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Nightjet of the ÖBB in the main train station in Vienna
Photo: Georg Hochmuth / dpa
The European night train system is growing steadily.
It was only in December that two new connections started from Zurich to Amsterdam and from Vienna via Munich to Paris.
Even Deutsche Bahn prides itself on being involved in the expansion - even if it does not provide its own trains.
Five years ago, the state-owned company discontinued its own offer.
"We turned every tide, but there was no way to achieve a black zero with sleeper and couchette cars", justified the railroad manager Marco Kampp the exit.
In the meantime, the railway is relying on a partnership with other railway companies.
As early as 2020, it teamed up with five other state railways.
Now the companies are calling on politicians to help set up a night train network in Europe. Night trains have »reached their limits as a commercially viable model«, according to a letter to the EU Commission. Therefore, "political support is necessary to raise night trains to a new level." In the December letter, they demand a reduction in the user fees on rail tracks and the VAT on tickets. The »disadvantage of rail transport« compared to other modes of transport must be compensated.
The plan is to expand the night train network further by December 2023, for example through connections between Berlin, Brussels and Paris.
The DB cooperates with the Austrian ÖBB, whose night train service is subsidized.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said when asked by SPIEGEL that it was not planning to run its own business.
The night routes are intended to compete with the aircraft.
In an action plan, the EU Commission had already signaled support for their plans to the railways.
The new federal government has also spoken out in favor of further expanding the night train system.
"We want to strengthen cross-border traffic and develop night train offers with the EU and its member states," it says in the coalition agreement.