Prague Wants to Establish Night Trains to Venice, Milan, Paris and Hamburg

Trains are great – greener, more spacious, and generally a load less hassly than flying. Once viewed as belonging to travel’s past, rail is now starting to look a lot like the future. 

Prague City will start negotiations with national carriers to introduce new night rail connections. The agreement should cover cities that are located between 800 to 1500 kilometers from Prague.

“Prague has a great location for night train connections. A night train journey offers safety and comfort when traveling throughout Europe, including private compartments with a bed and shower,” said Deputy Minister for Transport Adam Scheinherr (Praha sobě).

Prague municipality will start negotiations with Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Milan, Rome, Venice, Hamburg, and Copenhagen.

“This summer, we noticed that Czechs were highly interested in traveling by train overnight to Croatia,” added Scheinherr.

The overnight train service was launched in June between Prague and the Croatian coast has proven itself really popular. In its inaugural weeks, more than 30,000 tickets were sold. The line was operated by the private Czech company Regiojet.

Night rail lines have been significantly reduced in the last decade, with the exception of train connections between Prague, Zurich, and Budapest.

Further connections

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) announced their Nightjet strategy for 2024. Planning is underway for new night trains from Switzerland to Amsterdam, Rome, and Barcelona.

“We want to offer passengers a service as an alternative to flying in Europe and that’s why we are now also expanding the network with partners,” said Bernhard Rieder, a spokesperson for ÖBB.

The first new Nightjet route, launching in December 2021, will link Vienna, Munich, and Paris. At the same time, Amsterdam and Zurich will get a new overnight ‘A-to-Z’ link, with a stop at Cologne. The new routes will link up to the Eurostar in Paris and Amsterdam, as well as existing night trains to Venice and Graz.

From December 2022, you’ll be able to catch another new night train from Zurich to Rome, via Milan. In December 2023, further new sleeper routes will launch between Berlin, Paris, and Brussels (providing further links to Eurostar).

Finally, in December 2024, a route will open between Zurich and Barcelona.

Press conference on night trains: From Dec 2021, new sleeper trains to be introduced Vienna/Munich to Paris and Amsterdam to Zurich. From Dec 2022, Zurich to Rome. From Dec 2023 Berlin to Brussels/Paris. From Dec 2024 Zurich to Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/rYPU1VuskH

— The Man in Seat 61 (@seatsixtyone) December 8, 2020