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Proposals for European actions to boost night trains

From oui au train de nuit, our French member organisation together with Back-on-Track, Germany in December 2025 as a united reply to the closure of the night train Berlin to Paris.

Several strategic regulations for night trains and rail transport are currently under development in the Europe Union. Here is an overview of the potential opportunities. If worded correctly, these regulations could provide night trains an economic framework to expand across the continent.

We call on MEPs: please contact us to promote cross-party actions, through Written Questions to the European Commission (DG MOVE) or through amendments.
We also call on citizens: please contact your MEPs to encourage them to promote the actions below (see a cover letter here).

EU action often remains mysterious and remote for citizens. Here is a good opportunity to highlight the regulations being discussed.

Table of Contents

A) Improving the viability of night trains
A.1) Reduce Track Access Charges to marginal cost for night trains
A.2) Ticketing guidelines: increasing the visibility of cross-border trains on platforms in a dominant position
A.3) “Ticketing”: involve Infrastructure Managers (IMs) for passenger information
A.4) Capacity allocation guidelines
A.5) Promote state OSP subsidies for night trains
A.6) Mobilize the CEF to co-finance night trains
A.7) Pilot projects : connecting outlying countries, such as Portugal
B) Assemblying a fleet of rolling stock
B.1) EIB funding to build a fleet of night trains
B.2) Fund rolling stock through European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)
B.3) Other possible fundings : Military Mobility, IPCEI, NRPP, Interreg
B.4) Approval in one country will benefit from being valid throughout the EU
B.5) Access to second-hand rolling-stock 11
C) Upgrading the railway network
C.1) Unblock border stations and reintegrate UIC agreements
C.2) Funding to Mesh the rail network rather than only to main corridors
D) Balancing intermodal competition
D.1) Balance funding between High-Speed Rail and Night Trains
D.2) Anticipating the increase in airfare
D.3) A minimum price for airline tickets to prevent dumping
D.4) Harmoniser la TVA entre le rail et l’avion
E) Documentation

A) Improving the viability of night trains

A.1) Reduce Track Access Charges to marginal cost for night trains

In May 2025, the EU published a form of regulation that is not mandatory for Member States, named “guidelines”. Guidelines on railway Track Access Charges (TACs) meet two historical demands of night train campaigners:

1) consider night trains as a specific market segment which is essential to take its fragility into account.

2) Considering their vulnerability, TACs for night trains are capped at the cost directly caused by their operation – known as the ‘marginal cost’ – without any so-called ‘market’ mark-up.

The guidelines are non-binding and an action towards States is necessary to obtain their national transposition.

This action is necessary to give operators confidence so that they can invest over the long term and build a new fleet of night trains to be profitable over 30 years.

Given the long distances covered by these trains, if a single country imposes high track access charges, it can prevent the operator from achieving economic viability. Unilateral decisions by a single country thus create uncertainty that hinders long-term investment. Therefore, marginal cost TACs for night trains should be implemented across the EU.

It should also be noted that night trains generate little wear and tear on railway tracks, since they travel at a moderate speed (often around 100 km/h) and have a low weight (compared to freight trains). They therefore incur few additional infrastructure maintenance costs.

Citizens and parliamentarians now have a role in questioning stakeholders in each of the member states:

  • In France, marginal cost charges are applied only to open-access night trains, but not yet to night trains operating under a public service agreement. The Paris-Vienna and Paris-Berlin night trains were discontinued at the end of 2025, highlighting their vulnerability. It is therefore necessary to intervene so that all night trains benefit from marginal cost tolls, even night trains operating under a public service agreement.
  • In Germany, a key country due to its geographical centrality in Europe, the marginal cost of tolls still needs to be established. See our letter to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (APFA). Citizen and parliamentary action is necessary.

A.2) Ticketing guidelines: increasing the visibility of cross-border trains on platforms in a dominant position

The EU is preparing guidelines « on passenger rights and ticket sales » for may 13th 2026, with parliamentary debate in the following weeks.

