Night trains in Europe. European Railways: Night Trains

Modern tourists know how to save money, and therefore more and more often travel around Europe on night trains.

Such trips are extremely profitable: you do not need to pay for a roof over your head to a hostel or hotel, because. you can sleep in a relatively clean and safe place, in addition, while you sleep, the train will take you to your destination.

There are two types of night trains in Europe - fast and sleeping.

Ambulances travel all night, you can get into them from any station and get off at any stop at any time. Such a train includes all types of wagons. Fast trains use regular fares.

Most of the European night trains leave after 7 pm and finish the route by 11.00 am.

In rare cases, the train starts or ends its route in the afternoon.

A daily train trip is a real rarity. This is the prerogative of the Balkan countries, since the rail transport system is poorly developed.

The standard timetable is this, the train leaves at 23.00 pm and arrives at 7:00 or 8:00.

Sleeper trains are more comfortable, depart in the evening and stay on the road until the morning at most, and also never travel during the day. Such a train makes two circles of stops - evening and morning.

Passengers boarding is carried out in the evening, and only disembarkation awaits them in the morning. There are no other tickets. At night, from about 0.00 to 5.00 or 6.00, it is forbidden to leave the sleeper train, because. in Europe they worry about the sleepers. If the sleeping train suddenly stopped at night, these are just technical stops..

On this train, you must immediately reserve a seat. It has its own price system that does not depend on the distance, and the fares are slightly different.

The cost of tickets here is slightly higher than in fast trains. The first class carriage ticket includes breakfast.

Changing the timetable of night trains in Europe

Night trains in Europe

Employees of German railways spoke about another reduction in night train runs.

It should concern a number of transit international trains passing through the FRG.

From December 14, 2014, the new timetable will be valid on such train routes going via Berlin and Hamburg to Paris, as well as routes from Copenhagen to Basel, Amsterdam and Prague. Plus, the Warsaw-Amsterdam train route will be shortened to Cologne.

Caring tourists are collecting signatures for a petition for the preservation of the former regime.

The railroad spoke about the real reason - this is the unprofitability of night routes, because night trains have been in decline for the past 10 years due to the rapid growth of low-cost airlines.

Summing up, we note that dozens of night trains have been removed in Europe. The biggest cuts were made in Spain, which left behind one sleeper train to Lisbon, and in December at night it will be possible to go from France only to Italy. This means that now tourists will either have to check into hotels or fork out for other transport.

If the petition does not affect the decision of the authorities, there are always comforting sides for tourists - architecture and sights are not visible at night, departure takes place late in the evening, and arrival is early in the morning, so you can’t always count on a good sleep.

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Going on a trip to Europe, the first thing we face is the choice of transport for the trip. The plane is good for its speed, the car provides independence, hitchhiking gives a feeling of adventurism, but what should you give preference to if you want to save money? Perhaps the best option would be the railway.

It is extremely convenient to move around, judge for yourself:

The Old World has a developed network of railways, so you can get to the most remote corner of the EU;
There are a variety of trains that run here, and you can choose the one that is ideal for your purpose of travel: cheap or expensive, day or night, fast or not;
You can save money with a single InterRail ticket, which gives you the right to use all trains in Europe.

But first things first.

Railways of Europe

Each country has a national railway, the most developed are:

German «Deutsche Bahn» (http://www.bahn.de);
French "SNCF" ( http://www.sncf.com);
British "British Rail" ( http://www.britishrail.com);
Czech "?esk? dr?hy" ( https://www.cd.cz);
Italian "Ferrovie dello Stato" ( http://www.fsitaliane.it).

They and many others are members of the international Railteam organization, which allows them to interact successfully.

Trains: which one to choose?

In order to successfully travel, it is necessary to take into account the features of various compositions. In the Old World, they are usually divided into day and night.

Day trains

In such trains, you will not find places that we call “reserved seats”, cars with comfortable easy chairs are more like aircraft cabins. Therefore, lying down, as in our trains, will not work.

There are cars of the second and first classes, to find out which one you are in, take a look at the front door or the wall near it. A large number printed on the surface will mean the class. Second class carriages have four seats in each row, while first class carriages have three. But all of them, without exception, are divided into sections for non-smokers and smokers. That is why smoking, habitual for our country, in vestibules, corridors, toilets is strictly prohibited. Traveling during the day, you will come across the fact that the train is not accompanied by a guide, but by a conductor. His duties include checking and selling tickets, giving a signal for departure, controlling the disembarkation and landing of people, closing doors. But the opening of the doors is carried out directly by passengers.

There are several types of daytime trains:

Suburban - "trains" in our understanding, but very comfortable: with large soft chairs and air conditioning. They are considered a connecting element between urban transport and rail. Often, “trains” go down underground, forming a single system with the subway;
Regional - are distinguished by their short travel time (about 2-3 hours) and extremely frequent stops. There is, however, a pleasant exception - regional express trains that stop only in the largest settlements;
Ambulances travel long distances and make fewer stops. The cars are usually divided into compartments, which can accommodate 6-8 seats, the composition is equipped with a buffet or a restaurant. May differ in terms of comfort and speed;
High-speed - streamlined, similar to rockets, they are able to reach speeds of more than 300 km / h, and therefore suitable for long-distance travel. Equipped with sockets, audio systems and TVs.

