The annual Night Trains Working Group meeting was held in Clervaux, Luxembourg, on 6 and 7 June, hosted by CFL. This was the first year that this meeting was held in conjunction with the NRT (Non-Integrated Reservation Tickets) group annual meeting, given that the Night Trains Working Group is a subgroup of the NRT, and the chairwoman of this group decided to join all meetings to make the attendance easier for participants of both working groups.

Mr Roland Schmidt (DB) chaired the meeting, and representatives from ZSSK, CD, NMBS/SNCB, CFL and OBB were present. Luis Casado represented UIC.

Several topics were discussed during the meeting, such as the possible changes in Leaflet 106 (in those aspects regarding Night Trains). There was also a report about migration in Europe and how it has affected night train traffic. Participants also talked about the acceptance of e-tickets for night trains and the practical problems this situation may create – further discussions will take place within the UIC Technical Groups to find a solution to this problem. Finally, the subject of the validity of NRT tickets on night trains for using deluxe compartments was also addressed.

There will be a significant change in the Night Trains market: Mr Schmidt explained that DB is withdrawing from this business from December, but it was also explained that OBB will take over most of the offer that was provided before by DB.

Finally, and in order to deal with this whole new situation, Zsuzsanna Selmeczi, from MAV START was elected as new chairwoman of this working group, given that Roland Schmidt had previously announced his intention of not continuing his chairmanship due to that situation.