A new sleeper train due to launch in 2022 will connect Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels, and it will add to a network of planned routes that will link up cities across the continent of Europe.
The new night train by RegioJet and European Sleeper will depart in the early evening from Prague via Dresden and Berlin to Amsterdam and terminate in Brussels, where it will have a morning arrival. The trains will facilitate traveling both on seats and in sleeping compartments, and will offer free internet access, breakfast, free coffee and other services. Bicycle transportation will be facilitated. RegioJet will also launch a new night train service on the route from Prague via Przemyśl to Lviv this year.
The announcement adds to the biggest planned extension of the European night train network in years. The state railways in Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland have already announced a partnership with a $605 million (€697 million) investment fund to revive nighttime services. It was just four years ago that Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s state railway, sold off all its sleeper cars, declaring them unprofitable because of low passenger numbers. But climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are changing how travelers get from A to B, and some European train journeys are actually faster than flying.
Five other routes are expected to launch in the next four years. By December 2021, a new night service will operate between Vienna and Paris via Munich, as well as between Zurich and Amsterdam. Trains between Zurich and Rome will be on the schedule from December 2022. December 2023 will see another service between Vienna and Paris that travels via Berlin and Brussels. Night trains will also start to run between Zurich and Barcelona from December 2024.
This is an excerpt from an article by Lauren Keith, originally published by Lonely Planet.