The potential for improvement is significant, especially for France, where the travel agency SNCF Connect programs settings that eliminate possible connections between subsidized trains (OSP) and preferentially displays connections including Open Access trains (mainly High Speed Trains – HST), even when the journey is more expensive, involves more distance, a station change in Paris that is inconvenient, and sometimes takes longer. This stems from economic rationale, since shifting passengers from OSP trains to Open Access trains increases the profits of the SNCF Group. However, this is unacceptable to the taxpayer who funds the service, to the citizen who owns the public group, and to the traveler who is denied attractive travel options. The SNCF Connect travel agency is on the borderline of both…refusal to sell and of the abuse of dominant position. Note: SNCF Connect operates approximately 85% of ticket sales online in France, French users are unfamiliar with and/or have little confidence in other platforms. Regulatory or legal action is therefore needed without delay to ensure that all train connections are finally made available for purchase. On April 16th 2026, the French Senate adopted an amendment requiring distribution platforms to commercialise operators who demand it. This decision was strongly opposed by the SNCF group, but demanded by rivals companies. Read more Here is our diagnosis and proposals.

Regarding night trains, SNCF received subsidies in 2024 and 2025 to operate the Paris-Vienna/Berlin service. SNCF Connect announced a technical problem « preventing » it from selling tickets… However, the travel agency SNCF Connect could at least have displayed a banner saying « a night train is available” with a link to ÖBB selling platform. This would have been the bare minimum, given the subsidies allocated for these trains. This lack of effort highlights the lack of framework for dominant sales platforms.

Regulating dominant online sales platforms is essential. Given the fragile nature of the night train sector, the EU would benefit from being even more demanding of such platforms, with an initial pilot program specifically for night trains.

The EU could ask online marketplaces with a dominant position in a member state to display all night trains operating in this member state, with a link to the website of the operator selling the night train.

This action initially applies only to night trains, therefore to a limited number of trains, there is no risk to severely disrupt the economic and commercial balance of sales platforms, which benefit from a large sales volume since they are in a dominant position.

  • As a more ambitious step, the EU could ask platforms with a dominant position in a Member State to provide information on all trains operating within this national territory, as already adopted by the french Senate.
  • Ideally, a further step would be to oblige the platform to list and sell tickets for trains of operators that request this, as long as they run in countries close enough to offer connections – for example, within a 1,000 km radius around the borders of the country where the platform holds a dominant position. This would facilitate European interconnectivity. See as an example, the map around France :

A.3) “Ticketing”: involve Infrastructure Managers (IMs) for passenger information

Infrastructure Managers (IMs) and/or Station Managers are in a good position to provide information on the trains from all operators circulating on their network, with if possible a link to the sales platforms of its operators.

Indeed, the multiplicity of European operators means that it is difficult for the traveler to find information and obtain train tickets for international journeys.

IMs can be part of the solution. They have real-time access to all the information on the entire traffic flow. They are therefore well-positioned to provide information on multi-operator connections.

In cooperation, the IMs would also be able to offer travelers itineraries for continuing their journey in case of a missed connection and not leave travelers in uncertainty and dependence on one operator or another. This will allow travelers to better assert their rights.

IMs that wish to do so could also help in the future to develop an unbiased, multi-operator sales platform, since interest groups have a duty of impartiality. This would be a positive step to prevent sales activity from falling into the hands of the GAFAM companies in the future. It is therefore an action for the independence and sovereignty of Europe.

As a first step, conducting a benchmark would be useful:

* In Sweden, it is possible to purchase CSP train tickets from other operators on the SJ website

* In Switzerland, the SBB sells everything, even tram, bus, and boat tickets, and provide comprehensive information on all train services across Europe (with a few exceptions).

* The United Kingdom has long had a multitude of operators. To simplify acceptance for the user, it has gradually unified sales via the IM.

* In France, however, tickets for the Thello Paris-Venice night train were not sold at ticket counters or on the SNCF website. Similarly, the Nightjet Paris-Vienna/Berlin ticket was either not sold or poorly sold on SNCF-Connect.

A.4) Capacity allocation guidelines

The EU is preparing guidelines on rail capacity. Railway stakeholders met for this purpose on 12 February 2026: Kristian Schmidt (DG Move), recalled that the Capacity Regulation (CR) is built on “competition balanced with cooperation”, that is needing “a strong culture of cooperation”.

