Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, OEBB (Austrian Federal Railways) and SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) have agreed to further collaboration to expand the network of international passenger night trains in Europe.
This aim was agreed during the conference of European transport ministers by the four rail bosses Dr Richard Lutz (DB), Andreas Matthä (OEBB), Jean-Pierre Farandou (SNCF) and Vincent Ducrot (SBB).
So far, four new Nightjet routes have been agreed, which will connect a total of 13 cities. Two of them will launch in December 2021:
- Vienna–Munich–Paris
- Zurich–Cologne–Amsterdam
A further route will start up in December 2023:
- Vienna/Berlin–Brussels/Barcelona
Lastly, in December 2024:
- Zurich–Barcelona
The four railway operators see this agreement as the start of the European Year of Rail and as central to achieving the EU’s climate targets.
“Getting on a train in Munich or Berlin in the evening and arriving in Paris or Brussels in the morning after a relaxed journey – with our Trans-Europ-Express TEE 2.0 and attractive night train services we will be travelling in ways that are even better for our climate and the environment in Europe in the future. This is a very concrete result of our rail summit and of our EU Council presidency.”
Open access operator RegioJet has also announced its plan of expanding its night train connections in 2021. RegioJet currently operates night trains connecting Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia and says it will add Poland and Ukraine to its list in 2021, with other EU countries to follow.
“Night trains are the future of climate-friendly mobility within Europe. It is our joint responsibility to ensure good services for the people of Europe. To ensure this is done sustainably we must shape the framework conditions for European night train services well for the future. I'm pleased about this joint avowal across Europe.”
