The grant falls away: night train between Paris and Berlin is threatened

The night train between Paris and Berlin was threatened to end two years after it starts to change the timetable in mid -December. The reason is the elimination of French financial aid for the connection, the newspaper “Le Monde” reported, referring to information from the Paris Ministry of Transport and the Staatsbahn SNCF. The night train between Paris and Vienna is also to be stopped. On request, Deutsche Bahn referred to the SNCF and this in turn to the ministry, which initially did not comment.

“The state as a shareholder requires us to be profitable, and we are only under considerable efforts. He cannot ask us to use connections with loss, only because of the beautiful symbol, even if it were a nice symbol,” quoted “Le Monde” a person responsible for the SNCF.

Klammes France is removing a million subsidy

According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Transport decided in the summer to take the millions for night trains to Berlin and Vienna after the government informed the ministry for its budget for 2026. France is highly indebted and, after the government’s fall, continues to struggle in the dispute over a savings budget with how it gets its finances in the solder.

Other French media reported on the impending end for night trains, referring to information from the “Oui Au Train de Nuit!” (Yes to the night train!). The initiative started an online petition for the preservation of night trains, which in a short time joined almost 15,000 people. In addition, a demonstration in front of the Gare de l’Est was planned in Paris on Friday evening, where the night trains to Berlin and Vienna started.

The initiative complained that the night train connections only lead three times a week and, unlike guaranteed, had not been extended to a daily offer. In addition, the trains in the French booking portal SNCF Connect are not listed at all and can only be booked for travelers in France via detours.