Latest news with #Nightjet
NDTV
3 days ago
- NDTV
The Green Guide To Travel: 12 Eco-Friendly Travel Tips Every Traveller Should Know
Going on holiday doesn't mean you have to ditch your eco-friendly habits. Travel can have a big environmental impact — from flight emissions to hotel energy use — but a few smart choices can make a big difference. Whether you're heading to Cornwall for a coastal break or jetting off to Thailand, sustainable travel is within reach. By packing lighter, choosing greener transport, and supporting local businesses, you can reduce your footprint while still enjoying the trip. These 12 eco-friendly travel tips will help you tread more lightly on the planet without sacrificing comfort, convenience, or fun along the way. Here Are 12 Eco-Friendly Travel Tips You Must Know: 1. Fly Smarter, Not More Often Let's not sugar-coat it: Air travel is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions in the tourism industry. One long-haul return flight can emit as much CO2 as the average person in some countries produces in a whole year. When you do fly, choose non-stop flights where possible — take-offs and landings use the most fuel. Airlines like KLM and British Airways now offer carbon offsetting programmes, so consider ticking that box at checkout (though it's not a perfect solution). 2. Choose Eco-Conscious Accommodation Many hotels talk a big game about sustainability, but look for real certifications. Trustworthy labels include Green Key, EarthCheck, and LEED. Bonus points if the accommodation uses renewable energy, has water-saving features, and supports local communities. 3. Travel By Train When You Can In Europe and the UK, trains are often faster and far greener than flying. According to the European Environment Agency, train travel emits around 80% less CO2 than flying. Sleeper trains across Europe (like the Nightjet) are making a comeback, too, offering a romantic and planet-friendly way to travel. Not to forget, coach or train journeys are always so scenic! 4. Don't Treat The Hotel Like Home Just because you're not paying for the utilities doesn't mean they're free. Turn off lights, air conditioning, and electronics when you leave your room. Reuse towels and bedding rather than requesting fresh ones daily. It sounds small, but the energy savings add up. 5. Go Paperless When You Can Most boarding passes, travel itineraries, museum tickets, and maps can live on your phone these days. Going digital reduces unnecessary waste and makes it harder to lose something important mid-journey. 6. Pack Light And Right Less weight means less fuel, especially when flying. Cut down on luggage by packing versatile pieces and avoiding unnecessary extras. Bring your own reusable essentials — water bottle, coffee cup, cutlery, tote bags, and solid toiletries-to reduce waste on the road. 7. Respect Nature Like A Local Would Stick to marked trails, never feed wildlife, and definitely don't pocket souvenirs like shells or rocks from protected areas. In many destinations, even sunscreen can damage ecosystems — choose reef-safe versions that don't contain harmful chemicals like oxybenzone. 8. Say No To Single-Use Plastics Countries like Rwanda and Kenya have banned plastic bags altogether, and many others are cracking down. Bring your own tote bags and reusable containers to avoid getting caught out — or fined. Bonus: It's cheaper and more stylish than a flimsy supermarket bag. 9. Eat Like A Local (And Seasonal) Supporting local food markets and restaurants that source ingredients from nearby farms helps cut the carbon cost of long supply chains. Plant-based diets are generally much lower in emissions, so opting for veggie dishes — even just part of the time — makes a real difference. 10. Use Public Transport Or Walk It's not only better for the planet but also a great way to soak up the vibe of a place. Cities like Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Lisbon have efficient, low-emission public transport systems. Apps like Citymapper or Rome2Rio can help you navigate like a pro. 11. Support Local Businesses Sustainable travel isn't just about nature — it's about people too. Choose independent tour operators, artisans, and eateries that give back to their communities rather than global chains. You'll get a more authentic experience and help keep money circulating locally. 12. Offset — But Don't Rely on It Carbon offsetting isn't a golden ticket to guilt-free travel, but it can help. Projects like tree planting or renewable energy development can make a difference when properly managed. Stick with verified schemes through Gold Standard or Cool Effect. You don't have to overhaul your entire travel style overnight. Start with small changes. Choose one or two tips to try on your next trip. Sustainability isn't about perfection — it's about progress. And the more of us who care enough to try, the bigger the impact we make. After all, the planet is the most beautiful destination there is — so let's treat it like one worth visiting again and again.
