Aurora was the name given to Basel‒Copenhagen night train services operating as part of the CityNightLine network until 2014. In 2011^[update] Aurora still carried the through sleeping cars bound to and from Moscow. 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. 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).

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. 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.

As of March 2025^[update], Swiss Federal Railways were planning to restart night train services from Switzerland to Copenhagen and Malmö—within one year. The train would start running from spring 2026, after a gap of over 10 years since the CityNightLine route stopped in 2014, and with a distance of 1,300–1,400 kilometres (800–900 mi) become the longest passenger train operating from Switzerland.^{[needs update]}

The restored night train service from Basel to Copenhagen/Malmö would be operated together with Railroad Development Corporation (RDC)—already operators of the overnight Motorail services between Lörrach and Hamburg. Comfort level would likely be similar to the SJ Euronight Berlin‒Stockholm, operated on a similar basis, with sleeping cars, couchettes, and seats. The SJ Euronight and SBB services will use separate fleets of carriages. RDC would also provide train crew. Inside Germany the service would be routed to run through Baden-Württemberg, including a stop at Freiburg Hauptbahnhof.

The route would require approval from national authorities in Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as funding commitments. Rolling stock would be transferred from the existing Amsterdam‒Zürich night train route—after the introduction of new Austrian Railways (ÖBB) Nightjet 2.0 trains on the Amsterdam‒Zürich route. SBB had already been leasing the same night carriages from RDC for the Amsterdam route between December 2021 and December 2024/2025.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) started to sell train tickets via their App, with dynamic pricing based on occupancy and travel category. As of May 2025^[update] an application had been made to the Swiss government for Swiss CO₂ Act funding to support the service.

In July 2025 the Swiss Federal Office of Transport allocated multi-year funding for the Basel‒Copenhagen‒Malmö Euronight route for the period 2025‒2030, up to CHF 47 million. The overnight train would run six nights a week from April 2026: three times per week northbound, and three times per week southbound. The allocated funding was planned to consist of CHF 1.2 million in development funding in 2025, followed by planned Swiss CO₂ Act investment of up to CHF 10 million per year until 2030.

The allocation of the assigned funding budget was subject to confirmation by the Swiss Federal Government during mid-December 2025.