Deutsche Bahn's first ICE high-speed train from Cologne arrived at Brussels Airport station this Monday morning. A truly landmark event for the airport which, for the first time since 2015, is once again directly connected to the international high-speed network.
Travellers from western Germany travelling with Brussels Airlines can thus combine their rail journey and flight on a single booking, thanks to the partnership between the airline and Deutsche Bahn.
The first ICE left Cologne station at 06:11. After stops in Aachen, Liège and Leuven, it arrived at Brussels Airport at 08:29. About five minutes later, the train continued its journey to its terminus, Antwerp Central.
Two return journeys are offered each day between Cologne and Antwerp. Trains coming from Cologne will arrive at Brussels Airport station at 08:29 and 16:28.
In the other direction, the trains running between Antwerp and Cologne will serve Brussels Airport at 11:29 and 14:29.
Deutsche Bahn ICE trains operate in cooperation with SNCB, which notably provides the drivers for this route.
" The arrival of this high-speed train is an important milestone in the development of Brussels Airport as an intermodal hub. We want to offer travellers various sustainable mobility options to enable them to travel to and from the airport efficiently, across national borders. Thanks to this connection to the high-speed rail network, passengers can already make part of their journey by train and benefit from simplified access to more than 180 destinations on our network. This new link is therefore an excellent example of future-proof mobility, thanks to collaboration between various partners, said Arnaud Feist, Chief Executive Officer, Brussels Airport.
Over 1,000 tickets already sold
Since the announcement of the partnership between Brussels Airlines and Deutsche Bahn in February, more than a thousand tickets have already been sold. The product allows travellers to make part of their journey by train with a single ticket combining the rail journey and the flight.
According to initial analyses, New York, Accra (Ghana) and Alicante are among the most popular destinations for this intermodal service.
Passengers benefit from a guaranteed connection in the event of a delay. They can also earn miles as part of the Lufthansa Group's Miles & More programme.
Tickets are available on Brusselsairlines.com, from travel agencies and via the other usual sales channels.« We hope this is just the beginning of a more extensive high-speed train network at Brussels Airport, with even more possibilities in the future to combine train and air travel smoothly and seamlessly. », said Nina Öwerdieck, Chief Financial Officer of Brussels Airlines.
" With the ICE service, we are connecting two major transport hubs: Cologne, as a gateway for international long-distance travel, and Brussels Airport, as an international hub for flight connections. », explained Michael Peterson, Deutsche Bahn board member for long-distance passenger transport.
In Cologne, passengers can easily continue their rail journey to the whole of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg or even Berlin.