The Guardian
26-04-2025
- The Guardian
How far can we go on the old hippy trail? Overland from Leeds to Georgia
'I think this is as far as we can go,' I say, glancing down at the military post, barely 100 metres from the Zakagori Fortress, the forced endpoint of our day hike through the Truso valley in northern Georgia. Beyond the fortress lies disputed land, a seemingly endless expanse of yellowing pastures swelling beneath ice-capped peaks, where only a few wandering sheep dare to roam. Just beyond our line of sight is Russia. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. We started our hike with a bumpy taxi ride to the abandoned village of Kvemo Okrokana, not far from our guesthouse in the town of Kazbegi. But in truth, our adventure began six weeks earlier at Leeds train station. From there, we hopped between trains, night buses and marshrutki (shared taxis) to reach this remote eastern edge of Europe. The idea took shape a few months previously, when my partner and I quit our jobs, put our possessions in storage and began planning a year of travel. Overlanding had always been something I romanticised. I'd heard stories from family friends about jumping on a bus in London, winding through Yugoslavia, Iran and Afghanistan and India before alighting in Kathmandu. I wondered, in the 21st century, how far we could go without having to catch a plane? On a map of Europe, I trace all the land routes we can take. We decide to seek the sun, travelling by train to Venice, before continuing east. We book our train to London, then face our first hiccup: we're on a tight budget and Eurostar tickets in late August are almost £200 each. So instead, we book a £34 night bus from London to Brussels. And so, a couple of weeks later we find ourselves wandering through an empty park in the Belgium capital at 6am, wearing our backpacks, feeling the weight of our decision. It's an anti-climactic beginning. We can't check into our hostel for hours and only have a day to see the city. We wander sleepily through a free walking tour, spend our dinner budget on chocolate-smothered waffles, and settle into a local bar for the evening. The next day we take local trains into Germany, then a Nightjet rail service from Stuttgart to Venice. We cross the Ponte della Libertà on to the islands of the historical centre as the sun rises, arriving in an almost deserted Venice. Light glints off weathered gondolas as we take in the stillness from the famous Ponte dell'Accademia. We have three days in the city and no desire to catch up on sleep. We swap train travel for the vaporetto water bus, stretch our legs walking around the tiny island of Sant'Elena, and sit on canal-side walls ordering cicchetti (small Venetian plates) and spritz. It feels as though the holiday has finally begun. After racing through costly western Europe, it's blissful to arrive in the Balkans. The next few weeks are coloured with late-summer sun, Slovenian lake swims and daily flakey burek (pastries). We do a day hike in the Julian Alps, stopping at a mountain hut for a divine plate of sweet cheese and berry dumplings. As we venture deeper into eastern Europe, there's less information online about cross-country travel routes, so we navigate schedules and language barriers at bustling transport hubs instead. At Belgrade station, we book a bed on the Montenegro Express night train to Bar, on the Adriatic coast of southern Montenegro. It takes 11 hours, costs about £20 and is as gorgeous as a night train gets. Despite the two chain-smoking babushkas on the bunks below us, we sleep, waking to the train winding through the Dinaric Alps at sunrise. I watch from bed as soft light spills into rocky, desolate valleys, brightening from blue to bronze. Stari Bar, a few miles inland, gives us our first taste of Montenegro. For breakfast – fresh pomegranate juice and priganice, a Montenegrin fried bread served with seeded jams and crumbly sweet cheese. The views from the town's old fortress are even more delicious. Montenegro has few train lines, so we hire a car to make the most of our time on the coast, and take a detour north. We navigate all 16 hairpin bends of the Kotor Serpentine Road for one of the best views of our whole trip, and dive into the bay by the azure-fringed village of Rose. Back in Bar, we catch buses to Shkodër, where a grand new mosque behind the bus stop heralds our arrival in Albania, our first Muslim-majority country. We spend our time here in the mountains, hiking a gruelling but spectacular section of the Peaks of the Balkans trail between Valbonë and Theth. We rest in Theth on a homestay-farm, Bujtina Zemra Tradites, and enjoy the evening antics of the owners rounding up escaped sheep while we feast on pickled green tomatoes, white cheese and fresh kulaç soda bread. Life is slow and repetitive in