Night train linking Amsterdam, Rotterdam & The Hague to Dresden & Prague begins tonight
International overnight rail start-up European Sleeper is launching the extension of its Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin night train service on Monday, which will take passengers to both Dresden and Prague. The company’s first train on the expanded route is set to depart at Brussels Midi/Zuid at 7:22 p.m., and will arrive in Prague 15 hours and 23 minutes later at 10:55 a.m.
Departures from Belgium are planned every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The trains will leave Prague on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 6:04 p.m., arriving at the final stop in the Belgian capital at 9:27 a.m.
European Sleeper enthusiastically announced the plan in 2021 for the following year, but then said they would launch in the spring of 2023. Delays were in part attributed to a lack of suitable rail stock. The company instead slimmed down the journey to make Berlin the final stop last May while completing preparations to include Prague.
The company’s focus on overnight service means it needs access to a variety of compartment layouts in its cars, as it offers couchette rooms for up to four or six people, and sleeper compartments with beds for three people. The latter includes a private seating area and sink.
The delay also meant a price increase of nearly 29 percent on its cheapest seats. Pricing now starts at 89 euros for a seat in a shared six-person couchette compartment, instead of 69 euros.
Booking the entire space as a private room for six cost 99 euros per person, while booking all four seats in the smaller couchette compartment started at 139 euros per person. The sleeper beds were priced at 169 euros per person, including breakfast.
When starting in Brussels, the train will connect in Antwerp 39 minutes later on its way to a first Dutch stop at Roosendaal at 8:44 p.m. The train will make its way north through the Randstad with stops at Rotterdam Centraal, Den Haag HS, Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Centraal before turning east towards Amersfoort and Deventer.
Passengers will roll into the first station in Berlin at 6:18 a.m., hitting Dresden just before 8:30 a.m. The journey will end more than two hours later in Prague.
The rail operator is also promoting the overnight train as an option for football fans excited for the Euro 2024 tournament. The Dutch men’s national team will play France in Leipzig on June 21, and will battle Austria in Berlin four days later.
