News

Click on the link below, to see AERA’s message to EU officials, recommending a delay to the implementation of the European Entry Exit System (EES) until after the peak of the holiday season in 2026. AERA EES letter – Feb 2026Continue Reading

AERA MEMBERS IN BRUSSELS AERA’s members like to keep up to date first-hand knowledge of international rail developments and services and so for a number of years they have made visits together to the Near Continent by train. In 2025 the association held its Annual General Meeting for the first time on the European mainland – at Ghent in Belgium  – and this year the venue was Brussels at the...Continue Reading

EPF representatives from the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany recently met senior managers of Eurostar and Thalys in Brussels. These two operators are in the process of merging and are sometimes currently referred to as “New Eurostar”. For more than a decade, AERA has been an associate member of the European Passengers’ Federation (EPF) which brings together public transport users’ organisations and related bodies in 20 different European...Continue Reading

The Association of European Rail Agents’ Annual General Meeting was convened this year in the enchanting, historic city of Ghent, Belgium—an occasion made possible by the extraordinary generosity and seamless cooperation of Eurostar, SNCB Belgian Railways, Visit Gent, Visit Flanders and Gent Watertoerist—whose collective professionalism, attention to detail and warm, welcoming hospitality played a role in ensuring the event’s success. We would like to extend our gratitude for their kindness...Continue Reading

 Just as with road and air travel, whilst the vast majority of journeys go smoothly, occasionally not everything goes according to plan. AERA exists to promote travel by rail, but it also has a duty to hold the train operators to account when things go wrong. Our passenger (a very experienced international rail traveller) reports on a journey in late January, from France to Spain, thence through France again, finishing in...Continue Reading