Closed in 2014, the night rail link between Paris and Berlin will resume on December 11 and reservations are now open on the SNCF website and app. The return of this line was announced in December 2020 by SNCF, Deutsche Bahn (Germany) and ÖBB (Austria). It is part of the slow European reactivation of night trains, a means of transport that is coming back into fashion due to its low climate impact.
The Paris-Berlin night route will make stops in Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Erfurt and Halle. Three round trips are offered from Paris Gare de l’Est with departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from the German capital. Travel time is approximately 13 hours. This offer will be daily starting in fall 2024.
As for the Paris-Vienna line, customers will have the possibility of traveling on Nightjet trains, equipment from the Austrian Federal Railways that offer certain comfort.
Comfortable Nightjet trains
Three classes are offered:
- Seats for the bravest, with tickets from 29.90 euros
- Seats (4 to 6 per compartment) from 59.90 euros with hot and cold catering and breakfasts on request
- Sleeping cars from 94.90 euros with single, double or triple compartments that include a sink or shower and toilet in Deluxe version.
Travelers in this class also receive a welcome drink, a welcome bag, toiletries, bed linen and benefit from a wake-up service, an a la carte breakfast (with unlimited hot drink) and hot and cold catering on request .
In fact, the ÖBB company will reorganize its service forming a kind of large “X”, integrating the Berlin service into its current Paris-Vienna and Brussels-Vienna night trains. In this way, the trains will connect Paris or Brussels, on the one hand, with Berlin or Vienna, on the other. They will regroup in the middle of the night in Mannheim, on the banks of the Rhine.
“This new line completes the French night train offer. After the reopening of Paris-Nice in May 2021 and Paris-Tarbes-Lourdes in December 2021, a new offer between Paris and Aurillac will also be launched on December 10, 2023 under the direction of the Ministry of Transport”, greets the SNCF.
Source: BFM TV
