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Barcelona–Europe night train remains at a standstill
Not in 2025 or in 2026. The long-awaited night train that was meant to link Barcelona with the heart of Europe will not see the light of day, at least in the short term.
The Austrian operator ÖBB has decided to freeze indefinitely the Nightjet project between Barcelona and Zurich, a connection announced as the city's great rail gateway to the continent while passengers slept.
The route, initially planned for December 2024, has become trapped in a combination of technical and economic problems with a clear epicentre: France. The difficulty of securing stable night-time slots on the French network, subject to frequent closures for works, makes it impossible to plan a reliable international service to Barcelona. This is compounded by the lack of a funding framework to guarantee the route's viability.
The decision leaves the Catalan capital without international overnight trains and, for the moment, excludes it from the revival of night services advancing in other European countries. Indeed, the situation is not exclusive to Spain: ÖBB has also confirmed that at the end of 2025 the night routes between Vienna and Paris and between Berlin and Paris will disappear, following France's withdrawal of support.
Meanwhile, Nightjet is concentrating its efforts on Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands, where it will introduce new, more comfortable trains from 2025. For Barcelona, the alternative once again remains on the distant horizon of the future European high-speed network, planned at the earliest for 2040.