Back on track: Belgian-Dutch firm rescues Berlin to Paris sleeper train

Railway fans devastated by the scrapping of a much-heralded Berlin to Paris night train can breathe again after a Belgian-Dutch cooperative stepped in Wednesday to keep the service going.

French operator SNCF, and Austria's OeBB, Europe's key night train operator, had announced that the night route would be discontinued from mid-December after only being launched in December 2023.

But Belgian-Dutch European Sleeper, a cooperative, said it would launch a train three times weekly between the French and German capitals from March 26, 2026.

The company, founded in 2021, currently operates a single such train connecting Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden and Prague three times a week.

Departures from Paris on the new service are scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, arriving in Berlin the following morning. Return trains will run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, European Sleeper said.

The transport company, which belongs to a community of over 6,000 co-owners, is simultaneously launching a third campaign to raise a total of 2.3 million euros ($2.6 million) from individuals, investors and institutions to finance the costs of acquiring rolling stock and offset "potential initial losses during the startup phase."

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Since 2021, European Sleeper has raised 5.5 million euros in two separate fundraising campaigns.

"We saw a chance to keep an important connection alive, a journey that brings Paris and Berlin closer again," it said, adding individuals could "become a co-owner" from 280 euros and "help bring this night train to life".

Tickets will go on sale on December 16, it added.

The Berlin-Paris and Vienna-Paris night trains operated by Germany's SNCF, Deutsche Bahn and OeBB are being stopped from December 14 as the French government halted a 10 million euro subsidy essential to their economic viability.

Night trains in Europe are enjoying a resurgence especially among young people concerned about the environmental impact of flying.

But there has been concern over whether slow services running in the dead of night can be economically viable.

Meanwhile, the reality of sharing a sleeping compartment with up to five other people, snoring or not, can be at stark odds with the romantic view of such travel seen in golden age films.

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Activists from France's The Climate Action Network (RAC) welcomed the announcement, calling it "very encouraging" for those who aspire to travel "in an environmentally friendly way."

But "the development of night trains cannot rely solely on private actors, however committed they may be," it warned, calling for continued subsidies to revive the Paris-Vienna line and secure the resumption of the Paris-Berlin line.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot praised "any initiative of this kind that increases service without taxpayer money, regardless of the operator."

Source: AFP