Why Sleeper Trains are Being Revived Across Europe
upstart writes:
Why sleeper trains are being revived across Europe:
[...] Living in the Swedish capital Stockholm, the 33-year-old regularly travels by rail, not only to visit her family in Luxembourg, but also to her holiday destinations.
She favours train travel over flying mainly for environmental reasons. Yet she adds that trains are simply more enjoyable, especially sleeper services.
[...] The carbon footprint is just a fraction of a flight. Flying from Stockholm to Hamburg results in around 250kg of carbon dioxide emissions per passenger, according to calculation website EcoPassenger. By contrast, the C02 released by travelling via electric-powered train is just 26kg.
The SJ night train has nine coaches, and capacity to carry 400 passengers. Dan Olofsson, head of tendered services at SJ, says the new service was proposed by the Swedish government, "as they wanted to move more people towards climate-friendly travelling, and one of the solutions was the night train between Sweden and Germany".
The service is powered by renewable energy, and Mr Olofsson says it is typically being used by Swedes to connect them to other rail services from Hamburg.
"Hamburg isn't the main destination for most travellers, but is an important hub for people to reach more destinations in Germany and France and so on," he says.
[...] However, depending on the location, and especially if starting from the UK, travelling by train can often be more expensive than flying. Trains fares in the UK can in fact be 50% more costly than flights, according to a 2021 study by consumer choice magazine Which?.
"Like flying, you do need to book ahead to find a cheaper price," says Mark Smith, founder of train guide website Seat61. "But you need to remember airlines pay no duty on fuel.
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