Train Wake Swedish Service Joins Glorious Resurgence Of Sleeper Travel Train Travel

This year sees the glorious revival of the sleeper train across Europe, with new routes including Brussels to Prague and Graz, Austria, to Warsaw. A particularly important night train starts running this month – from Hamburg to Stockholm. It will be a “game changer”, according to rail travel expert Mark Smith. But with a summer appointment in Stockholm, I couldn’t afford to wait until September. So I retraced the journey as best I could, to see what night train travel is like now that it seems to have returned. I traveled on an Interrail pass from London to Hamburg and then headed to Malmö, from where I boarded the somewhat aging train running north on the same route that the new EuroNight service will use. The service, operated by Sweden’s national rail operator SJ, “will get you from London to Stockholm in almost 24 hours,” according to Smith, who created the much-advised website Seat61.com. It will be the ‘missing link’ for travelers from the UK to Sweden, perhaps persuading many to take the train, rather than fly. It starts with the Eurostar from St Pancras in Brussels and then switches to a high-speed line in Hamburg, after which the speed will drop but the comfort will increase. EuroNight covers the 670 miles from Hamburg to Stockholm in 13 hours, starting at 9pm and, stopping in Copenhagen, arriving in Stockholm at 10am. The bathroom. You can bend down but can you get back up? Photo: Carlton Reid SJ’s existing sleeper service from Malmö ran out quickly – I managed just four hours of sleep on the six-hour journey. Still, the creaking bunk was comfortable and the gentle rocking of the mouse was comforting. In fact, such a journey is too short for a sleeper service, but the Malmö bed in Stockholm is the best facsimile for the new service. Despite Denmark’s best efforts to derail me (trains stopped across Zealand for three hours after an electrical fire at a critical junction box), I crossed the Øresund railway bridge from Copenhagen just in time to join the night train and vintage, swedish made sleeping carriages. The new service will use wagons that were mothballed by Austrian Railways several years ago. With the revival of sleep services across Europe, SJ has taken them out of retirement and refurbishing. Train hostess Jeanette Andreasson, who oversaw my journey, told me: “The new coaches are not new [but they are] not as old as these.’ However, he was concerned that they were a bit tighter than the existing ones. The renovation may be deep, but it will certainly be better than the Malmö carriages in Stockholm. However, the narrowness does not bode well. I’m small, and yet even I found it like showering in the Swedish-made wagons, bending down to pick up the soap that falls and struggling to get back up. “You have to soap up all over and then you slide enough to not get stuck,” laughed Andreasson. A private bathroom, albeit a small one, is a luxury on every train, but on the new service it will only be available as a first class option. Economy travelers can choose a berth to sleep, with the next step being space in a six-berth berth (in the first few weeks all service will be berth-only). Passengers prepare to board an overnight train to Stockholm. Photo: Carlton Reid It’s not yet clear whether you’ll be woken in the night by border guards – staff I spoke to on the train thought they might look after passports during the journey, but the rail company suggested other arrangements might be needed – and the journey would finish with boxed breakfast. Meanwhile, mine ended up at the hotel across the street from Stockholm Central Station, where sleeping passengers can request a breakfast buffet of cold meats and croissants. There I met, via Zoom, Maja Rosén, co-founder of the organization We Stay on the Ground that coordinates the “Flight free” movement, now with chapters all over the world. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rosén lives on an island three hours north of Stockholm and hasn’t flown since 2008. Travel, if it must be done, should be by train, boat, foot or bike, she says. Flights must be limited, he believes, otherwise there won’t be many people left to see. “We need to reduce emissions now, but it’s also about making a statement. The promise to leave without flying is a very effective way to make people around you realize that we need to change the way we live. We cannot continue with business as usual,” says Rosen. “There are so many ways to explore the world without flying.” The SJ train hosts Mårten Block and Jeanette Andreasson. Photo: Carlton Reid One of the biggest obstacles is the financial cost, but my trip wasn’t that costly to the planet. According to ecopassenger.org, traveling by train in Stockholm emits 49 kg of carbon dioxide, while a plane will emit up to 380 kg per person. Not only is fuel used more efficiently, but the EuroNight train will run on renewable energy sources. Until recently, Swedes were among the most ungrateful travelers on the planet. This love affair with flying is fading fast because the climate crisis is particularly felt in Sweden. Traveling by train instead of flying is definitely more virtuous. There’s even a Swedish neologism for this feeling: tagskryt – “train brag” – or how some people, including me, rave about long-distance train travel when others fly. Some may consider this virtue signaling. Let them. I’ll be the one lying on my back under the Egyptian cotton sheets in a gently rocking carriage through Schleswig-Holstein and into the night. The EuroNight Hamburg to Stockholm service starts on 1 September.

