Europe was on the brink of a night train revolution. Here’s what actually happened

[caravanman]

While the views made in the item are all valid, I am still pleased and grateful that night trains in Europe have staged a come back, rather than disappearing altogether!

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/europe-night-train-revolution-what-happened/index.html

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Yeah I am sorry but it can be done. The big issue is have a deep pockets. Locomore was able to launch, but ran out of funds before a customer base was developed. The route is still in use today but with a different operating company. European Sleeper is having some issues but is still rolling.

It can be done. Need a bit of cash to make it happen, and it’s very easy to fail. This is transportation after all, slim profit at best.

More people who try and fail. The easier for the next operator to succeed. Today if you posted a Ad for experienced person to get through the paperwork to run an open access someone will offer there services.

 

[cirdan]

The article rightly says that one obstacle is the shortage of suitable equipment.

When DB retrenched its once extensive network of night routes in the 2000s and 2010s even, a lot of perfectly good equipment was sent to the scrapman. There used to be a disused freight yard at Mukran on Rügen where you could see line upon line of beautiful sleeper cars that could easily have been refurbished, slowly rotting away or being smashed up by vandals. When the scrapman finally came, DB could rightly say they were beyond hope and scrapping them was no great loss.

Some cynics claim this was all part of a ploy to keep competitors out of the field. I am more of the persuasion that incompetence and lack of foresight is often stronger than conspiracy.

Besides acquiring new sleeper cars, OBB has done a good job at refurbishing surplus day cars as sleepers. This can be a cost effective solution that is often overlooked. There appears to be a glut of surplus day cars out there right now, displaced by high speed trains and fixed formations. This is of course where the likes of RegioJet were able to pick up the cars they use for their day trains.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

The article rightly says that one obstacle is the shortage of suitable equipment.

Shortage of equipment with AC.

When DB retrenched its once extensive network of night routes in the 2000s and 2010s even, a lot of perfectly good equipment was sent to the scrapman. There used to be a disused freight yard at Mukran on Rügen where you could see line upon line of beautiful sleeper cars that could easily have been refurbished, slowly rotting away or being smashed up by vandals. When the scrapman finally came, DB could rightly say they were beyond hope and scrapping them was no great loss.

A lot was sold off, but yeah lack of foresight.

Some cynics claim this was all part of a ploy to keep competitors out of the field. I am more of the persuasion that incompetence and lack of foresight is often stronger than conspiracy.

I don’t think DB has any foresight left. It’s all about the profit for this quarter, no planning for the future.

Besides acquiring new sleeper cars, OBB has done a good job at refurbishing surplus day cars as sleepers. This can be a cost effective solution that is often overlooked. There appears to be a glut of surplus day cars out there right now, displaced by high speed trains and fixed formations. This is of course where the likes of RegioJet were able to pick up the cars they use for their day trains.

The day coach convert to sleepers are highly recommended.

RegioJet was able to purchase new equipment also. Nice to have deep pockets.

 

[Urban Sky]

I don’t think DB has any foresight left. It’s all about the profit for this quarter, no planning for the future.

Night trains are too much of a niche to have every country operate their own (though often overlapping) networks. Better if one major operator can consolidate night train operations and exploit economies of scale by operating multiple X-shaped routes or even more complex branching trains and the geography of Austria (and Vienna in particular) made ÖBB the most suitable operator of such network. DB leaving the field (allowing ÖBB to go all-in) was what created the momentum for ÖBB to go all-in and (more recently) to acquire a new custom-made fleet…

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Not sure where the line is between niche and a full fledge service is.

European Sleeper is have massive sales and promotions for the winter. Even trying to raise a bond for bridge financing during the low season. There another endangered operation.

 

[cirdan]

Night trains are too much of a niche to have every country operate their own (though often overlapping) networks.

I don't think it is accurate to say every country has its own networks. Countries collaborate on international night trains. It is not uncommon to see cars of three different countries in the same consist, which then get switched and shuffled along the route to reach different destinations. For example the Nightjet that leaves Zurich for Vienna also takes Hungarian cars for Budapest and a single Czech sleeping car for Prague. The staff of these various rail companies work together seamlessly, and also from a booking interface point of view. To the non railfan there is just a single offering and if you're not a railfan you probably don't even notice whether the sleeper you travel in is actually Austrian or Hungarian or whatever.

 

[Willbridge]

I don't think it is accurate to say every country has its own networks. Countries collaborate on international night trains. It is not uncommon to see cars of three different countries in the same consist, which then get switched and shuffled along the route to reach different destinations. For example the Nightjet that leaves Zurich for Vienna also takes Hungarian cars for Budapest and a single Czech sleeping car for Prague. The staff of these various rail companies work together seamlessly, and also from a booking interface point of view. To the non railfan there is just a single offering and if you're not a railfan you probably don't even notice whether the sleeper you travel in is actually Austrian or Hungarian or whatever.

In 2014 I enjoyed goulash soup for lunch in a Hungarian diner on the Berlin to Vienna trip that I made. The diner was running Berlin to Budapest; we had a change of trains in Czechia to catch a Warsaw to Vienna train that ran late. On that occasion, the railways were not quite seamless, as the Czech station announcer kept stressing that the delay was the fault of the PKP.

 

[Urban Sky]

I don't think it is accurate to say every country has its own networks. Countries collaborate on international night trains. It is not uncommon to see cars of three different countries in the same consist, which then get switched and shuffled along the route to reach different destinations. For example the Nightjet that leaves Zurich for Vienna also takes Hungarian cars for Budapest and a single Czech sleeping car for Prague. The staff of these various rail companies work together seamlessly, and also from a booking interface point of view. To the non railfan there is just a single offering and if you're not a railfan you probably don't even notice whether the sleeper you travel in is actually Austrian or Hungarian or whatever.

Indeed, these networks are often overlapping and even operationally intertwined. Nevertheless, the degree of interdependence with other national railroads impedes any real strategic coordination and control over service quality. Much better to consolidate by taking over operations (routes and rolling stock, where appropriate) from other national operators, as ÖBB/Nightjet did with DB‘s CityNightLine…