According to CNN, the trend of travelers who like to sleep on the train overnight in one city center and wake up in another city hundreds of miles away is becoming more attractive. Recently, overnight train trips as an alternative to short-haul flights are attracting more travelers amid recent environmental concerns.
The trend of sleeping overnight and waking up in another city is popular with tourists.
A few have succeeded.
Swedish company Snälltåget is one of a few to have launched a route from Stockholm to Denmark and Germany. Czech travel service provider Regiojet operates a number of overnight routes to various Czech cities or to Slovakia and western Ukraine, along with popular holiday trains from Prague to the Adriatic coast (Croatia) in the peak season. Both have built their overnight services on the back of proven daytime operations.
A handful of railway companies have succeeded in reviving night trains in Europe.
There are still big obstacles
For night trains in Europe to truly revive, national railways will face significant obstacles. They are hampered by a severe shortage of suitable rolling stock and by regulatory hurdles imposed by national railway authorities. The extensive paperwork required to obtain operating permits for night trains is extremely time-consuming and expensive. Without government backing, it will be difficult to obtain the funding needed to purchase and approve new special night trains.
The revival of night trains in Europe will face many obstacles due to various reasons.
Restoring old railway lines
A French rail company, Midnight Trains, says it will offer travelers a luxury “night train hotel” experience between Paris and Barcelona starting in 2025 by reviving old train lines. In the long term, the company also plans to serve 10 destinations starting from Paris to Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Porto, Edinburgh via the Channel Tunnel.
Restoring old railway lines is one of the good ideas for the revival of night train operations in Europe.
Supporters of the revival of night trains are now calling on the European Union to step in and create an enabling environment for new night train services in the future. Specifically, European authorities would support the purchase of new dedicated night trains, which could then be leased to train companies. This would help eliminate one of the biggest challenges facing the European market.
The European Union has been asked to step in to bring back night trains for tourists.
According to experts, the old railway lines that have been restored can easily provide better night trains. Therefore, it is necessary to review the night train operations, restore abandoned routes and even propose new train cars to improve the service to give tourists the best travel experience.
