2026 Night Train Map Shows Net Loss: Five New Routes but Ten Discontinued

Eu released its 2026 interactive night train map that displays every regular sleeper connection across Europe in a single transport-network style diagram. The map records five new connections and ten discontinued lines. European Sleeper launched a Paris–Berlin service, PKP introduced routes from Poland to Praha and München, and a Bruxelles–Milano train is planned.

Among the losses are several ÖBB Nightjet routes and the 1,456 km Stockholm-Narvik link, one of Europe’s longest night-train journeys. Some remaining services have been shortened. The ÖBB train that once ran from Bratislava to Split now begins in Vienna.

Juri Maier, chair of Back-on-Track, said the biggest obstacle is the lack of investment in rolling stock. “The demand is there, and competition with planes is not as fierce anymore,” he said. “Concepts exist to carry up to 750 sleeping passengers per train, which would make operations profitable on many routes.

Giovanni Antoniazzi, vice chair and spatial data scientist based in Amsterdam, coordinated the Open Night Train Database. He said the planned Bruxelles–Milano route would fill a gap on the map, though the section through Switzerland presents an operational challenge.

A 2025 survey of 11,000 people commissioned by Hitachi Rail found that almost half of respondents intend to travel more by train and less by plane in the next five years.

Seven in ten said they would use public transport more if it were better connected. eu/night-train-map. A printed poster can also be ordered from the site.