Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 05:55 29 Mar 2024
- Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
- Easter getaway begins with flood alerts in place
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningCancelled
07:00 Bedwyn to Newbury
07:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
08:13 Newbury to Bedwyn
08:46 Bedwyn to Newbury
09:54 Bedwyn to Newbury
10:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
11:29 Newbury to Bedwyn
11:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
12:52 Bedwyn to Newbury
Short Run
04:54 Plymouth to London Paddington
05:23 Hereford to London Paddington
05:33 Plymouth to London Paddington
05:55 Plymouth to London Paddington
06:00 Bedwyn to London Paddington
06:37 Plymouth to London Paddington
07:03 London Paddington to Paignton
08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
Delayed
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
05:03 Penzance to London Paddington
06:05 Penzance to London Paddington
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
08:15 Penzance to London Paddington
09:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 29, 2024, 06:09:20 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[82] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[76] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[74] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
[67] Return of the BRUTE?
[57] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[46] 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2]
  Print  
Author Topic: Sweden set to be within easy reach of London by sleeper train  (Read 5592 times)
Celestial
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 674


View Profile
« Reply #15 on: April 30, 2020, 12:13:24 »

Vienna to Frankfurt.
Although currently suspended, Vienna to Brussels is already a reality since earlier this year (?), twice a week. Nightjet's original plans were  to go up to daily from December.
Logged
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7156


View Profile
« Reply #16 on: April 30, 2020, 12:19:15 »

I felt the article was clickbait - when you look at the details, it's an aspiration to get a sleeper train from Malmo to Brussels via Cologne, with getting the authorisations being seemingly tricky to do.

Personally, if I was in the sleeper train business, I'd be looking for pairs of cities about 8-10 hours apart by sleeper, with heavy expense-account business traffic. Perhaps Milan to Frankfurt, Paris to Madrid, Vienna to Frankfurt. I'd then put on a premium overnight service with decent catering for business travellers, cheaper 'classic' compartments with room-service, and 'capsule' pods to compete with Ryanair/bus. Train leaves at 11, arrives at 6, kick out at 7 to clear the platform for rush-hour, with a lounge at the end so the plebs can shower and shave. Run it as a joint venture, Accor for hotel & catering services, a freight operator for the traction and someone like Hitachi for the rolling stock.

Don't forget this is Sweden - "Swedish Railways" don't run trains, they'd have to get a TOC (Train Operating Company) to run them. The Independent's article does say that:
Quote
Swedish authorities notably need to decide whether to provide subsidy for night trains and who should run them.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #17 on: May 06, 2020, 10:50:14 »

Delighted to find this diagram - "So you want to run a night train across Europe" as part of Rail Action 18 from RailFuture ... and all the more delighed that it's available for sharing under Creative Commons with very deserved credit to Jonworth


Click on image to see it a bit bigger
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2020, 14:22:53 »

From The Guardian

Quote
For all their promise of romance and adventure, Europe’s sleeper trains had appeared to have reached the end of the line.

Cripplingly expensive to run and forsaken by travellers for budget airlines, a decision by the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn to terminate the service connecting Paris to Berlin six years ago ushered in the closure of routes across the continent including almost all of France’s network.

But as Europe continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, there are tentative signs of a new dawn for the couchettes and twin bunks, as the concerns of both governments and travellers’ over the environmental impact of short-haul flights are being complemented by a desire to avoid airport departure lounges and security queues.

In the last few weeks there has been a flurry of announcements and inaugural journeys. Last Thursday the Swedish government said it would provide funds for two new routes to connect the cities of Stockholm and Malmö with Hamburg and Brussels.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #19 on: August 09, 2020, 06:26:11 »

From that great authority of complete an unbiased news - the Daily Mail

Quote
Night train to Nice? Rail body calls for sleeper trains to use Channel Tunnel due to rise in post-Covid eco-tourism
* Night trains, including from Brussels to Stockholm and Vienna, are being revived
* Rail industry has proposed to run sleeper trains through Channel tunnel
* It is in order to cater for growing demand for environmentally-friendly travel
* Many sleeper services were phased out after the rise of budget air travel

[snip]

Overnight trains running internationally from the UK (United Kingdom) could mean passengers going to bed in the UK and waking up for breakfast in Barcelona.
 

