Nightjet, a train operated by Austrian railway company ÖBB, relaunched the connections from Berlin to Paris and Brussels on 11 December, almost one decade after the services stopped in December 2014.
The first Nightjets departed Berlin at 8:18 pm and were given a fitting send-off by the transport ministers and CEOs from the countries of the four partner railways – ÖBB, DB, SNCF and SNCB. French transport minister, Clément Beaune, boarded the train to Paris and arrived in the French capital a little before 11 am the following morning.
It was long, but it’s nice because you can sleep, you can work a bit, you can talk with friends and have a drink. So it’s a really nice experience.
Clément Beaune, French Transport Minister, told the Independent
“Rail travel is climate protection, especially with the night train, which also makes travelling practical and convenient”, Austrian Federal Minister for Mobility, Leonore Gewessle, said before seeing the train off. “Passengers can board a train in the evening and wake up refreshed the next morning in another European capital. With the new Nightjet connections, we’re bringing major European cities closer together and making climate-friendly travel in Europe even easier. I’m convinced that this is the future of mobility for us. Short and medium-haul routes in Europe belong to rail.”
The NJ 40424 runs from Berlin via Halle (Saale), Erfurt, Frankfurt/Main and Strasbourg to Paris. It will depart Berlin at 8:18 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and arrive at Paris Est the following mornings at 10:24 am. For the return, it will depart Paris at 7:12 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive back in Berlin at 8:26 am the following mornings.
The NJ 424 runs from Berlin via Halle (Saale), Erfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne, Aachen, Liege-Guillemins to Brussels. It will depart Berlin on the same days and at the same time as the route to Paris, but arrive at Bruxelles Midi (south station) at 9:56 am the following day. For the way back, it will depart Brussels at 9:03 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive back to Berlin at the same time as the NJ 40424.
By October 2024, both routes are planned to run daily.
Tickets for the Nightjet connections will be available from €34.90 per person and direction in the seating carriage, from €54.90 in the couchette carriage and from €79.90 in the sleeper carriage. All tickets include a seat reservation and passengers travelling in sleeper and couchette carriages also receive a welcome drink and breakfast served directly in the compartment in the morning before arrival.
