New sleeper trains to run from Paris to Berlin – but you won’t be able to dine on board
New sleeper trains will run between Paris and Berlin next year – but night train fans are warned: they’ll miss one key feature.
Dutch operator European Sleeper has confirmed that it will take over the Paris-Berlin route, with the first trains departing on 26 March 2026.
The new service will operate three times a week, leaving Paris Gare du Nord on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, and returning from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
This comes after the revival of Europe’s sleeper trains suffered a setback earlier this year, when Austria’s state railway company OBB announced in December that it would stop running the popular Nightjet routes between Paris and Vienna and Paris and Berlin.
The company blamed the end of French government subsidies for the cuts.
Unlike OBB’s Nightjet, which travels via Strasbourg and Frankfurt, Europe Sleeper’s new route will travel via Brussels, but exact timings have yet to be confirmed.
European Sleeper co-founder Chris Engelsman said the company is trying to offer higher capacity than Nightjet.
To talk Guard‘OBB operates 12 buses from Paris, but they branch first to Vienna and then to Berlin. On the other hand, we have 12-14 buses with a capacity of 600-700 passengers, all of which will go to Berlin.’
Dutch operator European Sleeper has confirmed that it will take over the Paris-Berlin route, with the first trains departing on 26 March 2026.
The new service will operate three times a week, leaving Paris Gare du Nord on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, and returning from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
European Sleeper, a cooperative based in the Netherlands, currently operates night trains connecting Brussels, Berlin, Dresden and Prague and has carried more than 230,000 passengers since its opening in 2023.
In recent years, the company has faced criticism for delays and worn-out wagons, but many travelers continue to praise the company’s nostalgic feel and laid-back atmosphere.
For the new route, the company will use buses built in Germany in the 1990s and offering comfort conditions similar to Nightjet.
However, when the route opens, one popular element will be missing: the dining car.
According to Engelsman, operating a dining car will be very expensive for now because he pointed out the difficulty of ‘making it profitable’.
So for night train enthusiasts who don’t mind grabbing a packed lunch when crossing borders across Europe, tickets will be available from 16 December 2025, with prices starting from €59 (£52) or €69 (£60) for a couchette compartment.
The announcement comes from French group Oui au train de nuit!, which has been campaigning to protect and expand night train services. It was welcomed by.
In September the group hit headlines when members held a ‘pajama party’ protest in Paris after OBB announced cuts.
European Sleeper, a cooperative based in the Netherlands, currently operates night trains connecting Brussels, Berlin, Dresden and Prague and has carried more than 230,000 passengers since its opening in 2023.
But once the route opens, it will be missing a beloved element: the dining car.
The group’s spokesman, Nicolas Forien, said: ‘This is a partial victory for the 91,000 people who signed our petition.’
It comes after one of the world’s flashiest sleeper trains announced a new route across Europe; But tickets for this extravagant journey don’t come cheap.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will launch its new service from Paris to Italy’s Amalfi Coast on May 4, 2026.
In addition to staying on the luxury train renowned for its five-star service, luxurious private cabins and award-winning, high-end dining, guests will also have the opportunity to spend two nights at the exclusive Caruso, a Belmond hotel on the Amalfi Coast.
