Back-on-Track
Back-on-Track.eu European network to promote cross-border night trains

Target Network opens in

22 September 2026, 10:00 CEST — live from InnoTrans, Berlin

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Come back on 22 September — no sign-up needed to look around.

On 22 September, the first day of InnoTrans, Back-on-Track will launch the public beta of its Night Train Target Network Tool. The tool is free and open source. Anyone can use it to draw night train routes on a real map of the European rail network. The tool then shows right away what each route would cost and how much CO2 it would save. The best designs will feed into a study for a European night train network in 2032. The study will be presented to the European Commission (DG MOVE) and to national transport authorities.

Berlin to Oslo: pick the stops, evaluate, read the numbers.
The landing page: suggest a route, or browse what others have drawn.
The landing page: suggest a route, or browse what others have drawn.
Sketch a route on the real rail map — here Paris to Vienna, stop by stop.
Sketch a route on the real rail map — here Paris to Vienna, stop by stop.
Evaluate: the tool builds the timetable and runs the numbers.
Evaluate: the tool builds the timetable and runs the numbers.
Done in seconds: the CO₂ saved per year, and the choice to keep the proposal or carry on as a guest.
Done in seconds: the CO₂ saved per year, and the choice to keep the proposal or carry on as a guest.
The proposal: a timetable for every stop, route statistics, both directions.
The proposal: a timetable for every stop, route statistics, both directions.
Scenario and main figures: journey time, passengers, public money needed, CO₂ saved — compared across scenarios.
Scenario and main figures: journey time, passengers, public money needed, CO₂ saved — compared across scenarios.
Infrastructure: track access, station charges, parking and energy, line by line.
Infrastructure: track access, station charges, parking and energy, line by line.
Train composition: twelve to choose from, with the full operating costs behind each.
Train composition: twelve to choose from, with the full operating costs behind each.

    Double the connections, triple the passengers

    Back-on-Track wants to double the number of night train connections in Europe, from about 150 today to 300, and to triple the number of night train passengers by 2032. Night trains are the best choice for many journeys between 500 and 3,000 km. If Europe reaches these goals, night trains could avoid around 0.3% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the EU.

    Read the position paper behind these numbers

    “The tracks exist and the demand exists. 70% of Europeans are ready to swap the plane for a night train. What is missing is a good network design and the political will to build it. Our tool shows which routes Europe should add.”

    Juri Maier, Chairperson Back-on-Track Europe

    The tool was built by ten Back-on-Track volunteers from across Europe. It is published under a GPL licence, so anyone can check every number and every step of the model. While the rail industry meets at InnoTrans in Berlin, a team of volunteers is publishing a planning tool that everyone can use for free.

    Network planning as a game

    The beta turns network planning into a game. Users take the role of a network planner. They draw routes on a real map of the rail network. The tool then creates realistic timetables and tests twelve different train compositions. It shows the full operating costs, the public money needed, and the CO2 that would be saved. Users can compare results across standard scenarios and share them with the community. The goal behind the game is serious: a study with open data and an open method that decision makers can trust.

    “Crowdsourcing is the key. The knowledge for this network does not sit in one office. Travellers know which connections Europe is missing. Operators and infrastructure experts carry knowledge that no consultancy could bring together alone. And a proposal the community built is one the community will defend.”

    David Wedekind, Project Lead Target Network

    The first of five steps

    The tool is the first step of a five step process. From 22 September, Back-on-Track will collect route designs from users. The next steps are feedback, the choice of the strongest routes as the backbone of the target network, and a final study with a public interactive map. All contributors will be credited. Through 2026, the tool will get new features, such as the planned 2032 rail network, policy simulations, and full network analysis.