SID, Serbia (AP) — The latest as migrants flood into Europe in search of a new life. All times local.

11 a.m.

Serbia and Croatia have launched a direct train transfer of migrants from one country to another so asylum seekers no longer have to wait long hours outside in the cold.

Officials say that the first train carrying about 1,000 migrants left Tuesday morning from the Serbian town of Sid toward Slavonski Brod, Croatia, where authorities have set up a winter camp.

The direct train link was agreed last month after thousands of people, most of whom were families with small children, were forced to spent entire nights at a muddy border passage waiting to cross from Serbia to Croatia.

Croatian police say more than 300,000 people have passed through the country since mid-September. Most migrants want to reach wealthy nations of Western Europe, such as Germany or Sweden.