MORE NIGHT SERVICES WITH NEW ROLLING STOCK
From next year, ÖBB (Austrian Railways) will be running its latest night trains from Vienna and Munich to Rome, Venice and Milan, before rolling out its fleet of 33 trains further across Europe.
Together with manufacturer Siemens, it unveiled the new stock in Vienna on September 6. Each seven-car train will have two seated coaches, three couchette cars, and two sleeping cars.
In the sleeping cars, compartments have toilets and showers. Some have beds that run along (rather than across) the train. The compartments also include a small table and chair.
The couchettes come in traditional fourberth style (that is four single beds in one compartment), but also as ‘mini-suites’. They are a single bed with a wrap-round sliding door that brings privacy to each compartment. I suspect users of the upper berths will need some agility to insert themselves into their bunks!
One of the seated cars will offer six spaces for bikes and more luggage space for skiers and snowboarders. Each new train will also offer an accessible couchette and a bathroom with a low-floor entry, according to Siemens.
This is all a far cry from the situation a few years ago, when DB withdrew its night trains and left a large gap in the market. Since then, ÖBB has seized the market and capitalised on rail’s environmental credentials when compared with flying.
Sadly, Britain remains cut off from the Continental resurgence in sleeping car trains. The Channel Tunnel remains a major obstacle, with a safety regime that effectively provides Eurostar with a monopoly on passenger services.
That regime saw off DB a decade ago, when it suggested running day trains. It’s likely to make running sleeping car trains even harder - and that’s before you add the complications of customs and passport controls.
With Siemens promising its stock will serve the Netherlands with its new trains from 2025 (they are not authorised yet), it seems that catching Eurostar to Amsterdam will be the best way to reach further into Europe by night train.