Night trains

Compositions plying at night are quite a rarity in Europe. Usually these are just a couple of trains that depart after 19:00 and arrive by 10:00 - 11:00. Each car has a conductor who is responsible for ordering and checking tickets. When traveling, you will be faced with the fact that there are two types of night trains: sleeping and ambulances. The first of them are more comfortable and make stops only in the evening (for boarding passengers) and in the morning (for disembarking). At night, nothing interferes with healthy sleep, which cannot be said about rest in ambulances that stop at all stations included in the route.

There are three types of carriages on night trains:

Sleeping. They are divided into single, double or triple compartments, equipped with soft shelves with backs, TVs, lamps and even a washbasin;
Couch. These are analogues of our compartment cars, with only one difference - instead of the usual four seats, there are often six here;
Sedentary. They are rare and are ordinary open wagons with soft seats.

Tickets

Driving without a ticket is a rather dangerous adventure: the fines in the EU are very large, so you need to take care of paying for the fare in advance.

If you are not going to travel much, a regular one-time ticket will do, but if your plans include visiting many cities and countries, use a travel pass. In Europe, there is an extremely convenient system called InterRail Pass. This is a type of travel card that allows you to travel independently and simply: on any train and at any time of the day. There are several varieties of InterRail Pass.

At first glance, the rattle of a passenger car being uncoupled or driven to a siding somewhere at a station in central Europe at midnight is not all that romantic. But if you imagine that this is a night train, following from to, and that you are lying on a narrow shelf right under the ceiling, and everything immediately changes and becomes much more exciting.

In contrast to day trains, whose principle is to get passengers from point A to point B as quickly as possible, the slowness of night trains aims to get passengers to their destination rested and ready for a new day. A trip on such a train is an adventure in itself, because it is impossible to predict who will be your fellow traveler. And there is always a chance that you will never be able to fall asleep, either because of the fantastic landscapes outside the window, or because of a cheerful company.

An invaluable advantage of night trains is the ability to save on hotel costs. Rail carriers offer different types of compartments: for two/four passengers, compartments for six berths and seating. Choose the option that suits your budget and buy your ticket in advance (at least a few days in advance) especially during the high season. You can save a lot if you buy a ticket 30 - 120 days before the intended trip.

Choose one of the best European night trains and good luck!

Night train St. Petersburg - Moscow

For 77 years, every evening around midnight, the iconic train "Red Arrow" departs from the Moscow railway station to the sounds of R. Glier's "Hymn to the Great City" from to. The dream of many Soviet people to ride on the Strela has become available today. This train was quite deservedly the pride of Russian railways. The political elite, high officials and ordinary people traveled on this train, and all were offered the same comfortable travel conditions. The same journey can be made in the afternoon on a high-speed train in four and a half hours, but remember, you will not have a comfortable bed, a glass of vodka at night, a famous anthem and a sense of belonging to history.

Night train London - Fort William

There are only two trains with sleeping cars. One, the "Night Riviera" departs from Paddington Station and travels southwest to the port city of Penzance in Cornwall.
But more interesting is the Caledonian sleeper train. This legendary train departs every night (except Saturday) from Euston station in London and travels in different directions to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Fort William. When approaching Fort William, stunning views of the Scottish Highlands and the highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Nevis, open up.

Night train Paris - Venice

At night, trains leave the capital and diverge in different directions across the continent. This is perhaps the only way to leave, especially on a hot summer evening, when, waiting for a train at the crowded stations of Bercy or Gare de Lyon, you really want to get into a cool car, go to bed in a cozy compartment, and wake up somewhere on the coast in the morning. The most popular destination on night trains is Paris - Venice. If you suffer from insomnia and cannot fall asleep, outside the train window you will see an enchanting spectacle of the moonlit Alps and Italian lakes. Leaving the bustle of Paris in the evening, in the morning you will plunge into a unique flavor. By traveling this way, you will have the advantage of two hours without the tourists arriving on the daytime trains.

Night train Trondheim - Bodo

In general, amazing beauty should be admired in the light of day. But there are two reasons for taking the ten-hour night train journey from Trondheim to Bodo. Firstly, if you make this trip in the summer, you will lose absolutely nothing - the sun in the summer here almost does not hide behind the horizon, and you will see in detail the most beautiful Norwegian landscapes. Secondly, Norwegian trains are a great place to have some fun in the company of temporary fellow travelers, and a shelf in a sleeping car is a great way to save money in this expensive country.

