The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has announced plans to launch a new direct high-speed rail service between Antwerp and the German cities of Aachen an Cologne. The new service will also call at Brussels Airport in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) and the Flemish Brabant city of Leuven. Deutsch Bahn has already submitted an application with the Belgian Federal Transport Regulation Agency and hopes to launch the new service in autumn 2026.
If it is given the thumbs up by the regulator, the new service will run twice daily in both directions from September 2026. In addition to linking Antwerp with Aachen and Cologne, the new service will call at Brussels Airport, Leuven and the Walloon city of Liège. In Deutsche Bahn’s proposals trains would leave Antwerp at 11am and 7pm, arriving 2.5 hours later in Cologne. Trains from Cologne bound for Antwerp will leave at around 6:30am and 2:30pm.
Between Antwerp and Leuven the trains will used the standard specification track. They then will use the high-speed rail track onwards to Germany.
There are already 8 ICE services between Germany and Belgium each day. These run between various German cities to Brussels South. They also call at Liège and Brussels North en route.