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Paris and Berlin – for everything from culture and history to eating, drinking and nightlife – are two of Europe’s mightiest capitals. And yet, oddly, they aren’t linked by overnight train. As the rest of the continent has improved and extended its sleeper network, a night service between these two cities has remained strangely overlooked. Until now, that is.
That’s right: a brand-new night train link between Paris and Berlin has been confirmed by NightJet, the sleeper arm of Austrian national rail operator ÖBB. And excitingly, it will begin services before the end of 2023.
As of Friday August 25, train maestro The Man in Seat 61 has posted details of the timetable for the Paris-Berlin route. Trains will depart from Paris’s Gare de l’Est at 7.12pm and will stop at Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Erfurt and Berlin Südkreuz before arriving at Berlin’s main station at 8.26am.
In the opposite direction, the train will not stop at Berlin Südkreuz, but will make a stop in the city of Halle. The Berlin-Paris train will run slightly later, leaving at 8.18pm and arriving at 10.24am the next day.
What’s more, Gare de l’Est’s proximity to Gare du Nord means the new services will be an easy connection for those arriving on the Eurostar from London. It’s only a ten-minute walk between the two Paris stations.
And if you’d rather travel to Berlin via Brussels, you can do that instead. Leaving Brussels at 7.03pm and stopping in Cologne, a second ÖBB sleeper train will link up with the Paris-Berlin service in the middle of the night, arriving together at 8.26am. On the return journey, you’ll leave Berlin at 8.18pm, split off during the night, and arrive back in Brussels at 9.56am. (Here’s the full timetable.)
According to ÖBB, the Paris/Brussels-Berlin sleeper train will initially run three times a week, with a daily service planned from autumn 2024.
Ticket prices should be in line with other NightJet services, which start at around €50 for a bed in a shared ‘couchette’ cabin. That’s likely to work out a little cheaper than the European Sleeper night train from Brussels to Berlin, and with more modern carriages.
So when exactly might you be able to fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Berlin? The service is due to be introduced as soon as the European train timetable changes on December 10. Tickets should go on sale in October. Anyone for Christmas in Germany?
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