Berlin to Copenhagen and Stockholm in a one-night train ride

This route has not been available since the 1990s. The train revival in Europe is in full swing

A direct overnight train ride will travel between Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm, the first line connecting the three cities like this since the 1990s. The connection will be operated by the French Transdev’s Swedish branch - Snälltåget and daily runs are set to begin from 28 June 2021.

The train operator’s ambition is to revive Europe’s historic night train rides.

The direct train is scheduled to depart from Berlin at 19:02 and Hamburg at 23:26. Then it will get into Høje Taastrup, just outside of Copenhagen (and not the city's main station), at 6:38, then the Swedish city of Malmö at 7:40, to finally arrive in Stockholm at 14:25. Other stops include Södertälje, Norrköping, Linköping, Nässjö, Alvesta, Hässleholm, Eslöv and Lund.

The broader train renaissance in Europe

Europe's historic night train network, much of which was discontinued during the rise of budget air travel, has been witnessing a comeback amid growing awareness of the global climate crisis and the pandemic.

This is due to the increased freedom trains offer to their passengers, as opposed to planes. After all, a passenger can book an entire compartment just for himself and his family.

State-owned Deutsche Bahn halted night train services between Berlin and Copenhagen at the end of 2014 and there has not been a direct daytime connection between the German and Danish capitals since 2015.

Direct rail service between Berlin and Stockholm was discontinued in the 1990s, though Snälltåget resumed it in 2019.

Meanwhile, French start-up Midnight Trains has announced plans to connect Edinburgh, Rome, Barcelona, and Copenhagen with Paris through overnight trains, from 2024 onwards.

In addition, in early 2020, the launch of a new Regiojet night train taking travellers from Prague's picturesque streets to a beach holiday in Croatia was met with massive interest.

Before World War I, the German capital was a hub of international night train travel. People could travel from Anhalter Bahnhof to the Côte d'Azur on a night train. Another route led to Naples, and from there via boat to Alexandria in Egypt. 

Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, destinations included Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, Bolzano, Odessa, Riga, Warsaw, Krakow, Saint Petersburg, and even Simferopol in the Crimea or Novosibirsk in Siberia, some 5,635km away.