Le train de nuit Paris-Berlin fait son retour

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Tombés en désuétude durant la décennie 2010, les trains de nuit font peu à peu leur retour sur le continent européen, à l'image de la réouverture de l'emblématique Paris-Berlin lundi, qui doit marquer une nouvelle étape dans cette renaissance.  Ministres français et allemand, dirigeants de la Deutsche Bahn, de la SNCF ou encore de la compagnie autrichienne ÖBB... - L'info en continu  https://buzzplus.fr/ Infos, news & actualités - L'information internationale en direct.

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00:00 Falling into disrepair during the 2010 decade, night trains are gradually returning to the

00:04 European continent, in the image of the reopening of the emblematic Paris-Berlin on Monday, which

00:09 must mark a new stage in this renaissance.

00:11 French and German ministers, leaders of the Deutsche Bahn, the SNCF or the Austrian company

00:17 OBB, the list of accredited officials to attend the departure of the first night train from

00:22 the Berlin station to the French capital attests the importance of the event, nine years after

00:26 the interruption of this line.

00:28 For the moment, three links per week are planned with departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and

00:33 Saturdays from Paris and Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Berlin.

00:36 The service must become daily from October 2024.

00:41 The line is operated by the Deutsche Bahn, the SNCF but also the Austrian company OBB

00:46 which supplies the rolling material, the famous "night jets", old trains bought from the

00:50 Deutsche Bahn and renovated by its care.

00:52 They offer several options, from the bed in the seat of the car passing through the

00:56 car bed with private rooms for one, two or three people.

01:00 Less polluting.

01:01 For a few years and facing a craze for modes of transport with less CO2 emitters than

01:06 the plane or car, several European countries, starting with France, have made the choice

01:11 to restart night trains.

01:12 In 2016, there were only two lines of this kind in France, one going from Paris to the

01:18 Pyrenees, the Tower of Carol or Portebou in passing through Toulouse and Albi and the other

01:22 from Paris to Brienzon, in the Alps.

01:25 The competition for low-cost flights and high-speed trains had even been the reason for all

01:29 international links between the French capital and its neighboring countries.

01:32 In Western Europe, with the exception of Austria, whose national company has continued to invest

01:38 in this sector due to its strategic geographical position on the continent, night trains

01:42 have gradually disappeared.

01:43 But in 2020, Emmanuel Macron announced his desire to open a dozen new lines by

01:49 2030, a goal confirmed again recently by the Ministry of Transport.

01:53 In 2021, the Paris-Nice, the Paris-Tarbes-Lourdes and especially the Paris-Vienne are put back

01:59 on the rails.

02:00 And since Sunday, the Paris-Auriac is rolling again, before the relaunch of the Paris-Berlin-Monday.

02:05 Subvention.

02:06 Adepts of slow travel, eco-travellers concerned with the carbon impact of their travels,

02:13 the clientele is not lacking and continues to grow for a mode of transport without

02:16 lack of charm.

02:17 In France last summer, 215,000 travellers slept on the rails, or 15% more compared to

02:24 the summer of 2022.

02:25 The government has invested €100 million for the relaunch of the night train, €76 million

02:30 for the renovation of 93 old coral cars put back to the taste of the day and €24 million

02:34 for the necessary station facilities.

02:36 It even plans to buy new equipment for national lines from 2025, as

02:42 the Minister for Transport, Clément Bohn, reminded on Sunday evening from the Austerlitz station

02:46 where he attended the departure of the first night train to Auriac, 20 years after his

02:49 last trip.

02:50 But if the night train benefits from a certain enthusiasm, it remains a low-profit product

02:56 for companies.

02:57 The French state largely subventions the relaunched lines, around €10 million a year for the

03:02 link to Berlin and between €3 and €4 million for that to Auriac, according to the Ministry

03:06 of Transport.

03:07 It is the only way for companies to offer affordable rates ranging from €29.90 per

03:13 seat to €92.90 for a car seat between Paris and Berlin, provided that it reserves

03:19 its seat in advance.

03:20 This would not do certain private players like the French company Moon Night Train

03:25 which intends to relaunch the Paris-Milan-Venice line, formerly popular.

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