Return of the France-Portugal night train: where do things stand?

Written by Sophie Renassia

Published on January 28, 2025

Falling asleep in the French Basque Country, only to wake up the next morning in the heart of the Portuguese capital? Lately, rumors have been circulating that the Hendaye-Lisbon night train will return in 2025, 5 years after it was discontinued. It's an exciting announcement, given that Lisbon, along with Athens, remains one of the few European capitals without an international rail link. But why should we take this announcement with a grain of salt? Is an imminent reopening really possible? We explain!

Hendaye-Lisbon: the “Sud-Express”, a historic line

Operated by Spain's national railway company Renfe, the train - known as “Sud-Express” in France and “Sud-Expresso” in Portugal - is one of Europe's oldest international rail services. Until 2020, it linked Hendaye, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (on the French-Spanish border), to Lisbon. In around 14 hours, the line covered more than 800 km and arrived in the Portuguese capital after serving some twenty towns in Spain (San Sebastian, Burgos, Valladolid, Salamanca...) and Portugal (Guarda, Coimbra, Entroncamento...).

A very practical way to reach Portugal from France, as Hendaye is 2 hours from Pau, 2h30 from Bordeaux, 4h30 from Toulouse and 4h30 from Paris by train.

The history of Sud-Express goes back to 1887. Launched by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL), the line originally linked Paris to Irun (Spain), with connections to the Spanish and Portuguese capitals. The following year, direct carriages to Lisbon were added. The line became the preferred alternative to boat travel to Portugal.

In 1945, after an interruption during the Second World War, the line resumed service. But with competition from aviation, Sud-Express finally stopped running between Paris and Lisbon in 1989, limiting itself to Hendaye-Lisbon. In the 1970s, the line's history was also marked by a major technical innovation: due to the difference in track gauges between France and Spain, sleeper car bogies were changed in Hendaye without passengers having to disembark from the train.

Oriente Lisbon train station

In March 2020, the line was again suspended, this time due to a worldwide pandemic... A suspension that came at a time when the line was running out of steam. With the liberalization of the air transport market and the rise of low-cost airlines, the night train has gradually lost its commercial appeal. As a result, the Covid-19 epidemic convinced operators to suspend the service, after having reduced their offers. Since then, there's been no sign of the line reopening, despite a revival project currently under discussion.

The rebirth of the famous night train?

While the Spanish company has not announced any resumption of traffic, Portugal recently announced its intention to re-launch the legendary Sud-Express (Hendaye-Lisbon night train) and Lusitânia (Madrid-Lisbon night train, also interrupted in 2020) night trains in the first half of 2025.

“The Portuguese government is deepening negotiations with the Spanish government for the reactivation, during the first half of 2025, of the Lusitânia and Sud-Expresso night train services, through the rail companies CP - Comboios de Portugal, E.P.E. and Renfe” - Extract from the Portuguese Livre party's proposal to re-establish international night trains, approved by the Portuguese parliament.

This proposal is in line with the current trend towards the revival of night trains in Europe. Indeed, for some years now, night trains such as ÖBB, European Sleeper and SNCF have been the talk of the town! However, despite this enthusiasm, there's no guarantee that the trains will reopen any time soon...

An uncertain reopening

On paper, the announcement sounds like a dream come true. All the more so when you consider that Lisbon remains one of the few European capitals not to be served by international rail lines! In practice, however, the reality is more complex.

Firstly, as regards the two main parties concerned:

• On the Portuguese side, the Portuguese parliament has voted in favor of a proposal to relaunch these trains. But at this stage, this is only an intention.
• On the Spanish side: a key partner for these routes, Spain unfortunately seems unmotivated by the idea of a reopening... Indeed, Spain's Transport Minister recently stated that the night trains would not return, citing a loss of 40 million euros in 2019 and a lack of equipment.

Secondly, from a technical point of view, rolling stock is also a problem. Trains used before 2020 have been resold or abandoned in depots, and restoring this equipment requires a great deal of time and money.

Finally, governments seem to have other priorities, notably the development of high-speed links on busier routes. According to The Portugal News, Spain and Portugal have announced the construction of a high-speed line between Madrid and Lisbon by 2030.

So far, there's no guarantee that governments will go all the way, and whatever happens, it's bound to take time. For example, it took no less than two and a half years to see the Paris-Berlin high-speed train running, despite a much more obvious political will on the part of all stakeholders. Fortunately, there are alternatives for getting to Lisbon without a plane or a car, including a Hendaye-Lisbon night bus!

And in the meantime, many new lines are (really) coming to Europe. Find out more in this article: “10 new trains that will revolutionize our travels”!