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Is there? I mean I know there's "Year of Rail" and all that, but that doesn't seem to translate to anything more than words right now. (Like - no actual trains

by hannob 5y ago

Is there? I mean I know there's "Year of Rail" and all that, but that doesn't seem to translate to anything more than words right now. (Like - no actual trains you could book.) The number of night trains has decreased over the last couple of years. It'd be nice if that trend would be reversed, but that will take more than proclaiming a year of rail.

ginko 5y ago
Right now, and for the first time in over a decade I can again book a direct night train from Vienna to Paris: https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/frankreich https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/frankreich I could book a seat on that train for tonight. AFAIK ÖBB (re-)started that line earlier this month.
- manuel_w 5y ago
  Need to give that one a try! Also, the overnight train connection from Vienna to Hamburg is really convenient. I took it some years ago. If I recall correctly, the train departed at around 20:45 and arrived in Hamburg at 6:45.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  Wow, these trains were a regular part of my childhood. I'm amazed they were ever out of service, although sometimes they would be deathly quiet, which was part of their spooky attraction.
lmm 5y ago
The Nightjet network has reconnected to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, and OBB seems to be investing heavily. The Thelo trains from Paris-Italy have disappeared, but that was a recently opened service and frankly not very good when I rode it. When DB pulled out it looked like the end of an era, but European night trains are in better shape now than they have been for a long time, Covid notwithstanding.
ant6n 5y ago
Yes. France brought back a bunch of national night trains. ÖBB brought back Paris-Vienna, and they have more plans. Sbb brought back Amsterdam-Zürich, also planning train to Barcelona. Sweden wants to get back into Europe (not successful yet). Poland wants to connect west again. There's a bunch of private endeavors: berlin-Malmo-stockholm is running more often, there's a startup starting a Prag-Berlin-amsterdam-brussels service in spring '22, another older company started Alps-munich-hamburg-coast this year. There's a startup that announced all sorts of impossible routes out of Paris. Another announced brussel-berlin. The bottom on night trains was 2017. Jon Worth probably has a bunch of opinions about that.
- sasvari 5y ago
  > Sweden wants to get back into Europe (not successful yet) SJ (Swedish State Railways) won the Swedish government's tender to provide night train services Stockholm - Hamburg starting in summer 2022.
m-i-l 5y ago
In the UK there's been a £150m refurbishment of the Caledonian Sleeper trains from London to Scotland[0]. [0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47887656 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47887656
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  That one didn't go so well. I was supposed to ride that (London -> Fort William) in the summer of 2019, but the new trains had so many issues we were stuck on the same rolling stock that had been around when I was a child. Hopefully it's in service now, but last time I looked it up, there were still issues.
  - m-i-l 5y ago
    Yes, I should have put a disclaimer in, but I think the teething issues are largely settled. The point was that the investment was there though. And to the original point that "at least in Europe there is a push to bring back overnight trains as an alternative to carbon-intensive flying", there is this from 5 days ago: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/europe-is-undergoing-a-sleeper-train-renaissance https://www.cntraveler.com/story/europe-is-undergoing-a-slee... which leads with the Caledonian Sleeper, and mentions others such as the new Paris-based Midnight Trains, the revival of the Trans-Europe Express, Czech-based RegioJet, and ÖBB's Nightjet.

by hannob 5y ago

ginko 5y ago

Right now, and for the first time in over a decade I can again book a direct night train from Vienna to Paris: https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/frankreich https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/frankreich I could book a seat on that train for tonight. AFAIK ÖBB (re-)started that line earlier this month.

manuel_w 5y ago
Need to give that one a try! Also, the overnight train connection from Vienna to Hamburg is really convenient. I took it some years ago. If I recall correctly, the train departed at around 20:45 and arrived in Hamburg at 6:45.
kingcharles 5y ago
Wow, these trains were a regular part of my childhood. I'm amazed they were ever out of service, although sometimes they would be deathly quiet, which was part of their spooky attraction.

lmm 5y ago

The Nightjet network has reconnected to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, and OBB seems to be investing heavily. The Thelo trains from Paris-Italy have disappeared, but that was a recently opened service and frankly not very good when I rode it. When DB pulled out it looked like the end of an era, but European night trains are in better shape now than they have been for a long time, Covid notwithstanding.

ant6n 5y ago

Yes. France brought back a bunch of national night trains. ÖBB brought back Paris-Vienna, and they have more plans. Sbb brought back Amsterdam-Zürich, also planning train to Barcelona. Sweden wants to get back into Europe (not successful yet). Poland wants to connect west again. There's a bunch of private endeavors: berlin-Malmo-stockholm is running more often, there's a startup starting a Prag-Berlin-amsterdam-brussels service in spring '22, another older company started Alps-munich-hamburg-coast this year. There's a startup that announced all sorts of impossible routes out of Paris. Another announced brussel-berlin. The bottom on night trains was 2017. Jon Worth probably has a bunch of opinions about that.

sasvari 5y ago
> Sweden wants to get back into Europe (not successful yet) SJ (Swedish State Railways) won the Swedish government's tender to provide night train services Stockholm - Hamburg starting in summer 2022.

m-i-l 5y ago

In the UK there's been a £150m refurbishment of the Caledonian Sleeper trains from London to Scotland[0]. [0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47887656 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47887656

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
That one didn't go so well. I was supposed to ride that (London -> Fort William) in the summer of 2019, but the new trains had so many issues we were stuck on the same rolling stock that had been around when I was a child. Hopefully it's in service now, but last time I looked it up, there were still issues.
- m-i-l 5y ago
  Yes, I should have put a disclaimer in, but I think the teething issues are largely settled. The point was that the investment was there though. And to the original point that "at least in Europe there is a push to bring back overnight trains as an alternative to carbon-intensive flying", there is this from 5 days ago: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/europe-is-undergoing-a-sleeper-train-renaissance https://www.cntraveler.com/story/europe-is-undergoing-a-slee... which leads with the Caledonian Sleeper, and mentions others such as the new Paris-based Midnight Trains, the revival of the Trans-Europe Express, Czech-based RegioJet, and ÖBB's Nightjet.