One of the questions I am often asked when discussing rail travel in the European Union is why there is no night train on a given route. “People would take it!” I am told, and I do not doubt that. It is not the demand side that is necessarily the […]
Tag: Night Trains
Night trains are excellent, but marginal. How can their provision be scaled up in Europe?
Earlier this month European Sleeper announced its first route – Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague – and the news was gushing. Euronews covered the story, saying how it was driven by flight shame, TimeOut talked of a “a ton of cool new sleeper trains“, and Travel+Leisure talked about a “major upgrade” of night services. […]
How could the EU solve the night train conundrum? Procure a massive fleet of night train carriages and lease them to operators
From the doldrums of a few years ago – when Deutsche Bahn left the business of running night trains completely – this mode of transport is back. Or at least in terms of public attention it’s back. Snälltåget has bold plans for Sweden to Germany services in 2021, and the […]
Don’t be distracted by ÖBB’s shiny night train to Brussels – the problems of EU-wide rail run far deeper
Hey journalists! I’m glad to see you’re writing about trains! ÖBB running its first NightJet to Brussels seems to have got you into a particular frenzy. It’s amazing what a bit of red carpet at Gare du Midi, and Martin Selmayr on board, can do to generate a bit of […]
Bundestag hearing on long distance rail, night trains, Autozug
On Wednesday 14th January at 1100, 3 members of the Bundestag from Die Linke – Sabine Leidig, Herbert Behrens and Caren Lay – are organising a public hearing about long distance rail in Europe. The title of this is “Rückzug der Deutschen Bahn AG bei Nacht- und Autoreisezügen stoppen – […]
Torn between a retro past and an uncertain future: is the sun setting on Romanian rail?
The two guards on the EN472 “Ister” between Bucuresti Nord and Budapest Keleti pu. set aside their fading hats with the silver trim and the CFR logos and tuck into the dinner they have brought from home in the bar carriage. They crunch what look like home grown, gnarled gherkins, […]