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Travel between Brussels and Berlin on a new direct night train
From May 25th the capitals of Belgium and Germany will be connected by a new direct rail link on trains which will also travel via Amsterdam. Tickets now on sale.
Simon HarperShare
European Sleeper is a new train operating company that is to provide a new overnight train service, initially on a Brussels/Bruxelles - Antwerp - Roosendaal - Rotterdam - The Hague/Den Haag - Amsterdam - Amersfoort - Deventer - Bad Bentheim ↔ Berlin route.
From May 25th the train will be heading to Berlin on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and to Amsterdam and to Bruxellles on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
It will provide the only direct rail service between Berlin and all of its station calls south of Amsterdam, including Bruxelles and Rotterdam.
This new service will provide an an alternative to taking the daytime IC trains on the Amsterdam <> Berlin route.
The timetable and connections
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the typically scheduled departure time from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station will be 19:22; which will usually offer a connection with the 15:04 Eurostar from London, as it is due into Bruxelles at 18:08.
The departure time from Amsterdam will typically be at 22:24, which will usually offer a good connection with the Thalys train which will depart from Paris Gare Du Nord at 18:25; the connection in Amsterdam from this train will be more easily timed, compared to making the transfer in Bruxelles.
The arrival time in Berlin will typically scheduled to be at 06:48 which should provide for easily timed connections into the following departures:
07:34 to Halle, Nurnberg and Munich/Munchen
07:38 to Hamburg
09:01 to Praha/Prague*, Brastislava and Budapest
09:41 to Poznan and Warszawa/Warsaw
*= in 2024 the plan is for the European Sleeper service to be extended to/from Praha/Prague.
Heading west the train will typically depart from Berlin Hbf on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at 22:56.
It will be scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam Centraal at 06:31, where it will usually offer a good connection into the Eurostar to London that departs at 07:47.
The arrival time of the European Sleeper into Bruxelles-Midi, scheduled for 09:27, won't be within the timings Eurostar requests for its check-in procedure, so connecting for London in Amsterdam will be the better option.
Though that arrival time in Bruxelles should enable easily timed connections into a Thalys train for Paris and a TGV heading to Lyon, Nimes and Montpellier.
The accommodation and tickets.
Tickets are now on sale and it looks as though bookings are available from three months ahead of the travel date.
Eurail and InterRail pass holders can also make reservations on the European Sleeper website.
The 'Good Night' train will offer three types of accommodation; seats, couchette compartments and sleeping cabins.
The sleeping cabins have all have three beds, but there is a range of ticket options available - as is typical when travelling in sleeping cabins on European night trains.
- Three people travelling together - the total price you will see will be for the entire cabin
- Two people travelling together and are happy to share a cabin - book two beds in the cabin with the third bed likely to be occupied by somebody else*, or pay extra to have the cabin to yourselves.
- Two people travelling together but don't want to share a cabin - make two separate one person bookings, but you'll need to book the cabins for sole use, otherwise you may randomly end up sharing with each other.
- One person travelling together - book a bed in a three bad cabin which you will share* with two other people, or book a bed in a cabin which you will share* with one other person, or pay the top price and book the cabin for your sole use.
*= What is atypical about the European sleeper services is that women-only cabins are available, but the other cabins are mixed sex.
What's also good to know that European Sleeper describes its cabins as the 'Deluxe' option, but unlike typical deluxe cabins on other European night train services, none of the cabins on the 'Good Night Train' are equipped with showers or WCs.
Simon Harper
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