Thought it would be fit to create a thread to discuss the many upcoming changes in the European Railway Timetable 2020, starting on the 15th of December 2019.
One such development I noticed is what appears to be a direct service between Praha hl.n. and Minsk-Pass, that's Czechia to Belarus! It's not showing up on planners yet as a direct train, but yet both of the first two legs are indicated as now carrying a sleeper car, and the last leg into Belarus is denoted with the operator České Dráhy, so it seems pretty convincing. All in all it's a 18h45m journey, running daily via Ostrava, Bohumín, Katowice, Warszawa, Terespol, and Brest. There is also a return journey running over the same route, with departures from Minsk at around midnight. Here's a screenshot of an itinerary:
There is also a new train from Graz (Austria) to Przemyśl (Poland), which is a short journey away from the Ukrainian border. This journey is about 12.5hr long.
On top of the trains I found above, long-distance trains will now be diverted, and avoid Auschwitz, instead choosing to travel via Katowice.
An expansion of OeBB Nightjet to Brussels is also set to take place, with the train running via Duesseldorf and Aachen.
Does anyone have any more information on the sleeper to Minsk? Or of course, any more interesting changes from this timetable to share?
One such development I noticed is what appears to be a direct service between Praha hl.n. and Minsk-Pass, that's Czechia to Belarus! It's not showing up on planners yet as a direct train, but yet both of the first two legs are indicated as now carrying a sleeper car, and the last leg into Belarus is denoted with the operator České Dráhy, so it seems pretty convincing. All in all it's a 18h45m journey, running daily via Ostrava, Bohumín, Katowice, Warszawa, Terespol, and Brest. There is also a return journey running over the same route, with departures from Minsk at around midnight. Here's a screenshot of an itinerary:
There is also a new train from Graz (Austria) to Przemyśl (Poland), which is a short journey away from the Ukrainian border. This journey is about 12.5hr long.
On top of the trains I found above, long-distance trains will now be diverted, and avoid Auschwitz, instead choosing to travel via Katowice.
An expansion of OeBB Nightjet to Brussels is also set to take place, with the train running via Duesseldorf and Aachen.
Does anyone have any more information on the sleeper to Minsk? Or of course, any more interesting changes from this timetable to share?