Starting on June 18th, a Dutch-Belgian operator, European Sleeper, plans to offer three weekly services in each direction between Switzerland’s capital city, Bern, and Brussels, Amsterdam, and Milan.
Departures from Amsterdam or Brussels, via Cologne in Germany, are scheduled for Monday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, arriving in Switzerland the following morning, before proceeding to Milan, the company announced.
Return journeys are scheduled for Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights.
Ticket sales are expected to begin in January or February.
According to the operator, “the new route from Amsterdam and Brussels to Switzerland creates an important north–south connection at the European level.”
It added that “in Switzerland, the train will follow the historic Simplon route via Bern, Brig , and Domodossola, into Italy.”
The new train will join other international connections between Switzerland and European destinations in 2026.
But unlike the European Sleeper, which is a private company, they will be operated by Swiss national railways, SBB.
A number of new routes
In 2026, two additional trains will run in each direction between Zurich and Milan.
The direct connection to Bologna will be extended to Florence, and the summer train to Genoa will now run to La Spezia.
Between Switzerland and France, a direct train from Lausanne (via Geneva) will run to Marseille seasonally, from April to October, between Thursdays and Mondays.
The new timetable also offers more comfort for night train passengers: modern Nightjet trains with mini cabins and private toilets and showers will be used to connect Zurich and Basel with Hamburg, Amsterdam and Vienna.
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But not all originally planned trains will be running in 2026
The SBB’s ambitious plan for the 1,400-km-long route, which would begin in Basel and would stop at five German and five Danish cities before arriving in Malmö, Sweden, is now scuppered.
From the beginning, the project has depended on the financial support from the federal government, which planned to contribute approximately 47 million francs by 2030 toward the train – subject to the parliamentary approval.
On December 9th, however, MPs from the National Council have – following a similar move by the Council of States – voted to withdraw 10 million francs from the federal budget earmarked for this purpose.
Without this money, operating the train on this line would not be economically viable for the SBB, prompting the company to cancel the plan.
READ ALSO: Planned night train service between Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden scrapped
