European Sleeper launches new night train from Brussels to Milan from June next year

Night train operator European Sleeper is launching an Amsterdam and Brussels service to Milan from next June.

The Dutch-Belgian rail company announced the new north-south connection in a press statement.

It said the sleeper train’s first departure from Brussels and Amsterdam was scheduled for 18 June. Running three times a week, the service will make intermediate stops in Cologne, Bern, Brig and Stresa, on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

The new route represents an expansion of the operator’s current night-train service. It is aimed at both leisure and business passengers travelling to the Swiss Alps and Italy’s fashion capital. The service offers rail connections to other major European cities in Brussels, Cologne, Bern and Milan.

In Switzerland, the train will travel along the historic Simplon line via Bern, Brig and Domodossola to Italy, with a stop in Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore before arriving in Milan.

European Sleeper currently connects Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden and Prague three times a week. A second night service is due to launch at the end of March next year on the Paris-Berlin line, taking over the service that ÖBB and SNCF discontinues on 15 December.

To offer convenient departure and arrival times from Amsterdam, Brussels and Cologne, European Sleeper said it will run two separate train sections, which will be joined in western Germany.

Departures from Amsterdam and Brussels are scheduled for Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, arriving in Switzerland and Milan the following morning. The return service from Milan will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings.

Sales for the Amsterdam/Brussels–Milan route are expected to open in January or February 2026. The train will offer the usual travel classes for night trains, with a fare structure similar to that of its current services.

Photos: ©European Sleeper