Aachen - Liege local service from Dec 23

[Alfie1014]

Posted on a Interrail Facebook page and confirmed by looking at search engines https://hafas.bene-system.com/bin/t....12.23&station_evaId=8000001&station_type=dep
The local Aachen to Spa service is extended to Liege G and the hours of operation also slightly extended (17 train pairs rather than 15) from the December timetable change. Also it is to be loco and (4) coaches rather than the standard elderly 2 car EMUs operating today. A useful (if slower alternative) to the Eurostar and unreliable ICE services. Longer term plans include extension to both Brussels and Koln (recalling the days of the Oostende - Koln hauled trains of yore!)

 

[30907]

A welcome development, though my recent trip on said route wasn't as uncomfortable as I had remembered - it helped being in 1st

The service is actually extended to Liege-St-Lambert which no doubt makes sense commercially (and operationally, given the lack of DC platforms at Aachen), but as a result the connection to/from the IC at Guillemins is slack and at Aachen it just misses REs to/from Köln and Düsseldorf.
Compared with changing at Verviers as at present it's also 10min slower

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Yeah the extension is good but the connections are much worse than before

 

[rvdborgt]

This change means travel to Germany via Welkenraedt for people from west of Liège takes half an hour longer than currently.

 

[Fragezeichnen]

The most sensible solution would be for the Intercity service that links Ostende with Brussels and Liege to continue on the main line to Aachen, instead of turning off shortly before the border on to a branch line and terminating at Eupen, approximately 8% of the size of Aachen.
Unfortunately it seems no-one is brave enough to anger the residents of Eupen by replacing their express train with a shuttle service.
So now we have at least this extra all stops service to Liege. It's something, but clearly far from ideal.

 

[AdamWW]

The most sensible solution would be for the Intercity service that links Ostende with Brussels and Liege to continue on the main line to Aachen, instead of turning off shortly before the border on to a branch line and terminating at Eupen, approximately 8% of the size of Aachen.
Unfortunately it seems no-one is brave enough to anger the residents of Eupen by replacing their express train with a shuttle service.
So now we have at least this extra all stops service to Liege. It's something, but clearly far from ideal.

Rather than comparing the population of Eupen and Aachen maybe it's better to compare the number of people wanting to travel from the two places to elsewhere in Belgium?

It seems quite possible that more people want to travel domestically than into/out of Germany.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

No, it's purely political reasons because Eupen is the capital of the German-speaking community of Belgium. It is planned long term to extend the IC that terminates in Welkenraedt to Cologne, presumably also letting it run on weekends. So there would be both an IC from Brussels as well as Eupen.

 

[DovaModaal]

The most sensible solution would be for the Intercity service that links Ostende with Brussels and Liege to continue on the main line to Aachen, instead of turning off shortly before the border on to a branch line and terminating at Eupen, approximately 8% of the size of Aachen.
Unfortunately it seems no-one is brave enough to anger the residents of Eupen by replacing their express train with a shuttle service.

Some small details:

• you need to buy other rolling stock (more expensive) that supports the German 15kV power and signaling.

or

• buy other locs and use existing single-level I11 coaches that have too little capacity for the Belgian main lines like Oostende-Brussels, and therefore are not welcome in the Brussels North-South connection because that is saturated

 

[Fragezeichnen]

Aachen Hauptbahnhof has platform tracks which can supply 3kV DC, so support for 15 kV AC power is not needed. The line across the border is also dual-equipped with both PZB and TBL/Memor(and will eventually be equipped with ETCS), so support for German signalling systems is not needed either.
Under these arrangements, the HLE18/19 which are used on the Ooostende - Eupen trains already run to Aachen to haul the Nightjet to/from Brussels.

There remains the question of the double deck carriages, but since these are similar to the ones formerly used on german regional services to Aachen I don't see why that would present a problem.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

DB Netz wants to move the voltage change to the exact border point in a few years' time, so any train would need dual-voltage. And I believe the Belgian loading gauge is slightly larger than the German one

 

[rvdborgt]

buy other locs

NMBS have ordered such locomotives:

HLE 17 - Wikipedia

nl.wikipedia.org

They'll probably first run to Breda.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Ah, for the days you could be banked out of Aachen and about an hour later banked out of Liege.

 

[rvdborgt]

Ah, for the days you could be banked out of Aachen and about an hour later banked out of Liege.

