“The NightJet train to Berlin is no more. The night train departed like a thief into the night”, Alexander Gomme from Back On Track Belgium mailed us. “On Monday evening, the last NightJet Brussels-Berlin night train unexpectedly departed from Brussels-South.”

“It was scheduled to depart this evening (Wednesday 26 March 2025), but due to a strike, tonight’s departure has been moved to Cologne. Passengers on the night train will take the high-speed ICE and will have to change trains in Cologne. This farewell could not be more typical of a train that, throughout its short existence, has been plagued by cancellations and delays.”

“The reason the train ended up in Mannheim is rather coincidental. To reduce costs, it was planned to run the Brussels-Vienna and Paris-Vienna trains together from Mannheim, and since the Austrian railway operator ÖBB also wanted to run a Paris-Berlin together with the Paris-Vienna between Paris and Mannheim, a Brussels-Berlin was also possible at no extra cost.” 

Twice Frankfurt

“This train made a long detour via Mannheim and even passed Frankfurt am Main twice in the same night, but this is not a problem in itself: on a night train, passengers are asleep anyway, and a slightly longer journey time is therefore not a problem at all.” 

The Brussels-Berlin train began operating on 26 May 2023, but it immediately faced a shortage of rolling stock. 

“The trains were limited, the sleeping cars were replaced by older ones and the sleeping cars by seated cars, and the train often encountered unforeseen roadworks or problems in Germany, resulting in delays”, Gomme says. 

“For a time, the Brussels-Berlin service was completely canceled due to a lack of rolling stock. The originally promised daily night train did not materialize, although with the delivery of new rolling stock for the night train on other ÖBB lines, slightly more rolling stock is now available for Brussels-Berlin. Less than two years after its launch, the ÖBB is drawing a line under this service, although, for the time being, there is still talk of suspending it indefinitely.”

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