The migration crisis is killing off Europe's border-free travel dream

Telegraph

24-02-2025

Is there a method of travel which conjures more romantic images than the sleeper train? From the glory days of the Orient Express to the majesty of the Caledonian Sleeper, many travellers can't help but feel a flicker of excitement at the thought of nodding off in your spacious couchette as the world passes you by.
It was that blissful feeling I was chasing last summer, as my sleeper train left Linz in Austria just before midnight to return to Brussels. Shortly after I had dozed off, however, came a sudden knock on my private cabin door. Assuming it was an overenthusiastic service call – they're very attentive on the ÖBB Nightjet – at first I ignored them. Then came the word that brought me out of my slumber: 'Polizei!'.
Had I stumbled into a murder mystery a la Strangers on a Train? Not quite. After finally gathering my senses enough to pull on the previous day's clothes, I was told the real reason for the disruption: the German police needed to see my passport.
It was irritating, yes, but it was also exactly the sort of thing that shouldn't happen when you're travelling in Schengen, the EU's much-celebrated border-free travel zone which stretches across 27 member states (the exceptions being Ireland and Cyprus), as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Departing from Schengen
Schengen's history stretches back to 1985, when EU leaders gathered in the eponymous village in Luxembourg to finalise plans for a single travel zone championed by Jacques Delors, the European Commission president whose enthusiasm for a 'federalising Europe' famously drew the ire of Margaret Thatcher.
But for all the EU's trumpeting of Schengen, the scheme had only been in place for a few months before French president Jacques Chirac would suspend the agreement entirely, instigating strict border checks following terrorist attacks in Paris and Lyon. Seen as a one-off exception at the time, it would go on to set a precedent that would become familiar.
Over the past 30 years, EU countries have 'temporarily' departed from the Schengen agreement some 300 times, imposing border checks for everything from G8 summits to the Covid pandemic. But perhaps the biggest trigger of all has been the factor which continues to dominate European politics: the migration crisis.
As of February 2025, ten Schengen countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden) have instituted emergency checks on at least some of their borders, citing 'high levels of irregular migration' and the enhanced security threats that come with it. There are currently allowances for checks on 27 separate borders.
How many illegal migrants has Germany intercepted by sending its border police onto sleeper trains like the ÖBB Nightjet on which I was travelling? Unsurprisingly, the authorities in Berlin don't provide numbers for every method of transport, but they do say that the wider web of checks has helped them turn back 47,000 people from its borders in the past year.
Leaving the security and humanitarian aspects of the migration crisis to one side, what does the picking apart of Schengen mean for those perfectly-legal travellers who just want to enjoy a stress-free holiday travelling across the continent? Ask those who travel most regularly across Europe and the same word comes up again and again: inconvenience.
'I have had my documents checked far too often in the past couple of years,' says John Worth, a rail enthusiast who has crossed over 288 borders in Europe via his project #CrossBorderRail. 'There is a clear hierarchy: buses are checked the most, followed by trains, and then cars and airplanes are controlled the least.'
Political theatre
It isn't just that the checks are irritating, Mr Worth argues, but they're also not particularly effective at fulfilling their stated purpose – i.e. to stop people crossing borders without permission. 'They might pick up clueless people who have the wrong papers, but any organised criminal could get around them quite easily by travelling in other ways.'
As for the prospect for delays, the major train operators on the continent don't publish extensive data – although passengers who are delayed for more than 60 minutes are usually entitled to a partial refund. ÖBB, the state-backed Austrian company which operates Nightjet, said that it cooperated with any border checks requested by the relevant authorities.
'Despite the Schengen Treaty, ID checks are conducted at some internal EU borders,' they say. 'Whether they actually take place is up to the authorities. As a rail company, we cooperate with the authorities and inform our passengers. However, this can also lead to delays in operation.'
Could these kinds of checks fall away over time? Given the parlous state of European politics and the continued pertinence of migration, most experts aren't holding their breath on that front. Some see the border checks are partly a form of political theatre, intended to win over voters whose concerns about migration might otherwise lead them to drift rightwards.
Those who embroiled themselves in EU politics during the Brexit years may wonder how such checks don't undermine the EU's cherished 'freedom of movement'. In fact, EU law allows for checks to be imposed as a last resort.
'Foreseeable events for instigating checks permit an initial six-month period, with the possibility to extend in exceptional circumstances, up to a total of two years,' says Andreia Ghimis, from the Brussels office of the global immigration-focused law firm Fragomen.
For exceptional situations, she adds, there is the possibility of extending for another year. But it's up to the EU Commission to enforce the rules, which it has been reluctant to do. 'While the Commission has repeatedly emphasised its goal of safeguarding free movement with the Schengen Area, it has not yet launched infringement procedures against countries that have extended their border checks multiple times,' Ms Ghimis says.
It may not be what you wanted to hear before embarking on your dream sleeper train trip, but it looks like border checks may be here to stay – even if they should at least be only mildly inconveniencing. 'In my experience, you may get a small delay entering Germany from Austria or one of the other major borders, but it shouldn't take too long if you have everything ready,' says Jon Worth.
As with most things when it comes to travel, the best course of action is to be prepared: keep your passport to hand. And keep your fingers crossed that your fellow passengers have done the same.