Yesterday, the EU’s largest night train operator, ÖBB, announced that it would reduce its order for new night trains from 33 to 24. This is another clear sign that the current EU framework for night trains is not working.
The reduced order comes in a year in which night train connections between Gothenburg, Are and Duved, Brussels and Berlin, and between Munich and Rijeka were finally discontinued. European Sleeper, which still only operates one route regularly, had to launch another crowdfunding campaign.
Although ÖBB has packaged the news of reduced orders for night trains in a rather optimistic message about increased orders for day trains, this is bad news for long-distance travellers within Europe. While day trains tend to compete with cars, night trains are a substitute for short- and medium-haul flights, and ÖBB’s increased orders for RailJet2 cannot offer an alternative for this. The Austrian state railway operator does not mention why it made this decision, but looking back at the development of night trains over the recent years, one can speculate about the problems.
The lack of coordination of track work makes it impossible to draw up a reliable timetable for a night train. Some network operators close railway lines at night for track work, but unlike thirty years ago, they do not always announce this work in advance or offer an alternative route. If a line used by international trains is closed, the network operator should be required to consult an EU authority and offer an alternative route.
The allocation of train paths and the track access charges, i.e. the price that an operator pays for using the tracks, are not coordinated at European level. European Sleeper is having difficulty finding a route from the Netherlands via Belgium and France to Barcelona. And ÖBB never considered homologating its new Nightjets for the French rail network, as it knew that such homologation would be complicated and costly and would have a very uncertain outcome.
All international trains, but especially longer night services, face regulatory barriers such as inconsistent standards for rolling stock and fragmented capacity allocation. The EU should make it a priority to address these issues and recognise the unfair market advantages of air transport by offsetting existing regulatory barriers with targeted financial support for international night trains. This urgent financial support can take various forms, from the creation of pools of universally deployable carriages that lower the barriers to new services, to targeted co-financing of strategic European connections through public service obligations (PSOs).
In fact, the EU Commission and Parliament submitted a new regulation to the Council a year ago (2023/0271/COD) that promises improved international coordination of construction sites and better consideration of sustainable modes of transport such as night trains when allocating capacity. This could make a big difference for the future of night trains. Unfortunately, the Polish EU Presidency was unable to conclude the Trilogue negotiations. There are also no indications that the new Danish Presidency is actively prioritising the railway capacity regulation dossier.
In China, the cities of Beijing and Shenzhen are connected by several night trains, which carry a total of more than 3,500 beds per day.
In Europe, meanwhile, the top-perfoming service offers 480 beds per day.
