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Berlin, 26-28 September

Night Train Conference
2025

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The Agenda:

Friday, 26th September, 2025

PRESS CONFERENCE
16:00 – 16:45

Target Network 2032

Back-on-Track presents the state of our proposal for a European night train network.

With:
– Finn Gleichmann (Back-on-Track Netherlands)

PRESS CONFERENCE
16:45 – 18:00

Tendering Night Trains

Back-on-Track presents its proposal on how the European target network can be achieved.

With:
– Matthias Gastel (Member of the German Parliament, the Greens)
– Luigi Pantisano (Member of the German Parliament, Left party)
– Sille Svenkerud Førner (Norske Tog, Norway)
– Juri Maier (Back-on-Track Germany)
– facilitation: Lennart Fahnenmüller

19:00 – 19:45
HAUPTBAHNHOF

Trans-Europe Pyjama Party

Together with conference participants across Europe who enter their night trains in Amsterdam C, Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid, Malmö C, Paris Est, Wien Hbf and Zürich HB we will dance to a DJ set broadcast in sync.

Party kit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vFxVxRq6Pu6o4QPf7qA36TWrc_xszsFE

Website: https://pyjama-party.back-on-track.eu/

Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/1396113244665675816/1405240438784528527

20:00 – 22:00
T.B.D.

Welcome Reception

We invite participants who arrived on Friday to join us for a drink: Hans im Glück (directly in Berlin Hbf., 1st upper level – north-east corner)

Saturday, 27th September, 2025

08:00 – 10:00

Open Breakfast

Participants who arrived in the morning (by night train) may join us for Coffee or tea and a German Breakfast buffet.

10:00 – 11:00

Welcome

We introduce ourselves, the agenda and the Open Space Method.

POLITICS
11:15 – 12:15

Night Trains vs Highspeed?

We discuss the competing visions of a high-speed and a night train network and whether it’s about a competition at all.

With:
– Jon Worth (blogger and political analyst)
– Ralf Niklass (Alstom Germany)
– Michele Gesualdi (UIC)
– facilitation: Bernhard Knierim (Back-on-Track Germany)

POLITICS
12:15 – 13:15

Faster Tracks in CEE

We discuss the impact of upcoming infrastructure investments in Central and Eastern Europe on night train networks.

With:
– Carlos Rico (Transport & Environment)
– Ingo Koschenz (Pro Bahn)
– Jürgen Murach (VDEI)
– facilitation: Hermann Schmidtendorf (Bahn-Business)

OPERATIONS
14:15 – 15:15

Night Train Economics

We discuss latest findings into the obstacles when financing new and operating existing night trains.

With:
– Marco Andersson (Snälltaget)
– Elmer van Buuren (European Sleeper)
– Frieder Lange (Railistics)
– facilitation: Ludger Sippel (KCW)

OPERATIONS
15:15 – 16:15

Go Everywhere Standard

We will discuss how to get back to something like the Regolamento Internazionale delle Carrozze (RIC)

With:
– Erwin Kastberger (ÖBB)
– Marco Andersson (Snälltaget)
– facilitation: Anton Dubrau (Back-on-Track Germany)

16:30 – 17:45

Open Space 1

We’ll discuss 2-3 issues proposed and hosted by participants in open groups.

17:45 – 18:30

Open Space 2

We’ll discuss 2-3 issues proposed and hosted by participants in open groups.

20:00 – 23:00

Night Train Party

Featuring:
MC Spark (PartyBanger)
DJ gagarin (EuroDisko)

Sunday, 28th September, 2025

SOLUTIONS
09:00 – 10:00

Capacity in
Rolling Stock

New ideas on how to improve accomodation quallity without decreasing capacity.

With:
– Anton Dubrau (Luna-Rail)
– Adrian Wagner (Fachhochschule St. Pölten, Austria)
– Bassam Abdul-Salam (N+P Innovation Design)
– facilitation: Hibai Unzueta (Back-on-Track Iberia)

LOBBYING
10:00 – 11:00

Strategic Communication of Numbers

Why to present which statistical numbers to the public.

With:
– Juri Maier (Back-on-Track Germany)
– Carlos Rico (Transport & Environment)

11:15 – 12:30

Open Space 3

We’ll discuss 2-3 issues proposed and hosted by participants in open groups.

12:30 – 13:15

Open Space 4

We’ll discuss 2-3 issues proposed and hosted by participants in open groups.

OUTLOOK
14:15 – 15:15

Booking Night Trains

We discuss latest developments on the market and the regulatory level.