Behind a firewall at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/call-to-let-sleeper-trains-use-channel-tunnel-mt7sv0bdk, The Times addresses the issue of the economics of running sleepers through the Channel Tunnel

Quote
... night trains are being revived in several European countries, including from Paris to Nice and Brussels to Stockholm and Vienna, and rail companies also want international sleepers to serve the UK.

However, to do so economically, they say the stringent safety rules governing the Channel tunnel would need to be relaxed because they currently require very specific and expensive rolling stock. ...

A few years back now, Lisa and I came back from Barcelona overland by train - evening train to Toulouse (I think it was), Sleeper to Paris, Metro across the city, Eurostar to St Pancras, 205 (I suspect - can't recall) to Paddington, HST (High Speed Train) to Swindon, local train to Melksham, taxi for the final mile.  Would love to be able to cut out some of the awkward Paris and London stuff, though a sleeper service from Barcelona to Weymouth, dropping off at small intermediate stations like the Deerstalker with servicing facilities in Jersey Sidings like they have at Long Rock, sounds far fetched and a hard economic case to make.  Mind you, there might be not only a market for Southern England to Spain for holidays (passengers from the West Country change at Westbury, from Bristol and South Wales change at Swindon), but also for Toulousians and Parisians to visit the wonders of Dorset and the Jurassic Coast for their green holidays.  Start the lowland Caledonian Sleeper in the early evening from Weymouth too ... a mad idea, but then who knows what might happen in the coming decades?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
CyclingSid
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1918


Hockley viaduct


View Profile
« Reply #20 on: August 09, 2020, 07:51:08 »

Look to the past. There used to be a Glasgow to Eastbourne sleeper, possibly only seasonal. Noticed this when looking up Eastbourne station on Wikipedia and the details of the Eastbourne rail crash. The composition of the train was interesting;  "Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper consisted of 16 vehicles, two coaches, three sleeping cars, ten vans for luggage and motor cars and a guards van at the rear". Do the Channel Tunnel car transporters fit the rest of the uk gauge?
Logged
Bob_Blakey
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 783


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: August 09, 2020, 08:53:42 »

In the not too distant past I have used sleepers to travel between Paris & Venice and Prague & Cologne. I would be absolutely delighted if more services were reinstated.
Logged
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7747



View Profile
« Reply #22 on: August 09, 2020, 08:59:05 »

Look to the past. There used to be a Glasgow to Eastbourne sleeper, possibly only seasonal. Noticed this when looking up Eastbourne station on Wikipedia and the details of the Eastbourne rail crash. The composition of the train was interesting;  "Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper consisted of 16 vehicles, two coaches, three sleeping cars, ten vans for luggage and motor cars and a guards van at the rear". Do the Channel Tunnel car transporters fit the rest of the uk gauge?

Would you care to hazard a guess as to why there is no longer a sleeper service from Glasgow to Eastbourne?
Logged
CyclingSid
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1918


Hockley viaduct


View Profile
« Reply #23 on: August 09, 2020, 09:04:23 »

I wasn't advocating a sleeper service from Glasgow to Eastbourne. But did the composition of the train, car sleeper, suggest a way of encouraging potential passengers for am international service. I doubt if the return of Motorail in the UK (United Kingdom) is much more likely than a seasonal Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper.
Logged
rogerw
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1336



View Profile
« Reply #24 on: August 09, 2020, 20:57:55 »

The Glasgow - Eastbourne service was a motorail service so you could only travel on it with a car
Logged

I like to travel.  It lets me feel I'm getting somewhere.
eXPassenger
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 547


View Profile
« Reply #25 on: August 09, 2020, 21:17:24 »

Look to the past. There used to be a Glasgow to Eastbourne sleeper, possibly only seasonal. Noticed this when looking up Eastbourne station on Wikipedia and the details of the Eastbourne rail crash. The composition of the train was interesting;  "Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper consisted of 16 vehicles, two coaches, three sleeping cars, ten vans for luggage and motor cars and a guards van at the rear". Do the Channel Tunnel car transporters fit the rest of the uk gauge?

The car transporters take a lorry / coach or 2 levels of cars so there is no way they would fit the UK (United Kingdom) loading gauge.
Logged
MVR S&T
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 438


View Profile
« Reply #26 on: August 09, 2020, 21:50:15 »

I still keep reading the subject line as SWINDON set to be in easy reach of London by sleeper train....
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 [2]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page