The Austrian Nightjet Federal Railways operator says that services will be withdrawn overnight from Paris to Berlin and Vienna will be withdrawn in December.
The Austrian Federal Railways (öbb) announced on September 29 that it will withdraw the services overnight from Paris to Berlin and Vienna on December 15 because of the joint operator of the French national railway (SNCF) from the partnership.
The move prompted the withdrawal of the benefits paid by the French government for the first two years after the re-providing services after the Covid-19 pandemic. The trains were restarted overnight from Paris to Vienna in 2021 and to Berlin in December 2023 thanks to this financial assistance, which the French government was seen at the time as a way to restart the economy.
However, the current government is now looking for savings. French sources state that support reached 10 million euros annually to serve Berlin. They explain that traction costs in Germany are higher than the average and noticed that services do not receive any support from the German government, although more than 60 % of the road to Berlin and more than 40 % of that in Vienna in Germany.
The decision comes despite the fact that the operators who reported the return of the public interest in the night trains and strong demand that cannot be met by the three trains that operate every week, which were also limited in their capacity due to the shortage of inventory inventory. Öbb said in 2024 that he could fill a daily -long train and aims to relay the older trainers to serve Vienna once new Nightjet cars are introduced on other roads.
Before the French government’s decision to withdraw financial support, operators complained that there was no coordination in maintenance work between countries, which means costly transfers or the abolition of the train. Last year, both services in Paris were temporarily suspended for more than two months from August 12, when öbb was unable to provide a reliable service due to the main engineering works that occur in France and Germany.
Öbb, who claims to be the largest night trains operator in Europe, confirmed that Vienna Nightjet will continue to run three times a week in 2026.
“With 24 new generation of the new generation, investment will continue in night trains will continue and more capacity and comfort will be provided on the current roads,” said öbb in a statement issued on September 29.