Night train Amsterdam - Copenhagen

CityNightLine services can be called a benchmark among European transport companies offering overnight transfers. The trains of this company serve passengers in and provide passenger connections with other countries. These modern trains offer reclining seats and compartments with 2, 4, 6 beds. The best offer is provided by the German railways, on the route from to through Hamburg. For only 29 euros (seat) or 49 euros (sleeper) you will have several hours to look at from the car window.

Night train Budapest - Split

Keleti station in the capital city of Budapest is a great place to start your journey, while Split, the port city in , is an excellent place to visit. The station is located very close to the port, from where you can get to the islands of Brac, Hvar and other smaller islands. On the way from Budapest to Split, you will pass by the Hungarian Lake Balaton, make a short stop in the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. Keep in mind, this route operates only in the summer.

Night train Prague – Krakow

This is a classic European destination linking two of the most important cities in Central Europe. A nine-hour overnight journey will be quite enough to oversleep after drinking in

Many tourists and businessmen prefer to travel exactly night trains- you go to bed, say, in Spain, and you wake up - Germany is already outside the window. And the whole day ahead is free ...

For the first time "sleeping cars" in Europe began to use Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits(CIWL). The company was born in Belgium back in 1872 and immediately began to equip its rolling stock with sleeping cars and dining cars. CIWL founder and owner Georges Nagelmakers spotted this idea during his 1867-68 trip to the United States, where he was impressed by the Pullman night trains. CIWL developed several routes and operated a number of trains, including Nord Express, Train Blue, Golden Arrow and Transsiberian. But the most famous train of the Belgian company, of course, is "Eastern Express" (Orient Express), which since 1883 began to walk along the route Paris - Istanbul.

There are currently several night trains running in Europe. As a rule, night trains consist of sleeping cars with single and double compartments and cars with ordinary sleeping compartments, but cars with seats are also found.

In the UK, sleeping car trains run daily from London to Scotland ( Caledonian Sleeper) and from London to the west of the country to Cornwall ( night riviera). The cars were designed by the company british rail and consist of single and double compartments.

Germany has a network of night trains city night line owned by the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Trains run not only within the country, but also to most countries in Western and Central Europe, including Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Trains depart at approximately 20:00 and arrive at their destination by 9:00.

In Italy the company Ferrovie dello Stato completes its trains with sleeping cars. Trains run throughout Italy, including Sicily.

Another example of modern express trains with comfortable sleeping cars is the train Train Blue, which leaves Austerlitz in the evening and arrives in Nice at 8 am. This train is most popular with older people. Train Bleu trains are owned by a French operator Corail Lunea.

In Europe, night trains are not as popular as in the former USSR. But there are night trains in Europe, of course.

Advantages of night trains obvious:

you save time on travel– in the evening they got on the train in Amsterdam, and in the morning they woke up already in Milan
you save on accommodation in hotel
night trains in Europe are reasonably clean and safe

Cons of night trains should also be taken into account:

the train may leave late in the evening or arrive early in the morning, so be prepared for the fact that you may have to spend several cold morning or evening hours at the station. Remember that in
if you don't sleep well on trains, you won't get enough sleep
you don't know who your fellow travelers will be. A night in a compartment with two crying children - and the next day the Arc de Triomphe will seem to you not so triumphal
but the main thing is that you are driving at night and deprived of the opportunity to see the beauty of Europe outside the window. If you are passing through the Alps, you will lose a lot if you do not even see the mountains from the train window.

One of the most famous railway companies – night train systems in Central Europe – CityNightLine(abbreviated CNL).

CityNightLine is a Swiss company cooperating with Deutsche Bahn (DB - German Railways) and Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB - Austrian Railways). CityNightLine operates flights between cities in Germany, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, as well as Belgium, France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Company website http://www.citynightline.de/nachtzugreise/view/en/index.shtml

CityNightLine routes:

Zürich HB – Berlin Ostbahnhof
Wien Westbahnhof-Amsterdam Centraal
Hamburg-Altona-Zurich HB
Zürich HB – Amsterdam Centraal – Zürich HB
Amsterdam Centraal – Munich Hbf
Basel-Prague
Dresden Hbf–Zurich HB
Hamburg–Brussels/Paris
Basel SBB–København H
Praha hlavní nádraží – Amsterdam Centraal
Amsterdam–Milan
Berlin–Bolzano
Berlin-Brussels/Paris
Dortmund-Bolzano / Selzthal / Wörgl
Dortmund-Villach
Hamburg–Bludenz
Hamburg–Bolzano / Selzthal / Wörgl
Hamburg-Villach
Munich–Berlin
Munich–Hamburg
Munich–Copenhagen
Munich-Paris
Munich–Rome
Munich–Venice

Route map:

CityNightLine night trains have both seating and sleeping places:

in SV (Deluxe Sleeper) - compartment for 1-3 passengers
in compartments (couchettes) for 2, 4 or 6 passengers

In autumn 2009, CityNightLine night trains will offer discounted rates.
A one-way ticket in a couchette car will cost only 39 euros, in a sleeping car - 59 euros. The ticket must be purchased at least 3 days before the trip to. As is often the case with cheap tickets, tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded.