Midnight Trains ends dream of starting European rail services

Start-up European rail operator Midnight Trains has abandoned plans to launch night services from Paris to destinations around Europe after failing to secure enough funding.

Midnight Trains, which was set up in 2020, had hoped to operate luxury night services from the French capital to other European cities with its first route planned to be Paris-Milan-Venice starting in 2024.

The company had dubbed its concept as a “hotel on wheels” with private bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms, as well as an onboard bar and restaurant.

But co-founder Adrien Aumont has announced the demise of the Midnight Trains project due to a lack of funding from investors.

“It is with great sadness that we must announce the death of a dream,” said Aumont in a blog.

“For four years, we’ve put all our energy into reinventing the night train to make it a mode of transport that’s in tune with our times, able to compete with medium-haul aviation and offer a desirable alternative to all those who wish to continue travelling, without trashing the planet.”

Midnight Trains had planned to operate to cities within 800 and 1,500 kilometres of Paris, with hopes of serving destinations such as Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin and Copenhagen. It was also one of 10 cross-border pilot rail projects being supported by the European Commission.

Aumont said that financial investors in Europe “aren’t in line with a project like Midnight”, which had made it impossible to raise enough money to continue with the business.

He added that moves to open up the European rail network had not been designed to help new entrants to the sector and instead favoured existing state-owned train operators.

“The channels are open, but in reality, the rail market has mainly opened up to itself,” said Aumont. “This market was organised by the public authorities for their own historical operators, not to really create new players.

“Each European country can see its neighbours land on its territory and vice versa. These operators have the goods (rolling stock) and the means (financing and public guarantee bodies) to deploy.”

Aumont said that he hoped the European Commission, EU member states and organising authorities could “build a railway capable of welcoming new innovative companies” in the coming years.

“We hope that this dynamic will allow investment funds to take an interest in rail, so that other entrepreneurs can succeed in creating new uses and improving the train travel experience,” he added.