To wear pyjamas or not to wear pyjamas? That is an increasingly common question for Europeans as they contemplate catching a night train around the continent and sleeping with strangers, rather than dealing with angry airport security staff.
Overnight train travel has become increasingly popular in Europe over the past few years. Less than a decade ago, night trains were almost extinct. But over the past few years, they’ve been making a comeback. European Union officials have been advocating a “night train renaissance”, seeing it as a way of cutting the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions. Rail advocates tout polls saying seven out of 10 Europeans would travel by night train if they could. But nobody ever tells you what you should wear to bed on the train.
It seems like a strange question to pose to random fellow travellers so, instead, I ask why they’re taking the night train from Berlin to Budapest. All mention the environment. “I can’t stop flying altogether but I’m trying to fly less,” one of my bunkmates-to-be explained.
According to the website EcoPassenger, which measures the carbon footprint of different modes of travel, the 13-hour journey we’re on will produce only about a third of the carbon dioxide a three-hour plane ride would.
A German doctor visiting a Hungarian friend for the weekend also likes the convenience. “I worked all day then I just got on the train,” she explained.
Once on board, you realise there’s another reason. The night train is a special event in itself. There are at least two birthday parties, one complete with champagne and a chocolate cake.
There are three sorts of accommodation on the train. They’re best described as fancy sleeper, not-so-fancy sleeper and seated. The price depends on where and how early you buy your ticket but all three can be had for as little as €80 ($143) return.
Surprisingly, you could still fly for less. This is due to one of the major obstacles to affordable, accessible train travel in Europe: jet fuel isn’t taxed in the same way as electricity for trains, something environmentalists have long criticised.
No need to worry about that as you nod off in your fancy sleeper, though, after a dedicated porter has made the bed with white cotton sheets and taken breakfast orders.
As you start to dream, orange station lights flicker past, reflected on the cabin ceiling, and you get that wonderful feeling you haven’t had since you were a kid in the back of the car with your parents driving home: somebody else is in charge, you’re safe and all is well with the world.
Depending on how good you are at sleeping like a baby, that feeling may not last all night. Austrian Railways’ Nightjet service promises the train’s gentle motion will rock you to sleep. But there’s also a lot of creaking, knocking and banging and, if you’re unlucky, foreign men yelling.
In the morning, the sweet smell of baking bread permeates the carriage. It’s followed by our jolly porter bearing treacly black coffee, warm doughy buns and strawberry jam. And by 8.30am, we’re in Budapest.
To be honest, despite having invested in the fancy sleeper, it’s still a little tiring. On the other hand, the mild exhaustion is accompanied by a feeling of ecological virtue and adventure.
We also have an answer to the pyjama question: It depends. Some of our fellow passengers slept in track pants while others were equipped with nightwear and, no kidding, one guy even went full Orient Express and brought his slippers.
