Wednesday, October 1
Night trains from Berlin to Paris to end in December
Night trains to Paris, we hardly knew ye. Just a couple of years ago the ÖBB began operating the service between these two old European capitals, but come December it will be gone again. The cancellation stems from French budget cuts: the government in Paris has withdrawn state subsidies for Austrian Railways, which operates the route, and so the service will be scrapped. Keeping it running would have required around ten million euros per year.
According to Le Monde, an SNCF railway official explained: “The state, as a shareholder, demands that we be profitable… we [cannot] operate services at a loss just for the sake of a nice symbol.” The decision has drawn criticism, however. An initiative called Oui au train de nuit (“Yes to the night train”) launched an online petition, which quickly gathered 15,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) has become Europe’s largest provider of night train services through its Nightjet brand. In recent years the company has expanded its network, strengthening routes to Germany, Italy and Switzerland, among others. This setback, then, may prove only a brief step backwards against the broader revival of European night rail.