these mountains, but it's the rest we need before our next leg. The lessons of the London-to-Brussels night bus are a distant memory by the time we arrive in Albania's capital, Tirana, and book a 9pm journey to North Macedonia. A family has already made a bed in our seats when we board, and we awkwardly ask them to move. North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, is reminiscent of a mini-Istanbul – defined by minarets, Turkish coffee shops and bazaars. Another bus takes us to Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, with its jaw-dropping churches, rattling trams, and candlelit bars. From there, we board a night train to Istanbul. It's a city I'm familiar with, and I delight in showing my partner the best spots for a menemen (Turkish scrambled eggs) breakfast, and the views from the Süleymaniye Mosque for lunch. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion Compared with the relatively small nations of Europe, Turkey seems like a daunting land to cross. A bullet train takes us to the capital, Ankara, followed by the blissfully slow and scenic 22-hour Doğu Express to eastern Turkey. A handful of other overlanders half-fill the sleeper carriage. A Swiss couple are heading to Georgia on holiday, opting for trains instead of a flight. A veteran traveller tells me he's going all the way to Singapore. I dive into the details – has he found a route we didn't look at? He admits he'll need to take a short flight into Russia or Azerbaijan. But, for the moment, we are all heading the same way – to the Georgian border. What should have been an easy hop from Erzurum to the border turns into one of the most arduous days of the trip. The bus is stuck behind a landslide, and only after hours of clearing the road are we waved through past fallen rocks. At the border, we are pushed and shoved through passport control, alongside hundreds of young Turks heading to Batumi for a weekend of partying, then we run to catch the last minibus into the city. We had crossed into Asia back at the Bosphorus strait, in Istanbul, but Georgia feels like stepping back into the Soviet-sprinkled culture of the Balkans. In Kutaisi, our homestay host, Giorgi, sits us down with glasses of Georgian wine and spends a few hours trying to persuade us his country invented the stuff. Not only is the wine fantastic, the food is also a wonderful surprise. We feast daily on adjarian khachapuri – a boat-shape bread filled with melted cheese, butter and an egg, alongside piles of crushed walnut salads. After hiking through the valleys surrounding Mount Kazbek, we hurtle back down the mountain by marshrutka minibus to our last stop – Georgia's capital. Tbilisi is a blend of crumbling faded glory and refreshing modern cool. This is the far edge of Europe and it's clear from the pro-EU, anti-Russian graffiti that there is division – a detail I looked back on when the protests erupted following elections in October 2024. By now, we know Georgia is our last country. Since the pandemic, the Azerbaijan land border has been closed, with no clear reopening date. Russia is red-listed by the Foreign Office, meaning even if we got the hard-to-obtain visa, we wouldn't be covered by travel insurance. We could dip south to Armenia, but it would leave us surrounded by closed borders and fewer flight options. This is as far as we can go. For over 3,000 miles, we embraced the freedom of the road and rails. Some of the most memorable moments of the journey – those divine dumplings at a mountain hut in Slovenia; that glorious night train ride from Serbia to Montenegro; the hike through Albania's stretch of the Balkan peaks – were experiences I might never have encountered without the spirit of overlanding. It invites you to linger, guides you to unexpected places, and encourages you to heed the advice of local people and fellow travellers. Perhaps one day a hippy trail-style bus from London to Kathmandu will once again be an option, but for now, we board a plane to Nepal's capital where a new adventure awaits. The writer used the Man in Seat 61 website for planning and Omio for booking transport between cities, and the blog Wander-Lush as a resource for travelling in the Balkans and Georgia
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Europe's 10 best sleeper trains
