Night train between Berlin and Paris to return after nine years | Rail transport

A night train linking Berlin and Paris will return in December, nine years after the service was cancelled, the Austrian rail operator ÖBB has announced.

ÖBB has been a pioneer in bringing back night trains as Europeans look for low-carbon travel options.

“The service will start on 11 December from Berlin with three trips per week before becoming a daily service in October 2024,” said Bernhard Rieder, an ÖBB spokesperson, on Wednesday.

The trains will make stops in Strasbourg, Mannheim, Erfurt and Halle.

ÖBB will make Mannheim a hub for night trains, with its Brussels-Vienna and Paris-Vienna services also making stops in the city.

Passengers heading from Brussels and Paris to Berlin and Vienna will board different carriages on the same train, with the carriages rearranged in Mannheim to travel to their destination. The same will happen in the other direction.

The Austrian, French and German rail companies first announced plans to resurrect the service in December 2020. Deutsche Bahn confirmed the resumption of service in December, while France’s SNCF did not comment.

France and Germany also plan to introduce a fast train service between the two capitals from the end of 2024.