The night train is back on one of Europe’s most important business corridors. At 02:33 on 26 March, Belgian-Dutch cooperative European Sleeper dispatched the first east-bound service from Paris Nord to Berlin Hbf via Brussels South, reviving a route that SNCF and ÖBB dropped last December.
Deputy Prime Minister and Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet greeted the inaugural arrival in Brussels, hailing it as “a concrete step towards cleaner, more comfortable mobility for Belgian and international travellers.” The train—running three nights a week—makes Belgian stops in Mons and Brussels, giving corporates based in Wallonia and the capital a rail alternative to short-haul flights. Fares start at €50 for a seat and rise to €180 for a private sleeper, undercutting last-minute airfares while eliminating hotel nights for road-warriors.
For travellers crossing multiple borders on this revived corridor, making sure passports and any necessary visas are in order is still a must. VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) allows both individual passengers and corporate travel teams to check requirements for France, Germany and neighbouring countries in seconds, file applications online and track approvals, keeping admin to a minimum while the train does the miles.
![European Sleeper relaunches Paris–Brussels–Berlin night train, boosting low-carbon business travel]()
European Sleeper says it has already sold 25,000 tickets through its own platform and OTAs such as Trainline and Kombo, though SNCF Connect is not (yet) listing the service. For mobility managers, the relaunch expands the rail options rostered under many companies’ Belgian travel policies, which increasingly favour low-carbon routes. A Paris-Brussels-Berlin round-trip on the new sleeper emits roughly 18 kg of CO₂ per passenger—about 10-15 % of the footprint of an equivalent air itinerary.
Under new CSRD reporting rules, multinationals with Belgian entities must disclose scope-3 travel emissions from 2026, making the sleeper service a timely compliance tool. Operationally, European Sleeper leases coaches from German lessor RDC and locomotive power from Railpool, keeping CapEx light. Track-access slots in the busy Île-de-France and Ruhr corridors remain a constraint; the company hopes to secure more attractive departure times in 2027.
If load factors stay above 70 %, management plans to add direct cars to Prague and a seasonal extension to Barcelona, creating a pan-European overnight network with Brussels as a central hub. Belgium’s rail infrastructure manager Infrabel has welcomed the service but warns of capacity bottlenecks at Brussels South where renovation works begin later this year. Travellers should book early on peak-night rotations (Sunday/Monday and Thursday/Friday) and anticipate limited last-minute berth availability until additional rolling stock arrives. Still, for executives shuttling between EU institutions in Brussels, start-ups in Berlin and clients in Paris, the sleeper’s rebirth offers a productive, Wi-Fi-equipped carriage—and an extra day at the office.
Deputy Prime Minister and Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet greeted the inaugural arrival in Brussels, hailing it as “a concrete step towards cleaner, more comfortable mobility for Belgian and international travellers.” The train—running three nights a week—makes Belgian stops in Mons and Brussels, giving corporates based in Wallonia and the capital a rail alternative to short-haul flights. Fares start at €50 for a seat and rise to €180 for a private sleeper, undercutting last-minute airfares while eliminating hotel nights for road-warriors.
For travellers crossing multiple borders on this revived corridor, making sure passports and any necessary visas are in order is still a must. VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) allows both individual passengers and corporate travel teams to check requirements for France, Germany and neighbouring countries in seconds, file applications online and track approvals, keeping admin to a minimum while the train does the miles.
European Sleeper says it has already sold 25,000 tickets through its own platform and OTAs such as Trainline and Kombo, though SNCF Connect is not (yet) listing the service. For mobility managers, the relaunch expands the rail options rostered under many companies’ Belgian travel policies, which increasingly favour low-carbon routes. A Paris-Brussels-Berlin round-trip on the new sleeper emits roughly 18 kg of CO₂ per passenger—about 10-15 % of the footprint of an equivalent air itinerary.
Under new CSRD reporting rules, multinationals with Belgian entities must disclose scope-3 travel emissions from 2026, making the sleeper service a timely compliance tool. Operationally, European Sleeper leases coaches from German lessor RDC and locomotive power from Railpool, keeping CapEx light. Track-access slots in the busy Île-de-France and Ruhr corridors remain a constraint; the company hopes to secure more attractive departure times in 2027.
If load factors stay above 70 %, management plans to add direct cars to Prague and a seasonal extension to Barcelona, creating a pan-European overnight network with Brussels as a central hub. Belgium’s rail infrastructure manager Infrabel has welcomed the service but warns of capacity bottlenecks at Brussels South where renovation works begin later this year. Travellers should book early on peak-night rotations (Sunday/Monday and Thursday/Friday) and anticipate limited last-minute berth availability until additional rolling stock arrives. Still, for executives shuttling between EU institutions in Brussels, start-ups in Berlin and clients in Paris, the sleeper’s rebirth offers a productive, Wi-Fi-equipped carriage—and an extra day at the office.
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