The first night train from Berlin arrived in Brussels Midi just after 10:00 on Friday, the SNCB announced. The return train for Berlin left the Belgian capital on Friday night.
The convoy's departure from the German capital was scheduled for just before 23:00 on Thursday evening.
“This is another step in the right direction,” said Alexander Gomme, spokesperson for the Belgian citizens’ collective advocating for the return of night trains, Back on Track Belgium. “Berlin is a very important destination for us and can also be used as a springboard to travel to Poland or the Czech Republic,” he stated in a press release.
European Sleeper has already officially announced that from spring 2024, the Belgian-Dutch transport company will extend the original route to Dresden in Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic. Doing so this year was not possible “due to works on the railway line between Berlin and the Czech border”, Gomme explained.
Connecting Europe
“The new night train between Brussels and Berlin is not only interesting for the cities served. It will create much more attractive connections between, for example, London and Berlin (connection with the Eurostar in Brussels), Paris and Berlin (connection with the Thalys in Brussels), Brussels and Warsaw (connection with the EuroCity in Berlin),” European Sleeper said.
In 2025, the cooperative in charge of the link even hopes to launch a line to Barcelona.
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The journey between Brussels and Berlin will run three times a week and will depart from the Belgian capital every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As such, it kicked off on Friday evening in the direction of the German capital.
More information and tickets can be found on the European Sleeper website.