Priority should be given to very long-distance and international trains in the allocation of paths (allocation of time slots), otherwise it is unlikely to get a good slot over a distance of 1,500 km.

Organizational changes are needed. The Community of European Railway (CER) recommends on may 7th 2025 (page 18) for “Train paths assignments: In order to realise a new cross-border connection, a railway undertaking must today apply for the train paths individually in all the Member States concerned. However, the deadlines and required documents vary between states, making it more difficult to launch new international routes. To address this, an EU-wide approach of the train path allocation process is essential. The relevant provisions in the draft Capacity Management Regulation should be d implemented swiftly to streamline procedures and facilitate international rail connectivity. They should further be implemented to harmonise as most as possible all aspects of capacity allocation (i.e. about framework agreements and managing of conflicting requests).”

“Rail transport will be the backbone of the future climate-neutral European transport network. It is the only mode of transport that has reduced its emissions and energy consumption since 1990.“, said Kris Peeters, Vice-President of the EIB. Currently, only night trains offer a viable alternative to air travel on many routes in Europe, particularly over distances of 800 km to 1500 km and on sections not served by high-speed rail. It is therefore essential to facilitate their operation.

A.5) Promote state OSP subsidies for night trains

On 16 March 2026, the EU published guidelines on state aid that could simplify the authorisation of Public Service Obligation (PSO) grants for the operation of international night trains and for the acquisition of rolling stock. It still needs to be verified that they adequately address the obstacles identified:

  • In the previous regulation, each country seems only allowed to provide direct subsidies proportionally to the kilometerstravels in the national section of the line. Thus, if it were part of the EU, Switzerland would hardly be able to subsidize the night train. Basel-Malmö, since he travels very few kilometers in Switzerland. On certain occasions (not made public), DG Move denied that this restriction exists. Nevertheless, some Member States, including France, argued that there is indeed a lack of clarity and therefore a legal risk if they subsidise public service obligations in a disproportionate manner relative to kilometres travelled.
  • Similar problem: the subsidy appears to be granted under the heading of « cabotage », therefore between 2 national train stations. France therefore finds itself unable to contribute to reviving the night train Hendaye-Lisbon, however, used by many French people, since the line only serves one station in France.
  • Furthermore, since the PSOs are to be awarded through a call for tenders, if both countries each launch a tender for the same line, and assigning it to two different operators, this can lead to a deadlock: European regulations do not require the two chosen operators to cooperate to ensure the connection. Complex solutions need to be tested, such as publishing a AO common, or to stipulate a obligation to cooperate…or perhaps more effectively: to change European regulations. For example, the Grand Est region is trying to launch Franco-German OSP regional lines, without succeeding.
  • Some countries, like Germany, have no PSOs for long-distance routes. The EU will need to plan an alternative in this case.
  • Instead of curbing public transport operations, the EU could co-finance international public service organizations.
  • Assigning start-up grants over a longer period: the current duration seems limited to 3 years.
  • It’s worth remembering that regional trains receive subsidies throughout Europe. Many Intercity trains do as well, so why should international trains be excluded from PSO subsidies, where the market is not meeting the demand ? There is a lack of international rail services on many Origin-Destination routes, which were well served before the implementation of European rail packages, for example on Paris-Vienna, Paris-Rome, Paris-Madrid.

A.6) Mobilize the CEF to co-finance night trains

The program Connecting Europe Facility for Transport (CEF), endowed with nearly €40 billion over 6 years, was announced in July 2025 and will be debated in the European Parliament around May-June 2026. On february 24th 2025, 45 railway stakeholders call to raise this fund to “at least 100 B€”.

One of the 2021-2027 CEF budgets provides 790 million euros to projects responding to civilian and military needs along the trans-European transport network. Night trains proved their effectiveness in evacuating civilians and the wounded during the conflict Russia-Ukraine. Note: Ukraine has 2,000 sleeper and night train cars. Its fleet exceeds the combined fleet of all EU member states, which is limited to 1,500 aging cars. This suggests the need to modify the European strategy for rebuilding a night train fleet.

