Travelers can breathe a sigh of relief as the vital Paris to Berlin night train route has been officially saved. Following the impending cancellation of ÖBB’s Nightjet service next month, the Dutch company European Sleeper has announced it will take over the route, with the first new train running on March 26, 2026. This news comes after a period of intense uncertainty, sparked when ÖBB cited the end of French government subsidies as the reason for withdrawing its popular Paris-Berlin and Paris-Vienna trains.
The new service will be a robust offering, with three weekly departures in each direction. The schedule is planned to have departures from Paris Gare du Nord on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings. Return services from the German capital’s Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof stations will depart on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. This ensures that a regular, reliable connection remains in place for both leisure and business travelers.
European Sleeper is also introducing a new route. Instead of following the Nightjet’s path via Strasbourg and Frankfurt, the new service will travel via Brussels. This strategic move, which is being finalized with national rail authorities, will connect the Belgian capital to the sleeper network, potentially attracting a new customer base and creating a new key travel corridor.
The new operator is also promising a significant increase in capacity. Chris Engelsman, the company’s co-founder, explained that the new service will run 12 to 14 coaches with a capacity of 600-700 passengers, all going directly to Berlin. This is a major change from the Nightjet, which ran 12 coaches from Paris but had to split them, with some going to Berlin and the rest to Vienna.
This positive development was celebrated by French activists, who had protested the cuts with a “pyjama party” at Gare de l’Est and a 91,000-signature petition. While the route is saved, the service will reflect European Sleeper’s practical model. The coaches will be 1990s-era German stock, and there will be no dining car at launch. Engelsman noted that the profitability of dining cars is a major “challenge” due to high operational costs.