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Reviving the Romance of Rail Travel: Nightjet’s Grand Return from Berlin to Paris

By Anna Ellis • Published: 10 Dec 2023 • 8:24

Reviving the Romance of Rail Travel: Nightjet's Grand Return from Berlin to Paris

Reviving the Romance of Rail Travel: Nightjet's Grand Return from Berlin to Paris. Image: Nightjet.

The inaugural night train journey from Berlin to Paris is set to commence on December 11.

This marks the end of a nine-year hiatus and addresses a significant gap in Europe’s overnight rail schedule.

This development provides a substantial alternative for travellers seeking options beyond air travel.
Regarded as a highlight of European rail travel, the service faced cancellation in 2014, leading to protests.
The Nightjet train, operated by the Austrian company ÖBB, is fully booked and features a range of sleeping compartments, from ordinary to deluxe, with options for individual or shared spaces, including some equipped with showers and toilets.
The journey begins at 8.18.PM in Berlin, making stops in Halle, Erfurt, Mannheim, and Strasbourg, before arriving in Paris at 10.24.AM the next morning.
ÖBB plans to initially run the service three times a week, with a goal to operate it daily starting from the following autumn.
Travellers can save time by opting for overnight travel, and the resurgence of night trains in recent years has the added benefit of expanding accessibility across mainland Europe.

Passengers travelling between Brussels and Paris to Berlin and Vienna will now occupy distinct carriages on the same train, reorganising in Mannheim before proceeding to their respective destinations.

This collaborative service, established three years ago through cooperation between Austrian, French, and German rail companies, is primarily driven by ÖBB, which is a key force behind its revival.

Cat Jones, the visionary behind Byway, a holiday company championing flight-free travel with an emphasis on savouring the travel experience, remarked, “It’s created an enormous buzz, having such critical routes and key connection points that make it so quick and easy to go to sleep in Paris and wake up in Berlin.”

“In addition, if you’re planning a family trip, you can now more easily expand it to other places and have a rich and enjoyable multistop overland journey.”

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Anna Ellis

Originally from Derbyshire, Anna has lived in the middle of nowhere on the Costa Blanca for 19 years. She is passionate about her animal family including four dogs and four horses, musicals and cooking.

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