The CEF funds cross-border routes, but the network is often underutilized due to a lack of rolling stock and PSO subsidies. Several areas need improvement:

  • With the CEF, the EU could co-finance the rolling stock, considering rolling stock as infrastructure.
  • co-fund TACs, to support the revival of night trains
  • To co-fund the construction of maintenance workshops and equipment for night trains
  • The CEF could allocate PSO subsidies for international connections. EU co-funding of operations could be considered in particular where national authorities wish to cooperate in creating and operating routes with national support. This might, for example, include routes which are difficult to launch using solely private funding.
  • One objective could be to triple the number of passengers in night trains (with a target networkto reach 300 lines in the EU in 2035, compared to the 100 existing lines in 2025).
  • MEP François Kalfon has submitted a question on the subject to DG Move.
  • Amendment proposals to CEF 2028-2034 are available here.

A.7) Pilot projects : connecting outlying countries, such as Portugal

Some outlying countries are no longer connected to Central Europe by rail, for example Portugal (or Greece, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, etc.). Given the distances involved, high-speed rail will not be able to reconnect these territories to Brussels with a one-day journey time, even with massive long-term investments. Night trains are necessary and can be put into service immediately. Such transcontinental services are possible. They exists in other continents, e.g. in North America, Asia, Australia. In Europe the market do not show any sign to try to relaunch such lines. A public impulse seems needed.

  • Could the EU co-fund such a pilot project of night train ?
  • Given that such a train would have to cross five countries, it is complex to organise at national level. Could the EU consider taking on the role of a transport authority for such pilot projects?

B) Assemblying a fleet of rolling stock

B.1) EIB funding to build a fleet of night trains

In its December 14th 2021 action plan for cross-border trains, the EU included point 3.3), which states: “The Commission will in cooperation with EIB, activerly seek eligible pilot projects to acquire relling stock under the Grren Rail Investment Platform / InvestEU”.

The EIB financing of rolling stock is included. Unfortunately, the budget line remains… empty for the time being.

During the liberalization of bus services, The EIB helped finance Flixbus which probably would not have been so successful without it. Rolling stock is the main cost of night trains (45% according to an official German study, see page 47).

Currently, Europe has an aging fleet of approximately 1,500 night train cars, which is small compared to Ukraine’s 2,000 and Russia’s 7,000. The OuiTdN Collective estimates the need between 5,000 to 20,000 new carriages by 2035. Shifting from air travel to night trains reduces energy consumption by 80% and CO2 emissions by 95%. This is therefore an action that urgently requires funding.

A considerable delay has occurred. Tens of billions of euros in public funding have enabled the growth of the high-speed trainsl (HST) network. In comparison, night trains have received very little funding. The cost structure is different: HST cannot be deployed without public funding for infrastructure, which represents a significant portion of its costs. Conversely, for night trains, rolling stock is the primary barrier to entry. It is therefore necessary to make up for the investment gap in night trains by co-financing a new generation of rolling stock. Will the EU be able to provide EIB funding to build a new fleet of night trains?

——- Additional information ——-

During the « Europe on Rail » webinar on October 13, 2022, Kristian Schmidt, Director of Land Transport at the European Commission (DG MOVE), stated: the problem of Night Train (NT) is to address the fundamental conditions that make the operations « niche », too expensive and not frequently enough. We believe in NT but I’m not sure the essential problem here is the Rolling Stock. It is true that it has been neglected for decades. […] We believe here that by addressing these obstacles [uncoordinated timetables, incompatible Rolling Stock and unopened markets] the market will deliver some of these back.

If I’m wrong on that then we certainly will continue to push the European Investment Bank to extend offers for loans and financing. This is covered by our action plan and any operators who seek this should go there. […] when all this has been put in place : harmonized Rolling Stock, harmonized timetables and of course open markets across the borders then I think rail can play the role that we all like it to play. » (see the video min. 41’)

B.2) Fund rolling stock through European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)

On 16 July 2025, the European Commission proposed a European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) worth €234 billion, to be launched in 2028. As early as February 2026, the CER’s rail stakeholders called for the ECF to finance rolling stock, including dual-mode locomotives: «CER also strongly supports the possibility to co-finance the acquisition of new rolling stock through the European Competitiveness Fund, in particular alternative propulsion such as dual-mode locomotives to increase the resilience of military transport operations. »

Dual-mode locomotives will represent a major step forward for night trains. Night coaches also require funding, all the more since they can serve a dual civil and military purpose.