title: " Train Wake Swedish Service Joins Glorious Resurgence Of Sleeper Travel Train Travel Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Cecilia Nesbitt”

This year sees the glorious revival of the sleeper train across Europe, with new routes including Brussels to Prague and Graz, Austria, to Warsaw. A particularly important night train starts running this month – from Hamburg to Stockholm. It will be a “game changer”, according to rail travel expert Mark Smith. But with a summer appointment in Stockholm, I couldn’t afford to wait until September. So I retraced the journey as best I could, to see what night train travel is like now that it seems to have returned. I traveled on an Interrail pass from London to Hamburg and then headed to Malmö, from where I boarded the somewhat aging train running north on the same route that the new EuroNight service will use. The service, operated by Sweden’s national rail operator SJ, “will get you from London to Stockholm in almost 24 hours,” according to Smith, who created the much-advised website Seat61.com. It will be the ‘missing link’ for travelers from the UK to Sweden, perhaps persuading many to take the train, rather than fly. It starts with the Eurostar from St Pancras in Brussels and then switches to a high-speed line in Hamburg, after which the speed will drop but the comfort will increase. EuroNight covers the 670 miles from Hamburg to Stockholm in 13 hours, starting at 9pm and, stopping in Copenhagen, arriving in Stockholm at 10am. The bathroom. You can bend down but can you get back up? Photo: Carlton Reid SJ’s existing sleeper service from Malmö ran out quickly – I managed just four hours of sleep on the six-hour journey. Still, the creaking bunk was comfortable and the gentle rocking of the mouse was comforting. In fact, such a journey is too short for a sleeper service, but the Malmö bed in Stockholm is the best facsimile for the new service. Despite Denmark’s best efforts to derail me (trains stopped across Zealand for three hours after an electrical fire at a critical junction box), I crossed the Øresund railway bridge from Copenhagen just in time to join the night train and vintage, swedish made sleeping carriages. The new service will use wagons that were mothballed by Austrian Railways several years ago. With the revival of sleep services across Europe, SJ has taken them out of retirement and refurbishing. Train hostess Jeanette Andreasson, who oversaw my journey, told me: “The new coaches are not new [but they are] not as old as these.’ However, he was concerned that they were a bit tighter than the existing ones. The renovation may be deep, but it will certainly be better than the Malmö carriages in Stockholm. However, the narrowness does not bode well. I’m small, and yet even I found it like showering in the Swedish-made wagons, bending down to pick up the soap that falls and struggling to get back up. “You have to soap up all over and then you slide enough to not get stuck,” laughed Andreasson. A private bathroom, albeit a small one, is a luxury on every train, but on the new service it will only be available as a first class option. Economy travelers can choose a berth to sleep, with the next step being space in a six-berth berth (in the first few weeks all service will be berth-only). Passengers prepare to board an overnight train to Stockholm. Photo: Carlton Reid It’s not yet clear whether you’ll be woken in the night by border guards – staff I spoke to on the train thought they might look after passports during the journey, but the rail company suggested other arrangements might be needed – and the journey would finish with boxed breakfast. Meanwhile, mine ended up at the hotel across the street from Stockholm Central Station, where sleeping passengers can request a breakfast buffet of cold meats and croissants. There I met, via Zoom, Maja Rosén, co-founder of the organization We Stay on the Ground that coordinates the “Flight free” movement, now with chapters all over the world. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rosén lives on an island three hours north of Stockholm and hasn’t flown since 2008. Travel, if it must be done, should be by train, boat, foot or bike, she says. Flights must be limited, he believes, otherwise there won’t be many people left to see. “We need to reduce emissions now, but it’s also about making a statement. The promise to leave without flying is a very effective way to make people around you realize that we need to change the way we live. We cannot continue with business as usual,” says Rosen. “There are so many ways to explore the world without flying.” The SJ train hosts Mårten Block and Jeanette Andreasson. Photo: Carlton Reid One of the biggest obstacles is the financial cost, but my trip wasn’t that costly to the planet. According to ecopassenger.org, traveling by train in Stockholm emits 49 kg of carbon dioxide, while a plane will emit up to 380 kg per person. Not only is fuel used more efficiently, but the EuroNight train will run on renewable energy sources. Until recently, Swedes were among the most ungrateful travelers on the planet. This love affair with flying is fading fast because the climate crisis is particularly felt in Sweden. Traveling by train instead of flying is definitely more virtuous. There’s even a Swedish neologism for this feeling: tagskryt – “train brag” – or how some people, including me, rave about long-distance train travel when others fly. Some may consider this virtue signaling. Let them. I’ll be the one lying on my back under the Egyptian cotton sheets in a gently rocking carriage through Schleswig-Holstein and into the night. The EuroNight Hamburg to Stockholm service starts on 1 September.