SNCB's 100th Anniversary: Night trains were (and need to be) part of it too!

Exactly one hundred years ago today, the SNCB took over the entire Belgian railway network from the Belgian State. The few private companies that had survived were also destined to disappear by the time of the Second World War at the latest (Malines-Terneuzen, the Compagnie du Nord belge (Rothschild), and the Société de Chimay).

Public service

The railway landscape remained relatively stable until the 1990s and—from an international perspective—was quite similar across most European countries. All infrastructure, as well as the passenger and freight trains operating in Belgium, were implicitly regarded as a public service. The SNCB held—and still holds—a monopoly on public railway services. Consequently, the international trains relevant to us at Back-on-Track Belgium were also part of this system.

A Milan–Brussels train constituted a public service between the Luxembourg border and Brussels, and passengers could use it for domestic journeys. This was even possible using, for example, a discounted Go-Pass or a home-to-work season ticket. There were exceptions, however, such as charter trains or those requiring a supplement, like TEE trains. Yet, most international trains were also used by domestic passengers. The current Brussels–Rotterdam Eurocity remains a train of this type.

In the past one simple ticket

To take a night train, an ordinary ticket—purchasable at practically any ticket counter—sufficed. If the traveler remained within Belgium, the total ticket price went to the SNCB. If the journey crossed multiple countries, the ticket price was split among the various operators in proportion to the distance traveled. It was as simple as that. If a couchette or a bed was desired, a supplement was paid; the SNCB then passed this on to the company operating the sleeping cars—in Belgium, this was the CIWL (Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits), founded 150 years ago. Over the years, the costs associated with sleeping cars steadily rose, eventually leading the SNCB to subsidize the amounts charged for these carriages.

No longer neighbors, but competitors

The turning point occurred between 1991 and 2007. In 2007, the European Parliament passed the Third Railway Package, fully opening up international passenger rail services across the European Union by 2010. This meant that any operator—which by then had to be accounting-separated from infrastructure operations—could run trains anywhere in Europe upon payment of a fee to the infrastructure manager (IM), provided the carriages, locomotives, and trainsets were certified for use there and the operator held a valid safety certificate for that country.

Payment to the IM is made via track access charges. This led to a shift in the relationship between operators: they were no longer merely neighbors but competitors, as Deutsche Bahn could run trains in Belgium and the SNCB in Germany.

Collaboration for profitable trains

In practice, operators often establish partnerships to ensure the profitability of train services; for instance, the Frankfurt–Brussels ICE still operates in Belgium under the SNCB banner. The same applies to TGV services. Thalys and Eurostar represented other forms of cooperation, in which various operators (along with a Canadian bank) held equity stakes in a joint operating company—entities that were private in nature yet largely funded by public money.

Growing mistrust behind the decline

Similar partnerships existed for night trains: Artesia was the result of a collaboration between Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) and France’s SNCF, while Elipsos brought together Spain’s RENFE and SNCF to ensure seamless night and day train connections between their respective countries.

In both cases, mutual mistrust between the operators eventually became too great to justify the meager profits. Artesia suffered from very poor service quality—characterized by frequent delays, mediocre catering, and rolling stock in poor condition.

It sometimes seemed as though SNCF, in particular, was actively undermining Artesia trains to favor its own TGV services, in which FS held no stake. Although Artesia and Elipsos trains were generally long and well-patronized, they apparently failed to convince the operators to continue running them.

No attempt was even made in Belgium

In Belgium, such an approach was never even attempted. Most night trains departing from Belgium also traversed more than two countries, further complicating matters. Due to the introduction of track access charges (implemented in Germany in 2000), night trains suddenly shifted from being profitable to being the biggest loss-makers; following the example set by the Netherlands in 2003, the last night train operating under the SNCB banner was discontinued, as were the last SNCB dining cars—with the exception of those on international daytime services. The last night train operated by the SNCB was discontinued, as were the company's final dining cars on daytime international routes to Basel—such as the "Iris" and "Vauban" EuroCity services bound for Switzerland and Italy.

The Transport Minister at the time, Isabelle Durant—despite being a member of the Green party (Ecolo)—raised no objections. For Karel Vinck, then Director General of the SNCB, the decision was simply the logical conclusion drawn from two facts: the trains were running at a loss and did not constitute a public service, so there was no reason to keep them running.

Policymakers let it happen. One can only speculate as to why Minister Durand—an environmentalist minister—did not intervene: significant investments were required, both in high-speed lines and in the rolling stock for night trains, which was due for replacement. At the time, the night train carriages were between thirty and forty years old. There was—and still is—no adequate practical framework for an international public service.

Subsequently, the SNCB focused exclusively on its mission as a public service provider. It was only with the reorganization of rail links to the Netherlands and the launch of the new slower train to Paris—the "classic" OuiGo—that a cautious shift occurred.

Reluctant to take commercial risks

With the Brussels-Midi– Lelystad Eurocity Direct and the Brussels – Paris "classic" OuiGo, the SNCB took a commercial risk for the first time in a long while—and succeeded. However, regarding night trains, we must currently look to other operators. So far, only European Sleeper has managed to operate a (relatively) regular commercial night train over a period of years. Another option is the NightJet service run by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB); while the SNCB provides staff and certain support services for this, it does not bear any commercial risk.

No framework, no change

At Back-on-Track Belgium, we are convinced that unless the European framework governing international trains changes, the situation regarding night trains will not improve significantly.