European Sleeper experience

[riceuten]

Incorrect. Comfort standard has a maximum occupancy of three people, not six.

I'm not quite sure why ES is getting defended here.

Me neither. I welcome the innovation and the aspiration, but they have been fairly lamentable for an extended period. They are very much a bargain basement operation (without the bargain basement prices).

Quite a few people have opined that "Nightjet are just as bad". That's no defence at all. I get the impression they could do whatever they want and people would defend them.

 

[Jealgu]

For everyone claiming that ES is expensive, how many night trains in Europe that are not subsidized and not running solely behind the former Iron curtain that is constantly cheaper than ES. Do not say Nightjet, they can be cheaper but that depends on how the dynamic pricing plays out.

 

[Watershed]

Do not say Nightjet, they can be cheaper but that depends on how the dynamic pricing plays out.

All Western European night trains are dynamically priced AFAIK (for rooms/couchettes at least). So if you adopt that argument, no night train operator could ever be proven to be cheaper than another.

 

[Jealgu]

All Western European night trains are dynamically priced AFAIK (for rooms/couchettes at least). So if you adopt that argument, no night train operator could ever be proven to be cheaper than another.

But if you go some posts back you can read that in the upcoming summer Nightjet on Amsterdam Vienna tends to be cheaper than Amsterdam Praha in the mentioned classes. The experience of the user with much cheaper NJ tickets is the anomaly, not the other way around.

The upcoming RDC only version of Berlin Stockholm does not seem to have dynamic prices trying different dates in the booking engine.

 

[Tayway]

Emailed European Sleeper customer service asking for a reimbursement of the hotel and 50% compensation of my pass holder reservation given in arrived in Brussels more than two hours after the scheduled time. I got a prompt but fairly curt response repeating my three apparent options with the extra proviso that any reimbursement of travel over twice the price paid wouldn't be approved (whether a flight or not). Enforcement body/Interrail will be next step as I have now reminded them...

They have now relented and said they will reimburse my hotel, which is good, but are still washing their hands of the fact I was delayed due to the cancellation. I might try my luck with Interrail, even if it is just the standard €24 I get back it's better than nothing.

 

[rvdborgt]

They have now relented and said they will reimburse my hotel, which is good, but are still washing their hands of the fact I was delayed due to the cancellation. I might try my luck with Interrail, even if it is just the standard €24 I get back it's better than nothing.

You're entitled to both compensations. Interrail will normally pay quite fast.
For ES I can recommend the Belgian enforcement body.

 

[citycat]

I just thought I'd share what happened when the European Sleeper made the unusual call at Utrecht Centraal on Monday evening 29/06/26. I'd heard earlier in the day about the problems in the Rotterdam area, and I saw that the ES 453 service heading to Prague was now diverted to Utrecht and not calling at Rotterdam, Den Haag or Amsterdam. As I live only 15 minutes from Utrecht, I thought I'd head over there to see the train pass through. It was due at 22:55 and departing 22:58.

When I arrived at Utrecht Centraal, it showed on the main departure board that the European Sleeper was cancelled due to power problems. Yet, the station gave an announcement periodically to ignore the information on the departure board and that the service was indeed running, but it didn't give a platform.

At that time of night, it's often quite hard to find a member of station staff around, but I eventually tracked down a yellow hi vis wearing woman lurking in a doorway, and she informed me that the ES was leaving from platform 19. I strolled down to 19 and saw the platform was heaving with people with suitcases. I realised they were probably all the people from Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam who had been redirected to Utrecht on alternative services.

Now, the funny thing. Every few minutes, an automated announcement came over the tannoy stating that ES 453 to Prague was cancelled, followed a minute later by another automated announcement saying that the service was running. This happened several times with first a cancelled announcement, and then a yes it was running announcement. All automated.

As you can imagine, the waiting throng of passengers were all quite unnerved by this. Would the train come or was it indeed cancelled? Like some war reporter, I was waiting around to see how it would all kick off with the crowd if the train never came? And who indeed they would kick off to, as there were no staff anywhere.

Then, some headlights appeared in the darkness and the crowd looked expectantly as the lights got closer, and then all groaned as one when a NS double decker VIRM service to Nijmegen rolled into platform 19, and then just stayed there for about ten minutes. Passengers had difficulty getting off that train because of all the waiting ES passengers with their suitcases crowding the platform.

The 22:55 arrival time of ES 453 came and went with the NS service still sitting there, and the constant announcements continued saying the ES was cancelled, followed by another announcement saying it was not. The Nijmegen train eventually departed and everyone waited expectantly once more.

