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End of night trains: Vienna and Berlin lose direct Paris connection!
Vienna will lose night train connections to Paris from December 14, 2025 due to a lack of government funding.
End of night trains: Vienna and Berlin lose direct Paris connection!
Lovers of night train travel will soon have to adapt to changes. From December 14, 2025, the popular night train connections between Vienna and Paris and Berlin and Paris will end. This was announced by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) in a press release on September 29, 2025. The reason for the discontinuation is the withdrawal of government funding by France, which has invested around ten million euros annually in recent years to support night trains. The French state railway SNCF said that operations would not be economically viable without these subsidies.
The connections between Vienna and Paris and between Berlin and Paris were considered showcase projects for climate-friendly night train traffic. The Vienna-Paris route has been operating since 2021, while the Berlin-Paris line was only introduced in December 2023. Despite an average capacity utilization of 70 percent and around 36,000 passengers last year, the operation remained in deficit due to high costs for personnel and locomotive changes at the state borders. Mercury reports that travelers between Berlin and Paris will in future be able to use the ICE daytime connection, which takes around eight hours.
Details about the affected connections
Both lines, Vienna-Paris and Berlin-Paris, are considered established routes within European night train traffic. After ÖBB's decision, it is clear that operations will no longer be possible without the support of the French partners. The last scheduled day of traffic for these connections is December 14, 2025. This makes the good utilization of capacity all the more astonishing, which, according to ÖBB, was a positive sign. However, ÖBB emphasized that they want to maintain a leading role in European night train traffic in the future and will continue to invest in their remaining night train network. For example, the Vienna-Brussels connection remains unaffected by the discontinuation and will continue to run three times a week in 2026. railroad provides further insights into the background to the funding cuts and the effects on night train traffic.
The state of the night train market in Europe
The situation of night trains in Europe is an exciting topic as they offer an ecological alternative to air travel, especially for medium and longer distances. Night trains could find more acceptance if they provide attractive offers. But economic operation remains a challenge, as is the case DZSF emphasized. In many European countries, the number of night trains available has reduced in recent years, bringing the existing infrastructure and operating costs into focus.
The aim of a recent project is to develop a catalog of measures to further develop the European night train market and to ensure the preservation of these important travel options. While new providers have difficulty entering the market, established state-owned railway companies are calling for political support for the expansion of a comprehensive European night train network. Decision-making and recommendations for action could be important for the future of night train traffic, because developments to date make it clear that this is an area with a lot of additional potential.