Within the ECF, the following programs have been identified:

– The ECF InvestEU ‘clean transition’ program can provide loans for the rolling stock fleet.

– The ECF ‘clean transition’ and ‘industrial competitiveness’ programs could fund Research & Development (R&D) for new modular carriage systems compatible with operation across Europe.

B.3) Other possible fundings : Military Mobility, IPCEI, NRPP, Interreg

It appears strategic to promote night trains through other programmes:

  • The Military Mobility Package could provide funding for new or second-hand rolling stock for night trains and dual-mode locomotives, particularly as these can serve both civilian and military purposes. (See requests from rail industry stakeholders.)
  • Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI)
  • National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP), which is currently a priority for the Commission, could provide an excellent framework, through incentives to encourage Member States to co-fund rolling stock. For example, if France wishes to fund for national night trains (TET), it could reduce costs by partnering with another member state.
  • Interreg could fund technical challenges in border areas, with the additional aim of boosting cultural exchange and tourism.
  1. B.4) Approval in one country will benefit from being valid throughout the EU

Of the rolling stock approval guidelines seem to be in preparation. There is a need for simplification of the approvals in order to be able to travel throughout Europe. This objective was identifiy in the 14 December 2021 action plan for cross-border trains, in point 3.3), which states: “The Commission will prepare “go-everywhere” passenger rolling stock specifications, in cooperation with ERA (a TSI deliverable expected for 2022)” ; “With progressive implementation of interoperability requirements for rolling stock and infrastructure, locomotives, trainsets and passenger coaches will be able to cross borders freely and run on multiple (or on all) networks in the Union. Such « go-everywhere » rolling stock will make the setting up and operation of cross-border services easier and would greatly reduce the residual-value risk for investors or lenders. It will be a priority for the Commission to develop, by 2022, requirements to boost such “go-everywhere” rolling stock.”

Since 1922 UIC car standard was recognized throughout Europe. In the 20th century, long before the existence of the EU, these cars were allowed to circulate throughout the continent via UIC agreements. But today, European regulations require separate type approval in each country, costing €1 million per country. This represents a significant sum and delay, often for small production runs.

For example, it took two years for the Stockholm–Berlin night train operated by SJ to obtain the necessary authorisations from the Danish authorities for its seating and couchette carriages, even though they had complied with UIC standards for ages. (see vidéo)

Currently the least interior redesign, for example, installing a coffee machine requires re-certification of the car in each country, at a cost of €1 million. This sum is incomprehensible and prohibitive given that it involves only few units of rolling stock (just a few cars). This represents an insurmountable barrier that effectively prevents the modernization of older rolling stock.

Railway stakeholders (CER) called on may 2025 (page 18) for HST (and it needs to be enlarged to night trains) : « CER would call for the train control systems (in particular ETCS) and homologation requirements to be entirely standardized, so that aside from physical changes which are required due to compatibility with the country-specific infrastructure (e.g. overhead line voltage, additional train control systems), no software and hardware changes and no homologation processes will be required anymore when homologation is extended to further countries. » [CER call also to simplify homologations, and to revise the roll of the European Agency for Rail (ERA).]

  • Note: The EU demonstrates a lack of understanding of the history of railway unification – accompanied by a dismantling of past achievements – perhaps because European railway unification took place before the EU was even established. A solution to promote: DG Move will benefit from take note of the UIC agreements, which – according to the former commissioner – was not yet the case in 2023.
  • The EU considers that the UIC agreements apply only to operators. However, they were signed at a time when operators embraced all railway institutions and were signed in all Member States. Therefore, they provide an essential basis for cross-border rail operations, precisely where the European framework faills to deliver the desired results. The Commission should therefore exercise humility: the UIC agreements must be incorporated within the European regulations.
  • One strategic UIC rule to be re-included : that rolling stock autorized in one country can travel to the border station of neighboring countries, see section C.1 below.
  • Without delay, and as a first step, the EU could define that changes to interior layouts only need to be approved in one country. The validity of this type approval in one country is extended to all EU countries. As a reminder, type approval of a vehicle with tires in one Member State applies throughout the EU. This action balances a level playing field among mobilities. This will allow for better reuse of the many UIC carriages currently available. Given the shortage of rolling stock, this measure could help revive night trains.
  • Secondly, it would be appropriate that authorization of the new pull-push carriages (that is non-motorized cars) in one country is applied throughout the EU. This action can encourage the promotion of pull-push carriages, which will help revive night trains, reduce rail costs, and make crossing European borders easier.
  • Alternatively, Member States could be asked to group themselves by geographical area to request a single country group approval. The different specifications relate in particular to climate, hence, for example, a separation into three groups to be considered: South / Central / North. [Back-on-track proposal]

