Subsidies for night trains? “You cannot fix this until someone builds more sleeper and couchette carriages”

“I’m so tired of these arguments about small pots of money (or not) for night train operations. You cannot fix this until someone builds more night train carriages”, independent railway commentator Jon Worth posted on Bluesky. That last sentence in all caps. “Because then we can start to run night trains that aren’t with knackered carriages saved from the scrap heap, and have solid operations!”

Worth reacts to the news the Basel-Malmö night train by SBB CFF FFS and RDC Deutschland shouldn’t count on subsidies from the Swiss Federal Government.

A parliamentary commission in Switzerland has voted against the ten million francs in subsidies the federal government intended for the new connection to Scandinavia.

The night train to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden now faces cancellation even before launch. The Finance Committee of the Council of States voted 8 to 3, with two abstentions, to cut the planned funding. Without this support, which SBB CFF FFS considers essential, the project cannot proceed.

The Basel–Copenhagen–Malmö service was due to start in April 2026 with three weekly trains of about 350 seats. High costs for trains, track use, and staff meant it would not be profitable, so SBB CFF FFS requested subsidies. The federal government planned to cover about 100 francs per ticket and 45,000 francs per journey — over 200 francs per passenger on average.

Critics called the plan a waste of money, while supporters – including IGöV Switzerland, the Swiss Transport Club, and Back-on-Track – are launching a petition to save it. Green MP Florence Brenzikofer said the decision was “very disappointing”, noting the many direct flights from Zurich and Basel to Copenhagen. Committee chair Jakob Stark (SVP) argued the money would be poorly spent, even from a climate perspective.

Unless the Council of States reverses the decision, the train will not run. SBB CFF FFS have already begun ticket sales and will refund passengers if the service is cancelled.

A wider issue

Worth added: “ÖBB wants to run to Paris. French government gets pushed to subsidise. SNCF reluctantly joins. Subsidy ends. SNCF jumps out. European Sleeper may run instead, with even more knackered carriages with no subsidy, but it’ll still be only three times a week. And on and on we go.”

“The Swiss want night trains north, but Germany won’t subsidise night trains. The Swiss government starts planning with SBB CFF FFS and RDC Deutschland. But as this isn’t a proper competitive tender and there’s no long term plan, so it’s costly short term, so Swiss media and then Parliament stop it.”

A shortage of rolling stock

“Currently, there’s a need of night train carriages, ideally new ones: SBB CFF FFS, European Sleeper in Belgium and the Netherlands, SJ in Sweden, PKP in Poland, something for Rail Baltica. Even ÖBB in Austria (if 200km/h / cheaper than Nightjet), MÁV in Hungary, ČD in Czechia, ZSSK in Slovakia, and HZPP in Croatia might each take a few, or at least lease some”, Worth argues

“Are those firms capable of seeing beyond the end of their own noses to sort out some sort of consortium or joint purchase? No. Is the European Union capable of working towards this sort of solution? Also no, because the state owned railway companies want the EU to work on high speed instead.”

“Small, short term pots of money for night train operations make no sense. You’re throwing good money after bad, while the fundamentals — knackered old trains, poor reliability, high costs, low capacity, poor privacy for passengers — remain unchanged. Fix the effing fundamentals.”

The solution: scaling up

Worth’s solution: scaling up. In 2021, he launched Trains for Europe, “The campaign to scale up night trains“.

“Too few night trains run in Europe right now. Our demand: that the EU organise the procurement of a new fleet of night trains. This will allow cross-border overnight services to be swiftly scaled up”, Trains in Europe say.

“The problem: the companies that could provide international night trains in Europe (Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, Trenitalia, Renfe, PKP etc.) currently have no intention of doing so, while the smaller companies that would like to provide these services (RegioJet, European Sleeper, Snälltåget etc.) do not have the means to do so.”

“There are very few night train carriages (rolling stock) available on the leasing market, and what is available is often very old. So the way to scale up night trains is to procure new carriages, and to allow operators to lease these.”

“This is a Europe-wide problem – as pretty much all the important and viable night train routes are cross-border. Hence we demand that the European Union steps in to solve the problem – the EU has to set up the framework to allow the procurement of a fleet of new night trains.”

Trains for Europe is not a train company, but a campaign. It is not about why night trains are a good idea, but about how to scale them up. It is founded by Jon Worth, long time blogger and commentator on EU transport policy and is independent of all railway companies and operators. “The priority is that new night train connections run, not who it is that runs them.”

The case for night trains

“Climate change is real. Travel is a good thing. But climate-neutral planes, or fully electrified car fleets, are a long way off. So that means more travel by train over long distances, and less by car and plane. But long distance travel by train is time consuming, so it’s better do it at night.”

“But night train services in Europe are scarce, as most of Europe’s railway companies stopped their night train services in favour of high speed daytime trains instead. That might be fine for Paris-Marseille or Prague-Bratislava, but it’s not a solution for Amsterdam-Marseille or Warsaw-Budapest. Night trains can fill that very long distance segment.”

At least fifty new night trains (in 2021)

“Our initial assessment is that the EU would need to assure the procurement of at least 50 new night trains – this would allow routes like these to be run, and we also explain how the procurement of such a fleet of trains could be organised and why the EU should act on this.”

“We advocate tried and trusted technology, easily manufactured by many different Europe-based manufacturers, and hauled with readily available locomotives. The trains would have four classes of accommodation (including couchettes and sleeping cars) and – at least initially – run on standard gauge tracks. We have some more radical ideas further into the future too, but for now let’s stick to what is achievable, and achievable now.”

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