The SNCB observes an ever stronger craze for international train trips. Since 2019, reservations via SNCB-International.be have jumped by more than 50 %. Last summer, 1.5 million tickets were sold, and the figures for July and August 2025 promise to be comparable, despite increased competition due to Euro 2024 and the Paris Olympics.
Top destinations
In first position, we find France, mainly for the cities of Lille, Paris, Marne-la-Vallée (Disneyland Paris), Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg, Rennes and Avignon.
In second position, there is Germany, especially for the cities of Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, Frankfurt and Berlin.
Third place in the ranking is occupied by the United Kingdom, and London in particular.
4. The Netherlands, 5. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 6. Switzerland, 7. Italy, 8. Austria, 9. Denmark, 10. Spain.
Expanding offer
The SNCB strengthens its network: in collaboration with SNCF, Ouigo links were launched to Paris from € 10 per journey.
In addition to regional connections to Roosendaal and Maastricht, the rail offer between Belgium and the Netherlands has been considerably strengthened since December 2024, now reaching a total of 64 trains per day. In collaboration with the operator NS, the SNCB offers two new products: the Eurocity Direct allows you to connect Brussels-Midi to Amsterdam-Zuid in just two hours, at the rate of 16 round trips and returns per day. The Eurocity, meanwhile, links Brussels to Rotterdam via Brussels Airport (Zaventem), at the rate of 16 round-trip trains per day. Since the start of the year, 2 million tickets have already been sold for these three new international rail links to Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Today, the SNCB offers no less than 6,000 destinations in 14 European countries. Among these, more than 1,000 are less than six hours from Brussels, without or with a single correspondence.
And this offer will continue to develop, with the ambition to reach up to 8,000 destinations by 2030.
This continuously expanded offer confirms the position of Brussels-Midi station as an international hub in the heart of Europe, where nearly 300,000 travelers take the train every week.
Travel green and clever
At a time when preservation of the planet is an essential issue, the train is a sustainable and environmentally friendly mode of transport. For the same journey, a train traveler emits on average 14 times less CO2 than a motorist.
The train is also particularly comfortable. It makes it possible to join many stations located in the heart of major European cities. Traveling by train is to join the city center directly of its destination, without having to go to the station several hours before departure.
The train is an almost “door to door” trip in complete safety and tranquility, during which you can extend your legs or stretch your legs when you want, relax, read, rest, eat … while contemplating the landscapes of the regions crossed.
