on the same route
05:04 Like, comment & subscribe
05:41 Exterior local train Aachen, Germany – Liège, Belgium
06:57 Interior SNCB/NMBS type i10 carriage local train Aachen, Germany – Liège, Belgium
08:49 Interior SNCB/NMBS type i11 carriage 1st class local train Aachen, Germany – Liège, Belgium
10:40 Interior SNCB/NMBS type i11 carriage 2nd class local train Aachen, Germany – Liège, Belgium
13:35 Route map (our train vs other trains between the same destinations)
14:12 Views from the train (and some more information about tickets)
20:33 End of this trip report local train Germany – Belgium
Trip report 217
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17 Comments
deze regionale Belgische trein is vele male comfortabeler dan de break die op vele ic verbindingen word in gezet in België, ja de raampjes kunnen open in de Break, maar erg comfortabel zijn de stoelen niet.
Excellent video friend
Sinds wanneer zijn er stopcontacten in de i11? Heb deze nog nooit gezien en zit er bijna elke week in tussen gent en luik😅
I love these cheap cross-border train videos!
17:19 vanaf de HLE17 (BR188) word geleverd voor de belgishe spoorwegen zal de oostende-eupen waarschijnlijk doorgetrokken worden tot keulen
18:40 er zijn 4 centrale stations in belgie: brussel-centraal, Antwerpen-centraal, charleroi-centrale en verviers-centrale
Absolutely infuriating that DB charges double for a Belgian train. To me that seems worse that NMBS messing with the schedule. And in fact I think it's quite logical the way it is scheduled, you can easily transfer from either Eupen or Oostende (brussel) to Aachen or Maastricht. The Arriva train would never be competitive, it takes 1h43 whereas the direct Belgian train takes only 43 minutes. That's not to say NMBS is not sometimes anticompetitive, but I think in no way does the current schedule reflect that.
The plug sockets being added to the I11 coaches is a part of a modernisation programme of the I11 and M6 coaches (you can find modernised M6 coaches with plug sockets being added, the lighting changed from halogen tubes to LED, and a livery similar to the M7 with the big class numbers). I think the AM 96 EMU's might also be going through that programme though I'm not sure. However, there is a proposal of reinstating the Oostende to Cologne IC train when the new HLE 17 Traxx 3 locos will enter service, as they're capable of running in Germany and the Netherlands (they will also be put on the Eurocity to Rotterdam eventually). As for the Belgians not wanting to cooperate with other countries, I don't think that's true because at the next timetable change, daily Eurocity trains between Brussels and Paris operated by SNCB will enter service, after a succesful trial period during the Olympics. I think the reason with Arriva is mostly due to hostility from worker unions about allowing a private company on a regional line, although it has been sorted since the Arriva train has Belgian train guards on board between Liège and Maastricht
Shouldn’t the screens be in German as well passing through Hergenrath according to de taalwetgeving?
You do a wonderful job in your videos.
You check all the boxes – accessibility, ticket pricing, comparing the different types of rail carriages on a train.
Keep up the good work.
Informatie ℹ️ in meerdere talen dan moet je eerst de 3 officiële talen gebruiken en dan pas Engels . Weet ook dat volgorde ook van belang is welke taal eerst komt, Engels altijd als laatste.
Link naar YouTube filmpje waar ze uitleggen waarom informatie enkel in Brussel eerst in Frans is of eerst in Nederlands.
https://youtu.be/Zx2H7H1Sd1U?si=XqelTBDiDx04VlBB
Excellent explanation, I'd consider Frisian as language at the Arriva ticketmachine.
Het Euregioticket is zo'n mooi product, dat dit eens wat meer gepromoot zou mogen worden. Ik heb het idee dat sowieso promotie van het OV erg achterblijft.
The introduction of this train was potentially influenced by the SNCB politics, but another explanation is this :
Because of the different train securitysystems, and also the much lower demand, it was not practical so send the large bery long and frequent Ostend-Eupen train through to Aachen. So many years ago the old ‘classic’ rolling stock was (re)used on this line. These old trains looked old and ridiculous from the outside, bit were not bad on the inside, certainly not in first class.
The NMBS wanted to replace this old rolling stock but they needed their I10 amd I11 dariages desperately on other lines. Only when the M7 rolling stock started to arrive more rapidly, it freed up I11s for this German bound line.
So I’m not so sure this shorter line between Liege and Aachen was involved in the heated start of the ‘other’ line, now managed by Arriva. But you are right that the introduction of that line was a difficult road. On that topic however, while the SNCB might have been a hesitant partner, Arriva is not without blame in the preparation of this project.
On a side note : Verviers is definitely not an economically thriving city. It has had a great past, when it was one of Europes largest centers for cloth/tissue production, but these days are 50 to 75 years begind us. The present Berviers has some ‘vivid’ quarters and some youngsters want to spend time in the big neighbouring city of Liege. And these youngsters can then be found in this train, certainly later in the evening. While there is no big problem, this is one of these trains where keeping a very good eye on your belongings is important.
Comcerning ticket prices on this line: the biewers of this video migjt also consider the Euregio ticket which gives unlimited bus and train travel in the whole of the Euregion (but not on the highspeedlines). And if bought and used for the weekend, the same low tarif is valid for the whole family(one ticket for instance makes 4 people travel).
That train is a Intercity train, like the ones that use to run from Maastricht to Oostende via Brussels, some time ago. But that service ceased to run after several years… As you say the Beglians and Dutch seem to have problems getting along. Also the new Fast Tram between Maastricht and Hasselt failed. That was a shame.