High-speed rail in Belgium

Night trains have made a comeback in Europe thanks to their low-carbon footprint, but after years of neglect, the renaissance has had a bumpy ride.

Operators admit that the trains are outdated - with passengers facing the occasional delays, technical problems or malfunctioning toilets - while companies compete in an overloaded network.

A group of companies, including British transport group Mobico (formerly National Express), plans to launch a high-speed train service to rival Eurostar using the Channel Tunnel.

"There has been discussions in a group of industry parties," a source close to the matter told AFP, confirming information first reported by the Financial Times.

By April 2021, it had completely melted, totaling 992 billion tons of ice lost in its 2,485-mile journey since it broke off in 2017

Countries in Europe on Dec. 23 began easing travel bans on Britain put in place to contain a new strain of COVID-19 that U.K. officials believe spreads faster, as the U.S. said it had now vaccinated one million people.

France and Britain will reopen cross-border travel on Dec. 23 after a snap 48-hour ban to curb the spread of a new coronavirus variant threatened U.K. supply chains.

Much of Europe swiftly banned British travelers and U.K. freight entering their nations after the discovery of a more transmissible variant of COVID-19 in Britain.

Belgium on Aug. 31 unveiled plans for a controversial system to collect data on all airline passengers, as well as international train and ferry travellers, in the wake of a foiled attack on a train running between Belgium and Paris.

A gunman who opened fire on a train in northern France Friday was restrained by two U.S. Marines before he could do any further damage, according to initial reports of the incident.

At least two victims have serious injuries, and another suffered multiple gunshot wounds, a spokesman for the SNCF (National Society of French Railways) said Friday.