B.5) Access to second-hand rolling-stock

The EU wants to propose a regulation in 2026 to promote the reuse of second-hand rolling-stock. This objective was identifiy in the 14 December 2021 action plan for cross-border trains, in point 3.3), which states: “The Commission will clarify by 2023 the State aid rules on public funding of interoperable rolling stock for cross-border services in the revised Railway Guidelines. The issue of scrapping of existing rolling stock will be addressed in this context;”

As an example, 1300 carriages are being scrapped in France, they are property of SNCF, but funded by public money. At the same time, there is a shortage of this type of equipment. Coming soon: of the 129 couchette cars currently in service for the SNCF night trains, some would be scrapped as early as 2028, and the others by 2030, if no action is done.

Blocking point: France did not request a derogation from the European REACH regulation for trains before the 2011 deadline, as major European railway countries did. Today, trains containing asbestos in parts inaccessible to the public and posing no health risk continue to run, operated by SNCF. But the incumbent operator refuses to transfer ownership of them, or lease them, to other companies.

Conversely Spain and Germany were able to sell and transfer night train equipment, which was then able to be taken over by Portugal and Austria.

When questioned, French Transport Minister stated on November 5th, 2025 (read the report) « I have engaged in discussions with the relevant Directorate-General of the European Commission, which reaffirmed the impossibility of granting further derogations. However, it stated that it was open to alternative solutions, provided that… »technical analyses and comprehensive risk assessments have been forwarded to her. We will continue to work on this issue with her and the regions concerned. « For now, the ministry is only interested in regional TER rolling stock. It is necessary to intervene with the French government and DG MOVE to include night trains.

C) Upgrading the railway network

C.1) Unblock border stations and reintegrate UIC agreements

A proposal from the European Commission is expected in mid-2026 on the revision of Directive 2007/59/EC of 23 October 2007 concerning driver certification. An improvement to the text would resolve the following problem:

We denounced, already in 2026, and later in 2022 together with several members of parliament, the administrative closure of railway borders, as a result of conflicts between French and Spanish institutions (including SNCF Réseau and ADIF). Absolutely no regional nor long-distance trains have run between Irun and Hendaye stations since 2020, even though it is the only rail link in the western part of the Pyrenees, and even if road transportation is overcrowed in this border.

Explanatory factor: European regulations are poorly written, in that they do not comply with pre-existing UIC international agreements (on rolling-stock autorization and staff language). Challenged by the previous president of the TRAN Committee, MEP Karima Delli, the DG Move admitted to not being familiar with UIC international agreements… who nevertheless built the European railway system long before the existence of the EU.

Railway stakeholders (CER) confirmed the analysis on 25 june 2025 : « Infrastructure doesn’t change precisely at the border and vehicles and drivers cannot be changed on the border point. » Then «  authorizing vehicles for a border section in another Member State without full country authorization is important for operational flexibility and cost efficiency. » Indeed « Special regimes for Border Sections depending on specific local circumstances have existed long before European rail regulation started. ». The EU regulation has to be improved : « aspects of Cross-Border operations for railways are not addressed and made transparent, yet. »

In the context of an conflicts between railways on certain borders (including Cerbère-Portbou and Hendaye-Irun), the failure to comply with the UIC agreements for border stations makes these borders even more impermeable. The UIC agreements have proven their worth over 100 years. The EU rail regulation lack this historical perspective and, so far, have not demonstrated their effectiveness in supporting night train or cross-border rail services.

Given the lack of an obvious solution, the EU would benefit from re-register the UIC agreements as a basis to maintain for cross-border trains, even as it simultaneously tries to deepen European integration through other additional means.

