Night trains between Berlin and Brussels and between Berlin and Paris have started running again since Monday. The service is in high demand and passengers want the program to be extended.
In 2016 the old Deutsche Bahn night trains stopped running and the night rail connection between Berlin and Paris and Brussels had already been discontinued in 2014.
Night trains started running again on Monday this week. You can travel by train from Germany to Brussels and Paris three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starting from October next year, a train called Nightjet will run every day.
The rail link is jointly operated by Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB), the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), the French national railway company SCNF and the Belgian company NMBS/SNCB. The trains are owned by ÖBB, which operates the largest night train network in Europe.
Demand for the service is high: vacancies have only been available since January. Customers are therefore advised to carefully plan their trip in advance.
The popularity of night trains is growing especially to the detriment of business travelers, for whom it is more convenient to sleep on the train at night and arrive at their destination rested than to travel by regular train and rent a hotel room.
According to DB the cheapest ticket costs 30 euros, although according to DPA journalists the cheapest ticket in January costs 45 euros. Coupe seats cost from 100 to 600 euros and beds from 165 to 475 euros.
There are currently more than 90 night train lines in Europe and their number is constantly growing. However, supply is not keeping up with demand. The reason is both the time needed to build new trains and the limitation of rail connections. Passenger trains compete with freight trains for the same tracks.
Furthermore, activists on the ground are calling for more favorable tax rules to apply to train travel.
“It is important to abolish VAT on international train tickets,” Dirk Flege, a representative of Allianz pro Schiene, an association that promotes rail connections, told German television ARD.
According to Flege, 7% VAT is charged on international train tickets, while no VAT is required on international airline tickets.
2023-12-12 09:06:00
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