THE long-awaited Three Nations Train service, linking Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, will finally start running on June 9. Arriva Netherlands will operate the service between Aachen, Germany, Heerlen and Maastricht, the Netherlands, and Liège Guillemins in Belgium in partnership with DB Regio and Belgian National Railways (SNCB).
Arriva will operate eight tri-voltage Stadler Flirt 3 EMUs on the 78km route, the first time that Stadler trains will operate passenger services on the Belgian rail network. The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) recently approved extending the area of use for the Flirt 3 trains to Belgium.
The new service was originally due to start in December 2018. However, Belgian national safety authority DVIS required the Flirt 3 EMUs to be fitted with ETCS onboard signalling even though the line between the Dutch-Belgian border at Visé and Liège is not equipped with ETCS.
Arriva is already operating between Aachen and Maastricht and SNCB between Maastricht and Liège and this arrangement will continue until the new service starts on June 9.
SNCB has started driver training and the company’s conductors will also work the trains between Maastricht and Liège. Dutch OV smart cards and applicable tariffs will be valid on the Belgian part of the route for the first time.
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