Stockholm to Berlin night trains
SJ EuroNight launched with a fanfare in September 2022 with a night train running nightly between Stockholm and Hamburg, extending the service to Berlin on April 1st 2023.
The state-owned rail company's agreement with the Swedish Transport Administration to run the trains expires in July 2026. SJ previously announced that it would end the Stockholm-Berlin night route the following month, on August 31st 2026, as a result of the decision in Sweden's 2026 budget not to continue the four-year subsidy that was initially given to operate the route.
Almost as soon as SJ announced its plans to withdraw the EuroNight service, others, including RDC Deutschland Group, which currently operates the EuroNight for the German portion of the route, came forward with plans to replace the service.
Now RDC Deutschland has confirmed to The Local that the route both ways from Stockholm to Berlin will continue to operate from September 2026 onwards.
"We are pleased to confirm that the SJ EuroNight train will continue to operate from August 2026," said Nicole Pizzuti, Head of Corporate Communications with RDC Deutschland, in an e-mailed statement to The Local on December 22nd, 2025.
"The timetable and ticket sales for the period from September 2026 will be announced at the beginning of next year. The current journey times will remain unchanged," Pizzuti added.
"If it takes too long to decide, the locomotives and coaches will be gone because there is a demand in different parts of Europe to run night trains, and then we won't have the possibility to rent the trains that we are renting now," he said.
"If a decision is taken during 2026 we could start immediately, but because we have staff educated, we have workshops, we have contracts with sub deliverers, we have contracts with our partner in Germany, and so on. If it takes a year or two years, then it will take much longer, and we cannot guarantee that it's possible, because there is a lack of sleeper cars in Europe."
Olofsson said that he expected RDC to reduce the service to three days a week and said SJ was willing to support it in every way it can on the Swedish side to keep the service running.
Snälltåget, owned by the French transport giant Transdev, announced in November that it planned to increase the frequency of its Stockholm to Berlin night train in the autumn and winter of 2026-2027 to take advantage of SJ's decision to discontinue EuroNight.
The company will give detailed information on its new timetable in spring 2026.
READ ALSO: Planned night service between Basel and Malmö scrapped
Stockholm to Berlin day train
At the same time as it announced additional night trains on the Stockholm-Berlin route, Snälltåget announced that it will launch a new day train. The service between Hamburg, Copenhagen, Malmö and Stockholm will launch from May 2026.
"We are seeing considerably increasing interest in travelling by train between Germany, Denmark and Sweden, and we have therefore decided to introduce day train services that run directly all the way from Hamburg to Stockholm, and vice versa," the company's commercial manager, Marco Andersson, said in the press release.
"The new connection complements Snälltåget's existing night train Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen – Stockholm and is also an alternative for passengers who prefer to travel during the day. Not having to change trains in Copenhagen or Malmö also makes international train travel more attractive."
The new direct train will take 11 hours to complete the journey, leaving Stockholm at 10.43am and arriving in Hamburg at 9.57pm.
It will stop along the way in Södertälje, Norrköping, Linköping, Nässjö, Alvesta Hässleholm, Eslöv, Lund, Malmö, Copenhagen, Odense, Kolding, Padborg and Neumünster.
On the return route, it will leave Hamburg at 9.51am and arrive in Stockholm at 9.17pm.
Malmö to Basel via Hamburg
In October, Swiss national railways (SBB) over the summer announced the launch, from April 2026, of a new night train connecting Basel with the Swedish city of Malmö. This project, however, fell apart almost as soon as it had been announced when the Swiss federal government's plan to provide 47 million francs (50 million Euros) in subsidies was voted down in the National Council.
SBB then cancelled its plans, offering to refund those who had already bought tickets.
SJ said that it would be interested in reviving plans for a night train from Malmö to Cologne or Brussels, but said the idea had floundered on Germany's refusal to allow subsidised long distance services on its network.
The Stockholm-Berlin route, he explained, has only a short portion in Germany and a long stretch in Sweden, making it viable. A Malmö-Brussels route would be mostly in Germany.
Oslo-Copenhagen via Gothenburg and Malmö
Norway's state-owned transport company VY this summer ran a so-called "summer train" from Oslo to Malmö via Gothenburg between July 14th and August 14th, promising to repeat the temporary route in future summers if it was a success.
"We look forward to continuing our investment in international traffic. If there is interest and the summer train in 2025 is a success, we hope that this will become a regular feature every summer in the future. And this is just the beginning," Erik Røhne, the head of Vy's passenger train division, said.
The Local has contacted Vy to ask about its 2026 plans.
SJ also announced In mid-2025 interest running a night train between Oslo and Copenhagen or between Oslo and Berlin, via Copenhagen and Hamburg, although this would be dependent on securing subsidies from the Norwegian government.
"We have presented that as a suggestion and that is waiting for a political decision in Norway to see if it is going to happen," Olofsson said.
He said SJ is open to running the service jointly with Vy, which has preferential rights to track access in Norway.
SJ's 'Scandinavian expansion'
SJ is planning to launch a Scandinavian high-speed rail service by 2028, connecting Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm, and also potentially reaching up to Trondheim.
"We have already bought the trains for it, so it will happen," Olofsson said. "The only the only question mark is that the lines are pretty full, specifically in within Norway, so we need to get track access."
The trains will be tested in 2026, run on the Swedish network in 2027, with the Oslo-Copenhagen service launched in 2028, he said.
Comments