Announced in June 2025, the Franco-German night train initiative Nox (Latin for ‘night‘) has drawn immediate comparisons with the defunct start-up Midnight Trains, which folded in 2024. Back-on-Track.eu’s Juri Maier weighs up the viability of Europe‘s latest night train start-up.
At first glance, the launch on 10 June appeared similarly ambitious, complete with a broad future network map but starting with just a single route. However, Juri Maier of Back-on-Track.eu argues that Nox offers more depth and realism than its predecessor.
A pricing strategy aimed at airlines
Nox is entering the market with a clear pricing structure, aiming to match low-cost air fares. With starting prices of €79 for a single-bed cabin and €75 for a berth in a two-person compartment, the new operator appears confident that its stripped-down, FlixTrain-inspired business model can reduce operating costs. One of the Nox founders has a background at FlixTrain.
According to the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), low-cost airlines charged an average of €79.33 for journeys of 500–1,500 km in autumn 2024—distances well-suited for overnight rail alternatives.
However, Maier cautions that these fares are likely to be entry-level only. With a 75% occupancy rate and a 500-passenger train, such prices would bring in just €27,000 in net revenue per journey—at least €9,000 short of break-even.
To deliver a return on investment, Nox would need to achieve average fares above €100, which aligns with couchette prices on current night trains to and from Germany. A recent Zeit Online study, based on night-ride.com data, found couchette prices ranging from €69 to €158 depending on the route during summer 2025.
A practical cabin layout using existing rolling stock
Unlike Midnight Trains, which failed to present realistic interior designs before abandoning its original rolling stock concept, Nox has revealed a tangible and plausible cabin layout. The design is based on repurposing first-class Intercity coaches, many of which are being withdrawn across Europe. Cabins are arranged on either side of a central aisle, with single and double berths laid out both transversely and longitudinally, depending on cabin type. Some designs allow for seated use by day and convert into beds at night.
The beds are reportedly two metres long and rely on mechanical systems to raise and lower them. Only first-class Intercity coaches can accommodate this layout, with a likely mix of 7 double-deck, 9 single-bed, and 2 double-bed cabins per coach, providing around 36 seats per carriage in converted open-plan stock.
Compartment coaches, built with a side aisle, would lose additional seating in the conversion.
Comparing to the Nightjet
For comparison, ÖBB’s latest Nightjet couchette cars offer 40 beds—28 single and 12 in four-berth couchettes—thus enabling a 10–15% higher seat count than Nox’s design.
However, Maier notes that Nox may have a competitive edge in comfort: its single-bed cabins outclass Nightjet’s ‘mini-cabins’, and the double-bed cabins may prove more appealing for couples than conventional sleeper compartments without en-suite facilities.
The downside is space efficiency. Even if configured with new rolling stock, the current Nox layout cannot match the seat count of the new Nightjets.
A redesign—such as placing doors at one end of the carriage or using a taller roof—could allow up to 38 seats per coach. Intercity trains offer a maximum ceiling height of 265 cm, meaning upper bunks in double-deck cabins may have only 65 cm headroom, comparable to older six-berth couchettes.
Passenger response to this layout will need to be tested.
A realistic network plan, but still subsidy-dependent
Nox’s route map is more grounded than Midnight Trains’ vision of linking Paris in France with Edinburgh all the way up in Scotland and Lisbon all the way down in Portugal via an inefficient hub strategy.
Two-thirds of Nox’s proposed 30 routes are already served by existing night trains, and many others have been assessed for feasibility. Journey lengths stay under 1,200 km, aligning with the 12-hour optimum that avoids multi-shift staffing.
However, Nox plans to operate on its own account while directly competing on routes where incumbent operators receive state subsidies.
In France, such subsidies cover roughly 50% of operating costs. Given that ticket prices in France and Italy are lower than in Germany, Maier questions how Nox intends to compete without similar support—particularly on longer, less profitable routes such as Lecce, Luleå in Sweden near Finland or Reggio di Calabria.
Reducing costs—but not necessarily replicable
Nox aims to cut costs by eliminating catering, introducing self-check-in, and drastically reducing on-board staffing—methods already common in Scandinavia.
Consultancy company Rambøll estimates up to 7% savings through this approach, with an additional 2% if staff are employed in lower-wage countries such as Hungary. These savings may help offset the cost disadvantage of a lower seat count.
Avoiding ‘wing’ operations
Nox also plans to avoid ‘wing’ operations—where train sections split during the night to serve multiple destinations—thereby reducing the need for extra staff and locomotives.
Standardising rolling stock is another cost-saving goal, although this will only pay off with large orders amortised over 30+ years. Until then, Nox must prove its cabin concept can succeed using refurbished rolling stock, without being overtaken by a competitor offering more comfort and greater capacity.
Conclusion: cautious optimism tempered by structural challenges
Juri Maier of Back-on-Track.eu views Nox’s cabin layout as a promising response to current shortcomings in the night train market, showing that greater privacy need not come at the expense of seating.
Yet the design continues the broader trend toward more comfort and fewer passengers per train. Even a full Nox train would carry just 500 passengers—less than half the capacity of a TGV-M—making it harder to justify prioritising night train slots on busy lines.
To succeed economically, Nox must narrow the growing gap in space efficiency.
More broadly, Maier stresses the need for improved political and regulatory frameworks. In Germany, this includes night train-specific track access charges at marginal cost levels, and VAT parity between flights and international train tickets.
At EU level, guarantees to reduce the interest burden on new rolling stock and a defined technical standard for locomotive-hauled night trains would be essential in helping projects like Nox succeed.
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