Our cover photo this week depicts a Serbian Soko train at Novi Sad. Photo ID 248896011 by Ivan Pancic from Dreamstime.com.
Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Snälltåget has announced a major expansion of its international services, confirming the launch of a new direct day train linking Hamburg, Copenhagen, Malmö and Stockholm from 4 May 2026. Trains will depart Hamburg and Stockholm each morning, offering a comfortable same-day journey between northern Germany and the Swedish capital.
The move comes amid steadily growing demand for cross-border rail travel. “We are seeing a significant increase in interest in train travel between Germany, Denmark and Sweden and have therefore decided to introduce day train connections that run directly from Hamburg to Stockholm,” says Marco Andersson, Snälltåget’s Commercial Manager. “The new connection complements our night train service and makes international train travel even more attractive – without changing trains in Copenhagen or Malmö.”
The northbound and southbound trains will follow an identical route, calling at Neumünster, Padborg, Kolding, Odense, København Syd, Malmö, Lund, Eslöv, Hässleholm, Alvesta, Nässjö, Linköping, Norrköping and Södertälje. The end-to-end journey time is around 11 hours, with Snälltåget’s well-known restaurant car Krogen available throughout the trip.
Alongside the new daytime service, Snälltåget will also increase the number of departures on its Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen – Stockholm overnight route during the 2026/27 low season. With the current contract for night train operations ending in summer 2026, the company plans to step up its own offering, with detailed timetables to be published in spring 2026.
Tickets for both the new Hamburg–Stockholm direct train and the existing night trains operating between 4 May and 1 November 2026 are already on sale.
Serbia/Hungary/Austria
A draft of the 2025/26 railway timetable briefly published on the website of the Railway Infrastructure of Serbia (IŽS) has offered the clearest indication yet of future services between Belgrade and Budapest. Although the document covered only the Serbian section of the route, it suggested that six trains per day will operate in each direction: three run by Srbija Voz using new high-speed units from Chinese manufacturer CRRC, and three by MÁV.
Railway enthusiasts were swift to spot that two MÁV services towards Belgrade – and two heading back to Budapest – carry the same train numbers currently used on the Budapest–Vienna corridor. When approached by the media Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) confirmed the plans stating that it was working with MÁV to introduce trains between Belgrade, Budapest and Wien in the future. It is possible trains may start as early as Spring 2026.
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