The Newslines from the August 2021 digital edition of the European Rail Timetable are reproduced here:-

WELCOME
The gradual return to normal service levels, particularly at a domestic level, has gathered pace across Europe, despite the recent rise in coronavirus infection rates in certain countries. Many international routes continue to operate with a reduced service, although a number of international trains are expected to be reinstated during the autumn. Travel restrictions remain in place between certain countries so readers should continue to consult official government advice before planning any international trips for the foreseeable future. We compile our own tables based on the latest information available with known service suspensions indicated by either a note and / or a shaded column.

The severe reduction in leisure travel opportunities during the pandemic has unsurprisingly resulted in a significant drop in sales revenue. We have managed to make crucial savings in a number of ways, including making use of the United Kingdom Government’s furlough scheme. The terms of the scheme does mean that we have not been able to make as many updates to our tables as we would do under normal circumstances, so please forgive us if you do come across information which is not fully up-to-date. Earlier in the pandemic we decided to cancel a number of editions but have reverted to monthly publication since the April 2021 edition. However, to make further cost savings we have made the decision to publish just one more printed edition during the current timetable period which will be the September 2021 issue. As a result, the current edition (August) and that for October will only be available in digital format this year. Printed timetable subscriptions will, of course, be automatically extended by one edition. We do apologise to all our readers for these further changes, but hope they will help us preserve the publication for years to come.

INTERNATIONAL
Engineering work is being carried out between Praha and Linz on certain dates during August, September and October meaning overnight service EN 50466/54067 Praha – Linz – Zurich will not be able to run when the work is taking place (Table 52).

Further to last month’s report, the Kulturzug / Pociag do Kultury / Culture Train services between Berlin and Wroclaw were retimed from July 9 (Table 58). The Friday departure from Berlin commences its journey from Ostkreuz station, then calls at Lichtenberg before heading on to Cottbus and Poland. Timings may be adjusted again from August 29.

The Alpen-Sylt Nachtexpress Westerland – Salzburg / Konstanz is now confirmed as running. Table 78 has been temporarily relocated to page 608 to accommodate the expanded format of the table.

GREAT BRITAIN
As a response to increasing passenger numbers, Greater Anglia has reinstated several services on the London to Norwich route (Table 200).

ITALY
Following the completion of electrification work between Conegliano and Belluno, the number of through services between Venezia and Belluno has increased. We have, therefore, decided to expand Table 603 to show these services in their entirety rather than being split across Tables 601 and 603 as before.

SPAIN
Following the introduction in June of an Alvia service between Madrid and Vigo via Ourense and Pontevedra, a second service has now been added, departing Madrid in the morning and returning from Vigo in the afternoon. As a result, Guillarei and Redondela de Galica no longer enjoy a direct service to Madrid but alternative connecting trains are provided to and from Ourense (Table 680).

From August 2 IC 697/694 Torre del Oro Barcelona – Sevilla will be extended to Cadiz, taking 12 hours 17 minutes (Tables 661, 668, 671, 672 and 678). To make it easier to view the service in its entirety, we have created a new Table 672a. However, at present we cannot fit it in the Spanish pages, so it has been temporarily located on page 608.

Travellers to Puebla de Sanabria will be pleased to learn that the new station of Sanabria Alta Velocidad opened on July 30 meaning they no longer have to travel 52 kilometres by bus via A Gudina (Table 680).

Several services have been reinstated between Madrid and Malaga from July 26 (Table 660).

From September 1 a new Media Distancia service will depart Jaen at 0540 and connect at Cordoba with an AVE service to Madrid Puerta de Atocha, arriving at 0910 (Table 661). The Three daily Jaen – Cordoba – Cadiz services have now resumed (Tables 661 and 671).

FINLAND
Finnish Railways has issued a revised timetable valid from August 16. Our Finnish tables have been updated with the new schedules so please refer to earlier editions for timings until August 15.

GERMANY
Engineering work at various locations between Hamburg and Berlin will affect all services along the route from September 11. Many services are diverted via Salzwedel, whilst others are partially replaced by bus. Special versions of Tables 830, 837, 840 and 841 will be found on pages 566 – 568 with full details of the amended schedules.

AUSTRIA
The local cross-border route between Retz and Znojmo is temporarily closed to rail traffic from August 2 to September 5 (Table 983). During this period a rail replacement bus service will operate between Zellerndorf (located eight kilometres south of Retz) and Znojmo with journey times extended by up to 22 minutes.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Regiojet has reinstated two train pairs between Praha and Budapest (Tables 1150 and 1250).

Following recent storm damage, the railway between Hodonin and Breclav is currently operating at reduced capacity. A special timetable has been implemented which is valid until further notice (Table 1162).

HUNGARY
The versions of Tables 1220 and 1225 on page 497 have been updated with the latest available information valid only until September 12. However, we believe the service shown in Table 1225 may ultimately resemble the summer version on page 562 during this period. Therefore, timings found on page 497 should be treated with caution.

Services in Table 1234 are operated by bus until September 29 owing to engineering work. Amended bus timings should be confirmed locally.

ROMANIA
Late information received from an unofficial Romanian source implies that Romanian Railways (CFR) are to modify or cancel around 30 trains from the end of July until, at least, the end of August. As this information had not been confirmed by CFR as we went to press, we have not made any changes to our Romanian tables this month. We will ensure confirmed alterations are included in our September edition.

TURKEY
The high-speed service in Table 1570 has been amended once again with further trains added. Bus connections are also now running again from Alanya and Antalya, connecting with high-speed trains at Konya.

A number of long-distance express services were reinstated from mid- July, including sleeper trains 12001/12002 between Ankara and Istanbul (Table 1570). Also running again is the 4 Eylul Mavi Tren (4 September Blue Train) between Ankara and the important eastern city of Malatya (Table 1575). This particular service was actually suspended several years prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Other long-distance journeys to eastern Turkey on the Dogu (Eastern), Guney (Southern) and Vangolu (Lake Van) routes are possible once again.

BEYOND EUROPE
VIA Rail of Canada reinstated a number of services along its Corridor route in July, returning the overall service to 54% of pre-pandemic frequencies. The Ocean between Halifax and Montre´ al is scheduled to restart on August 11 (Table 9000). Initially it will only operate once a week leaving Halifax on Wednesdays and Montreal on Sundays. The plan is to resume a three day a week service in October.

In the United States of America, AMTRAK has reinstated many services along the Northeast Corridor with additional Acela and Northeast Regional trains together with the return of a second Valley Flyer service (Table 9215). Other services which have resumed operation along their entire route include the Vermonter (Table 9220) and the Ethan Allen Express (Table 9210).

Our Indonesian tables have been fully updated for this edition (Tables 6200 to 6220). Please note that services in the South East Asia region are subject to alteration or cancellation owing to increasing coronavirus infection rates.

In New Zealand, Coastal Pacific and Tranzalpine schedules are now valid until May 2022 (Table 6505).

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