Popular Paris-Berlin-Vienna night train may be scrapped in December

A recently launched and popular night train connecting Paris, Berlin and Vienna may be scrapped after the French government announced it will withdraw funding. A petition to keep the service has been launched in response.

Paris-Berlin-Vienna Nightjet may be scrapped

Since it relaunched in late 2023, the Nightjet night train connecting Paris, Berlin and Vienna has been wildly popular. The service, which is operated by French national railway SNCF, Austrian National Railway ÖBB and Deutsche Bahn, has an average occupancy rate of 70 percent and a peak occupancy rate of 90 percent during the summer.

Nonetheless, with the French government threatening to withdraw funding, the service is on the chopping block. According to BFM Business, “launch aid” funding paid by the French government in 2024 and 2025 will not be paid out in 2026.

The French government has been announcing billions of euros' worth of budget cuts in recent weeks and criticised SNCF for failing to keep promises of expanding the night train service to run daily. If the cuts are finalised, ÖBB and Deutsche Bahn have no plans to foot the remaining deficits. Unless the French government U-turns on its plan, the service could be scrapped as soon as December 2025.

Petition launched to save Paris-Berlin night train

A petition has been launched in response to plans to cut the popular service and now has more than 50.000 signatures. The group Oui au train de nuit (Yes to Night Trains) says the French government’s justifications for scrapping the service are unfair.

Oui au train de nuit points out that SNCF doesn’t sell tickets for the Nightjet service or provide information about the existence of these trains, which “raises questions about the company’s true commitment to making these two night train routes a success. [...] SNCF lets service decline, encouraging the state to shut them down."

The campaign group added that while air travel companies benefit from tax exemptions in the EU, funding for long-distance rail services and night trains has been cut, even when services are popular and more environmentally friendly. A report published in August by Greenpeace Europe found that nearly 60 percent of 100 European routes were still cheaper to travel by plane than by train.

The Oui au train de nuit petition called on SNCF, ÖBB, and Deutsche Bahn to deliver the two daily Paris-Berlin-Vienna night trains originally promised. It also requested that the French government continue to subsidise the service and that the EU scrap taxes on fuel for international train services, as it does for flights.