Lovers of sleeper trains can rest easy in their bunks. While there is undoubtedly something of a stop/start motion to the celebrated renaissance of this glorious form of transport in Europe, the direction of travel is clear. Nightjet, the sleeper train network run by the Austrian state rail operator ÖBB, which has spearheaded the revival, will next month (May 2025) bring its swisher, slicker new-generation trains – complete with compact capsule-style mini-cabins – into operation on two of its stellar routings: Amsterdam-Vienna and Amsterdam-Innsbruck. Earlier this year, one of the newer entrants, European Sleeper, launched a Brussels-Venice routing. Further down the line it is eying a Brussels-Barcelona service travelling through France, a country which has also revived several key sleeper train routes, such as the legendary run from Paris to Nice. In Italy, a new fleet of night train carriages is currently under construction and is scheduled to come into play in 2026 on the spectacular night journeys down to Sicily. These moves all reflect a growing demand from a cohort of travellers looking for a slower, more sociable form of transport, one that is gentler on the environment, a lot more enjoyable – certainly than low-cost flights – and one which saves on hotel bills. It's not all full steam ahead – particularly for operators who do not benefit from the backing of a state. Last year Midnight Trains – a private French start-up that had ambitious plans for a new fleet of luxurious 'hotel-on-rails' sleeper trains crossing the continent – had to bow out after failing to secure sufficient rolling stock and backing. With its new route to Venice, European Sleeper discovered how difficult the logistics of such operations can be when the Italian authorities initially denied the train access. Even NightJet has had its setbacks, announcing in March that it was withdrawing its Brussels-Berlin routing. But lovers of this form of travel know all too well that sleeper train journeys have always been a bit stop-start – that's all part of the fun. Here, then, from the northern Norwegian town of Narvik to the great cross-continental city of Istanbul, are 10 European night trains to fire the imagination and rekindle the joy of the journey. Milan to Palermo Intercity Notte (Trenitalia) Let's start with an epic – and the only train journey in Europe that involves boarding a ferry: in this case the 20-minute hop across the Strait of Messina linking the Italian mainland with the magnificent island of Sicily. Departing from Milan just after 8pm, the train passes through some big hitters such as Bologna and Florence at night but some of the loveliest coastal stretches south of Naples by day. If a journey time of 21 hours is off-putting (it arrives in Palermo at nearly 5pm), there's also a service from Rome that takes about 13 hours. Sit on the right for the best views going south (the left going north), and stock up on supplies of Parma ham, olives, biscotti and chianti. La Dolce Vita starts here. Stockholm to Berlin Snälltåget It comes as no surprise that in the land of flygskam ('flight shame'), there are a number of night train options. In direct competition with state-owned SJ, the independent operator Snälltåget offers a link to Berlin on a no-frills train that harks back to an earlier era of European rail travel. It may be quite slow and traditional (the only sleeping option is in a six-berth couchette), but, glory of glories, it has a dining car which goes by the name Krogen (pub). Enjoy cheese-filled schnitzels and organic pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream while passing a series of lakes and forested landscapes as the train heads south towards Malmö and the famous bridge crossing to Copenhagen. There's a very early stop in Hamburg should you wish to alight there, otherwise the train reaches Berlin at 07.45: just in time for a proper Berlin Frühstück (breakfast). A few departures carry on to Dresden. Daily (no Saturday service April-October). From €74 (in a six-berth compartment); Paris to Nice Intercités de Nuit (SNCF) Who doesn't want to wake up looking out of a train window at the dazzlingly blue seas of the Côte d'Azur interspersed with glimpses of fabled French Riviera resorts such as Cannes and Antibes? This journey, discontinued in 2017 but restored in 2021, is a cost-effective way of travelling between the French capital and Nice, offering two levels of couchette – 1st class with four berths (which can be booked for solo occupancy) and 2nd class with six. The reborn train has been modernised (with carpeting and soft fabric bunks) and is not scheduled to stop until it reaches Marseille at around 6.30am. From here on you have a thrilling stretch of track to look forward to. There's no buffet car, but for this segment you can buy coffee and a croissant from train staff. Doing the journey in the other direction you get those views in the evening. Daily (subject to engineering work disruptions). From €29 (in a six-berth compartment). See Brussels to Prague European Sleeper This routing – the first offered by Netherlands-based newbie independent operator European Sleeper – goes though some of the loveliest scenery in central Europe, the Sächsische Schweiz, a region of spectacularly beautiful rock formations in the sandstone mountains of the Elbe valley south of