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Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

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Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#52
post #49
post #46

Those sound good on paper but then reality hits you. Last summer we as a family decided to take a night train to reach our vacation destination. What should have been 6-7 hour car drive was ~12 hour train ride. Sleep was not great, getting to and out of train stations, herding two small kids etc so at the time we've reached our destination we were pretty tired. Much more tired if we just drove. The route back is wher…

Maybe it's not convenient for a whole family but more for solo travelers. A car with one traveller is an absolute waste. And instead is more convenient to travel by train

It's still better to fly.

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#53
post #12

I would love to do this more! Trying to replace short flights with trains. I'm taking the Zürich - Venice one in a couple of weeks. But I'm looking for example at Zürich - Amsterdam. 12 hours - 10pm to 10am, perfect. But it has a 2:45am - 3:15am change at Frankfurt, so it's actually a ~5h train followed by a ~7h train at a very inconvenient time. Sure, I'd be in Amsterdam by 10am, but after the equivalent of a terrib…

I am not sure which connection you found - the 21:59 Nightjet NJ 402 from Zurich goes directly to Amsterdam (9:58). NJ 402 has some additional cars attached which run as an InterCity, so it might be possible that no bed is available until Frankfurt, and you have to sit in an IC car until Frankfurt and change into the sleeper there, or vice versa.

Hmmm, interesting. Google Maps shows the 21:59 with a connection in Frankfurt, but the Nightjet website shows no change.

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#54
post #9

There is a clear lack of connection toward France and Spain. EDIT: Paris is of course well connected, but southern France and Spain are not. I live in Zurich and it's quite easy to go north, south, and east by train, but going south-west towards Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona is really inconvenient. And it's not just about Zurich, because doing so from Milan or Frankfurt, I would guess, is the same. However I heard o…

One cause is that France is rather obstinate when it comes to sleeper trains passing through, but not stopping in, France. A direct line from the Netherlands and Belgium to Spain (e.g., Barcelona) would be viable and possible on standard gauge, but it wouldn't make sense to stop in Paris at 2:00 in the night or so. SNCF and the relevant French agencies insist on trains serving France as well. Maybe some company will…

You van already do Bruxelles to Perpignan with a direct ( french ) TGV train, in 6/7 hours. If you want to go to Spain I believe bruxelles Barcelona via Paris is also quite practical. Everything is much pricier than plane and no night train though

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#55
post #52
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's not convenient for a whole family but more for solo travelers. A car with one traveller is an absolute waste. And instead is more convenient to travel by train

It's still better to fly.

Depends on how you define better. I don't mind planes but I hate the process of getting off and on a plane. There is no single best mode of transport. There are so many variables involved. Price, time, proximity, personal preferences,..

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#56
post #20
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 21:59 Nightjet NJ 402 from Zurich goes directly to Amsterdam (9:58) something seems off. it takes 12 hours by train from zurich to amsterdam? it looks like just 8 hours by car. and the same distance ~800 something kms took me 3h50m Tokyo to Hiroshima with the Hakata shinkansen.

Night trains typically use slower routes and are parked somewhere during the night to ensure that you have enough time to eat something in the evening, get dressed for bed, sleep 8 hours, get up, get dressed again, and eat breakfast. 8 hours is definitely not enough time for a comfortable night train ride, especially if you travel with children. We took an 11-hour night train from Vienna to Zurich a few months ago wi…

There are also many stops on the way and you might only get on in Basel or get off somewhere in Germany already, leaving you with even less time on the train, so 12h for the full Zurich-Amsterdam trip is not unreasonable.

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#57
post #9

There is a clear lack of connection toward France and Spain. EDIT: Paris is of course well connected, but southern France and Spain are not. I live in Zurich and it's quite easy to go north, south, and east by train, but going south-west towards Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona is really inconvenient. And it's not just about Zurich, because doing so from Milan or Frankfurt, I would guess, is the same. However I heard o…

NightJet trains from Zurich to Barcelona and Rome were indeed planned to run from 2024, but this will probably be delayed because the Swiss Federal Railways won't receive subsidies they were expecting: https://www.srf.ch/news/wirtschaft/ausbau-des-nachtzug-netze... (article in German)

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#58
post #52
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's not convenient for a whole family but more for solo travelers. A car with one traveller is an absolute waste. And instead is more convenient to travel by train

It's still better to fly.

Trains are as close as you can get to frictionless travel. (Getting to space and back still means traveling through all that atmosphere at insanely high velocities.) That alone determines huge energy, and, by extension, carbon emissions, savings.

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#59
post #49
post #46

Those sound good on paper but then reality hits you. Last summer we as a family decided to take a night train to reach our vacation destination. What should have been 6-7 hour car drive was ~12 hour train ride. Sleep was not great, getting to and out of train stations, herding two small kids etc so at the time we've reached our destination we were pretty tired. Much more tired if we just drove. The route back is wher…

Maybe it's not convenient for a whole family but more for solo travelers. A car with one traveller is an absolute waste. And instead is more convenient to travel by train

It's not a waste in all ways.

A car gets you where you want at the time you want. Whereas a train gets you close to where you want to go at some time.

So better depends on what's more important to you. If you take a look at ecology, sure, trains are far better than a 1 person in a car. If you look at flexibility, cars are far more better.

Re: Night Train Map with all regularly served night train destinations in Europe

#60
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's not convenient for a whole family but more for solo travelers. A car with one traveller is an absolute waste. And instead is more convenient to travel by train

It's not a waste in all ways. A car gets you where you want at the time you want. Whereas a train gets you close to where you want to go at some time. So better depends on what's more important to you. If you take a look at ecology, sure, trains are far better than a 1 person in a car. If you look at flexibility, cars are far more better.

> It's not a waste in all ways.

I think you are talking about convenience while they were talking about ecology.

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