The slow, scenic return of the European night train
Once fading, sleeper trains are enjoying a revival as travellers seek lower-carbon, more romantic ways to cross the continent.
For decades, the European night train seemed a relic of a more romantic age of travel, slowly disappearing as budget airlines made flying cheap and high-speed rail made daytime journeys fast. But the sleeper train is enjoying an unexpected revival, and for the unhurried traveller, there are few better ways to cross a continent.
The appeal is partly practical and partly poetic. A night train lets you fall asleep in one great city and wake in another, saving a hotel night and a day of travel. But it is also an experience in itself: the gentle rocking of the carriage, the landscapes sliding past the window at dusk and dawn, the dining car and the small rituals of the sleeper compartment.
The revival has been driven in part by a growing awareness of the climate cost of flying, with a movement encouraging travellers to choose rail where they can. Rail operators have responded by reviving old routes and investing in new sleeper services linking cities across the continent.
Booking a night train takes a little more planning than clicking on a cheap flight, and the journeys are longer. But that is rather the point: the travel becomes part of the holiday rather than a chore to be endured.
For those willing to trade speed for romance and a smaller carbon footprint, the return of the night train offers a chance to rediscover the pleasure of the journey itself, one rhythmic, moonlit mile at a time.