Popular European night trains under threat of cancellation
Routes from Paris to Berlin and Vienna may face funding cuts
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European night trains departing Paris may soon be cut from rail schedules, says a French citizens collective.
According to Oui au train de nuit? (OuiTdN), two overnight routes from the French capital to Berlin and Vienna are at risk of cancellation from as early as December 2025.
The line to Berlin, operated by Austrian railways ÖBB and French operator SNCF, was fully relaunched in 2023 after nine years with the “promise” of a daily service by autumn 2024.
As the connections from Paris have only been running three return trips a week, the government is allegedly threatening to withdraw its subsidy for the trains, citing a lack of commitment from the operator, OuiTdN said.
The trains have proved to be popular and regularly run to capacity, according to transport site Hurrail. Despite the high demand, the SNCF has not managed to supply a daily service, and thus does not promote it widely.
OuiTdN claims SNCF does not advertise or sell tickets for the Nightjet trains on its SNCF Connect platform, despite the service carrying over 66,000 passengers in 2024.
In a statement, the citizen collective said: “International night trains are in the same situation in 2025 as national night trains were in 2015: the SNCF is degrading the service and thus encouraging the state to get rid of it, against a backdrop of an ill-adapted regulatory framework.”
The Oui au train de nuit? group is now petitioning Jean-Pierre Farandou, president of the SNCF, and French president Emmanuel Macron to save the night trains.
It said: “It is unacceptable that the only two international night trains serving France year-round should disappear. Each of the stakeholders has room to act, and each can take a step toward truly reviving international night trains.”
Per the petition, OuiTdN are asking SNCF, ÖBB and DB to offer two daily night trains to Vienna and Berlin.
According to OuiTdN, the European Union is promoting “unfair competition with air travel” by making it difficult to finance international train lines.
The group added: “The EU could subsidise night trains to balance competition with air travel and rebuild the night train network after two decades of underinvestment.
“This is an urgent action to have an alternative at a time when air travel is going to become more expensive.”
The Independent has contacted SNCF for comment.
Read more: New European sleeper train planned from Belgium to Slovakia
