Night trains enjoy a resurgence, with the help of Greta Thunberg

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There were no daggers at dawn, no red herring in the soup bowl, and no Belgian detectives shaking suspects in the saloon car. But my journey on the Caledonian Sleeper from Glasgow to London was as romantic as any murder mystery on the Orient Express. Waking up to a hot bacon sandwich and coffee the next morning as commuters mill about on the platform at Euston Station in the British capital, as I lay quietly in my cozy cabin, remains a lasting memory.

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To the delight of rail fans, more and more tourists and businessmen across Europe are waking up to the joy of the night train as an eco-friendly alternative to emissions-spewing short-haul flights and often uncomfortable bus travel.

And young environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the nagging Swede whose withering looks and climate change rhetoric have left many evader politicians and cowardly corporate leaders shaking, is playing a boon.

“We should be very grateful to him because the demand for night trains and especially international night trains has grown rapidly,” says Marco Andersson from Snälltåget, a private rail operator in Sweden.

Thunberg’s campaign coincided with a surge in Sweden in “flygskam,” or flight embarrassment, which reinvigorated the fortunes of night trains beginning in 2018, Andersson told the International Railway Journal (IRJ). Before that, Andersson says, the company’s nightly services between cities like Malmö in southern Sweden and Berlin were still running partly for historical reasons, a blow of sentiment that often made little economic sense.

Negligible profits have long threatened to derail night train services, with a report to the European Parliament in 2017 clearly warning: “Night passenger trains in Europe: the end of the line?” Despite the gloomy tone, the report concluded that night services remained an essential cog in the transportation machine.

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The renaissance is also being fueled by new approaches to the sleeping car. French startup Midnight Trains has taken the trimmings of the legendary Orient Express, including private rooms and a chi-chi bar, and added some hipster elements as craft beer menu options to create what has been described as a rolling boutique hotel. .

Co-founder Adrien Aumont tells The Monocle Minute the idea is to reinvent and “reenchant” the concept of overnight stays to “make them truly competitive”, without the prohibitively expensive prices of classic night trains like the Orient Express. The firm has plans to connect more than 10 European destinations by 2024, including Edinburgh-Madrid and Copenhagen-Rome, with Paris as the hub.

“Night trains are the only way to travel far while taking care of the planet,” says Aumont, echoing the green trends identified by other industry players.

In Austria, federal rail operator ÖBB has embraced new markets for its Nightjet brand and announced ambitious plans to double overnight passenger numbers by 2025, backed by a new fleet of trains from German manufacturer Siemens.

It’s not just the fancy rolling stock that will attract new customers. The innovative mini-suites that can be closed to create a Japanese-style capsule hotel will offer passengers a private room at a price similar to that of a bunk bed. ÖBB said it was fueled by comments from passengers who found the perceived lack of privacy to be one of the main drawbacks of night train travel.

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In today’s pandemic world, passengers are especially cautious about sharing space with strangers.

This is why the most expensive individual compartments are often the first to run out in night services, and this is why Snälltåget, the Swedish operator, has upgraded its bunks with better mattresses and bedding. “Of course, it won’t be the same as a sleeping car,” admits Andersson. “But it’s somewhere between the traditional sleeper car and a sleeper car.”

It is, he concludes, about “finding a solution between what people want and what they really want to pay.”

Although passengers are often willing to pay a premium for overnight train travel, the market for budget travel has not been completely ignored. In Eastern Europe, for example, private RegioJet railways sell one-way tickets on a sleeper bus from the Czech Republic to Croatia for as little as 30 euros ($ 43), which include breakfast and free Wi-Fi.

In the Netherlands, two entrepreneurs have partnered with RegioJet to create the European Sleeper, which will operate night trains between Belgian, Dutch and German cities and Prague, the Czech capital. It plans to launch in April 2022, with the goal of eventually becoming an independent operator with its own rolling stock.

Another pair of railway visionaries, this time in Belgium, have unveiled the Moonlight Express, a night train that would link Brussels, Liège and Berlin in the spring of next year and that would “bring the magic back to responsible and enjoyable travel.”

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Louis De Jaeger, one of the two men behind the project, says the key to the success of the night train revival is twofold: giving passengers a sense of responsible travel and bringing the fun factor back. “The train offers a great alternative for people who want to travel with a clear conscience,” he told IRJ. “And above all, it shouldn’t be boring.”

Ongoing moves to create a Trans Europe Express network that would connect 13 of Europe’s largest cities are also fueling hopes that the resurgence of night trains will be sustainable. Politicians are on board and the European Union is working on a plan to improve infrastructure and scheduling to make night trips more efficient and faster.

Meanwhile, across the English Channel, night trains in the UK have survived several near-death experiences, but continue through the Caledonian Sleeper between Fort William in Scotland and London and the Night Riviera that links the county. southwest of Cornwall with the capital.

Lots of financial challenges await the night train. But for his part, Belgian businessman De Jaeger says the market can only grow, especially for nimble startups, as vacationers and locals look for alternative modes of travel.

“There are many caveats,” he tells IRJ, “and it’s not like starting a bus company, it’s much more complicated than that. But we have a feeling that this is the perfect time to do this. “

Greta would be grateful, she is supposed.

– Andre Ramshaw