Connecting Europe Express Departs Lisbon, Set to Arrive in Luxembourg on 5 October

Today, Thursday 2 September 2021, marks the departure of the Connecting Europe Express from Lisbon train station; the train is set to arrive in Luxembourg on 5 October 2021.

The Connecting Europe Express, a special train put together as part of the European Year of Rail 2021, will stop in more than 100 towns and cities during its five-week journey, before arriving in Paris on 7 October 2021. The train will stop in Bettembourg on 5 October and leave from the Central Station in Luxembourg on 6 October 2021.

European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, noted: "Rail has shaped our rich, common history. But, rail is also Europe's future, our route to mitigating climate change and powering economic recovery from the pandemic, as we build a carbon-neutral transport sector. Over the coming weeks, the Connecting Europe Express will become a rolling conference, laboratory and forum for public debate on how to make rail the transport mode of choice for passengers and businesses alike".

Various events are planned along the route to welcome the train at railway stations across Europe. Rail enthusiasts can also follow debates happening on board as well as conferences on European Union (EU) infrastructure policy and the role of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), that will be livestreamed via the event website from Lisbon, Bucharest, Berlin and Bettembourg.

The train is scheduled to arrive at Bettembourg station at 13:30 on Tuesday 5 October 2021. Upon its arrival, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Minister for Mobility and Public Works,François Bausch, will deliver a welcome address.

Later in the afternoon, the European Convention Center Luxembourg (ECCL) will host a conference, moderated by Kristian Schmidt (Director, Directorate Land, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission). There will be speeches from Marc Wengler (CEO of CFL), Deputy Prime Minister Francois Bausch and Péter Balázs (European Coordinator, North Sea-Mediterranean Core Network Corridor), as well as presentations and a Q&A session with speakers Alexander Ochs (CEO of Kombiverkehr), Nico van den Berg (Distribution Process Lead Europe, Electrolux) and Mitra Qurban (Director Public Policy, Deutsche Post DHL Group, DHL Brussels office). In the evening, speakers Harald Reisinger (Chief Information Officer, RailNetEurope), Carlo Borghini (Executive Director of the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking) and Kris Peeters (Vice-President of the European Investment Bank) will give presentations, followed by a Q&A session.

The Connecting Europe Express is the result of unique cooperation between the European Commission and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European rail operators, infrastructure managers and numerous other partners at EU and local level.