The Municipality of The Hague in South Holland is stepping up its campaign for a direct international train connection with Brussels in Belgium, backed by a broad coalition of businesses, international organisations, universities and regional authorities.
The municipality signed a manifesto on Wednesday 7 October 2026, calling for the restoration of a direct rail link between the Dutch city and the Belgian capital. At the same time, The Hague is launching a market consultation, asking railway companies how they could operate a direct service.
“The ambition is clear and the support is broad,” Mayor Jan van Zanen said in the manifesto. “A direct train connection between The Hague and Brussels connects not only two cities, but also the people, organisations and ideas that move Europe forward.”
The campaign brings together public authorities, companies, international organisations, knowledge institutions and other regional partners. The manifesto lists organisations including Leiden University, Siemens, Shell, NN, Europol, Protect.ngo, the Netherlands Atlantic Association, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UNICRI and the Municipality of Rotterdam among its supporters. The Hague says more organisations are expected to join.
Strong support from international organisations
The case for the connection is particularly strong because of The Hague’s role as an international centre for peace, justice and security. Hundreds of international organisations are based in the city, including Europol, while the city also hosts numerous businesses, universities and other institutions with European and international links.
Europol says its staff frequently travel to Brussels to cooperate with European institutions. In a letter included in the manifesto, the agency says its staff made approximately 1,200 train journeys to Brussels in 2024. It also hosts more than 9,000 meetings and conferences a year involving external participants, many of whom arrive by train. Europol argues that a direct service would facilitate more environmentally friendly travel and further strengthen The Hague’s role as a European law-enforcement hub.
The International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) likewise supports restoring the direct connection, saying it would improve accessibility between two cities that host important regional and international organisations while providing a more sustainable means of travel. IDLO welcomes the municipality’s ambition to restore the route by 2028.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UNICRI’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics have also endorsed the project. OCHA says better rail connectivity would facilitate cooperation between international organisations, governments, NGOs and other partners. UNICRI describes safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable public transport as essential to international accessibility and cooperation.
A sustainable alternative to flying
The Hague presents the proposed service as more than a transport project. The manifesto argues that a direct train would improve the city’s international accessibility, support sustainable mobility and strengthen its economy, while creating opportunities for international cooperation, knowledge exchange, business, culture and tourism.
Leiden University, which has campuses in both Leiden and The Hague, also supports the initiative. It says reliable international rail connections are increasingly important as the university seeks to reduce its climate impact, and sees international rail as an attractive and sustainable alternative to air travel. The university also supports eventually extending direct international connections from The Hague to Paris and Berlin.
The Netherlands Atlantic Association points to the importance of international rail for The Hague’s international business and investment climate. It says better connections would improve access to events such as its annual Next Gen: The Hague Security Conference, which attracts policymakers, diplomats, academics, journalists and students from across Europe and beyond.
Protect.ngo, meanwhile, notes that the direct connection has been missing since 2021. It argues that restoring the link could serve thousands of passengers each year and strengthen cooperation between the two cities.
2029 target
The Hague wants the direct connection to be operating by 2029. That year is particularly significant because the Netherlands will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, bringing additional European visitors and activity to the country and to The Hague.
The city has, however, previously mentioned an earlier target. Several organisations supporting the manifesto refer to restoring the connection by December 2028, while the municipality’s current political campaign focuses on having a service from 2029.
The proposed service would also revive a connection that existed until December 2021, when the Amsterdam to Brussels Intercity still ran via The Hague Dutch Rail (HS). Today, The Hague has only one international train service: European Sleeper‘s overnight connection between Brussels and Prague.
There are already signs of renewed interest from railway operators. Arriva has told the Dutch regulator ACM that it wants to introduce a direct The Hague–Brussels–Paris service from 2028.
GoVolta, meanwhile, plans to launch services from The Hague Central to Cologne and Luxembourg and/or Strasbourg from December 2027.
The market consultation launched by The Hague will now test whether operators are prepared to turn the city’s political ambition into an actual train service.
In the manifesto, the city sums up its campaign with a simple message: “The Hague is ready. The Hague connects. Let’s do it.”
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