Night Trains Are Making a Comeback in Europe
Sunday, 2026/08/09173 words3 minutes592 reads
Across Europe, night trains are attracting new attention. Passengers can leave one city in the evening and arrive in another the next morning. Depending on the service, they may travel in a seat, a shared sleeping area or a private cabin.
BBC World Service says that revitalised routes, new operators and improved cabin designs have renewed interest in overnight rail travel. For some people, the attraction is practical: they travel while they sleep and do not lose a daytime to the journey. Others like the slower and more relaxed feeling of rail travel.
Night trains are also often seen as a lower-impact alternative to short flights. However, the BBC notes that the revival is not simple. Operators still face financial and practical obstacles, and some planned routes have already had difficulties.
The trend is therefore not a return to an old travel system exactly as it was. It is an effort to update overnight trains for modern passengers, with more choice in comfort and a new interest in travelling between cities without flying.
