NEWSLINES

1 015 Following the introduction of the new pan-European timetable onDecember 12, we have been able to finalise most tables for thosecountries that we could only partially update in time for the Decemberedition (most notably Italy, Sweden and most countries in South EastEurope). We have also started the general process of rechecking ourtables, many of which were originally compiled using advance latest surge in coronavirus cases across Europe has seen theimplementation of further public health restrictions in many resultant uncertainty can cause difficulties for both railwayoperators and travellers alike. However, the overall travel situationappears to be much more promising than during earlier waves of thepandemic with near normal domestic rail services continuing to run inmost countries. International services are more likely to be affected byshort notice alterations so continue to check for the latest travel advicebefore undertaking international should note that we are generally showing the full plannedservice in our tables with known service suspensions marked with anote and / or a shaded column.

2 Although we do our best to keep ourtables up to date, in the current circumstances it is always advisable toconfirm your travel plans before embarking on journeys as alterations orcancellations can be implemented at short BRITAINA number of services have been temporarily suspended across thenetwork as rail companies struggle to cope with the increased level ofstaff absence following the latest surge in coronavirus cases. Forexample, ScotRail has recently announced that a reduced timetablewill be operating on some urban routes until at least January 28. Theaffected trains that appear in our tables have been for Wales has reinstated catering on various long-distanceservices. The complimentary first-class offer on its Cardiff to Holyheadroute has been revised to include drinks and light refreshments; the fullrestaurant car service will also be reinstated at some point soon, but anadditional supplement will be payable to enjoy the meals on has added an additional service in each direction betweenLondon and Edinburgh on Tuesdays to Saturdays (Table183).

3 INTERNATIONALE uropean Sleeperplans to introduce a new overnight service thissummer, running three days a week between Brussels and Praha viaAmsterdam and Berlin. Proposed timings are shown in a new additional summerTGVservices between Paris and Barcelona(train9715from Paris and9704from Barcelona) will start running twoweeks earlier than originally planned (Table13).FRANCET able273has been updated with confirmed timings. Unfortunatelysome of the services shown in last month s Winter edition have turnedout to be bus services which operate on demand so we have removedthese from the table. We have, however, added timings of the usefulbus connection between Villedieu les Poe les and Mont St Michel. Wehave also been able to add details of the bus service between Rennesand Mont St Michel which is operating once again (Table274).ITALYWe have managed to fully complete updates in our Italian in Table584no longer cross the French border to serve do not yet know if this is a permanent change or simply a temporaryone owing to the current coronavirus part of an ongoing project to make our Italian tables more userfriendly, we have made a number of alterations to the Italian been expanded to fully show high-speed trains toBolzano, Brescia and Venezia (which were previously shown in part onTables595,605and616respectively).

4 We also now show in the main body of the table rather than on a separate number of Genova Firenze RomaFAtrains have been reinstatedto Table610after being suspended for most of the past two years. Wehave added Firenze Campo di Marte to the station banks of this table tomake it easier to identify those services which operate that way (ratherthan via Livorno). The table also now features the Torino and Genova toBologna sub-table which was previously part of have added local trains between Prato and Bologna to Table614inorder to show how it is possible to travel from Firenze to Bolognawithout using high-speed or long-distance trains (for which supplementsare usually payable).Tables615,630and631have been amalgamated to form an enlargedTable615which we think improves the presentation of long-distancetrains from Milano and Bologna to Rimini, Bari, Taranto and services along the route are also shown within the same table,albeit in a sequence of separate Milano Bologna Roma and Trieste Venezia Roma will now be found in an expandedTable620, along with local trains between Venezia and Bologna thatwere previously shown in single daily Palermo Catania MessinaFrecciabiancatrain pair hasbeen introduced, details of which will be found in moreAVEservices in each direction between Madrid and Vale`nciawill be reinstated from January has been confirmed that the low-cost regional service between Berlinand Hamburg via Salzwedel has been permanently withdrawn.

5 Theservice was introduced in April 2014 and offered one or two journeys aday in each direction as a cheaper alternative to service was suspended during the pandemic and more recentplans to reinstate the trains were hampered by the diversion of fastservices via Salzwedel for a period of three months towards the end oflast year. As DB Regio has now made the decision to discontinue theservice, we have removed the dedicated panel in Table841. FrequentICEandECservices between Berlin and Hamburg are shown in Table840and there are also a small number of low-cost FlixTrain optionsbetween the cities which will be found in expected extension of certain services between Warszawa andTerespol across the Belarusian border to Brest from January 1, did notmaterialise (Table1050).CZECH REPUBLICWe have been able to add details of connecting buses between Brnoand Blansko to Table1151.

6 Please note that most buses stop outsidethe Hotel Grand on Benes ova tr . (Benes ova Street) rather than thestation revised version of the Hungarian final was received just before wewent to press with the December edition. This has resulted in a numberof minor alterations across the Hungarian section which have beenincluded in this to engineering work taking place from February 1 to 28, trains347/346 Dacia-Corvinare diverted and will be attached to trains405/404 Corvin, running via Pu spo klada ny, Biharkeresztes and Oradea toan amended schedule. A connecting train will run between Szolnok andBe ke scsaba but there will be no replacement service to and fromLo ko sha za. It also appears that the portion via Timis oara will not runduring this new high-speed timetable commenced on December 12 whichincludes the addition of another train pair between Ankara and Konyasince the previous update on October 16.

7 Table1570has been fullyupdated with the revised to ongoing engineering works,Ada Ekspresiservices are currentlyonly running between Gebze and Adapazarl(Table1570).It would appear that Sivas station has finally reopened after four yearsof diversions between Hanlland Bostankaya (Table1575).TheTuristik Dog u Ekspresi(Tourist Eastern Express) between Ankaraand Kars (trains22016/42015) has been reinstated, once againproviding an alternative to the classicDog u Ekspresi(Table1575).CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 NEWSLINES3601 ROMANIAT rain pair687/686 Szamosfrom Satu Mare to Pu spo klada ny (withthrough cars to Budapest and Wien) is extended to run from and to thelarger city of Baia Mare. Train687departs Baia Mare at 0800 with train686ending its journey at 2208 (Table1625).Long distance train pair1692/1693 Timis oara Bucures ti Nord (viaCraiova) have been replaced by international trains348/349inamended timings and thus provide a new through service from and toArad.

8 Train348departs Arad at 0500, Timis oara at 0605 and arrivesBucures ti Nord at 1600. Return train349leaves Bucures ti Nord twohours earlier than before, at 1345, arriving Timis oara 2351 and Arad0048 (Table1630).RUSSIALast month we reported on the resumption ofAllegroservices betweenSt Peterburg and Helsinki, albeit only available to Russian and Finnishcitizens. We have now been informed that only two train pairs willoperate initially, rather than the full service, and so Table1910has beenupdated (continued from page 5)Printed timetables published by European rail TimetableOrder on-line l e p h o n e 01832 270198 each or 75 for all four editionsEuropean rail Timetable SubscriptionKeep up to date with the latest changes to European rail schedules with a page 12 for details of our various subscription options Order on-line +44 (0)1832 270198 (Monday to Friday 1000 1600)