Dresden. Heading to Prague, this stretch comes in the early morning; going back it is in the evening. The route, which also takes in Amsterdam, was launched in 2023, originally to Berlin, and extended to the Czech capital a year later, when a bistro-style dining car was introduced. The rolling stock may be a bit dated (many carriages stem from the 1980s; some from the 1950s) and the power and water supply can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, but that's all part of an experience that for an earlier generation was a rite of passage. Three times weekly (each way). From €79 (in a six-berth couchette). See Sofia to Istanbul Sofia-Istanbul Express (TCDD/BDŽ) Istanbul, eh? If that doesn't conjure up images of train travel at its most romantic (barring the odd murder), nothing will. While there is an extremely luxurious version of the original Orient Express journey between Paris and Istanbul (see here), those on more modest budgets might prefer the regular night train to Istanbul from Sofia. The journey out – on a train offering spacious sleeper and regular couchette compartments, but no catering facility – passes through the ancient Bulgarian city of Plovdiv before arriving in the early hours at the border which on the Turkish side involves getting off the train for passport and baggage checks. None of your namby-pamby Schengen stuff here, this is an old-school border crossing that involves being turfed out of bed for some middle-of-the-night scrutiny and plenty of frisson. That done, retire back to your cabin to rest and anticipate the arrival in the city that signals the end of Europe and the beginning of Asia. Daily. From €29 (in a four-berth couchette). For tips on how to book (not possible online), see Vienna to Bucharest The Dacia (CFR Călători) Another epic journey, another cluster of superlative views. The first significant stop is at Budapest-Keleti where there's time to admire one of Europe's grandest and most eclectic stations (look out for the statue of George Stephenson). From here it's on through the night and the Great Hungarian Plain (puszta). Dawn ushers in the mystical, misty landscapes of Transylvania – with options to get out at the spellbinding cities of Sighișoara or Brasov (well worth visiting, especially if the idea of almost 20 hours on a train palls). Alternatively, if you want to move smartly away from Dracula territory, stay on board for stellar views of the Carpathian Mountains as you head ever deeper into the Balkans and an afternoon arrival in Bucharest. The train offers sleeper, couchette and women-only compartments. The legendary Bar-Bistro evening dining car is alas no more, though coffee and snacks may be available for some of the journey. Daily. From €59 (in a six-bed couchette). See or Stockholm to Narvik Arctic Circle Train (SJ) And now for something completely different – a night train run by the Swedish state-owned SJ operator that covers 1,361 km, extends over almost 20 hours, is thrilling in both summer and winter (and all periods in between), and which, hugely alluringly, goes by the name Arctic Circle Train. An early evening departure from Stockholm sees the train take the coastal route along the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland before turning inland and making for the heart of Swedish Lapland and the iron ore mining town of Kiruna. In the summer months of almost permanent daylight, the journey – in a train furnished with a wide variety of sleeping options including single-occupancy 1st class, a splash of Scandi chic and a bistro car – is punctuated by wonderful vistas of coniferous forests and lakes; in winter there is a snowy wonderland-like quality and, if the stars align, sightings of the Northern Lights. The final stretch crosses into Norway and concludes in the northern city of Narvik. Just in case you're pining for the fjords. Daily. From €70 (in a six-berth couchette). See Warsaw to Budapest Chopin (PKP and CD) Another stellar night train journey, another stellar night train name, this one celebrating Frédéric Chopin, Poland's greatest composer. Part of the EuroNight network comprising multiple train operators, this routing links two of central Europe's great powerhouses – a rejuvenated Warsaw and Budapest, a city beautifully bisected by the Danube. The train skirts around the Tatra mountains in the south of Poland just after (or before if going north) Krakow – the ancient capital of Poland and city of such splendour it still thinks of itself as the country's cultural capital. There is a selection of sleeper and couchette options, sometimes including a deluxe variation. Dining facilities are modest, so stock up on supplies in advance. If you're lucky, you may get to enjoy sunrise glimpses of the Danube between Bratislava and Vac (sunset if going the other way). Daily. From €49.90 (in a six-berth couchette). See ; Zurich to Zagreb Alpine Pearls (HŽPP) A journey linking Zurich and Zagreb has a certain ring to it – how often do you get to travel by night train between two places beginning with the letter Z? This is another EuroNight special with a route taking in great swathes of Austria before dipping south into Slovenia with early morning stops in Bled (famous for its lake) and the delightful city of Ljubljana – complete with views of the Julian Alps. The Croatian capital Zagreb, reached courtesy of a long stretch along the River Sava, boasts a rich Habsburg heritage, the shortest funicular journey in the world (66 metres) and a Museum of Broken Relationships. Those who still have itchy feet can travel on by train or bus to Split, the Adriatic – and the Makarska Riviera. Daily. From €49.90 (in a six-berth couchette). See Note that ongoing works until summer 2025 could mean a diversion via Graz. The route through Slovenia is due to reopen in mid-July. Amsterdam to Innsbruck NightJet (ÖBB) Fancy trying the latest thing in night train accommodation? From the end of May, NightJet's new generation trains will be deployed on this 14-hour jaunt between Amsterdam and Innsbruck. The Siemens-constructed trains embrace a more modern design, additional comforts – en suite toilet and shower facilities in all sleeper carriages – free Wi-Fi throughout and, in the case of the pioneering mini cabins, the chance for solo travellers to enjoy privacy in their own space – admittedly a fairly restricted one (think Japanese-style capsule hotels). With so much to engage the senses inside, you will barely miss Bavarian treasures such as Würzburg and Nuremberg, passed in the dead of night. Come the dawn, enjoy the spires of Munich and spectacular Alpine peaks ahead of arrival in Innsbruck, a city prized for its proximity to ski slopes and history as the one-time heart of the Holy Roman Empire.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Night train service between Berlin and Brussels to stop running from end of March
Several services have been cancelled on a European night train service connecting several major cities across the continent as last-minute construction work is announced – with one route discontinued altogether. Nightjet, operated by Austrian Railways (ÖBB), connects 25 destinations such as Paris, Rome and Berlin on its multi-national train services, with passengers offered the choice of sleeper cabins, couchettes and seating carriages on its journeys. Due to 'construction sites in Germany, Austria and France announced at short notice', the train operator has said that several of its services will not be running over the two next months. However, one route will not be coming back after the wave of cancellations and will be discontinued altogether. The train operator said that departures from Berlin to Brussels will be cancelled from 26 March onwards, and Brussels to Berlin from 27 March. An ÖBB spokesperson told The Independent: 'Unfortunately, we have to discontinue the Berlin - Brussels connection. The reason for this is the complex construction site situation, but also there is a lower demand on this connection.' 'Apart from the night train service, Brussels remains well connected to Berlin via Cologne during the day. The ICE 3neo has been providing more reliability and comfort for travellers to Belgium on this connection between Frankfurt and Brussels since June 2024.' 'The Nightjet connection Vienna - Brussels will in any case continue to be offered.' Rail expert Mark Smith, from the Man in Seat 61 said in a report of the Nightjet Berlin-Brussels route that 'a combination of difficult-to-bypass late-notice trackwork in Germany and (no doubt) the fact that it now runs on the same 3 days of the week as the European Sleeper mean they seem to have given up'. Specific departures between Vienna and Paris and between Berlin and Paris also have cancellations on certain days from 27 March to 26 May, ÖBB added. Alongside this, various trains running to and from Zurich, Amsterdam and Prague will not be able to run next month between 13 April and 28 April. Other connections will also have changes along its routes. The connection from Zurich to Berlin or Berlin to Zurich (NJ 408 / NJ 409 incl. IC 60408 / 60409) will be operated to/from Hamburg between 14 April and 27 April 2025, the operator said. On the Zurich to Hamburg / Hamburg to Zurich connection (NJ 470 / 471 with IC 60470 / 60471), stops at Bremen and Verden an der Aller will be cancelled between 14 April to 27 April. For both changes, the train operator has requested that travellers take the daytime service to Hanover, and Nightjet tickets will be recognised. ÖBB said they apologise for any inconvenience caused due to the last-minute cancellations and have directed passengers to the