DES BRADLEY describes his concept for a North East to South West overnight service
Just a few years ago, the longterm decline of Europe’s night trains seemed to be entering a terminal phase, with huge service cuts in France and the complete withdrawal of Deutsche Bahn from the market in 2016. Few could have predicted the current revival now picking up pace across the continent.
Austrian state operator ÖBB has led the way, launching the ‘Nightjet’ brand and restoring links to Brussels and Amsterdam; wider plans, involving ÖBB and other state railways, will see restored connections across Europe starting with Vienna – Paris in December 2021. Meanwhile, in France the Paris – Nice night train, withdrawn as recently as 2017, has returned, with more to follow in the years ahead.
Private operators have also been key to this renaissance. Czech operator Regiojet set up a hugely successful overnight train from Prague to the Adriatic in 2020, virtually from scratch; this was further expanded for 2021, and a partnership is now in place with a new start-up, European Sleeper, to run a Brussels – Prague service from April 2022. Swedish operator Snälltåget, which runs a limited summer-only night train between M…