Finally, at 23:27, some headlights appeared in the distance which my trained eye told me did not belong to an NS unit, so I got my phone ready to video the arrival. At 23:28, ES 453 finally rolled into platform 19 at Utrecht Centraal, and then that's when the chaos started. No one seemed to know in which order the carriages were so when the train came to a halt, everyone was fighting past each other with their cases trying to find their booked cars. I was so glad I wasn't travelling and was only there to witness the train pass through.

With the decrepit weather beaten state of some of the carriages, it appeared to me like one of those refugee trains that you saw at the start of the Ukraine war, with people fighting to get on board and pushing suitcases through the open windows. As I walked down the train towards the loco, it was madness in the corridors and vestibles of several carriages, and passengers that were still on the platform were desperately trying to get on board for fear of being potentially left behind. It was also funny to see people laid on couchettes with some of the blokes bare chested indicating that it might have been a bit hot in those compartments.

As I walked down the train towards the loco, I only counted four ES staff on the platform for the whole train. I'm not sure how many should be working on board so maybe I missed some. I arrived at the loco and chatted briefly to the driver as he surveyed the chaos going on down the platform from the safety of his cab door. A couple of passengers ran down the platform to ask him where their carriage was and all he could do was direct them back to the ES staff mobbed further down the platform.

The driver of the Lineas Railpool liveried loco told me that he would be relieved at Emmerich in Germany.

Eventually, at 23:44, he got the departure tip via his radio, bade me and some other people that had congregated by the loco farewell, and then took power. As the train rolled out, I could still see passengers crowded in the corridors of various carriages, trying to find their compartments or bunks and I was glad that I was not one of the ES staff having to sort out the mess.

I am not making this post to lay blame at anybody. I am just merely reporting on what was obviously a bad night for the European Sleeper, whereby passengers from Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam all boarded at once in Utrecht, overwhelming the service during it's 16 minute stop, and which had not been helped by the constant station announcements giving conflicting information about whether the service was cancelled or not, and by the lack of station staff to reassure people.

Of course, I know the NS has no responsibility whatsoever to provide any staff for the ES, but in my opinion, the platform was quite dangerously overcrowded so they should at least have had some security guys standing by just in case one of the passengers or their bag toppled off the platform edge.

I'd be interested to hear in the future if anyone on here travelled on ES on Monday night, and what it was like on board.

 

[doc7austin]

With the decrepit weather beaten state of some of the carriages, it appeared to me like one of those refugee trains that you saw at the start of the Ukraine war,

Do you have any photos of the aforementioned refugee trains ?

 

[citycat]

Do you have any photos of the aforementioned refugee trains ?

I only have video of the arrival and departure apart from the two photos I provided. However, if I did have photos, I would not share them. Despite my slightly derogatory remark about a refugee train, I actually want European Sleeper to be a success, and it's just unfortunate that they have very old rolling stock to work with.

I don't think it was ES's fault that the train arrived late, and the conflicting announcements made by the NS only served to make the waiting passengers nervous and unsure if the train would actually turn up. Also, the train was only scheduled to make a three minute stop at Utrecht which maybe led to some passengers being anxious to board the train and not get left behind, so upon reflection, maybe my 'refugee train' statement was a bit unfair of me. I think it also didn't help that the carriage numbering seemed to be a bit haphazard.

Previous comments made by yourself lead me to think that you perhaps want the venture to fail? I myself hopes the venture will keep going and that maybe they will get access to some better rolling stock in the future.

One thing that intrigues me. Who despatches the train and is responsible for its operational safety? Is it the Train Manager that is employed by Wagon Plastron who supply the on board staff?

Before moving to the Netherlands, I formerly worked in the UK as a train guard on the East Coast Mainline. Not only did I have to be proficient in track safety and carry a card stating I was proficient to go onto the track, I had to go to guard school for six weeks to learn all the technical details of the trains I would be working on, all the signalling, and the whole railway rule book. I then had to take and pass exams and undergo a two day practical assessment showing my operation of the train in service, and also a show and tell in the depot identifying and explaining the function of every gauge, electrical breaker and valve in the train and underneath it. Finally, I was passed out as a Guard. But before working a train in service, I then had to spend three months learning the routes I would be operating including all the diversionary routes, so that I could look out of the window at any random field or industrial estate and know exactly where we were, including in the dark. A lot of it was from just 'feeling the rails' and passing over certain point work would tell me where we were or if we were approaching a station without me even having to look out of the window. I would imagine it's the same for conductors on the NS.

