The inaugural trip of European Sleeper’s new Brussels to Venice night train, due to take place on 5 February 2025, suffered an embarrassing setback last week, after Italian operators renegued on the supply of locomotives needed for the service.
European Sleeper had hailed the new transcontinental route as a “significant milestone” and trailed the maiden voyage to journalists and influencers who were all set to report on what promised to be a romance-laden “sustainable and comfortable” trip that would “reconnect Europe’s cities by night.”
Italian authorities blamed
But just one day ahead of departure, according to European Sleeper co-founder Elmer van Buuren, “the Italians began to change their minds and called us to tell us that we could not go beyond Bolzano.” It soon transpired the train would not “even enter Italy. They did not provide any reason,” van Buuren complained.
The setback came after “nine months, hundreds of phone calls and meetings” van Buuren said. “We have set separate appointments with five services similar to ProRail, in each country crossed. It seemed that everything was settled.”
Not enough locomotives
The problem was laid out in full by Mark Smith, aka The Man in Seat 61, a prominent rail industry expert blogger who was aboard when the train set out from Brussels. “Two locomotives are needed to ‘top and tail’ the train in and out of Venice, as the Italian network no longer allows light engine movements around Venice,” he wrote on X. “They couldn’t get two for this departure” – something the Italian authorities only informed European Sleeper of on the eve of the much anticipated first departure.
This meant the train ended up terminating in Innsbruck, a full 380km away from its intended terminus on its first time round. Onward passengers were forced to disembark and board a different train for the next portion of their journey.
The train was due to terminate in Verona as two locomotives are needed to ‘top and tail’ the train in and out of Venice, as the Italian network no longer allows light engine movements around Venice. They couldn’t get two for this departure, should be solved for later ones.
— The Man in Seat 61 (@seatsixtyone) February 6, 2025
Will the rest of the season be affected?
At the time of writing, the European Sleeper website states: “Our first train to Venice was not allowed to continue further than Innsbruck due to the fact that the Italian operator had not fullfilled all required internal procedures. We were only informed about this less than one day before departure. Therefore European Sleeper cannot depart from Venezia Santa Lucia, Venezia Mestre, Verona, Bozen/Bolzano and Brixen/ Bressanone. Instead, the departure station will be Innsbruck (Austria) at 21.24.”
The firm explains that return passengers can travel to Innsbruck in “reserved seats for all passengers in train EC80 with destination Innsbruck/München and change in Innsbruck to board European Sleeper. This train is operated by ÖBB (Austrian Railways) and Deutsche Bahn (German Railways).” The information continues: “You do not need to purchase an additional ticket. Your European Sleeper ticket is valid on this train. The train conductor is informed about this arrangement in case tickets are checked.”
Arrived in Venice! I never tire of walking out of Santa Lucia station and seeing gondolas and vaporettos on the Grand Canal in front of you. Trying out the Albergo Marin, a stone’s throw from Santa Lucia and only £80 a night (in February of course!) pic.twitter.com/1Utwh6QOjZ
— The Man in Seat 61 (@seatsixtyone) February 6, 2025
European rail continues to evolve
The company is clearly hopeful the problem may be resolved for the handful of future departures planned across the ski and carnival season, but the issue is reflective of the difficulties that persist in trans-European rail transport – a sector historically dogged by regulatory and finance issues and a lack of rolling stock availability, as it attempts to compete with an aviation industry that benefits from significant fuel tax subsidies.
A European Commission report reveals there was no increase in long-distance passenger cross-border services in the EU bloc for nearly 20 years between 2001 to 2019, yet, despite this, demand is certainly up. In France alone, night trains carried 23% more people in 2024 than in 2023. European Sleeper will be trusting that EU moves to create a single European booking system, combined with the increasing popularity of long-distance train travel, mean it is able to outride teething problems like those faced last week.
