Innotrans is the world’s largest train fair for the railway industry – it happens every two years in Berlin, and this year it’s on 24-27 Setpember. And yes, I organised my move from Germany from France accordingly – to be able to go before departing Berlin for good!

But it would be a bit boring to just go to a trade fair when there are borders to investigate and special trains to take. So this is my Innotrans schedule.

Thursday 19 September
#CrossBorderRail extra day to get from Berlin to Brussels. But rather than going the regular way via Köln I am going via Emmerich-Zevenaar and Eindhoven-Neerpelt to check out two interesting borders I have not yet visited in my project. This day is mapped here.

The borders in detail:
Emmerich 🇩🇪 – Zevenaar 🇳🇱
Former 750mm gauge tramway – Emmerich 🇩🇪 – ‘s Heerenberg 🇳🇱
Achel 🇧🇪 – Borkel en Schaft 🇳🇱

Friday 20 September
Lobby meetings in Brussels, and a speech at ZN’s #EUInfluencer event.

Saturday 21 September
#CrossBorderRail Extra Day from Bruxelles to Terneuzen. This day is mapped here. The most interesting one of these borders is the currently freight-only line Gent to Terneuzen, but given that Terneuzen has no railway connection to the rest of Netherlands, would there be opportunities for passenger trains here?

The borders in detail:
Sint-Gillis-Waas 🇧🇪 – Hulst 🇳🇱
Zelzate 🇧🇪 – Sas van Gent 🇳🇱
Former 1000mm tramway – Zelzate 🇧🇪 – Sas van Gent 🇳🇱

Monday 23rd September
Bruxelles Midi – Berlin Hbf on board the special Europe’s Rail train to Innotrans.

Tuesday 24th September
Full day at the Innotrans trade fair in Berlin.

Wednesday 25th September
Panellist at the Trainline symposium InnoTrans 2024 from 18:00 at Haus Ungarn (not the main venue) – more details here.

Want to say hello, or come along for one of the extra days? Let me know!