So I wonder how it works with the European Sleeper? Is it just down to the driver these days to know all the technical and safety stuff of his loco and the whole consist of the train while the train manager is just responsible for on board customer service and leading his team? Is it down to the driver to let the train manager know where they are if they break down somewhere or they have to conduct a reversal movement or they have to follow a diversionary route like they did to Utrecht the other night? Or are there independent conductors provided by SNCB, NS, DB and CD that I don't know about that are responsible for the safety and technical aspects of the journey? If it's just the ES train manager, it's a long old route card for he or she to learn from Brussels to Prague.

Perhaps someone in the know can tell me how the ES operates behind the scenes.

 

[ivanhoe]

Planning on doing Brussels to Vienna next year. My expectations are quite low to mediocre but I think the possibility of using just one travel day to get from Loughborough to Vienna is quite compelling. Leonardo Hotels will be my home for 2 nights.

I have sympathy with ES because they are trying to offer a product utilising very old rolling stock and attracting passengers, many whom have high expectations. Whenever I look at a Vlog, I've always thought, this is more about the Vlogger than the travel experience.

 

[Jealgu]

You realise Brussels Vienna is Nightjet?

 

[AdamWW]

I note that on the front page of their web site they offer: "Memorable journey" as a selling point.

Some people seem to have had memorable journeys for the wrong reasons...

(I've only used it once and had quite a smooth journey, albeit somewhat late but I wasn't in a rush and it meant that we got to go through Berlin in the light - and I got longer on the train).

 

[Amalie]

As far as I understand, NS Stations and Prorail are responsible for ensuring that announcements are correct and that passenger trains are served properly at stations, even those by other companies.

 

[ivanhoe]

You realise Brussels Vienna is Nightjet?

I do now

 

[riceuten]

They have now relented and said they will reimburse my hotel, which is good, but are still washing their hands of the fact I was delayed due to the cancellation. I might try my luck with Interrail, even if it is just the standard €24 I get back it's better than nothing.

They have form for saying they will reimburse but then not doing so - I presume cashflow issues. You may need to chase and threaten legal action

 

[Fragezeichnen]

One thing that intrigues me. Who despatches the train and is responsible for its operational safety? Is it the Train Manager that is employed by Wagon Plastron who supply the on board staff?

Before moving to the Netherlands, I formerly worked in the UK as a train guard on the East Coast Mainline. Not only did I have to be proficient in track safety and carry a card stating I was proficient to go onto the track, I had to go to guard school for six weeks to learn all the technical details of the trains I would be working on, all the signalling, and the whole railway rule book. I then had to take and pass exams and undergo a two day practical assessment showing my operation of the train in service, and also a show and tell in the depot identifying and explaining the function of every gauge, electrical breaker and valve in the train and underneath it. Finally, I was passed out as a Guard. But before working a train in service, I then had to spend three months learning the routes I would be operating including all the diversionary routes, so that I could look out of the window at any random field or industrial estate and know exactly where we were, including in the dark. A lot of it was from just 'feeling the rails' and passing over certain point work would tell me where we were or if we were approaching a station without me even having to look out of the window. I would imagine it's the same for conductors on the NS.

So I wonder how it works with the European Sleeper? Is it just down to the driver these days to know all the technical and safety stuff of his loco and the whole consist of the train while the train manager is just responsible for on board customer service and leading his team? Is it down to the driver to let the train manager know where they are if they break down somewhere or they have to conduct a reversal movement or they have to follow a diversionary route like they did to Utrecht the other night? Or are there independent conductors provided by SNCB, NS, DB and CD that I don't know about that are responsible for the safety and technical aspects of the journey? If it's just the ES train manager, it's a long old route card for he or she to learn from Brussels to Prague.

Perhaps someone in the know can tell me how the ES operates behind the scenes.

The carriages used by ES aren't equipped with door sensors for driver despatch(and the train would be too long anyway) so they need to carry a guard who would be responsible for despatch, and for shunting if necessary. My understanding is ES use guards from Train Charter, a dutch company which specialisies in providing operational staff for small international passenger operators, for France/Belgium/Germany and Czecke Drahy supplies one for Czechia.

