European Sleeper Launches New Night Train Service Connecting Paris and Berlin

The Belgian-Dutch cooperative European Sleeper launched a new night train service between Paris and Berlin on Thursday, March 26, 2026, filling a gap left when Austrian Federal Railways discontinued its competing connection in mid-December 2025. The inaugural journey departed from Paris's Gare du Nord and travels via Brussels and Hamburg before reaching Berlin. The train consists of eight royal-blue carriages pulled by a brand-new locomotive, though several of the carriages are older, refurbished models showing visible signs of age. Jean-Luc Crucke, Belgium's Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, attended the premiere in Paris, framing night trains as both a nostalgic experience and a tool for meeting climate goals.

Old carriages and broken toilets greet first passengers The inaugural journey was marked by a mix of enthusiasm and the practical limitations of aging rolling stock. According to Der Tagesspiegel, which reported from on board, at least one toilet was out of service during the trip, a symptom of the broader shortage of new night train carriages across Europe. As major rail operators cut their overnight connections over the preceding years, the supply of modern sleeper stock failed to keep pace with the renewed demand now emerging across the continent. European Sleeper has had to rely on older, refurbished carriages to fill the gap, a compromise visible to passengers and rail enthusiasts alike on the platform. Despite the breakdowns, the atmosphere on board was described as enthusiastic, with rail fans gathering at the departure platform to photograph the train's send-off.

ÖBB pulled the plug just three months earlier The new service directly replaces a connection that ÖBB had operated in cooperation with French national rail operator SNCF and German rail operator DB. That service was discontinued in mid-December 2025, leaving the Paris-Berlin overnight corridor without a direct sleeper option for roughly three months. European Sleeper, which already operates a thrice-weekly night train between Brussels and Prague via Amsterdam and Berlin — a route it launched in May 2023 — is now extending its network westward to Paris. The new Paris-Berlin service is planned to run three times per week, mirroring the frequency of the cooperative's existing route.

Night train services across Europe experienced a prolonged decline over several decades as high-speed daytime rail and budget aviation drew passengers away from overnight travel. ÖBB relaunched its Nightjet brand in 2016 and became the dominant operator of international sleeper services on the continent. A Berlin-to-Paris overnight connection was relaunched in December 2023, marking the first such service in almost a decade at that time. European Sleeper began operations in May 2023 with its Brussels-Prague route, positioning itself as an open-access operator competing alongside state-owned incumbents.

The launch drew attention to the structural challenge facing the revival of European night trains: a shortage of suitable rolling stock. Because major operators spent years retiring sleeper carriages rather than investing in new ones, companies now re-entering the market must source older equipment and refurbish it, accepting trade-offs in passenger comfort. European Sleeper's royal-blue livery and cooperative ownership model have made it a symbol of grassroots rail revival, distinct from the state-backed Nightjet network. The Paris-Berlin corridor is one of the most symbolically significant routes in European rail, connecting two of the continent's largest cities and capitals, and its restoration as a sleeper route has been welcomed by rail advocates and climate campaigners who see overnight trains as a lower-emission alternative to short-haul flights.