French train operator SNCF Voyageurs announced on Monday that the service would be discontinued as of 14 December 2025, after the French Ministry of Transport decided to stop financial support of the service with a state subsidy
Train fans have been dealt a blow as a key sleeper train network connecting Paris to Vienna and Berlin will cease operations in December.
The Nightjet service between Paris and Berlin was reintroduced back in 2023, just nine years after it was originally scrapped. However, two years on, and the iconic trainline’s days are numbered once more.
French train operator SNCF Voyageurs announced on Monday that the service would be discontinued as of 14 December 2025, after the French Ministry of Transport decided to stop financial support of the service with a state subsidy.
The trainline is a complex one to run, operated as it is by multiple different firms based in different countries. Nightjet was operated by SNCF, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB).
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SNCF described night trains as a “huge economic challenge.” “While a seat on an airplane can be sold up to five times a day and a seat on a day train up to four times, a seat on a night train can only be sold once a day,” the train operator explained, the Independent reported.
“In addition, the personnel costs are higher on night trains (more service staff are needed, more cabin crew due to border crossings, and the cost of night services is higher). Long journeys incur costs related to accessing infrastructure in several countries and high energy costs. Finally, border crossings require locomotive and crew changes.”
The Paris to Vienna and Berlin train was just 70 per cent full on average in 2024, which meant the rail companies needed a state subsidy to break even.
Despite the withdrawal from Paris, the Vienna–Brussels Nightjet will continue to run three times a week in 2026. ÖBB remains the largest provider of night trains in Europe, operating services such as Vienna–Amsterdam and Munich–Rome.
ÖBB is also expanding its long-distance overnight services, introducing 24 new-generation Nightjet trains. These are intended to provide greater capacity and improved facilities on existing routes across the network.
A statement from ÖBB read: “Night trains can only be operated with the participation of international partners. ÖBB regrets that, following the withdrawal of the French partners, both night train connections can no longer be offered as of December 14, 2025.”
ÖBB maintained that its Vienna to Brussels Nightjet will remain in service in 2026 and will continue to operate three times a week.
The decision has been criticised by a group called Oui au train de nuit? (Yes to the night train?), which has also urged the French government to step in and save the service.
It said: “It is unacceptable that the only two international night trains serving France year-round should disappear. Each of the stakeholders has room to act, and each can take a step toward truly reviving international night trains.”
Two years ago Austria’s national railway, ÖBB, unveiled a new ‘pod’-style cabin aboard its Nightjet train. The sleek and space efficient design aims to pack railway users onto the train in a similar fashion to a modern Japanese hotel.
Pictures of the new design show that the pods have a mirror, coat hooks, a reading lamp as well as adjacent lockers for hand luggage and shoes. Customers will be able to lie back with a good book in comfort as the train whistles them across the Continent at 230 km/h.