- Two years after its reintroduction, the ÖBB Nightjet between Berlin/Vienna and Paris is to be discontinued again on 13 December 2025.
- Deutsche Bahn has already returned the corresponding tracks
- There is a short window of opportunity to save the lines if the French government honours its promise of three years of support after all
The French government accuses the operators of still not offering a daily service. However, this is being prevented by the state railway company SNCF Voyageurs, although ÖBB has a concept for the expansion (3 full trains per week between Paris and Berlin or Vienna, instead of terminating in Mannheim).
Under the slogan “SNCF – So Nicht, chère France!” (“Not this way….”), participants of the European Night Train Conference demonstrated at Berlin Central Station on Friday evening.
The warm words of railway board members and ministers at the reopening of the line on 11 December 2023 were worthless. The route to Paris was already discontinued in 2014, and now a night train that emits 28 times less greenhouse gases than a plane is to be discontinued once again.
Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, said at Berlin Central Station at the time:
“We are proud of this new night train service, which strengthens our European rail network. (…) ÖBB, DB, SNCB and SNCF Voyageurs have decided to join forces for a common goal: the expansion of rail connections in Europe.”
The NGO Back-on-Track is calling for these words to be honoured.
SNCF website silences the ÖBB night trains
The “Team Nightjet – SNCF” label on the ÖBB carriages is far removed from reality: the information on the SNCF website does not even show the night trains from Paris to Berlin and Vienna.
Short-term roadworks by the infrastructure operators repeatedly slowed down the Nightjet to Paris, much to the chagrin of ÖBB: tickets that had already been sold had to be cancelled due to a lack of alternative routes. The Nightjet is an unwelcome guest at SNCF, as the only locomotive-hauled train at Paris Est station.
Protests are in full swing
Back-on-Track is a Europe-wide NGO and is calling for support for the petition by its French group “Oui au train de nuit” to keep the two lines. By Sunday evening, 40,000 people had already joined the demands.
The airline lobby is delighted
Night trains also have a difficult time on the German side. While the previous Berlin Senate was still talking about Berlin as a “night train hub”, the governing mayor Kai Wegner said: “The Berlin state government wants more air traffic” and that the federal government was expected to significantly reduce its impact.
Wegner failed to mention that international tickets are subject to 7% VAT on the German side – in contrast to airline tickets.
On 11-14 daily flights between Berlin and Paris (in each direction), the 675,000 passengers per year pay an average price of 100 euros. Depending on the VAT rate, German politicians are therefore deliberately forgoing revenue of up to 12.8 million euros on this route alone. This could make up for the French government breaking its word on the Nightjet routes twice over.
