“The Paris-Berlin night train is a scam!”
Julien wanted to visit the German capital in June, with this tempting promise: a departure from Paris at 7 p.m. and waking up in Berlin the next morning. But for months he's been waiting for tickets to go on sale, nothing. Impossible to book trips less than two months before departure.
“They want to convince people not to take the plane, whose tickets, already cheaper, are also sold much further in advance…”
fumes the Parisian, who finally decided to take two long trains during the day, this which requires him to spend a night in a hotel in Frankfurt on the journey.
“It’s a lot more expensive but at least it’s safer.”
This night train was however relaunched with great fanfare by the government last December. Three round trips per week initially, before a daily connection in October, for this Nightjet operated by the Austrian national company ÖBB - the only one to have continued to develop the night train when other countries closed their lines - in cooperation with SNCF, Deutsche Bahn and SNCB.
“A way to make people love the train and change our modes of travel
,” praised former Minister of Transport Clément Beaune during the inaugural trip.
A positive, ecological and European symbol.”
But between the canceled trains, the delays and the tickets put on sale randomly: four months later, the symbol is derailed.
Nightmare night
After the euphoria of the launch, the setbacks piled up from the start of the year. At the beginning of January, passengers experienced a nightmare night, with seats removed without notice, forced to travel standing up in the face of catastrophic support from the company. Time to break in, surely. Then there were - unluckily - the strikes in France and Germany, which disrupted rail traffic. The derailment of a freight train in the Grand Est then blocked the tracks.
Very few trains ran in February, ÖBB admitted at the time, without communicating precisely on the punctuality statistics for this line. Not to mention that one return trip out of the three weeklies was canceled for three weeks until the beginning of March due to work in Germany.
From now on, it's for the summer that things get stuck. No tickets are on sale after May 18, and none of the companies associated with this route seem to be able to explain what's holding up to impatient customers.
“We are waiting for details from our partners to plan the trains,”
replied ÖBB to questions from Internet users on the social network X.
“We cannot say when this will be the case, please try again from time to time.”
Only one return trip per week until July?
Behind this vague answer seems to emerge the basic problem which undermines this journey, like night trains in general: the closures of night lines for works which complicate operation. The SNCF points in particular, in addition to strikes and material incidents, to
“unanticipated work on the German and French networks”
to explain the difficulties encountered in recent weeks.
“Ticket sales can be opened when transport plans are stabilized”
, adds the French company, which also ensures
“to work with [its] partners to open summer sales soon”
.
Between May 11 and July 6, two weekly round trips between Paris and Berlin are no longer even mentioned on the ÖBB journey planning tool. Only the weekend round trip remains, departing on Friday evening from Berlin and Saturday evening from Paris. The SNCF does not confirm, however, that a reduction in frequency is planned over the period:
“The ÖBB put trains on sale gradually, but this is not synonymous with a reduction in supply. »
She assures that, during this period and although they are no longer mentioned on the various sites of the associated companies,
“the other trains of the week will be put on sale soon”
. As for the Austrian company ÖBB, it refers to the response of its French counterpart.
The Nightjet between Paris and Vienna (Austria), coupled with the Paris-Berlin for the first part of the journey from the French capital, encounters similar problems for this summer. Tickets went on sale at the beginning of April only for May and June, but not for all trains. Some will only leave from Strasbourg, instead of Paris, due to work. And beware of travelers who buy their ticket: a notice specifies that
“timetables are subject to change”
. Difficult, as it is, to plan for a trip.
Work “everywhere” and “poorly coordinated”
The organization of nighttime work on the rail network is a real problem for night trains.
“There is really work everywhere and it is quite poorly coordinated, especially when it concerns several countries
,” confirms Nicolas Forien, of the Oui au train de nuit collective.
Not to mention that these trains cover long distances, increasing their chances of seeing a portion of their route closed.”
This headache also affects the few remaining night lines in France, which are suffering from delays and untimely cancellations, despite the government's desire to relaunch new ones like the Paris-Aurillac, which returned in December. The European Sleeper company, which would like to launch a night train between Amsterdam and Barcelona via France, was annoyed at the beginning of April in
Le Figaro by the
"mind-blowing"
planning
of the work by SNCF Réseau and said it was ready to take the matter to the Regulatory Authority transports.
“Despite these hiccups, travelers are there and there are good occupancy rates
,” underlines Nicolas Forien. To ensure its profitability, the State subsidizes Paris-Berlin to the tune of 10 million euros per year for its French part. Is Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete satisfied with the service offered to travelers during the first months of operation of this line? His entourage did not respond to our requests on the subject.