Nox: German Startup Takes On Nightjet With 65-Euro Night Trains

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Austria’s state railway ÖBB is getting competition on the Hamburg–Munich route from a start-up with hotel ambitions. Berlin-based Nox Mobility has just unveiled its first finished rail car at the InnoTrans rail fair in Berlin and opened ticket sales at the same time. Starting in late March 2027, Nox will run three times a week in each direction between Hamburg and Munich, with one-way tickets from 65 euros.

Board at Night, Be at the Office by Morning

The train stops in Bremen and Augsburg, at each city’s main station. The timetable is clearly built around business travelers:

• Hamburg to Munich: departs 9:22 p.m., Bremen 10:30 p.m., Augsburg 7:35 a.m., arrives in Munich 8:14 a.m.
• Munich to Hamburg: departs 9:20 p.m., Augsburg 9:51 p.m., Bremen 7:20 a.m., arrives in Hamburg 8:27 a.m.

According to Berliner Zeitung, southbound trains run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, northbound trains on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Nox is deliberately prioritizing reliability over speed: the timetable includes a two-hour buffer, and the train averages around 70 kilometers per hour. That is meant to keep it on time despite construction across Germany’s rail network. Tickets are sold through Nox’s website.

Suites Instead of Six-Berth Compartments

The centerpiece is the “Nox Suite,” a private space for each passenger with a large seat, a table for working and eating, room for big luggage and power outlets within reach. In lounge position, the seat offers two meters of space to stretch out along the window. On board, Nox promises boutique-hotel design and service.

“Taking a night train in Europe still means sharing a cabin with four strangers and hoping the ride will be somewhat bearable,” said co-founder Thibault Constant. A night on a Nox train should combine what would otherwise take three bookings: the trip, the overnight stay and the morning at the destination. “The train is the heart of it, but only the beginning.” Through its own booking platform, Nox plans to eventually offer showers, coworking spaces and hotel rooms at the destination.

Fully private compartments won’t be available at launch, though. Nox is showing its enclosed “Nox Rooms” for one or two people at InnoTrans only as a preview, and they are set to join the fleet in 2029. When it raised its funding round in the spring, Nox had still been advertising private cabins from 79 euros.

Taking Aim at One of Germany’s Busiest Flight Routes

The choice of the first route is no accident. Hamburg–Munich is one of Germany’s most-flown domestic routes, with more than 1.2 million air passengers traveling between the two cities in 2024, according to Nox. With Bremen and Augsburg, the train also serves two cities that have so far been underserved by long-distance rail and air travel.

Nox argues the trip pays off twice for business travelers. It points to the 2026 business travel analysis by the German Business Travel Association (VDR), which found that rail is now well ahead of air for domestic trips, because of cost, carbon footprint and time that can be used for work. Most of the 116.1 million business trips taken in Germany in 2025 lasted one to three days, according to the analysis. Anyone who boards in the evening and arrives in the city center the next morning skips the airport transfer, the security line and a hotel night.

The project also has political support. “Anyone who wants to advance the mobility transition has to create attractive alternatives to flying, especially on longer routes,” said Anjes Tjarks, Hamburg’s senator for transport. He said the new connection strengthens rail travel in Germany and Hamburg as a mobility hub.

From Pre-Seed to Rail Car in Five Months

Nox Mobility was founded in 2025 by Thibault Constant, founder of Simply-Railway and known as a “trainfluencer,” former FlixTrain project manager Janek Smalla and mobility entrepreneur and investor Artur Hasselbach. In the spring, the start-up raised 2 million euros in pre-seed funding, led by IBB Ventures, the venture capital arm of Investitionsbank Berlin. Italian investor Tommaso Lucca and HomeToGo co-founder and CEO Patrick Andrae are also on board.

Five months after the funding round, the first finished rail car is on display at the fair, and it is scheduled to start running in six months. According to Nox, launching new connections in the traditional rail industry usually takes more than five years. “A new travel category is emerging here, alongside flying and hotels,” said Roman Pimonov, senior investment manager at IBB Ventures. The ambitions are big: Nox aims to build a network of 100 European cities by 2035.

The Competition Is Already Running

It won’t be easy for the start-up. ÖBB’s Nightjet already runs the same route, with seats, couchettes and sleeper cars as well as its new Mini Cabins. According to Deutsche Bahn, tickets start at 34.90 euros, though that is for a seat. Nox is betting instead on more privacy, room to work and a hotel feel that comes at a price.

Other operators are also trying to ride the night train comeback. Dutch-Belgian European Sleeper, for example, connects Brussels and Amsterdam with Berlin and Prague. For Nox, the key questions are whether travelers will actually pay more for comfort, and whether the start-up can keep its punctuality promise on Germany’s overloaded rail network.