European Sleeper launches Brussels to Milano overnight train with Arenaways’ support

EUROPE: European Sleeper has launched a further international night train service between Milano and Brussels in cooperation with Arenaways. The first departure from Porta Garibaldi left Milano on September 9, with the service running three times weekly in both directions. 

The night train connects Brussels to Milano via Aachen and Köln in Germany, and in Switzerland the trains stop at Aarau, Bellinzona and Lugano, as well as in Como in Italy. From the December timetable change, the night train will also serve Antwerpen, Breda and Eindhoven at the Benelux end of the route.

The service marks European Sleeper’s return to the Italian market on the back of a seasonal night train that it ran from Brussels and Köln to Innsbruck and Venezia in February and March 2025.

‘Believe in cooperation’

Italian private operator Arenaways, owned by Renfe, provides traction in Italy using an Alstom Traxx E483 locomotive in Arenaways livery. Dutch company Train Charter Services manages operations on the rest of the route.

In a social media statement, Arenaways General Manager Matteo Arena welcomed the new international connection. ‘We are very happy to offer our expertise and our material for the entry into Italy of a new international connection, even more so on a route of great prestige such as the one between Milano and Brussels.

‘We strongly believe in collaboration between railway companies, and we hope that this will be the first of many trains, because we are working for an increasingly connected Europe in a capillary way, with transport services of increasing innovation and quality.’

AllRail legal officer Guillem Ochoa i Pérez travelled on the inaugural train. ‘Despite all the current market barriers and challenging non-EU regulatory framework, European Sleeper has managed to operate the first regular open access night train service via the Swiss network’, he said. European Sleeper CEO Elmur van Buuren is president of the new entrants’ association.

Next stop: Sweden

European Sleeper is a community-owned Dutch-Belgian railway operator established in 2023. The company already runs three weekly trains on its Brussels – Berlin – Praha and Paris – Berlin routes. It has carried more than 300 000 passengers on more than 980 night train journeys to date, the company says.

From April 2028, in partnership with German operator RDC European Sleeper, it plans to launch an overnight passenger service from Brussels and Amsterdam to København and Malmö.

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