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The Austrian Federal Railways want to massively expand the network with a new night train. SBBs are there, despite taking losses.
Night blue with red stripe: this is how the exterior of the new night trains presented by ÖBB and Siemens on Tuesday looks. The Austrian railway operator has ordered 33 sets of trains from Siemens. The trains, consisting of two sleeper cars, three sleeper cars and two seat cars, will be in operation in 2024 and will carry 250 passengers per train. The sleeping car offers the most comfort in the ÖBB Nightjet. And so it seems on the new trains. However, there is only room for 24 people in the sleeping car.
Bicycles can be transported on the new trains and boarding is barrier-free. In sleeper cars, sleeping pods based on the Japanese model offer more privacy. Cars are equipped with free WiFi. A special window covering is designed to prevent cell phone users from losing their network. The maximum speed allowed is 130 km / h.
ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä is a big fan of metropolis to metropolis night train travel. It is expanding its railway company to become the leader in the European night train market. The investment volume of the new fleet is around 500 million euros. There are currently 19 lines in Western and Central Europe. By 2024 there should be 26.
Matthä receives the unreserved support of Austria’s Minister for the Environment and Transport, Leonore Gewessler. The green politician is convinced that night trains are the future of climate-friendly mobility within Europe. “Night trains are the alternative to short-haul flights,” he emphasized in the presentation.
It is no wonder that Vienna has become the most important center. Zurich follows in second place. In this country too, pressure has increased to expand night train connections for climate protection reasons. SBB and ÖBB want to increase Zurich’s existing offer from six to ten lines. New night connections are planned to Amsterdam, Rome and Barcelona. “Zurich as a hub for night trains should be strengthened,” emphasizes Matthä. Deutsche Bahn and the French SNCF are also involved in the cooperation.
Tough fight against low-cost airlines
Can the business be profitable? ÖBB boss Matthä said diplomatically on Tuesday: “You won’t get rich from that.” The problem: the railroads cannot compete with the low-cost airlines. Night trains are expensive to purchase, forcing rail operators to make large amortizations. Sleeper and sleeper car capacities can only be sold once every 24 hours. During the day, the trains are not used in the sidings after cleaning. Short-haul planes, on the other hand, are en route several times a day. Due to this and due to the limited number of beds and sofas, the night train remains a niche product. To attract customers from the plane to the train, rail operators have to adjust their ticket prices to those of the airline competition. According to ÖBB boss Matthä, the sleeper ticket should be slightly cheaper than the plane ticket plus one night’s stay in a hotel. (Read Switzerland’s request for help in the Corona crisis.)
This calculation is likely to come under enormous pressure if the pandemic is one day so well controlled that travel becomes the norm again. Experts estimate that airlines will engage in a tough price war to recharge their planes.
SBB expects operating costs to be deficient
There are no illusions at SBB. When expansion plans were announced in fall 2020, SBB was candid about “high and deficit operating costs”. Expansion can only “be ensured with financial support from the Swiss Climate Fund.” Whether this will be the case will be determined after the elections for the COtwo– Show the law this summer.
Night train to Hamburg-Altona from Zurich HB in 2019.
Photo: Reto Oeschger
The ÖBB is more confident. Matthä believes that the investments will pay off. However, the load on night trains during the year should be 50 to 60 percent. Before the pandemic, 1.4 million passengers traveled on the night train. After the pandemic, there should be twice as much. The Austrian government promises to reduce the prices of train tracks and the prices of traction current will also be reduced.
“Lowering the price of the railroad would be too small an incentive and has therefore been rejected.”
The demand for a reduction in railroad prices for night hours in Europe is an old demand that has arisen over and over again in Switzerland. Now she is off the table. Upon request, the Federal Office of Transport announces: “The central element in promoting night train services and international passenger transport is the COtwo– Legal support from the KIimafonds. Lowering the price of the train route would be too small an incentive and has therefore been rejected.
Basel to Rügen by night train
In the wake of the large state railways, some private night trains are also offered. One of them is Cologne businessman Niko Maedge, who operates night trains and car trains under the label Train4you. In Germany, your business is known by the term “Urlaubs-Express”. Maedge now wants to win customers in Switzerland as well, as it recently announced. For this summer, a continuous night connection from Basel to the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea is planned.
