Red-letter day for European railways

December has its traditions, but a major timetable change affecting most of the Continental railways has not, until now, been one of them. This weekend, however, ushers in a new regime, and those railways that make an annual timetable change will have to get used to the mid-December changeover, as agreed by the International Union of Railways.

The date of 15 December is significant not just for far-reaching changes to international timetables (and domestic ones in many countries) but also for the opening of the latest German high-speed line, linking Cologne and Frankfurt-am-Main. Actually the line opened early, and eager travellers have been able to try it out since August on the special shuttle services between these two cities. The new timetable sees long-distance services routed over the line, and stations throughout the area have sprouted large red monoliths representing the figure one – the "rote eins" – a clever marketing tool representing the one hour time-saving. Passengers opting for scenery rather than speed will still be able to travel along the well-loved sinuous route following the Rhine.

Cologne is the gateway to Germany for rail passengers from Britain, so the new line will bring obvious benefits for those travelling to Frankfurt and beyond. As a bonus, a new stretch of high-speed line opens in eastern Belgium between Leuven and Liege, cutting around 10 minutes off Thalys timings between Brussels and Cologne. There is bad news for those wishing to avoid the premium fares of the high-speed Thalys service, however, as the two-hourly Ostend-Brussels-Cologne trains are being withdrawn. Instead there are three new trains operating between Brussels and Frankfurt, using the latest sleek ICE3 units, and of course traversing the new Cologne-Frankfurt line.

A London-Frankfurt journey is theoretically possible in just over six-and-a-half hours with only one change, though the tight connections in Brussels might present problems in the event of late running. Getting the ICE trains certified to run on the new Belgian line has, however, proved a temporary stumbling block, and for the time being (maybe until the summer) they will take the old line. The extra running time has had to be added at the Brussels end, severing the Eurostar connections.

Once this is sorted out, the future looks bright for high-speed rail travel between Britain and Germany, particularly as the immigration people in Brussels have undertaken to staff the direct passageway linking Eurostar with Thalys/ICE platforms at appropriate times, cutting out the scrum for passport control that used to impede people with tight connections to make.

Britain is sticking with its traditional May and September schedule changes, and in this respect is once again out of line with the rest of Europe. In less than a year we will have our own high-speed line, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, though we will have to wait a while yet for completion right through to London. Continental Europe is getting ever closer to Britain by rail.

The writer is the editor of the Thomas Cook European Timetable (Enquiries 01733 416477)