In Germany at least there is to my knowledge no formal rulebook requirement of route knowledge for guards. In my involvement with charter trains I never heard of a case that a different guard was needed because of the route, only when operating on international or non-DB infrastructure. As impressive as it may be, the ability to locate a train by feel is surely redundant in today's modern age of GPS and electronic mapping; and the driver will always be better informed as they have the radio connection with the signaller.

The elaborate specific training given to directly employed staff operating an intensive service with a fixed fleet on a fixed route network is impractical when assisting in the operation of occasional services as a subcontractor. On the trains I worked on we carried a technician familiar with the coaches where possible, otherwise the guard has to do their best to deal with any technical issues.

In times past when trains ran direct from Düsseldorf to Athens with a patchwork of carriages supplied by the many cooperating networks it travelled over, the German guard could hardly be expected to know from memory every detail of whatever coach had been supplied by the depot in Belgrade, or Thessaoliniki. Thus the extensive technical information on the side of every coach, and standardised, multilingual control panels. Specific rolling stock training is so also not strictly necessary, at least with ES vintage stock - with today's "computers on wheels" it's rather different.

 

[befated]

To provide some balance, I recently did a journey with ES in a couchette (Paris - Berlin, then Berlin - Brussels on the ex-Prague train) and while it was very much rough around the edges, my overall experience was fairly positive, probably boiling down to '3.5 stars, adequate and as described'.

The main issues I did see:
- The 'carriages in a random order' thing is still happening (thanks to other posters who mentioned this so I knew to expect it), but I did see a few instances of staff on the platform directing people. At any rate, the dwells were long enough for people to have plenty of time to get on.
- They moved the departure time earlier after booking, which I am really not a fan of. I'd rather they retimed the train to arrive later, but then they would have to pay delay compensation. The lack of compensation for earlier departures feels like it creates a perverse incentive here.
- We were late both ways, but for a sleeper across Germany that's not exactly unexpected.
- The carriages could probably do with a refurb. They were fine by my standards but I can understand someone wanting 'luxury' being unimpressed by the stiff windows, fiddly door locking (definitely do a 'test run' figuring out how to lock and unlock it before trying to do it in 2am in the dark!), and so on. The ladder was especially annoying as it could seemingly only be hung by the door (not by the window) which then made getting in and out of the compartment a real pain.

More positive points:
- The bedding was good for a couchette - a little sleeping bag thing, a big blanket (not that it's hugely needed this time of year), and a far bigger pillow than the tiny Nightjet ones. I found it perfectly comfortable.
- On the outward journey (but not the return) there was a table stored under a bottom bunk that we could fold out and put in the middle of the compartment. This was a really nice feature.
- The toilet soap dispenser was empty (both ways IIRC), but they put a separate bottle of soap there. That's better than the LNR 730 I used to get to London! Otherwise the toilet worked fine.
- The AC worked well but took an hour or so to kick in after leaving Paris.
- I wasn't paying €14.50 for vaguely described 'breakfast', but the (instant) coffee I did get was good.
- On board staff were visible, friendly and pleasant.

And the price was very reasonable considering the distance - solo occupancy of a couchette ('Classic Private'), for 4 of us, came to €490 return (so about £55 per person each way), booked 3 months out. (Interestingly this was cheaper than non-solo occupancy - I assume they don’t want a solo traveller sharing the one leftover bunk in their 5-berth couchettes with a group of 4). However other nearby days were as much as double what we paid, we had to time our trip around which dates the sleeper was cheap for. Nonetheless I feel it was good value for money, and I’d definitely use their service again - although given the less good reviews I’ve heard from sleeping car passengers I think I’ll stick to couchettes!

 

[BRX]

To provide some balance, I recently did a journey with ES in a couchette (Paris - Berlin, then Berlin - Brussels on the ex-Prague train) and while it was very much rough around the edges, my overall experience was fairly positive, probably boiling down to '3.5 stars, adequate and as described'.

The main issues I did see:
- The 'carriages in a random order' thing is still happening (thanks to other posters who mentioned this so I knew to expect it), but I did see a few instances of staff on the platform directing people. At any rate, the dwells were long enough for people to have plenty of time to get on.
- They moved the departure time earlier after booking, which I am really not a fan of. I'd rather they retimed the train to arrive later, but then they would have to pay delay compensation. The lack of compensation for earlier departures feels like it creates a perverse incentive here.
- We were late both ways, but for a sleeper across Germany that's not exactly unexpected.
- The carriages could probably do with a refurb. They were fine by my standards but I can understand someone wanting 'luxury' being unimpressed by the stiff windows, fiddly door locking (definitely do a 'test run' figuring out how to lock and unlock it before trying to do it in 2am in the dark!), and so on. The ladder was especially annoying as it could seemingly only be hung by the door (not by the window) which then made getting in and out of the compartment a real pain.