With:
– Timo Grossenbacher (nightride.com)
– Enrique Lopez Arias (Trainline)
– Bruce Verburgh (Luna-Train)
– Max Zander (Xatellite Mobility)
– Erwin Kastberger (ÖBB)
– Robin Loos (BEUC)
– facilitation: Faustine Gauthier (Back-on-Track Europe / En mouvement)

OUTLOOK
15:15 – 16:15

Volunteering for
Night Trains

Back-on-Track Groups give an insight into the founding of national groups and organising of volunteers

With:
– Peter Bayens (Back-on-Track Belgium)
– Silvain Fischer (Oui au Train de Nuit)
– Sibylle Trenck-Germann / Carlo Severini (Back-on-Track Switzerland)
– Patrick Neumann (Back-on-Track Germany)
– facilitation: Peter Cornelius (Back-on-Track Germany)

Open Space Session Proposals so far:
  • Night train reliability: A talk on how and why night trains are typically more delayed than other long distance trains. Based on the format in our blog post: https://chuuchuu.substack.com/p/travelling-overnight-by-train-dont
  • Automation in night trains: Which operational gains would be possible if night train operators could agree on a single mobile night train app, for booking, opening cabins, getting status info and for ordering food & beverages?
  • Luna Rail: Maximizing economics and privacy while maintaining comfort.
  • Night train culture: Besides questions of (infra)structure, night trains always have been a source of inspiration for travellers. In this open space, we would like to exchange about ideas to contribute to more Reiselust, motivating more people to use night trains to experience this unique way to travel.
  • How (not) to route a night train: We will take some given cases of night train routes under consideration and propose some changes in it, if we think they are required (we probably will). If there is enough time we will maybe design some additional (new) routes as well.
  • How to successfully fight for Night Trains: “Oui au train de nuit” shares its campaign and advocacy strategy.
  • Which advocacy towards the EU and MEPs? Let’s discuss a series of demands, for example a new study to define an ambitious network proposal, or to co-fund rolling stock.
  • Brainstorming: which investigations to publish? Our current collection of studies is not complete. Let’s collect all the results we know of and organise translations. 
  • Connections with night train to Norway: With so many great initiatives in Europe, how can Norway connect?

FAQ:

Will it be possible to participate online?

Yes, but only in the plenary sessions (not in the OpenSpace sessions). We will try to allow online participation in discussions, but this will depend on the number of volunteers who can support this.

Would you like to participate online?
Don’t use the on-site registration form below, just apply for a invitation link with this form:

    Yes, please send me the invitation link:

    Country of residence* (non-european countries below)

    * = required data

    How much does it cost?

    You are kindly asked for a small participation fee of € 75,00 to cover our catering expenses. After registration you will receive informations with the account number to which the fee shall be transferred.

    I have food preferences. What can I expect?

    For budgetary reasons we may not provide a choice of different dishes. All dishes will be vegetarian. As we aim to offer regional cuisine, we might not find options which are also gluten-free and vegetarian. If this is a strict requirement for you, you will need to get your own food, sorry for that. There is an organic supermarket next door.

    Will there be translation provided?

    The conference language will be English and as we cannot provide simultaneous translation to other languages, so you will need a sufficient passive understanding or live translation tools. When it comes to taking part in discussions we will probably have volunteers who could translate questions or comments made in major languages like German, French or Spanish to English.

    Will there be WiFi available?

    Yes, there will be free WiFi available and EU standard sockets for recharging. But please bring your own recharger.

    What is the significance of the registrations progress bar on the home page?

    We have a big venue but our budget for catering is limited to 50 non-paying participants. The progress bar reflects how many non-paying members have registered yet. Once this number ins reached we may only accept participants who cover our additional catering expenses.


    Confirmed Participants:

    These participants allowed us to share their participation:

