Night Trains: Victims of Progress.
They say the definition of a conservative is someone who’s 100-percent in favor of progress… but not yet. Well, when it comes to the night trains in Europe, which have criss-crossed the continent for something like 150 years, progress has been just about fatal for them. Cheap air fares and high-speed trains have done it. The budget airlines can get you there for a lot less money and the high-speed trains can cover most of those distances in a few hours. This past June, for example, I rode from Venice to Zurich in a little more than half a day.
That said, there are still a few night trains remaining, but they’re pale imitations of the ones that ran overnight 80 or 90 years ago when the equipment was luxurious and the service was impeccable. (Think “Murder on the Orient Express”). Of course there are more than a few of the private luxury trains operating, but they’re really not for ordinary folks, so somehow they don’t count.
I can remember–it was probably 30-plus years ago–riding an overnight train from Paris to Vienna. My wife and daughter and I had cut it a bit close and we hurried out onto the platform and all the way up to the locomotive looking for our assigned car. It wasn’t there! Finally, a conductor, shouting in French to a group of us, explained that there were two sections to the train that night and our car was in the “extra section” three platforms over. But just think: here was an overnight train, not that long ago, running two sections with a total of some 30 sleeping cars. It wasn’t fancy, but it was a special experience. I couldn’t sleep, and sat up most of the night in our compartment looking out the window as the train raced across France.
There are still a few companies operating those trains: City Night Line and Deutsche Bahn are probably the most prominent. There are still some wonderful overnight trains available: Berlin to Prague, Warsaw-to Cologne, Amsterdam to Munich and from there on to Rome. It’s a good idea to check out any of these trains in advance, however. I wanted to take a Thello overnight train from Venice to Paris last June, but was counseled against it by an expert at Railbookers in London. They had had complaints about rail cars not being maintained very well and even some occasional on board thievery taking place.
I passed on that one, but there’s nothing like crawling into a comfortable berth and dropping off to sleep as the train cuts through the night en route to a city you’ve only read about. In fact, I’ve already told my contact at Railbookers that I want to take the overnight train from London to Scotland next year for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I may not be able to sleep . . . but who cares?
I had the pleasure of riding the Hanoi-Lao Cai overnight train in Vietnam earlier this summer, which was quite nice, and would have been nicer still if I hadn’t been lugging a big internal-frame backpack with me, but I was on an organized trip and had no other choice. We took the train up one day and then, after four days of hiking, we took it back to Hanoi. If you ever find yourself in Vietnam and are thinking about going up to the northern mountains, take the train!
I still haven’t tested the Thello sleeper, and I guess it’s no frills, not unlike the French Intercités de Nuit, and thus more for the backpacker than for the more seasoned traveller, but generally, I wouldn’t let others judge for you. Even if the experience is somewhat mitigated, it’s only for a night. Even if it’s not the best of night trains, it will not kill you, and you will have gained the needed experience first-hand. Besides, even CNL-trains aren’t always as good as one should be able to expect.
That being said, the Wagons-Lits was famous, but train travel in general, and night train travel in particular, was not for the poor. Even as recent as the 90-ies and 80-ies, tickets were quite expensive, and budget airlines and yield management have contributed to the democratization of travel. Unfortunately, night trains are capital intensive, and much of the rolling stock is nearing the end of their life-time. Not a good combination when the competition grows fiercer…
I had wonderful journeys in the late 70’s in Europe. I travelled in couchettes which were shared with 3 (first class) or 5 (2nd class) other travellers men and women. You only took off your coat and shoes and were given a pillow and blanket. Then on arriving in a city in the morning you went searching for a hotel room in which to stay. I admit such travel would not suit me today but great memories. The only European overnight trains I have caught in more recent times have been from Rovaniemi to Helsinki in 2008 and from Paris to Lisbon (TGV to Irun on Spanish border) in 2011. I can recommend the latter, ensuite to compartment and 3 course meal with complimentary wines (served rather late but it was Spain).