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Nightjet, part of the Austrian federal railway, ÖBB, started running a sleeper train between Berlin and Paris in December, while the French rail operator, S.N.C.F., started overnight service between Paris and Aurillac, in south-central France, the same month.

Other operators are backed by government money, with Austria's OBB leading the charge.

OBB spent 720 million euros on 33 next-generation night trains, developed with Siemens Mobility.

Austria’s state-owned railway ÖBB decided to step in, scooping up many of Deutsche Bahn’s sleeper cars and taking over several routes with sleeper trains.

With a new kind of awareness, growing numbers of regular travelers in Europe are now checking for alternatives before booking a flight—and when a night-train alternative exists, “the trains are fully booked,” said Bernhard Rieder, a spokesman for ÖBB.