Aurora (CityNightLine)

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Aurora
CNL 472 Aurora leaving Basel SBB (2013)
Overview
Service typeCity Night Line (CNL)
LocaleSwitzerland, Germany, Denmark
Former operatorCityNightLine
Route
TerminiBasel SBB
Copenhagen Central
Stops
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification
  • 15 kV 16,7 Hz (Germany & Switzerland)
  • 25 kV 50 Hz (Denmark)
Route map
Copenhagen Central
Great Belt Tunnel
Odense
Padborg
(DK/DE)
Hamburg Hbf
(shunting)
Frankfurt (Main) South
Mannheim Hbf
Karlsruhe Hbf
Basel Bad
(DE/CH)
Basel SBB

Aurora was the name given to Basel‒Copenhagen night train services operating as part of the CityNightLine network until 2014.[1][2] In 2011 Aurora still carried the through sleeping cars bound to and from Moscow.[3][4] In July 2025, the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) had announced a plan to reintroduce the night trains on the route from April 2026.[5] but the expensive plan was cancelled end of 2025. As of 2026, there is no direct train between Basel and Copenhagen; the easiest train connection remains with a change in Hamburg, e.g. using the ÖBB Nightjet trains between Hamburg and Zürich (470/471).

CNL 472 Aurora arriving in Denmark (2009)

Southbound the Aurora train used to depart Copenhagen at 18:10 in the evening with a locomotive change at Padborg, and then a non-advertised shunting stop at Hannover between 02:13 and 02:51 for coupling and uncoupling the parts of the train connecting to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague.[6] Northbound the Aurora would stop for shunting in Hannover between 02:03 and 02:36, then again for 25 minutes to change locomotives at Padborg, arriving Copenhagen at 10:07 in the morning.[6]

Cancelled reintroduction

Further reading

References

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