    First NameLast NameCountry of ResidenceOrganisation
    JoachimHolsteinGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    AntonDubrauGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany / Luna Rail
    FaustineGauthierNETHERLANDSBack on Track Europe / En mouvement
    LeifKajbergDENMARKSecretary, Council for Sustainable Transport
    PascalDauboinFRANCEOui au train de nuit
    ArneNysBELGIUMBack-on-Track Belgium / chuuchuu.com
    PoulKattlerDENMARKChairperson, Council for Sustainable Transport
    JörnStrüberGERMANYVCD Darmstadt-Dieburg e.V.
    BruceVerburghBELGIUMLunaTrain
    PeterCorneliusGERMANYBack-onTrack Germany
    GiovanniAntoniazziITALYBack-on-Track Italy
    CarlosRicoBELGIUMRail policy officer, Transport & Environment
    RalfNiklasGERMANYTechnical Expert High-Speed Platform, Alstom
    SibylleTrenck-GermannSWITZERLANDBack-on-Track Switzerland
    FriederLangeGERMANYRailistics
    ErwinKastbergerAUSTRIAÖBB
    SimonRiegerGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    JuriMaierGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    SylvainFischerFRANCEOui au train de nuit
    HibaiUnzuetaSPAINBack-on-Track Iberia
    SilleSvenkerud FørnerNORWAYProject Manager, Norske tog
    Anne-SophieJesemannGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    JonWorthFRANCE#CrossBorderRail Project
    ElizabethNovacekCZECH REPUBLICBack-on-Track Europe
    DaanDoelemanNETHERLANDSBack-on-Track Netherlands
    TianzeSangUNITED KINGDOMEuropean Rail Campaign
    HannahLawrenceGERMANYStay Grounded
    IngoKoschenzGERMANYPro Bahn
    AdrianoGulluniSWITZERLANDBack-on-Track Switzerland
    CarloSeveriniSWITZERLANDBack-on-Track Switzerland
    FabianRettenweberGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    LenaChanGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    ClaudiaHöchsmannGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    MarcoAnderssonSWEDENChief Commercial Officer, Snälltåget
    FränzeHabedankGERMANYKompetenznetz Rail Berlin-Brandenburg
    MikolaiGütschowGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany
    PatrickNeumannGERMANYBack-on-Track Germany e.V.
    LorenzoFreire-StellaFRANCEOui au train de nuit
    AudeNowéFRANCEOui au train de nuit
    NicolasForienFRANCEOui au train de nuit
    MichaelaGodenziSWITZERLANDSBB / České dráhy

    The Venue:

    For our conferece our German group has organised a spacious meeting space close to the city centre:

    StadtWERKSTATT Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
    (Adlerhalle am Dragonerareal)
    Mehringdamm 20
    10961 Berlin
    Germany

    Our venue is on a historical military barracks area which became an industrial estate in th 1920s, and (partly) seat of the tax office even later.
    In recent years the hall has been used as venue for public participation events in construction projects.

    Registration (for participation on-site):

    (If you plan to only attend online, please use the form in the FAQ section above.)

      Yes, I will attend Night Train Conference in Berlin from 26-28th of September, 2025:


      Back-on-Track network members: please use the address in our database (at which you receive e-mail from us)


      Are you a ? (You can join Back-on-Track/affiliated groups here)

      I am member of a in:*

      The conference is open to everyone, however we kindly ask non-members (except invited speakers) for a small participation fee of € 75,00 to cover our catering expenses (regardless if you eat with us or not, as we can't control this). You will receive an e-mail with payment instructions immediately after registration (You may pay by SEPA bank transfer or PayPal). Your participation is confirmed if payment was received in due time.

      I will arrive on

      Catering

      In order to help us not to waste food, please indicate if do not join us for any of these:

      I won't attend the Friday afternoon press conference
      I won't attend the Friday evening reception
      I don't need Saturday morning breakfast
      I don't need Saturday mid-day lunch
      I don't need Saturday evening dinner
      I won't attend the Saturday night party
      I don't need Sunday mid-day lunch

      Catering

      In order to help us not to waste food, please indicate if do not join us for any of these:

      I don't need Saturday morning breakfast
      I don't need Saturday mid-day lunch
      I don't need Saturday evening dinner
      I won't attend the Saturday night party
      I don't need Sunday mid-day lunch

      Open Space

      On our agenda, we have four Open Space sessions. Every participant who would like to share an insight or discuss an issue is free to propose a 45-minute session. The final sessions proposals will be presented at the beginning of each two-session slot. But of you already have an idea for a session topic, please let us know. If it sounds interesting we might just add you to a panel discussion or invite you to a presentation in the pre-set programme.

      Would you like to propose a ?

      Yes, I have an idea for a session

      That's great!
      Please let us know a bit more (you may change this later on):


      Data usage

      * = Form field must be filled.

      In a few cases, submitting the form results in an error message. Unfortunately, we are unable to isolate or reproduce this issue. Please send us an email to germany /a/ back-on-track.eu, if possible with a screenshot of the data you entered and we will register you manually.

      See you in Berlin!