UIC agreements are a simple, effective, proven and cost-efficient way to achieve financial stabilityto streamline rail traffic at the borders of Member States. NGO T&E advocates this should be a priority, given the difficulties in gathering expensive investments for mega-projects.

The railway worker and MEP for the Basque Coast Peio Dufau has appealed to the French Ministry of Transport to reopen the border.

C.2) Funding to mesh the rail network rather than only main corridors

The Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T was adopted in December 2023. A step seems to have been taken to better mesh the european rail network. However, further progress is needed.

For a long time, the EU prioritized co-financing major rail corridors, favoring speed rather than meshing the rail network. As a side effect, the major corridors mainly serve a small number of large metropolitan areas and tend to leave out large parts of the EU territory.

However, the railway operates as a network, and the corridor logic leads in many countries to allowing the historic railway network to deteriorate. However, it is this traditional network that serves daily commutes and provides access to different areas. For example, the historical rail network is experiencing slowdowns due to its age, for instance in France, Germany, Spain, and some Eastern European countries.

The Commission wishes to promote military rail mobility and resilience to risks. The high-speed rail network is very sparsely connected, making it highly vulnerable to a single point of failure. A meshed network, long neglected, is a key factor in resilience, and funding should be allocated to address the current shortfall in this area.

However, given the budgetary constraints, we are at a historic moment where states have to choose between investing primarily in interconnected rail networks; or in speed; or in roads and airports.

EU financial aid can help prioritize rail mobility, which is more environmentally friendly. Night trains, still prevalent in the eastern half of the EU, can contribute to European connectivity if they are revitalized now.

In this context, will the EU be able to review its funding for the rail network, to promote the regeneration and improvement of the existing rail network to create a network across the territory? See a proposal of amendment to the CEF regulation here.

D) Balancing intermodal competition

D.1) Balance funding between High-Speed Rail and Night Trains

We draw attention to the importance of finding a new balance in the competition between the two long-distance rail transport options: high-speed rail and night trains. High-speed rail benefits from dozens of billions of euros in public funding for infrastructure construction, some of which is dedicated solely to this mode of transport. It also receives advantages in the form of track access charges. These are very significant advantages since infrastructure costs represent a very large share of high-speed rail costs. Because the journeys are fast, onboard staff costs are comparatively low.

Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) tends to oblige night trains to be profitable with no public support. Note that for night trains, TACs reductions are welcome, but they are not sufficient: the cost structure is different and TACs often represent only a small part, around 10% of the costs.

Building high-speed rail infrastructure for all destinations would be very demanding in terms of public funding, moreover for european regions less with less population density. Furthermore, daytime trains are limited to distances of around 1,000 km; beyond that, a night train is required. For a significant portion of origin-destination journeys, funding night trains can help reduce the cost for taxpayers.

The EU has announced its intention to invest €500 billions for the rail network and high-speed rail. This sum will be of little benefit to night trains: the HST and night trains largely use different infrastructures and should be regarded as two distinct modes of transport. A fraction of this sum would allow for the revival of 300 night train lines across Europe. One important point now is to call the European Commission to clarify what balance should be struck in the allocation of public funding between HSR and night trains ?

D.2) Anticipating the increase in airfare

Regarding intermodal competition, Airbus abandons hydrogen-powered aircraft which ultimately appears as a « false green promise », intended to postpone binding regulations. The sector is also unable to produce alternative fuels (SAF)) in sufficient quantity. This means it will not meet its 2030 decarbonization targets. Despite lobbying at least as intense as tobacco, tis situation could potentially lead to revive the elimination of tax breaks in the aviation sector, especially since public autorities are looking for revenue. For now, the EU cannot find a compromise to remove tax breaks. However, in France, the The Airline Ticket Tax (TSBA) has doubled by 2025. The plane is also to maintain in the EU ETS carbon market, which adds to the CO2.

Night trains allow you to travel further than day trains, for journeys of 800km to 1500km. Unfortunately, for these distances, air travel has tended to drive down prices, so much so that it largely dominates the market. Aviation has eliminated the night train service on many origin-destination routes.

