The revival of sleeper trains on the continent caused problems on the tracks in September, when Austrian state operator ÖBB announced it would suspend two Nightjet services – Paris to Vienna and Paris to Berlin – from December 14. ÖBB noted that the end of French government subsidies was a blow to the night train renaissance.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. European Sleeper will take over the Paris to Berlin route and its first train will run on March 26, 2026, it told the Guardian. Trains will run three times a week, departing Gare du Nord on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, and returning from Berlin Central Station and Ostbahnhof on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Currently, Nightjet services depart Paris Gare d’Est trains shortly after 7pm and travel east through Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Erfurt and Halle before arriving in Berlin around 8.30am. European Sleeper plans to travel via Brussels and exact route details and timings are currently being confirmed with infrastructure managers in France, Belgium and Germany.
“We think Nightjet’s existing market will certainly be interested in traveling with the European Sleeper,” said Chris Engelsman, the company’s co-founder. “It offers higher capacity than Nightjet, so we can also increase passenger numbers. ÖBB operates 12 buses in Paris, but splits them between Vienna and Berlin. We, on the other hand, have 12 to 14 buses that serve Berlin and can accommodate 600 to 700 passengers.”
The news was certainly welcomed by French campaign group Oui au train de nuit!, which staged a pajama party in September by climbing onto the Gare de l’Est train platform in pajamas to protest cuts to Paris’ slipper service. “This is a partial victory for the 91,000 people who signed our petition,” said Nicolas Forien, a spokesman for the group.
Dutch cooperative European Sleeper operated its first route from Berlin to Brussels on May 25, 2023, extending the route to Dresden and Prague a year later. The company has already carried more than 230,000 passengers on more than 750 overnight trains and has been a key player in the sleeper train market. In the sleeper train market, a shortage of rolling stock with sleeper beds and cross-border complications have prevented the surge in service that some had hoped for. The company also received mixed reviews due to technical glitches, sudden downgrades, and delays. But overall, many passengers enjoyed the mishmash of old carriages and rustic nostalgia the company offered, embracing the idea that the journey itself was as important as the destination.
According to Engelsman, German rental coaches for the new route were built in the 1990s. “These are very similar to the comfort levels of the current Nightjet. The sleeper coaches on the Prague service are relatively old, dating from 1956, but they will not be used on this route. They will be newer.”
And the key question is: Will there be a dining car? “It wasn’t like that from the beginning,” Engelsman said. “We’d like to have a dining car, but it’s difficult for us to be profitable and we need a specific type of bus. It’s hard to break even on selling meals and drinks. The cost of renting buses and staffing costs is very high.”
European sleeper prices from Paris to Berlin start from €59 or €69 for couchette rooms. Tickets will be available from December 16, 2025.