The Paris to Berlin Sleeper Train

Thank you for posting this! So glad night train routes are increasing. I've enjoyed two night train routes in the past, and look forward to others in the future.

I'm sorry, but I'd rather take a budget European airline flight (EasyJet) over to Berlin--in 1 hr. 40 minutes. And the price would probably be cheaper to fly anyway.

probably true ... but not as much fun IMHO!

By the time you add in checked luggage and one night of hotel, price for a flight may or may not be cheaper. I have so far only taken a night train in Canada, but I look forward to taking one in Europe!

The Paris-Vienna sleeper train is back, too. Also, the night train from the Spanish border on the Mediterranean side to Paris.

The BBC's "World Business Report" has a reporter on this train with a 4 minute long segment.

audio: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4zhj

(starts at about 18:55, ends about 23:00, ~ 4 minutes)

"So glad night train routes are increasing." Ditto. How true. Paris to Berlin and Paris to Vienna...bravo. We have OeBB Night Jet to thank for this development.

I'll be taking both these OeBB routes this summer, ie in June. The absolute cheapest way to go is with Senior Global Pass and reserving a seat 2nd class in a six seat compartment. These two night routes demonstrate that night train business is more than popular and accelerating.

towards the end of the year it should become nightly in each direction.

Just a small clarification - it is slated to become daily in October 2024.

The absolute cheapest way to go is with Senior Global Pass and
reserving a seat 2nd class in a six seat compartment.

I would not do this if you wanted to sleep however. Those trains pick up and drop off passengers all the time. If you want peace and sleep get a sleeping compartment.

.... and this video is of the brand new sleeping Pods on the Vienna to Hamburg and Innsbruck/Munich to Hamburg routes (with more routes to follow as the trains enter service).
The video also includes the other parts of this new train.-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZInjerE3a0

WengenK,

Over 30 years ago, we lived in Augsburg, Germany and when we took sleeper trains for 2 adults and 2 kids, we couldn't afford first class sleepers, so we did the couchettes. Six in a compartment, so we had two strangers in there with us. I slept with my wallet under my pillow. Never had any problem.

I've doen couchettes myself. However a seat is something different. The light stays on, and people come and go, because that part of the train doubles as a late night/very early morning commuter train,

I really envy people who can sleep in this environment. I ask this respectfully, what is the actual point of traveling over night by train versus taking a 10am flight from Paris and getting in at noon in Berlin if you are not on a business trip? Is it just the novelty. The cost seems equal. Without having done this it feels almost like a transatlantic flight without the jet lag.

I ask this respectfully, what is the actual point of traveling over
night by train versus taking a 10am flight from Paris and getting in
at noon in Berlin if you are not on a business trip?

With the night train you arrive in Berlin 8:26 and get half a day extra in Berlin. You don't have to deal with airports and check in procedures and security checks. And you don't have to get up as early. It's also a lot better for the environment, planes pollute a lot.

And if you're going to a smaller town, e.g. Linz, Aachen, Utrecht or Liège, the night train might offer a direct connection when flying might involve a long train journey on one or both ends.

... and to add to Badger's comment, which is more or less what I would have written, you arrive at Berlin airport at 12 noon, not Berlin City Centre.

So you have expended at least half a day travelling when time you would have been sleeping anyway has been spent in a hotel, rather than travelling. If you have difficulty sleeping take what aids you need to assist in sleeping.

The gradual introduction of the new sleeping pods on many of the NJ trains will further tip the economics towards rail. Eventually 33 of the new train sets are on order.

As I have said before, I am serious about the environment, as are many Europeans. I will not fly short haul within Europe. Sadly long haul there are few other viable options.

Something has to change in travel habits, no matter how late we are in the process of climate change.

Ultimately the original demise of night trains seriously narrowed the horizons of people like me, as it added time on to journeys across Europe with unnecessary city stops and added expense of hotels. What is sad is the loss of restaurant cars from most night trains.

I notice that when taking night trains with or without a sleeper or couchette (both are not options for me as I don't need either), the passengers I see standing on the platform waiting for the train to pull in, as I am, are always Europeans, overwhelmingly German, with on super rare occasions, a few Asians but never any Americans. Whatever reason you arrive at, this observation is constant.

There is not much I can do regarding my carbon footprint in Europe, except not to fly within Europe, unless it was due to dire circumstances. Result: no flying.

The direct night train is the obvious easy answer, plus it is dirt cheap since I have the Eurail Senior Pass for 15 travel days. There will always be night train service, all the more so since routes are being added thanks to OeBB and booming business on night routes (who is responsible for that?) or brought back.

I am not concerned, basically not interested, with not sleeping sitting in a compartment with strangers. I am as much to them. I can count on sleeping 6-7 hours will do it. I arrive between 6-8 AM in the summer after 9-10 hr. ride....perfect.

Regarding compartment seating on OeBB Night Jet, the night light goes out as it gets dark. One can expect by 22: 00 hrs. in the summer the lights will be out.

Unfortunately, with the timetable change, ÖBB has raised ticket prices considerably, especially for single sleeper tickets. The extreme example is the price for a single from Hamburg to Vienna, which cost €299 at the beginning of December and yesterday was €699 for a last-minute booking and still €494 for a date in mid-February. Many other prices have also risen by 50-70% (cf. the overview at the Swiss web site night-ride.ch). Of course, ÖBB can afford this pricing policy because the few sleeping car compartments that the NightJet has (most of the capacity is couchettes and normal seating) are quickly booked out. But this will certainly not accelerate the trend towards night trains.

Much less reported is that there is also a Brussels to Berlin section (joins/divides at Mannheim). Both the Paris and Brussels trains each also convey sections for Vienna - a common practice in Europe.