More positive points:
- The bedding was good for a couchette - a little sleeping bag thing, a big blanket (not that it's hugely needed this time of year), and a far bigger pillow than the tiny Nightjet ones. I found it perfectly comfortable.
- On the outward journey (but not the return) there was a table stored under a bottom bunk that we could fold out and put in the middle of the compartment. This was a really nice feature.
- The toilet soap dispenser was empty (both ways IIRC), but they put a separate bottle of soap there. That's better than the LNR 730 I used to get to London! Otherwise the toilet worked fine.
- The AC worked well but took an hour or so to kick in after leaving Paris.
- I wasn't paying €14.50 for vaguely described 'breakfast', but the (instant) coffee I did get was good.
- On board staff were visible, friendly and pleasant.

And the price was very reasonable considering the distance - solo occupancy of a couchette ('Classic Private'), for 4 of us, came to €490 return (so about £55 per person each way), booked 3 months out. (Interestingly this was cheaper than non-solo occupancy - I assume they don’t want a solo traveller sharing the one leftover bunk in their 5-berth couchettes with a group of 4). However other nearby days were as much as double what we paid, we had to time our trip around which dates the sleeper was cheap for. Nonetheless I feel it was good value for money, and I’d definitely use their service again - although given the less good reviews I’ve heard from sleeping car passengers I think I’ll stick to couchettes!

This description matches very well with both of the two ES trips I've done so far.

 

[danshrimp]

This description matches very well with both of the two ES trips I've done so far.

Mine too.

For what it's worth, I think the problem of the carriages being numbered out of order could be helped a great deal if they just drew a lot more attention to their train composition page. When I've travelled with ES I've checked it beforehand and have been able to find my carriage very easily. A simple email and/or text on the day of departure telling passengers to follow that URL before the train arrives on the platform to check their carriage, and there'd be much less shock and confusion.

Obviously not the ultimate solution but it would be something.

 

[BRX]

I see they are now serving Hamburg (as of a few days ago).

 

[SephenWorceste]

I really want this operation to be a success. I do not fly so the Paris to Barcelona use to save me literally days and expensive hotel night in Paris or London.

I know timing with sleepers have always got to be considered approximate. I have been late into Paris, Venice and West Palm Beach. This new service just seems so unreliable. You cannot guarantee even getting to your destination, and may have a very long coach substitution. Also if I pay for a bed I do not expect a seat.

I really would like to try this but it is likely to knock the entirety of the rest of my itinerary out of sync.

A bit sad about all this.

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

[BRX]

This new service just seems so unreliable.

Based on what, though?

 

[riceuten]

Based on what, though?

Multiple comments here and elsewhere.

 

[SephenWorceste]

Based on what, though?

So many reports. Here, The Guardian, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, various bloggers, social media ...

My personal view is if one person says something online, then it is probably not true. If dozens of people are saying the same thing (but differently at different times) then it may well be true. Unfortunately at the moment European Sleeper fall in to that category.

If you have statistics about the European Sleeper reliability (from advertised route start to advertised route end) then I will change my mind. Also availability of booked accommodation would be interesting.

Thank you, Stephen.

 

[bkhtele]

My only single experience was downgrade from single sleeper to sole use of 6 birth compartment. They only refunded me for the downgrade after 4 months, multiple emails & treating legal action. The first was understandable the delay in refund was silly because they have lost my custom. I would like them to succeed but they need to keep their refund promise rather than hoping people foget!

 

[SephenWorceste]

My only single experience was downgrade from single sleeper to sole use of 6 birth compartment. They only refunded me for the downgrade after 4 months, multiple emails & treating legal action. The first was understandable the delay in refund was silly because they have lost my custom. I would like them to succeed but they need to keep their refund promise rather than hoping people foget!

As you say. I think all on here want them to succeed. It is such a shame at the moment.

 

[riceuten]

So many reports. Here, The Guardian, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, various bloggers, social media ...

My personal view is if one person says something online, then it is probably not true. If dozens of people are saying the same thing (but differently at different times) then it may well be true. Unfortunately at the moment European Sleeper fall in to that category.

If you have statistics about the European Sleeper reliability (from advertised route start to advertised route end) then I will change my mind. Also availability of booked accommodation would be interesting.

Thank you, Stephen.

