Yet another destination is in the works for Europe’s growing network of overnight sleeper trains, which have had a strong revival after years of decline and discontinuation.
This time, it’s Brussels working with Sweden on a plan to extend an already-proposed Copenhagen/Malmo-to-Cologne route on to Brussels, where it could connect to a variety of high-speed trains, including the Eurostar to London.
While Sweden and Belgium are enthusiastic about a possible 2022 start, there’s one big bug in the works. Germany, which had originally been interested in the Cologne route, has now lost interest and hasn’t committed to issuing the required permission for the train to operate. Negotiations with Germany have not been scheduled.
Any idea what the issue is? Why would Germany object?
I haven’t found a definitive answer to that; the nearest I have come is speculation that DB is concerned about competition with existing conventional trains along the route; DB is the major carrier on the route, but they are clearly not doing much of a job of it as the schedule I’ve linked here shows. The minimum number of train changes is 2, with some itineraries requiring 8! And the ones with only 2 or 3 changes sell for nearly $200, compared to $70 with 8 changes.
I’d think a direct no-change train would take airlines right out of the picture, and possibly force DB to step up its game.