European Sleeper Launches First Night Train Connecting Brussels and Berlin
According to Travel Tomorrow, the first official train departed Brussels’ Midi (South) Station at 7:22 pm on Friday, reaching Amsterdam at 10:34 pm, and then continued towards Berlin, where it was set to arrive at 6:48 am on Saturday, AtoZSerwisPlus.de reports.
Through a statement, European Sleeper announced that the special moment was marked by an informal reception in Brussels Midi station.
“They feel the sleeper train is important to improve the sustainability of passenger transport in Europe. They see the sleeper train as an attractive and adventurous form of travel,” the statement of the European Sleeper reads.
According to the statement, the new travel service between both territories is not just relevant for the cities on the route.
“Thanks to the sleeper service, other attractive options to travel by train come into play as well, for example, between London and Berlin (change in Brussels to the Eurostar), Paris and Berlin (change in Brussels to the Thalys), Brussels and Warsaw (change in Berlin to the EuroCity),” the company highlighted.
European Sleeper has considered the introduction of this service an important step in building a more extensive network of sleeper trains from Belgium as well as the Netherlands.
In the past months, the availability of sleeper carriages was subject to significant challenges.
The company has stressed that the service will run three times a week, departing Berlin on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and Brussels on Mondays, Wednesdays as well as Fridays.
The company hopes to run daily trains between both cities starting next year and also extend the journey to Dresden and Prague.
Authorities in European countries are attempting to make train travel the most popular mode of transport, in order to switch to more environmentally friendly means of transport.
In March this year, the European Sleeper company announced that a new sleeper train that connects Barcelona and Amsterdam will be launched in 2025, thus further tightening connections between both territories.
It was emphasised that the new train would stop at the following cities, among others:
- In the evening: Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Lille
- In the morning: Avignon, Montpellier, Perpignan, Figueras as well as Girona
Still, further details in this regard, such as the ticket prices or the length of the trip, have not been provided yet.