2023-07-02 18:00:35
On platform number 8 of Vienna’s main train station, travelers departing for Brussels, Amsterdam or Hamburg on the 7:35 p.m. Nightjet head to their cars, ready to spend the night there. They watch another night train leave, bound for Ancona, Italy, via La Spezia. From Vienna, the Austrian national company Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) serves the main cities of Europe by night train, under the Nightjet brand.
It is a national tradition and a proactive choice, confirmed when Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company, decided to stop this type of journey, which was too unprofitable. “It was in October 2016remembers Andreas Matthä, the giant who took over the management of ÖBB in 2016, after thirty-four years in the house. We bought part of their network and all their equipment from them. At the time, it made people smile. In the business, everyone knows that you don’t make a fortune with night trains. And then there was Greta Thunberg…”
The young Swedish activist helped popularize the so-called “de flight shame », “shame to fly”, and the imperative to reduce our CO₂ emissions. Since then, the night train has regained color and especially its popularity. Every year, ÖBB Nightjet extends its web, under the benevolent eye of the European Union. In December 2020, in Brussels, under the aegis of four ministers, in particular Leonore Gewessler, in charge of climate, energy and mobility in Vienna, the Austrian company signed with SNCF, Deutsche Bahn and CFF, the Swiss railways, an agreement to open new lines, including the Paris-Vienna, operated by SNCF under the Nightjet brand, which has linked the two capitals three times a week since December 2021.
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Tuesday, June 27, the Vienna-Brussels-Hamburg-Amsterdam has four cars for Brussels, five for Amsterdam and four for Hamburg. In Nuremberg (Bavaria), it joins the Innsbruck-Munich-Amsterdam-Hamburg train to form a single convoy to Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia), where they separate for their final destination. These combinations, which optimize the use of equipment and train paths, allow ÖBB to achieve profitability, with a 10% subsidy from the Austrian State.
“Good for the soul”
To meet the needs of all types of passengers – from business travel to those on a budget – Nightjets include three types of cars: those with seats, recliners, divided into compartments of six, with tickets on sale from 29 40 euros on the Paris-Vienna. Sleeper cars, four or six, and sleeping cars, where alternate cabins with two or three beds (cosy, with duvet, pillows and slippers provided and even a mini-towel), equipped with a small sink, and deluxe cabins (one or two beds) with WC and shower. Count from 175 to 371 euros, in this car, where all the seats are sold.
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