SJ will resume night trains from Stockholm to Germany on 13 December, even though the state support that previously underpinned the route has ended. The decision responds to continuing demand for international rail travel, but it is not a restoration of the former service at its previous scale.
Dagens Nyheter reports that the new arrangement will have three departures a week from Stockholm. Until 18 January, SJ plans two weekly return journeys to Berlin. After that, two weekly departures will run to Hamburg and one will continue to Berlin. SJ says passengers from Gothenburg and Sweden’s west coast will be able to join the night train in Lund.
The central change is the operating model. SJ had said last autumn that its EuroNight trains to Berlin via Copenhagen would end on 1 September after state funding ceased. It is now marketing journeys through a new agreement with Germany’s RDC, which will provide the locomotives and carriages. SJ says longer train formations, fewer weekly services and one locomotive for the full route improve the economics.
That makes the restart more than a symbolic reversal. SJ is testing whether a leaner, coordinated service can sustain an international night-train connection after the subsidy ended. But the company’s own qualification matters: SJ says a more extensive offer still requires different economic conditions.
For passengers, the announcement restores a night-train option, though with limited frequency and a changing destination pattern after January. Competition will remain. Snälltåget is selling seats to Germany until 7 January and told DN that its Berlin night service will then take a seasonal break before a planned return after Easter.
SJ’s decision therefore suggests that demand can support a smaller commercial model. It does not mean that the previous state-backed service has been rebuilt.
Sources
- Dagens Nyheter · Source date: 2026-11-12
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-12