Status Operational | ||
 | ||
Locale BelgiumLuxembourgFranceSwitzerland First service 28 May 1974 (1974-05-28) Current operator(s) NMBS/SNCBCFLSNCFSBB-CFF-FFS | ||
The Iris is an express train that links Brussels Midi/Zuid in Brussels, Belgium, with Chur station in Chur, Switzerland.
Introduced in 1974, the train is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB), the Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), the French National Railway Corporation (SNCF) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS). It is named after a flower, the Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus), which was widespread in the Zenne/Senne valley, where Brussels is located.
Initially, the Iris was a first-class-only Trans Europ Express (TEE). In 1981, it became a two-class InterCity (IC), and on 31 May 1987, it was included in the then-new EuroCity (EC) network. As of 2015, the Iris was one of two EuroCity train-pairs running daily between Brussels and Switzerland; the other was the Vauban.
History
The eastbound service was cut back to Brussels–Basel in December 2011; in December 2013 the latter was also cut back to start in Basel.
The service is slated to be cut in two in Strasbourg sometime in 2016, when a TGV service Brussels–Strasbourg will be introduced.