Despite months of delay, the night train from Amsterdam to Prague is expected to launch in spring 2023, European Sleeper hopes. However, there are still some hurdles to overcome before the big start.

European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian startup, wanted to run the highly anticipated night train already in April this year, but difficulties arose regarding carriages and the finalization of the trains timetable.

European Sleeper is still dealing with the same problems as before. One of them is a big quest for carriages, according to initiator Chris Engelsman.

In an interview with Treinreiziger, Engelsman explained that it is currently very difficult to get the rail cars needed, and that a plan to get carriages from Russia could not be realized because of the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, there are also problems with spare parts due to the fact that a relatively large number of carriages are parked at rental companies, says Engelsman.

Nevertheless, Engelsman remains optimistic in a search for new train cars. “We’re working hard on it, and we’re making progress. But there’s no white smoke yet,” he said.

The timetable is also another obstacle for European Sleeper. This is because work will be carried out regularly on the line between Berlin and Prague in the coming years, meaning that only one track will be available at times. This will result in limited network capacity for the night train.

Engelsman also indicated that energy tariffs are another challenge. “Since we started, energy rates have doubled. That affects our business case. We still think that a profitable night train is feasible, but this will affect the ticket price,” Engelsman told Treinreiziger.

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