The ball is through the church for the Dutch-Belgian rail initiative European Sleeper. In May next year, his first night train will run between Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin. The scoop is for a ride with departure in the German capital, European Sleeper reports. The night train will run back and forth three times a week. This is the second night train from Belgium.
The first trip of the new night train is scheduled for May 25, with a night trip to the Low Countries. Those who leave Berlin at 10:56 PM will arrive the next day at 9:27 AM at the Brussels-South terminus, or a little earlier at 8:47 AM in Antwerp. From Berlin, the ‘ES 452’ will run on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Conversely, night train ‘ES 453’ departs from Brussels-South on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:22 pm (8:01 pm in Antwerp), with the very first trip on 26 May. This train arrives at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof platform at 6:48 AM. There are also stops in Roosendaal, Rotterdam Central, The Hague HS, Amsterdam Central, Amersfoort, Deventer, Bad Bentheim and Hannover Hbf. There will be no stops in Amersfoort and The Hague on the route from Berlin to Brussels.
Book from the end of February
The night train with ten carriages offers passengers seats, couchettes and sleeping places, with prices from 49 euros for a seat, from 79 euros for a ‘couchette’ and from 109 euros for a sleeping place. Tickets can be booked from February 20. Breakfast is included in the couchette and sleeping cars. The compartments with berths (four or six beds) and sleeping berths (three beds) can be booked completely privately. The bicycle and pets (in a private compartment) can also come along.
The intention is to extend the train service beyond Berlin to Dresden and the Czech capital Prague from December 2023, as was initially planned. If possible, the initiators also want to go from three journeys a week to a daily train from 2024. “Everything is done for the announced plans”, co-initiator Chris Engelsman clarifies. “The ambition is to extend the route to Dresden and Prague, but also to scale up to a daily train service.”
Carriages
European Sleeper is starting up the connection with rented carriages and wants to invest in its own carriages in the short term. “By refurbishing existing second-hand seating coaches and converting them into sleeping coaches, we expect to have about thirty sleeping coaches available within two to three years with more comfort, more privacy options and a modern look. We are also working on ordering completely new sleeping cars, but the delivery time is much longer,” said Engelsman. Finding the necessary carriages is the most difficult aspect of setting up a new night train connection, they say.
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It will be the second night train in Belgium, after the NightJet of the Austrian railway company ÖBB to Vienna. European Sleeper previously announced plans for night trains to the French ski resorts and Barcelona, but no details are yet known.
European Sleeper previously merged with the Belgian night train initiative Moonlight Express. At the last share issue, approximately 1,400 new shareholders joined, who together invested 2 million euros in European Sleeper. Discussions are underway with possible investment partners for the financing of renovated carriages.
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