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Aurora (CityNightLine)
Night train service in Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Aurora was the name given to Basel‒Copenhagen night train services operating as part of the CityNightLine network until 2014.[1][2] In 2011[update] Aurora still carried the through sleeping cars bound to and from Moscow.[3][4] In July 2025, the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced a plan to reintroduce the night trains on the route from April 2026.[5]
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CityNightLine
Southbound the Aurora train used to depart Copenhagen at 18:10 in the evening with a locomotive change at Padborg, and then a non-advertised shunting stop at Hannover between 02:13 and 02:51 for coupling and uncoupling the parts of the train connecting to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague.[6] Northbound the Aurora would stop for shunting in Hannover between 02:03 and 02:36, then again for 25 minutes to change locomotives at Padborg, arriving Copenhagen at 10:07 in the morning.[6]
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Reintroduction
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As of March 2025[update], Swiss Federal Railways were planning to restart night train services from Switzerland to Copenhagen and Malmö[7]—within one year.[8][9] The train would start running from spring 2026,[10] after a gap of over 10 years since the CityNightLine route stopped in 2014,[1] and with a distance of 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) become the longest passenger train operating from Switzerland.[11]
The restored night train service from Basel[1] to Copenhagen/Malmö would be operated together with Railroad Development Corporation (RDC)[12]—already operators of the overnight Motorail services between Lörrach and Hamburg.[13] Comfort level would likely be similar to the SJ Euronight Berlin‒Stockholm, operated on a similar basis.[14] RDC would also provide train crew.[15] Inside Germany the service would be routed to run through Baden-Württemberg,[16][17][18] including a stop at Freiburg Hauptbahnhof.[4]
The route would require approval from national authorities in Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as funding commitments.[19] Rolling stock would be transferred from the existing Amsterdam‒Zürich night train route[1][20]—after the introduction of new Austrian Railways (ÖBB) Nightjet 2.0 trains on the Amsterdam‒Zürich route.[21][9] SBB had already been leasing the same night carriages from RDC for the Amsterdam route between December 2021 and December 2024/2025.[22]
Funding
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) will sell train tickets via their App.[13] As of May 2025[update] an application had been made to the Swiss government for Swiss CO2 Act funding to support the service.[11][23]
In July 2025 the Swiss Federal Office of Transport allocated multi-year funding for the Basel‒Copenhagen‒Malmö Euronight route for the period 2025‒2030, up to CHF 47 million. The overnight train would run six nights a week from April 2026: three times per week northbound, and three times per week southbound.[24] The allocated funding was planned to consist of CHF 1.2 million in development funding in 2025, followed by planned Swiss CO2 Act investment of up to CHF 10 million per year until 2030.[24][20][25]
The allocated funding budget is subject to confirmation by the Swiss Federal Government during December 2025.[26][27][28][29]
Timetable
The draft-2026 Swiss railway timetable number 499 for the Basel Connecting Line—published in August 2025[update]—included provisional train paths for a re-introduced night train service running from 1 April 2026-onwards:[4]
- train 472 (northbound), departures would be on Wednesday/Friday/Sunday evenings from Switzerland, leaving Basel SBB railway station at 17:35.[4]
- train 473 (southbound), the train would leave Scandinavia on Thursday/Saturday/Monday evenings—returning back to Switzerland on Friday/Sunday/Tuesday mornings—arriving into Basel SBB at 11:30.[4]
During September 2025, part of the planned route had been briefly visible in the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) journey planner.[30]
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Further reading
- Ribar, Monika [in German]; Ducrot, Vincent; Steigen, Franz (2025-03-06). SBB-Jahresmedienkonferenz: Bilanz 2024 und Blick in die Zukunft [SBB annual press conference: Financial results and future outlook] (in German and French). Swiss Federal Railways. Retrieved 2025-03-25 – via Youtube.
[00:49:00] einige Entwicklungen für nächstes Jahr geplant. Im Bereich des Nachtverkehr, wir werden das neues Rollmaterial der Nightjet der ÖBB werden wir auf die Linien Amsterdam, Hamburg und Wien einsetzen können sukzessiv in Schritten. Und wir haben … ein Zug Kopenhagen/Malmö in die Planung gemacht und wir sind auch hier überzeugt dass ist ein großes Potenzial. [01:12:50] Sagen wir so: Malmö wäre schon nächstes Jahr, es ist jetzt in der Endplanung, es kann sich um plus minus ein paar Monate immer bewegen.
[[00:49:00] Some developments are planned for the next year. Regarding night trains, we will be able to gradually deploy the new ÖBB Nightjet rolling stock on the Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Vienna lines. And we have ... a Copenhagen/Malmö train in the planning stages, and we are convinced that there is great potential here too. [01:12:50] Let's put it this way: Malmö would be next year; it's currently being finalized; it can still change plus/minus a couple of months.]
References
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