The night train is back, and travellers are booking it out

Not long ago, the overnight train looked like a relic. Routes were cut, carriages were retired and budget airlines filled the gap with fares that trains could not touch. Now the sleeper is staging one of the more surprising comebacks in modern travel.

New operators and revived national services are reopening routes that link capitals overnight, and many popular departures sell out weeks in advance, especially on weekends and holidays.

Why travellers are switching

Part of the appeal is time. A train that leaves after dinner and arrives after breakfast turns a travel day into a night of sleep, and it delivers passengers to the centre of a city rather than to an airport on the outskirts. There are no security queues and no liquids rules, and your luggage stays with you.

The other part is carbon. For travellers trying to fly less, rail is often the lowest emission way to cover a long distance, and the sleeper makes trips practical that would take two full days by daytime train.

A train that leaves after dinner and arrives after breakfast turns a travel day into a night of sleep.

The catch

Sleeper trains are expensive to run. Each carriage carries far fewer people than a seated coach, staff work through the night, and track access fees vary from one country to the next. That is why a private cabin can cost as much as a short flight, and why operators keep asking governments to treat night trains as public infrastructure rather than a niche product.

Rolling stock is another bottleneck. Building new sleeper carriages takes years, so many services run on refurbished cars while they wait for new fleets.

Booking tips

• Book early. Cabins are released months ahead and the cheapest berths go first.
• Consider a couchette. Shared compartments cost far less than a private cabin and still let you lie flat.
• Check the arrival time. Some routes arrive very early, so plan where you will have breakfast.