In ten days’ time from now, on June 27th 2021, a new night train service of the long distance operator Snälltåget1 will depart from Stockholm to Berlin. It will be the first night train that runs in regular traffic between Sweden, Denmark and Germany since the 1990s. Yesterday, the start-up Midnight Trains announced plans to offer night trains between France & other countries. Clearly, private investors believe in night trains – and this will lead to modal shift. But more night time routes could be commercially viable – if only the high barriers to entry were removed.

The Polish government’s new draft recovery plan foresees the purchase of significant amount of new long distance rail rolling stock: 38 Push-Pull train sets and 45 locomotives with subsidy of €482.5 million. But with a big catch: the state-owned long distance rail operator “PKP Intercity” is the only beneficiary.

Nowy polski rządowy projekt planu odbudowy przewiduje zakup dużej ilości taboru kolejowego dla połączeń dalekobieżnych za znaczące środki pienieżne: 38 zestawów kolejowych typu Push-Pull oraz 45 lokomotyw z dotacją 482,5 miliona euro. W pozornie dobrej informacji, jest ale jeden haczyk: jedynym beneficjentem jest państwowy operator kolejowy PKP Intercity.

This week, a cross-border cartel between the state rail incumbents ÖBB, DB & SNCB was exposed. According to the EU Commission, they colluded to protect their business, harming sustainable transport. This example demonstrates the great deal of harm that incumbent cross-border collaborations can do to long distance passenger rail as well. Rather than being exempt from competition law, such cartels must be strictly prevented.

Yesterday it was announced that there will be two more new EU cross-border Open Access night trains 1. One of them will even link four capital cities during the same night: Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin & Prague. They will both provide night train services that do not yet exist.

YouTube Video: EU Year of Rail 2021 - The Future of Passenger Rail