Europe’s finest new rail routes with night trains and border crossings

Our slow travel specialist explores the latest additions to the European train schedules revealed this month.

Warsaw is now more accessible from Munich, Berlin is closer to Paris, and Aachen is a bit nearer to Salzburg. These are just three instances of city pairs that have recently gained direct night trains, connecting them for the first time this week. None of these city pairs currently have direct daytime trains, so the introduction of overnight options creates a network of new opportunities. As is customary in December, rail operators throughout Europe are implementing new schedules, establishing enticing connections where none existed before.

In the UK, the changes introduced with the 2024 timetables are relatively modest; many services have been adjusted by a minute or two here and there. There are additional trains on weekdays between Nottingham and Birmingham, and some streamlining (once again) of TransPennine Express schedules.

Nevertheless, on the other side of the Channel, the relentless revitalization of rail services continues with the introduction of many new services in the 2024 schedules. Across much of Europe, these timetables were implemented on December 10, with a few exceptions. For instance, a new high-speed line through Spain’s Cantabrian mountains debuted in late November, and new timetables for certain routes in Poland and the Baltic states will take effect in the coming weeks.

The 2024 timetables generally bring positive news for rail travelers, although there are, of course, both winners and losers. Copenhagen gains more direct services to Hamburg, while Aarhus loses out as its direct trains to Hamburg are discontinued. However, the impact on Aarhus is somewhat mitigated by the introduction of a new connecting service every two hours from Denmark’s second-largest city. With an easy same-platform change of train in Kolding, this new service will get travelers to Hamburg faster than the former direct trains, providing a silver lining for Aarhus despite the loss of the previous twice-daily direct trains.

Rail services play a significant role in shaping our mental maps of Europe. Nuremberg, a German city, has long served as a departure point for rail journeys to the Czech Republic. While the range of Czech destinations from Nuremberg has diminished over the years, until last week, there were still five direct trains each day to the Czech Republic. However, as of now, there are none. It’s worth noting that there remains a plethora of other cross-border routes connecting Germany with the Czech Republic.

Every year, the introduction of new timetables establishes connections between communities that were previously unlinked. Paris and Berlin, for instance, now boast a direct night train, reinstating a connection severed at the onset of the pandemic. Similarly, Aachen and Halle have found themselves connected by a new direct night train as of this week. A Nightjet embarks from Aachen just after 9pm, arriving 10 hours later in Halle, a city in central Germany with profound historical significance. The unveiling of such new routes sparks enthusiasm among tour operators and travel agents, enabling the creation of innovative itineraries that combine destinations previously inaccessible by direct trains. CEO of flight-free operator Byway Travel, Cat Jones, notes the excitement around these new train options, citing the example of the Euronight sleeper linking Salzburg with Kraków, which opens up opportunities for culture enthusiasts to explore two diverse cities. The Salzburg-Kraków route, taking nearly 10 hours, is part of the expanded network created by the new night train linking Munich with Warsaw, marking the first direct departure from Bavaria to Poland since 2010.

In the latest timetables, several city pairs that already have well-established direct daytime train services have now secured an additional overnight link. Travelers can now opt for a sleeping car from Dresden to Budapest, Vienna, and Graz, providing an extra option for these cities that have long been served by daytime trains from Dresden. Even in France, where Le Monde proclaimed “Le train de nuit: c’est fini!” in 2016, there is a resurgence in demand for overnight trains. Béziers and Montpellier, for instance, will now have a direct link to Paris on certain nights. Another new French overnight train is the Aurillac-Paris service, where there are no competing direct daytime trains. While French night trains may lack some creature comforts, such as sleeping cars, they offer competitive prices, with fares starting from €19 for seats and €29 for couchettes.

While concerns have been raised about Europe’s rail operators focusing on domestic markets and neglecting cross-border connections, recent improvements indicate progress in this area. There has been an increased frequency between Munich and Zürich, following significant improvements in November with the reinstatement of direct trains from Stuttgart to Zürich. Additionally, the Berlin-Amsterdam route has seen a 30-minute reduction in journey time, now taking less than six hours.

The number of direct daytime trains from Kraków to both Vienna and Berlin has doubled, increasing from one to two. The Polish city of Wrocław now has a new early-morning direct train to Vienna, returning late afternoon. A second direct train from Vienna to Ukraine has been introduced, complementing the longstanding Euronight service from Vienna to Kyiv. The morning departure from Vienna to Romania also now has through-carriages to Chop in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. This development reflects the efforts of EU-based rail operators to enhance connectivity with western Ukraine. Czech private operator RegioJet is reportedly exploring the possibility of a new direct overnight train from Prague to Chop starting in early 2024.

There is potential for cross-border services from Lithuania to Latvia to be reinstated before the end of the year. The European Rail Timetable suggests that a through Vilnius to Riga train is expected to start running from 27 December. If realized, this would be the first public train service between the two capitals since before the pandemic. It would also mean that dedicated rail travelers could once again journey by train all the way from England to Estonia without having to resort to a bus for the cross-border hop from Lithuania into Latvia.