At the end of September 2025, travelers were quite upset by the news that the Austrian rail operator ÖBB decided to cancel the popular Nightjet night trains between Paris and Berlin from 14 December this year. As the reason, the carrier cited the suspension of route subsidies by the French government.
However, as reported by the British newspaper The Guardianmanagement of the route “Paris – Berlin” is now taken over by the Belgian-Dutch cooperative European Sleeper.
The news was appreciated by the French activist group Oui au train de nuit!, who took to the platforms of Paris's Gare de l'Est train station in their pajamas in September and held a pajama party to protest the reduction in the number of sleeper trains departing from Paris.
“This is a partial victory for the 91,000 people who signed our petition,” said group representative Nicolas Fourien.
When will the new train from Paris to Berlin start running?
It is noted that the first train connecting the French and German capitals will set off on March 26, 2026.
The train is expected to run three times a week, departing from Gare du Nord every Tuesday, Thursday and every Sunday evening. The return flight will be operated from the Central and East stations of Berlin every Monday, every Wednesday and every Friday.
Route of the train “Paris – Berlin”
Nightjet's current flight departs Paris Gare du Nord just after 7pm and heads east via Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Erfurt and Halle, arriving in Berlin around 8.30am.
European Sleeper plans to fly via Brussels, but the exact details of the route and schedule are currently being finalized with infrastructure managers in France, Belgium and Germany.
“I think the existing Nightjet segment will definitely be interested in traveling on the European Sleeper. We will also be able to expand passenger traffic as we offer a higher capacity than Nightjet. ÖBB operates 12 carriages from Paris, but they go separately to Vienna and Berlin. On the other hand, we have 12-14 carriages that will run exclusively to Berlin, with a capacity of 600-700 passengers,” explained the co-founder European Sleeper Chris Engelsman.
Tickets for the train “Paris – Berlin”
Prices for tickets for European Sleeper sleeper trains from Paris to Berlin will start from 59 euros (about 2,867 hryvnias) or from 69 euros (about 3,353 hryvnias), depending on the carriage category.
Tickets will go on sale from December 16, 2025.
At the same time, Engelsman noted that there will be no restaurant car in the train at the initial stage.
“We would be happy to have a restaurant car, but from the point of view of profitability, it is a difficult task, and we need exactly this type of car. It is difficult to break even on the sale of food and drinks. The cost of renting a car and personnel costs are very high,” he stated.
What is known about the European Sleeper company
The private Belgian-Dutch cooperative European Sleeper launched its first flight from Berlin (Germany) to Brussels (Belgium) on May 25, 2023, and a year later the route was extended to Dresden (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic).
So far, the company has already transported more than 230,000 passengers on more than 750 night trains and has become a key player in the sleeper train market.
Although the company received mixed reviews due to its aging fleet, technical failures, sudden downgrades and delays, overall many passengers were satisfied with the no-frills service offered by the company, while sharing the idea that the journey itself is as important as the destination.
According to Engelsman, the cars leased in Germany for the new route were manufactured in the 1990s.
“They are quite close in terms of comfort level to the current Nightjet. Our sleeping cars on the Prague route are relatively old – they were produced back in 1956, but we will not use them on this route. They will be newer,” he said.
New trains in Europe
As UNIAN previously reported, from December 14, 2025, the Polish state railway operator PKP Intercity will launch the EN Carpatia connection. This overnight train, with tickets from €75, will provide direct rail connections from south-eastern Poland to Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Munich.
In addition, in 2026, the Czech railway operator Leo Express will launch a direct train from Slovakia to Belgium, which will also make stops in the Czech Republic and Germany.
You may also be interested in news:
- Europe's most luxurious train opens a route to Italy: prices announced
- The legendary “Oriental Express” is returning: what will the luxury train look like (photo)
- A new train will be launched in Europe along a very unusual route
Read the latest tourism news, search for travel ideas and see picturesque photos from around the world at Telegram channel UNIAN. Tourism.
