Double decker trains by CFL could take passengers from Luxembourg to Cologne as early as 2026 if repairs and upgrades to the track run on time Photo: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne

Double decker trains by CFL could take passengers from Luxembourg to Cologne as early as 2026 if repairs and upgrades to the track run on time Photo: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne

A direct train connection every two hours between Luxembourg and Cologne in Germany should return in 2026.

There is currently only one service per day that takes passengers to Cologne directly--a regional connection that takes 3.5 hours--or they must connect via Koblenz, which takes roughly the same amount of time.

But the Volksfreund newspaper in Trier on Monday said that a direct link should make a comeback in 2026.

The director of the regional SPNV Nord rail network, Thorsten Müller, told the newspaper that repairs of flood damage on its track should make the line via the Eifel region accessible for the first time end of this year.

The electrification of the track should then conclude in 2026, paving the way for trains from Luxembourg to go all the way to Cologne via Trier using the CFL Kiss double decker carriages. Services are set to depart every two hours.

An existing contract for diesel trains on the Eifel route meant it would be unlikely for electric trains to depart prior to 2034. However, Müller in Monday’s Volksfreund article said the CFL trains should depart three years from now.

The journey should take around two hours once the works are complete.