... and stand at the rear end of the train and wave at the banking locomotive driver
In Autumn, some trains are still banked out of Liège.

 

[zero]

Been to Eupen several times by trains and buses and the city and trains were always deserted... not so on the local services to Aachen.

 

[Thames99]

The elderly Aachen - Spa emus are something of an experience to travel on. Second class has uncomfortable bench seats, but first class has soft and comfortable seats rather like the faded glory of armchairs in an old country house. Well worth paying the extra!

 

[MarcVD]

The elderly Aachen - Spa emus are something of an experience to travel on. Second class has uncomfortable bench seats, but first class has soft and comfortable seats rather like the faded glory of armchairs in an old country house. Well worth paying the extra!

There are less than 30 such EMUs still working on the Belgian railways today. More are taken out of service every week. If you like them, you should make one last trip with them while this is still possible. In addition to those serving the Spa - Aachen local, the remaining ones are all operating around Charleroi. Do it before it's too late...

 

[30907]

The elderly Aachen - Spa emus are something of an experience to travel on. Second class has uncomfortable bench seats, but first class has soft and comfortable seats rather like the faded glory of armchairs in an old country house. Well worth paying the extra!

Indeed. Going 1st on them, as I have mentioned, certainly changed my opinion of the AM56, but they are long overdue for replacement.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I remember the old EMUs you're all talking about. They were old even when I lived in Bruxelles during the mid-2000s!

 

[duesselmartin]

Been to Eupen several times by trains and buses and the city and trains were always deserted... not so on the local services to Aachen.

Aachen is certainly the place to shop for Eupen residence. Also many work in the Aachen region. There are close connections to Germany.
Yes, Eupen is sleepy.

 

[MarcVD]

Indeed. Going 1st on them, as I have mentioned, certainly changed my opinion of the AM56, but they are long overdue for replacement.

AM56 is this. They are long gone. The one serving on the Spa-Aachen shuttle are AM66.

 

[rvdborgt]

Been to Eupen several times by trains and buses and the city and trains were always deserted... not so on the local services to Aachen.

I don't dispute that there should be an IC service to Aachen, but if there are e.g. 50 passengers in a train with 12 carriages, then it seems quite deserted indeed. The same number of people in a 2-carriage EMU looks quite different.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Posted on a Interrail Facebook page and confirmed by looking at search engines https://hafas.bene-system.com/bin/t....12.23&station_evaId=8000001&station_type=dep
The local Aachen to Spa service is extended to Liege G and the hours of operation also slightly extended (17 train pairs rather than 15) from the December timetable change. Also it is to be loco and (4) coaches rather than the standard elderly 2 car EMUs operating today. A useful (if slower alternative) to the Eurostar and unreliable ICE services. Longer term plans include extension to both Brussels and Koln (recalling the days of the Oostende - Koln hauled trains of yore!)

Surely it's not "extended" but diverted. So what happens to the Spa service?

The elderly Aachen - Spa emus are something of an experience to travel on. Second class has uncomfortable bench seats, but first class has soft and comfortable seats rather like the faded glory of armchairs in an old country house. Well worth paying the extra!

Yes - the first time I used this for a cheaper way to get over the border, I was charmed by the "characterful" rolling stock... And surprised that it got me all the way...

 

[MarcVD]

Yes - the first time I used this for a cheaper way to get over the border, I was charmed by the "characterful" rolling stock... And surprised that it got me all the way.way.

As you seem to like it :

 

[30907]

Surely it's not "extended" but diverted. So what happens to the Spa service?

It becomes Spa-Verviers only, hourly, same timings, connecting very well at Pepinster for Liege.

 

[duesselmartin]

Beautyful video in the snow. Thank you for sharing.

 

[valedave]

It becomes Spa-Verviers only, hourly, same timings, connecting very well at Pepinster for Liege.

If I remember correctly Pepinster is a "wedge station" as the Germans say (not aware of the English term, if there is one), which makes connections very easy indeed.

Not so great in the opposite direction (Spa-Aachen), with a 45-minute wait in Pepinster or Verviers.

 

[30907]

If I remember correctly Pepinster is a "wedge station" as the Germans say (not aware of the English term, if there is one), which makes connections very easy indeed.

V-shaped?

Not so great in the opposite direction (Spa-Aachen), with a 45-minute wait in Pepinster or Verviers.

A major traffic flow

 

[duesselmartin]

Where do most pax actually travel to? I assume Liegè?