Vienna leads EU capitals for night-train connections

Vienna has the most practical night-train connections among EU capitals, according to an analysis by Austrian transport club VCÖ published by ORF. Fifteen destinations can be reached from the Austrian capital via overnight services.

Bucharest and Budapest rank second, with 12 destinations each. At the other end of the scale, 10 EU capitals have no connection to the night-train network.

Thirteen of the 15 destinations served from Vienna have daily connections, VCÖ expert Michael Schwendinger said. They include Amsterdam, Berlin, Bucharest, Hamburg, Warsaw and Zurich. Rome can also be reached daily until August 20. Because of construction work, the service will then resume on September 20; in the meantime, the night train will terminate in Bologna.

Paris and Prague follow Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest, with 10 overnight trains each. Overall, only 17 EU capitals can be visited by night train, according to the VCÖ analysis.

Schwendinger said the European Union had failed in recent decades to promote international rail connections and that substantial progress was still needed. Demand for rail travel in Austria is at a record level: Statistics Austria data cited by the VCÖ show that 4.11 million holiday trips were made by train last year.