Ever wanted to visit the Czech Republic but have been put off by the lack of direct options? Well, European Sleeper hopes to have an answer to this by next spring.
The train company hopes to have an overnight train up and running for passengers as soon as possible, reports Treinreiziger.nl.
From €70-90 for a one-way ticket, the 12-hour overnight journey seems well worth it. Take a week off work, and set foot into the captivating capital! 😍
Original start date: April 2022
Initiator Chris Engelsman told Treinreisiger.nl back in 2021 that they had hoped to get the train ready for use by April 2022. But, this initial schedule was delayed, and now the train faces a start time of Spring 2023.
The main problems seem to be due to a lack of carriages. With such a huge demand, the train must have enough carriages to carry all the passengers. Previously, carriages were obtained from Russia, but the war in Ukraine has made this an impossibility.
The European Sleeper is trying to find ways to solve this problem, and is currently looking into the option of converting current carriages to make them suitable for the overnight journey. 😴
Track works between Berlin and Prague
Another issue standing in the way of the launch of the new train line is the fact that there will be track maintenance on the line between Berlin and Prague.
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This means that there will be some time next year when there will only be one track available for travel. A solution to this could be to reroute trains through Berlin or Dresden, but this depends on whether doing that is profitable or not.
Overnight train to France also in the works
European Sleeper also wants to run an overnight train to the South of France — or even Barcelona!
However, the main issue with organising an overnight train to the South of France is that passenger trains with locomotives cannot pass the border between Belgium and France.
To tackle that problem and get to the south of the country, a total of three locomotives would be needed to travel between Belgium and the south.
Will you be boarding the overnight train to Prague? Or, do you have other plans? 😎 Tell us in the comments below!