New night train will connect Cologne and Milan
By
Olivia Logan
Simone Jacobs
European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian rail company, is set to launch a new night train route connecting Amsterdam, Cologne and Milan. The new connection will be rolled out in June 2026.
European Sleeper launches new night train to Milan
It looks like 2026 will be a year of international train travel. GoVolta, a new Dutch rail company, recently announced routes connecting Amsterdam with Berlin and Hamburg, and now European Sleeper is launching a new route from the Dutch capital, via Cologne, to Milan.
From June 18, 2026, the international rail route will run three times a week from Amsterdam and Brussels, stopping in Cologne, Bern, Brig and Stresa on Lake Maggiore, before arriving at the final destination in Milan.
"The timetable isn't completely finalised yet, but the departure from Amsterdam is likely around 7pm," co-founder of European Sleeper, Chris Engelsman, told NOS. "The plan is to arrive in Milan before 10am, but we don't have any definitive times in Italy yet."
How much will it cost to get to Milan?
Up to 600 passengers will be able to board the train to Milan, with the choice of seating or sleeping cars. The price for a one-way ticket to the Italian city in a basic sleeper car is estimated at 80 euros.
Since 2023, European Sleeper night trains have been running between Brussels and Prague with a stop in Amsterdam. The public transport company also took over Nightjet’s Berlin-Paris route this year and has plans to add a connection to Barcelona by 2028 at the latest.
This article originally appeared on IamExpat in the Netherlands.
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Editor for Germany at IamExpat Media. Olivia first came to Germany in 2013 to work as an Au Pair. Since studying English Literature and German in Scotland, Freiburg and Berlin she has worked as a features journalist and news editor.Read more
Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more