Aurélien Fleurot 11:46 a.m., December 14, 2021

Launched on the rails during the night of Monday to Tuesday, the train going from Vienna to Paris crosses Germany to connect the two capitals.

Our journalist Aurélien Fleurot embarked on a fourteen hour trip in his private cabin with a comfortable bed.

He recounts his long journey.

The trip went well. I am lucky to be in a private cabin. Imagine 5m2 or 6m2, a comfortable bed, a sink and, like in hotels, a card to close the access to the room. If I want to go out, especially to take a shower, it's like the toilet, I go to the platform.

My sleep was punctuated by the noise of the running train, but also by regular, somewhat abrupt braking, especially around 3.30am last night, near Karlsruhe, in Germany, when the train changed locomotive to switch from a team Austrian to an SNCF team.

There is therefore a small hotel room side, meal served at your place, socket to plug in your phone.

Prices start at 90 euros for these improved sleeper cabins, but drop to 29 euros for a more classic compartment with six seats. 

An expansion underway across Europe 

The economic model is far from being as lucrative as the TGV between Paris and Lyon.

But according to the SNCF, the relaunch of Paris-Nice worked.

The company speaks of very good sales, especially for Christmas, but without specifying any figures, except for the age of the passengers.

A third is under 25 years old.

They favor a cheaper and more ecological means of transport.

>> READ ALSO - Night trains, Ouigo ... For Djebbari, "the future of SNCF is low prices"

And this is what Austria had observed at the forefront of the night train offer in 2016, just before the health crisis, the company's night jets at the ÖBB were no longer very far from financial equilibrium. .

Moreover, development will continue in Europe with the Paris-Berlin, scheduled for the end of 2023.