> You need special rolling stock, they only make one journey per day, and can't carry intermediate passengers -- nobody would board at 2 a.m."
This was not the case on almost every overnight train I've taken (not in Europe). With non-private cabins (or worse, standard seats), there's nothing as dreadful as the sound of people boarding or leaving every hour through the entire night.
I've most reliably slept on trains where the journey is usually short, say four hours, yet the night itinerary is stretched to 7 or 8 hours. That's usually a sign the train will stop before the destination and wait until the next morning before pulling in.
Didn't know overnight trains had disappeared. When I lived in Europe as a poor student from the US I would take night trains every single time I could. I had an Interrail pass and once everyone was settled down for the night go look for an empty seating or sleeping area with a door. I could usually find one and then I would just lay down inside with my feet agains the door, use my pack for a pillow and go to sleep. I traveled a month like that and never paid for a hotel.
All the sentimental comments here around travelling by train make me wonder if Europe is just not good at this. I did the interrail about eight years ago and some of the worst nights sleep were had on the cramped bunk cabins. Arguments over air conditioning (too cold low down, too hot up top), people staying up late when you want to sleep, bad hygiene etc.
Even the night trains to the north of Finland which are seen here as some kind of benchmark are noisy with earplugs. They stop multiple times in the night so you wake to the beeping of the doors opening and closing.
I think there’s a market for rail travel. I love the idea. But it’s just not comfortable at all, or at least not economical to travel comfortably.
When I was young and bumming around Europe on an Inter-rail pass I took night trains all the time in order to avoid hotels. I would just find an empty cabin, lie down on the floor with my feet against the door and use my backpack for a pillow.
I used night trains in Poland back when that was the option I could afford to travel. God, never again. Drunken people arguing, folks smoking cigarettes, thieves and bedbugs are only some of the attractions I've had to endure. I remember one time the ticket lady outright told me "i recommend not to fall asleep sir, they're stealing luggage here".
I took a night train from Prague to different locations many times, but I cannot sleep well there. The incessant shaking of the carriage wakes me up, half of the journey my head is lower than my legs, and loud station announcements during stops don't help either.
I envy anyone who can catch more than 2-3 hours of sleep on a night train.
Did the same trip, just the other way, in 2010. Clean, comfortable, cheap (comparing to night trains in Central Europe). Couldn't get much sleep though, because as the only European in the car, so many people wanted to chat with me. And we were all very slow in looking up in the dictionary.
Night trains are only cool and romantic if you can afford a decent spot. Otherwise it's a long literal nightmare of being woken up constantly through the night as people get on and off, rattling or opening your cabin's door, border checks, waking up with a start to see if someone is picking your pocket or wandering off with your backpack, watching as guard shakes down one of the other people in your room in another language and you having no idea what's going on until money changes hands, loud noises from weird places, horrible bathrooms, cramped space, and more.
I took several night trains in my life (Prague-Warsaw, Prague-Tatras, Wien-Venezia, Prague-Frankfurt) and while the experience is interesting, the shaking movement of the train underway plus the freaking loud station loudspeaker announcements whenever you arrive somewhere resulted in very bad sleep. 2-3 hours at most.
Ah, the Ol' Chug-a-Lug. I took the midnight train from Rome to Paris almost 15 years ago on sabbatical in Europe with my wife and largish dog. We had a sleeper car. It had a bit of Old World romance but I wouldn't say it was luxurious back then. 14 hours overnight. We were train noobs and didn't know more than a smattering of Italian so were quite confused when we found our compartment. Where were the beds?!?! After an hour sitting uncomfortably on a bench seat, the conductor arrived, schooched us aside, and pulled out two fully-made bunk beds hidden in the wall. He also impatiently demanded we let him take our passports for unknown reasons (Switzerland!). Compared to the wretched discomfort and inconvenience of contemporary, public, red-eye plane travel, it was preferable, and even charming. Would recommend.
I've taken such trains more than once, much more than once, and never actually encountered anyone who who talked on the phone at all hours of the night. You're right, it might happen.
As or border crossings, in the old days I would give the conductor my passport in the evening and get it back in the morning. Not often nowadays, thanks to the Schengen agreement. But no border guard has ever woken me up. (Edit: For scale, I think I've entered ten different countries on night trains, no idea how many trips in total.)
In the US, I guarantee you that the vast majority of people have never been on a train. In a few select cities the number will drop if you include subways and other commuter trains, but the general conclusion is the same.
Took a night train in central Europe once. It was a lot of money, and to reserve a whole compartment was even more. And if you don't get the whole compartment the other travelers may talk at all hours of the night on the phone...
Then there are border crossings where they check passports. Such checks make it impossible to get uninterrupted sleep.
As an American with little access to trains, I was excited to try a sleeper train from Vienna to Poland. But I was disappointed to find that it was pretty uncomfortable -- lots of stopping and ringing bells throughout the night.
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