This Tuesday morning, just before 10.45am, with a fifteen-minute delay delay only, that the Gare de l'Est in Paris the first night train from Berlin after a ten-year hiatus. This new train Nightjet operated by Austrian Railways (ÖBB) in partnership with the SNCFthe Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Société nationale des chemins de fer belges (SNCB) had left the German capital the day before at 8.18pm with Clément Beaune, the French Transport Minister, Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs and Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités, on board for the French representation.
" It's a busy week for revival of night trains in France with the launch of the Paris-Aurillac service on 10 December and now the Berlin-Paris servicesaid a delighted Clément Beaune. In just a few years, we have gone from 2 to 6 national lines departing from Paris. This is an important project in our ecological transition policy, for which the government has mobilised a budget of €100m to renovate trains and relaunch routes by offering affordable prices." .
In order to offer attractive fares, each country has given its own little helping hand, with Germany, for example, reducing the cost of tolls and Belgium reimbursing the cost of tolls on its branch. Visit Brussels-Berlin as well as the Vienna-Berlin also operated by ÖBB are in fact linked to the Paris-Berlin overnight at Mannheim station. And Clément Beaune is delighted that customer demand is already high on this new route, as it has been on those opened in recent years, including the daily newspaper Paris-Nice. With three weekly rotations to start with, the Paris-Berlin service should become daily in October 2024.
Business customers are not forgotten
As an aside, the Minister told us that this night train was not reserved for leisure customers but also for the business travellers " as I enjoyed it last night "With a quality service including drinks service, power and USB sockets, toiletries, etc. ÖBB Nightjet Paris-Berlin has Single and Double Comfort Plus compartments equipped with a private shower and WC. And breakfast is included as a bonus. So you can arrive at your destination refreshed and ready to go. " This makes the night train a good alternative to flying, while avoiding the cost of a night in a hotel." added Clément Beaune. " and carbon emissions much lower than air travel and car travel "he concluded, announcing other route openings. The government is committed to ten night train lines operational by 2030.
No orders for night trains in France before 2025
" We will continue to open routes in France and Europeconfirmed Jean-Pierre Farandou, SNCF CEO. In France, this is helping to revive services to areas that have been somewhat forgotten." . All that remains is to meet the challenge of providing the rolling stock, as the SNCF currently only has 120 renovated trains. The Paris-Berlin service has been made possible by the large number of train sets available to ÖBB, which began introducing night trains in Europe in 2016. " This mode of transport is very popular because of environmental concerns. Customers are booking months in advance. We are going to continue to invest, ordering 33 new night trains to double the number of passengers carried by 2030 to 3.5 million." said Dr Sabine Stock, a member of ÖBB's Board of Directors. In fact, France is unlikely to catch up immediately, with Clément Beaune suggesting that an order for night trains will only be placed in early 2025. " We will then be able to envisage not just radial lines from Paris, but cross-country lines between the east and west of France." said the Transport Minister. In the meantime, other lines should see the light of day in Europe thanks to the partnership developed between SNCF, ÖBB, DB and SNCB.
