View into a cabin of the night train provider European Sleeper.Image: PD
The planned night train from the Belgian-Dutch start-up European Sleeper still has certain obstacles to overcome.
Dec 12, 2025, 6:22 p.mDec 12, 2025, 6:22 p.m
A new night train is scheduled to connect Bern with Brussels, Amsterdam and Milan from June. The private night train provider European Sleeper wants to offer the route through Switzerland three times a week in each direction. For such a connection, the foreign railway company must, according to the federal government, enter into a cooperation with a domestic railway company.
The planned stops from northwest Europe to northern Italy include Cologne, Bern, Brig and Stresa on Lake Maggiore, as the Dutch-Belgian night train company European Sleeper announced this week. In Switzerland the train follows the historic Simplon route.
In order to be able to reach both Brussels and Amsterdam, the train coming from the south will be divided into Germany. In the other direction, the train parts coming from the Belgian and Dutch capitals would be brought together in Germany.
Why is cooperation with the Swiss railway company necessary?
In order for a foreign passenger train to travel through Switzerland, the company behind it must enter into cooperation with a domestic railway company, according to a spokesman for Federal Office of Transport (BAV) said. It doesn’t matter whether the train stops in Switzerland or just travels through the country.
Chris Engelsman, co-founder of European Sleepersaid when asked that he is currently in contact with the Swiss authorities to obtain permission to use the rail network and to be allowed to transport passengers within Switzerland. “Not all formalities have been clarified yet, but we don’t see any obstacles.”
When asked, the SBB announced that it had not entered into any cooperation with European Sleeper for the planned connection. They took note of the plans. In international passenger transport, the SBB cooperates with state or state-affiliated railway companies in neighboring countries, as can be seen on their website.
According to the federal government, it works without it
However, with the updated land transport agreement, a connection like the one sought by European Sleeper with a stop in Switzerland would be possible in the future even without cooperation, as the BAV spokesman added. The agreement is part of the negotiated contract package between Switzerland and the EU. It is currently in the ratification process.
What is planned?
Three connections per week
The final timetable for the north-south connection is currently being coordinated with the respective infrastructure operators in the individual countries, European Sleeper continued. Ticket sales are scheduled to start in January or February.
According to its own information, European Sleeper began operations in 2023. The night train company offers routes from Belgium and the Netherlands to Berlin, Dresden and Prague, among others.
(sda)