Six countries – or rather six operators – in Europe are investing in new night trains by purchasing new rolling stock. Most of the projects are located in the eastern and northern half of Europe. Four of the countries involved do not have high-speed rail. Most of these purchases are being made by incumbent companies. Here’s a quick overview.
Europe split in two
Norway, Sweden, France, Finland, Austria and Italy. You only have to draw a line from Trondheim to Palermo to realise that five of the six countries are in the eastern half of Europe. And we’re not counting Poland and the others in any future orders.
Night trains, which were thought to be dying a slow death, are more relevant than ever in this part of Europe, while in the western half of Europe, which deliberately includes Germany, the focus is on high speed. Of course, we are not forgetting the initiatives of Snälltåget in Sweden, SNCF in France, Caledonian Sleeper in the UK, summer RegioJet to Croatia, or soon European sleeper between Brussels and Berlin. But apart from the British case, these welcome examples use rather old rolling stock, even if it has been reconfigured.