Proposal of the new railway night connection between Prague and Croatian Adriatic Coasts

Long-distance travel within the European Union primarily depends on air transport, which poses significant environmental challenges and hampers the EU’s decarbonisation goals. Night trains offer a sustainable alternative. This paper proposes planning a new international night train route connecting Prague to the Croatian coastal cities of Split and Rijeka. The study evaluates potential routes based on train access charges (TAC), infrastructure usage, and key transit stations. A comparison of TAC and access conditions across the European rail network will determine the most efficient route for this new service. Also, we have proposed the train composition they use regarding the technical specification of the railway network. Overall, our proposal for night trains can contribute to the sustainability and feasibility of long-distance rail travel in Europe.