BERLIN The first night train from Berlin to Paris was ten minutes late on Monday evening.
On its maiden voyage, the train was filled mostly with diplomats and train industry professionals. The future shifts are also booked well into the spring, except for the most expensive berths.
Many night train connections have been opened in Europe in the last couple of years. Now in December, both new shifts and new modern sleeping cars with different connections have been celebrated.
The Berlin-Paris connection is considered symbolic because it connects the capitals of the two largest EU countries after a ten-year gap. In recent years, several night connections from Europe were discontinued, when money was put into air and car traffic instead of railways.
Both the German and French transport ministers were celebrating the new connection on the departure track before the train left.
– This is the era of the night train union. We are experiencing a renaissance of night trains, the German Minister of Transport Volker Wissing glowed.
By association, he refers to the fact that the new night trains mostly cross the borders of European countries. That requires cooperation.
– Germany and France are investing in connections, we are buying more modern, more comfortable and therefore more attractive sleeping cars, and we are reopening previously closed night train connections, the French Minister of Transport Clement Beaune said to .
There is a shortage of equipment
However, Germany and France do not have much room for their proud night trains so far, because the development in them has been slow. The rail network has been renovated, but there is little new train stock.
The Berlin-Paris route, which opened on Monday as well, is called NightJet, which is owned by the Austrian national railway company ÖBB. NightJet already operates in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Poland and Switzerland.
Next year, ÖBB plans to start a night train service from Zurich via Lyon and Montpellier to Barcelona, Spain.
The Austrian company is one of the pioneers of the new European night train service, such as for example from this Back-on-track organization map can see. There are currently more connections from Vienna to other European capitals.
On Sunday, ÖBB introduced a new type of mini sleeping cars between Vienna and Hamburg. In them, the cabin does not have to be shared with others, but the passenger gets to use his own separate capsule.
According to experts in the train industry, the development of night traffic is slowed down by the lack of European cooperation.
– Companies from different countries compete with each other, when we would need one European rail network and one European train company, the infrastructure expert of the organization Bahn für alle Carl Wassmuth said on Monday.
According to Waßmuth, there would be more demand than could be deduced from the current boom in opening train connections.
– There should be clearly more on offer so that this form of movement could replace flying, he says.
Finland does well in comparison
The train connecting Berlin and Paris has a total of 180 sleeping places and 132 sitting places. It’s quite a bit compared to the fact that, for example, in Finland, there are about a thousand beds per day on the tracks between Lapland and the south during the busiest times.
According to train activists in Berlin, Finns can be proud of their night trains. Back on track organization by Patrcik Neumann in my opinion, Finnish night train traffic is even “amazing” compared to Central European, because there are several connections.
Slowness is environmentally friendly
The Berlin-Paris night train can really be said to be “dummy”, because the travel time will be 14 hours and six minutes. For example, by car, it sometimes takes about ten hours, and by plane, including transfers to the field, in a good six hours.
The night train runs slower than the day train, but that’s why it’s a very ecological form of travel.
The faster the train, the more energy it consumes. The construction of high-speed railways also consumes a lot of natural resources.
You can save time and money on the train
Night trains are becoming a good competitor for Europe’s short and medium-haul flights in curbing climate change. When you can sleep on the train, you save on the price of a hotel night. You can go directly from the center to the center by train.
For example, hotels in Paris are so expensive that a night train ticket from Berlin to Paris quickly pays for itself.
According to the general perception, train tickets are more expensive than plane tickets. However, the price depends on the period for which the tickets are purchased and when the tickets are booked.
For example, from Berlin to Brussels on Tuesday, you could have bought a ticket for a European Sleeper night train for 99 euros, while the cheapest direct flight cost 320 euros.
What are your experiences with European night trains? You can discuss the topic from Wednesday 13.12. until 11 p.m.