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.
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.
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.
> 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.
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 have found them to be highly uncomfortable. I’ve taken several night trains in and around Central Europe and the rooms are claustrophobic, and god help you if you are in a four person. There’s barely any room for two people to stand. I’ve had arguments about temperature control where a lower bunk wanted air con off as it blew on their face, leaving it about 40c on the top bunk in summer overnight.
In Finland I’ve taken one of the more “luxurious” cabins with two bunks and a tiny shower. It’s marginally better but the walls are made or paper and the train stops during the night and you are awoken by passengers coming and going and worse the beeping of doors closing. This is with silicon earplugs.
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 have taken sleeper trains several times (about 7 times in my life), mostly from Prague to somewhere, but I was never able to sleep comfortably there.
The train shakes a lot (possibly only a problem of older cars/rails that is not present in richer Western Europe) and wakes me up. On some stretches of the track my head is lower than my feet, and even if the tilt is slight, it makes falling asleep hard. Whenever we arrive at a station, sharp white-bluish artificial light penetrates the curtains and a loud, long announcement for passengers wakes me up.
I can manage about 2-3 hours of tired sleep in such conditions and the next day I zone out regularly until I get into a real bed.
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.
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.
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.
> there's nothing as dreadful as the sound of people boarding or leaving every hour through the entire night.
That really depends on the individual. Personally I really like that kind of background noise when trying to sleep. I will usually listen to music with headphones and what gets trough is dampened so much that it nearly qualifies as "ambient" music.
But I've spend quite some time as a kid in overnight trains travelling between West-East Germany and Yugoslavia, and even more time in my teens travelling by train across central Europe.
I kind of like the whole experience even without a private cabin. A bit like a travelling hotel with changing sights. I can take along a couple of books and whatever food and drink I like, without having to worry about weird security rules.
In contrast to that long-distance air travel evokes only negative associations for me: Dry circulated air, pressure on the ears, cramped seats, the feeling of being stuck in a completely sealed metal tube, the "streamy" noise coming from the engines is really annoying compared to the rhythm of the sounds a train makes. When walking around on a plane there is nothing really to see because you can only walk between rows of seats with very small windows, which makes me feel weirdly guilty.
While on a train I can walk the full distance back and forth, taking in some of the sights trough the much larger windows. It's also considered much more normal than pacing between the seating aisles of a plane.
I've been on one night train (Moscow to St Petersberg) and, for the experience, I greatly enjoyed it. Was it the most comfortable? Naw. The bed was too short, too hard, and it was far too hot and stuffy in the cabin. But I'm glad I did it.
I once took a sleeper from Budapest to Munich and the problem was the jolt of the train stopping waking me up. It was OK-ish otherwise. I do not know how people would sleep through that.
I took an overnight train in Sweden from Stockholm to Åre a couple of years ago. My experience was average at best, but possibly not good data. I was in a 6 person room (3 beds stacked on each side), and I ended up on the top bed.
It was pretty hard to fall asleep on a slowly, but slightly rocking train, then add in other strangers you are sleeping around, and it makes it even less comfortable.
I ended up just sleeping in 30 minute intervals, woken up by the rocking of the relatively smooth train. I would imagine it might be a good experience if friends/family took a cabin together, but with strangers it's not very comfortable (although some might disagree). Additionally, being on the top bunk made me subject to wider rocking then the people below me. I can imagine the experience being terrible if you don't have completely silent bunkmates like I got lucky with.
I think it might catch the attention of people who haven't done it before, but I didn't think it was anything to write home about.
So you'll rather drive and do nothing else vs sitting in a train with a full restaurant with a bar, comfy chairs, wi-fi and a quiet spot for working[1][2]?
I've done multiple 3 hour train trips this way, I'll NEVER choose driving over it.
I can sit down and order food from downstairs, it'll be brought to my seat. I've got a quiet spot to work in with an 230V outlet and working Wifi. I can do billable work every minute I'm in the train. I can even close my eyes and take a nap.
Compare this to driving, which would take an hour longer, I'd need to be 100% focused on the road all the time, I can't bill my hours, I can't relax.
I was on a night train of ÖBB (Austrian rail) from Vienna to Berlin last summer, and unfortunately it was not very pleasant. When we got on the train, one of the staff told us to keep our belongings safely stowed within the interior of the compartment, far from the windows and door. Also, he advised us to keep the compartment door locked at all times. The train stopped in Prague for hours, during which time the station announcements kept me awake (they are really loud!). Then, when travelling through Poland, the train hooted every couple minutes when it approached a railway crossing. I ended up getting maybe 2 hours of sleep on the whole trip and my body was aching the next day. Never again!
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.
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.
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