Analysis
Night trains are back. The timetables are not
New sleeper routes are selling out. But patchy schedules and cross-border bureaucracy keep them from replacing short-haul flights.
Cities & climate reporter
8 min read
A sleeper service preparing to depart. Most routes run only three nights a week.
Europe’s night trains are more popular than at any time since the 1990s. Seats on the busiest routes sell out weeks in advance.
Yet for most travellers, they remain an occasional adventure rather than a real alternative to flying. The reason is not demand. It is timetables.
Three nights a week
Many sleeper routes run only a few nights a week, often with carriages that belong to different national operators. A missed connection can mean a day’s delay.
“People want to take the train. We keep making it hard for them,” a rail campaigner said.
A single ticket
This month, operators agreed on a single booking system for cross-border night trains, due in 2027. It is a start. Campaigners want daily services on the ten busiest routes by 2030.
In pictures
A sleeper cabin made up for the night.
Departures board at a central station, 22:40.
Morning outside the window, somewhere past the border.
Most routes still run only three nights a week.
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Priya Raman
Cities & climate reporter
Priya reports on cities, heat and the infrastructure we will need to live with both.
