North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands are expanding their cross-border cooperation in rail transport. From December 2026, people from North Rhine-Westphalia can take the 13 regional express train directly to Eindhoven without having to change trains. Previously, the connection ended just across the border in Venlo, where passengers had to change trains in the direction of Eindhoven. Representatives of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) recently signed a corresponding contract with the future operator, the Dutch regional transport company Start Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of DB Regio.
The so-called Maas-Wupper-Express (RE13) is to be operated with the timetable change in December 2026. Together with the Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat from the neighboring country, the two local transport associations from NRW launched the tender for the new train connection. The trains are to run once an hour every day – including weekends – from Hamm via Hagen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach to Venlo and Eindhoven – and vice versa. “We want to get more people to take the bus and train. To do this, we need a reliable and flexible rail service,” said NRW Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens). 20 new electric vehicles are to be used on the route, which are suitable for the different power and train protection systems in both countries.