Agency Report –
European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian railway provider, has announced plans to launch a new night train connecting Paris and Berlin next year, replacing the soon-to-be-discontinued service operated by the Austrian rail company ÖBB.
The company said on Wednesday that the trains will run three times a week between the two capitals from the end of March, with the first departure from Paris scheduled for March 26.
State-owned ÖBB has announced that its Paris-Berlin Nightjet connection will be discontinued in mid-December after just two years of operation.
It cited the loss of state subsidies from France, which amounted to millions of euros per year, according to French media.
The subsidies were designed to offset the costs of the service, which is not profitable despite high demand. This is partly due to the fact that night trains make a limited number of journeys and stand still throughout the day.
The new route is expected to run through Brussels, from where European Sleeper already operates trains to Prague via Berlin. According to the company, this model will make the new Berlin-Paris connection more economically viable.
Ticket sales for the new route will open on December 16 at prices comparable to those of ÖBB’s Nightjet service.
European Sleeper operates under a cooperative ownership model, in which shareholders finance its routes.