Rising energy prices, carbon quotas, the requirement to incorporate expensive synthetic fuels, and the elimination of tax breaks are leading to a predictable and gradual increase in airfare prices. If this situation is not anticipated, discontinuities in service – across all modes – are likely to appear. Certain audiences might also see themselves excluded by price.

Any disruption to transport services across the continent would be disastrous, both for families and businesses. It is important to anticipate future developments by rebuilding a plurality of mobility options including a network of night trains.

This is about guaranteeing the territorial continuity of Europe. The night train network needs to be in place at a time when air travel is becoming expensive.

Otherwise, the EU could face predictable phenomena of social discontent, such as « Yellow Vests ». Such a situation would ultimately require costly subsidies for air travel, which would then appear as the only available form of mobility. Previous: France subsidized to the tune of 7.5 billion euros fuel rebate for the year 2022 alone due to a lack of alternatives to cars. This amount should be compared to 50 million euros from the French cycling plan for 2026.

Funding low-energy mobility options to avoid a monopoly on energy-intensive ones can prepare for the future and ultimately cost the taxpayer less.

D.3) A minimum price for airline tickets to prevent dumping

Aviation has long driven down prices to a level that still hinders the revival of night trains today. A June 2021 amendment by French MP Jean-Marc Zulesi proposed a minimum price for airline tickets and a study on the subject during the French Presidency of the EU. This would allow night trains to survive and expand. The minimum price has also been adopted by the Senate in the Climate Law in May 2021 via an amendment by Philippe Tabarot, now Transportation minister (see the debates). Austria and Germany also call to be autorized to settle a “minimum air fare”.

In 2020 The French transport minister, who was also an airplane pilot, confirmed the need to take action within the EU to “the fight against tax and social dumping in transport, particularly air transport and maritime » He confirmed that: « Tickets at €10 are no longer possible. »1 He denounced the ultra low-cost « sometimes resembles extortion of communities, since these institutions are forced to grant very high subsidies. This must be stopped. He adds: I mentioned the strategies of ultra-low-cost airlines: they have often been caught out, but punished at far too inadequate levels. I remember sanctions amounting to several million euros, while these companies were making a billion euros in net profits each year.”2

A call to EU is expected regarding minimal pricesin order to avoid legal conflict with the concept of « tariff freedom ». Authorization could be introduced, for example, under Article 20 of the European regulation 1008/2008 which stipulates that in the event of serious environmental problems, a Member State may limit or refuse the exercise of traffic rights when other modes of transport offer a satisfactory service. Some airlines and staff unions support minimum fares.

D.4) Harmonize VAT between rail and air travel

The 14 December 2021 UE action plan for cross-border trains states in point 3.8) : “The Commission will assess the need for an EU-wide exemption of international rail tickets from VAT to significantly reduce the cost to rail passengers.”

Plusieurs pays européens appliquent aussi une TVA sur les trains internationaux, dont la Belgique, Les Pays-Bas, l’Allemagne (7%), l’Autriche, la Croatie, la Grèce et l’Espagne. La compétition est alors inégale avec l’avion qui paye une TVA à 0 % sur les même trajets. L’harmonisation de la TVA entre les trains longue distance et l’avion apparaît donc nécessaire.

Pour aller plus loin, il conviendrait d’harmoniser également la TVA acquittée par les trains de nuit nationaux : au moment de choisir sa destination vacances, le train de nuit national est défavorisé par la TVA (qui est par exemple de 10% en France), ce qui favorise les voyages lointains en avion puisque l’avion vers l’international bénéficie de TVA à 0%. Or l’impact énergétique et environnemental est d’autant augmente avec les distances (destinations internationales).

Several European countries also apply VAT to international trains, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany (7%), Austria, Croatia, Greece and Spain. This creates an uneven playing field with air travel, which pays 0% VAT on the same routes. Harmonising VAT between long-distance trains and air travel therefore appears necessary.

To take this further, VAT on domestic night trains should also be harmonized: when choosing a holiday destination, domestic night trains are at a disadvantage due to VAT (which is, for example, 10% in France), which favours long-distance travel by air since international flights benefit from 0% VAT. Yet the energy and environmental impact increases in direct proportion to distance (then for international destinations).