ÖBB Customer Service at +43 5 1717 for free cancellation or rebooking of Nightjet tickets. The full list of cancellations and changes due to the construction works: NJ 468 from Vienna to Paris departing on 27 March, 1 April, 6 April–8 April, 24 April–8 May, and 20 May–22 May. NJ 469 from Paris to Vienna with a departure on 28 March, 2 April, 7 April–11 April, 25 April–9 May, 21 May–26 May NJ 40424 from Berlin to Paris with a departure on 27 March–10 April and 24 April–25 May NJ 40469 from Paris to Berlin with a departure on 28 March–9 April and 25 April–23 May NJ 424 from Berlin to Brussels, departures from 26 March NJ 425 from Brussels to Berlin, departures from 27 March NJ 402 from Zurich to Amsterdam with a departure on 14 April to 27 April NJ 403 from Amsterdam to Zurich with a departure on 15 April to 28 April EN 40459 from Zurich to Praha with a departure on 14 April to 27 April EN 40458 from Praha to Zurich with a departure on 13 April to 26 April
The Independent
26-03-2025
- The Independent
Night train service between Berlin and Brussels to stop running from end of March
Several services have been cancelled on a European night train service connecting several major cities across the continent as last-minute construction work is announced – with one route discontinued altogether. Nightjet, operated by Austrian Railways (ÖBB), connects 25 destinations such as Paris, Rome and Berlin on its multi-national train services, with passengers offered the choice of sleeper cabins, couchettes and seating carriages on its journeys. Due to 'construction sites in Germany, Austria and France announced at short notice', the train operator has said that several of its services will not be running over the two next months. However, one route will not be coming back after the wave of cancellations and will be discontinued altogether. The train operator said that departures from Berlin to Brussels will be cancelled from 26 March onwards, and Brussels to Berlin from 27 March. An ÖBB spokesperson told The Independent: 'Unfortunately, we have to discontinue the Berlin - Brussels connection. The reason for this is the complex construction site situation, but also there is a lower demand on this connection.' 'Apart from the night train service, Brussels remains well connected to Berlin via Cologne during the day. The ICE 3neo has been providing more reliability and comfort for travellers to Belgium on this connection between Frankfurt and Brussels since June 2024.' 'The Nightjet connection Vienna - Brussels will in any case continue to be offered.' Rail expert Mark Smith, from the Man in Seat 61 said in a report of the Nightjet Berlin-Brussels route that 'a combination of difficult-to-bypass late-notice trackwork in Germany and (no doubt) the fact that it now runs on the same 3 days of the week as the European Sleeper mean they seem to have given up'. Specific departures between Vienna and Paris and between Berlin and Paris also have cancellations on certain days from 27 March to 26 May, ÖBB added. Alongside this, various trains running to and from Zurich, Amsterdam and Prague will not be able to run next month between 13 April and 28 April. Other connections will also have changes along its routes. The connection from Zurich to Berlin or Berlin to Zurich (NJ 408 / NJ 409 incl. IC 60408 / 60409) will be operated to/from Hamburg between 14 April and 27 April 2025, the operator said. On the Zurich to Hamburg / Hamburg to Zurich connection (NJ 470 / 471 with IC 60470 / 60471), stops at Bremen and Verden an der Aller will be cancelled between 14 April to 27 April. For both changes, the train operator has requested that travellers take the daytime service to Hanover, and Nightjet tickets will be recognised. ÖBB said they apologise for any inconvenience caused due to the last-minute cancellations and have directed passengers to the ÖBB Customer Service at +43 5 1717 for free cancellation or rebooking of Nightjet tickets. The full list of cancellations and changes due to the construction works: NJ 468 from Vienna to Paris departing on 27 March, 1 April, 6 April–8 April, 24 April–8 May, and 20 May–22 May. NJ 469 from Paris to Vienna with a departure on 28 March, 2 April, 7 April–11 April, 25 April–9 May, 21 May–26 May NJ 40424 from Berlin to Paris with a departure on 27 March–10 April and 24 April–25 May NJ 40469 from Paris to Berlin with a departure on 28 March–9 April and 25 April–23 May NJ 424 from Berlin to Brussels, departures from 26 March NJ 425 from Brussels to Berlin, departures from 27 March NJ 402 from Zurich to Amsterdam with a departure on 14 April to 27 April NJ 403 from Amsterdam to Zurich with a departure on 15 April to 28 April EN 40459 from Zurich to Praha with a departure on 14 April to 27 April EN 40458 from Praha to Zurich with a departure on 13 April to 26 April