I'm also dismayed when people say "Well, Nightjet are just as bad", which - even if it were true - is no defence at all. We all want successful rail operators and good news stories - the problem is ES are doing stuff on the cheap and haphazard standard and hoping people won't notice.

 

[danshrimp]

I'm also dismayed when people say "Well, Nightjet are just as bad", which - even if it were true - is no defence at all. We all want successful rail operators and good news stories - the problem is ES are doing stuff on the cheap and haphazard standard and hoping people won't notice.

Well that's one interpretation of the unreliability, and I'm not saying it's wrong. The other is that they're operating challenging routes (into France for example) that others are unwilling to operate, and are attempting to run their services in some form every day come hell or high water unlike others who will cancel at the drop of a hat. This makes for a messy operation, and perhaps it would have been best for their long term reputation if they took a more risk-averse approach, but it is a commendable commitment to providing a much-needed service.

 

[BRX]

If you have statistics about the European Sleeper reliability (from advertised route start to advertised route end) then I will change my mind.

This website offers some statistics. The latest set they have covers 2025 so doesn't include the Berlin/Paris service but it does cover a year's worth of the Brussels/Prague one. You can only filter the data in certain ways, but perhaps a sort-of meaningful way to do a comparison is to look at trains that pass through Germany. After all, we know that Germany is currently a major source of delays, so we can look at how a number of operators do when trying to run long distance trains through the country.

You can order the results by Average delay, cancellation rate or punctuality. I think the first two are the most meaningful for night trains - as you say yourself, an expectation of the possibility of delays is part of night train travel.

Ordered by "Average delay" the worst service they list is EN 345 Stockholm-Berlin with an 84 minute average delay. It's followed by a couple of Nightjet services at around 60 minutes. You can choose to display 50 results per page. The top 50 results are mostly a mixture of NJ, ICE and IC and EC services. The average delays range from 84 to 37 minutes. Are the ES services in that top 50? No - in fact you have to go to page 6 of the 26 pages of results to find ES 452 Prague - Brussels with an average delay of 25 minutes and page 11 to find ES 453 Brussels - Prague with an everage delay of 20 minutes.

You might say that the most critical statistic is "cancellation rate" because of course cancellation of a night train usually causes you a much bigger problem than a delay does. You can order by cancellation rate too, and the worst performer is an ICE with 35.6%. ES 452 Prague-Brussels is on page 20 of 26 with a cancellation rate of 2.4% and ES 453 is on page 24 of 26 at 1.1%.

For the worse of those two, ES 452's cancellation rate means that if you travelled on it once every week, you could expect your train to be cancelled once a year.

You may say that comparing cancellation rates with day trains is a bit meaningless because of the magnitude of the consequences and I'd agree, so it is fairer to compare with other night trains. Here are all the night trains that are listed as passing through Germany:

*************	******************	******************	*************	*************	*************
Train no.	From	To	Average delay (mins)	Cancellation rate (%)	Punctuality (%)
ES 452​	Praha hl.n.​	Bruxelles Midi​	25.6	2.4	52.0
ES 453​	Bruxelles Midi​	Praha hl.n.​	20.6	1.1	63.4

*************	******************	******************	*************	*************	*************
EN 346​	Berlin Hbf​	Stockholm Central​	12.8	5.2	81.1
EN 345​	Stockholm Central​	Berlin Hbf​	84.4	4.4	29.1
EN 13485	Stockholm Central	Berlin	77.8	5.7	29.8

*************	******************	******************	*************	*************	*************
EN 40459​	Zürich HB​	Praha hl.n.​	37.8	1.7	48.5
EN 40458​	Praha hl.n.​	Zürich HB​	36.3	0.9	55.2
EN 40476​	Budapest-Nyugati​	Berlin Hbf​	19.2	1.8	58.3
EN 407​	Warszawa Wschodnia​	München Hbf​	18.4	1.0	37.8
EN 414​	Zagreb Glavni kolodvor​	Stuttgart Hbf​	16.2	0.4	68.5
EN 40457​	Berlin Hbf​	Budapest-Nyugati​	14.7	1.8	70.7
EN 40237​	Stuttgart Hbf​	Zagreb Glavni kolodvor​	11.8	3.1	78.4
EN 406​	München Hbf​	Warszawa Wschodnia​	6.9	1.2	79.9

*************	******************	******************	*************	*************	*************
EN 50462​	Budapest-Keleti​	Stuttgart Hbf​	16.2	0.4	67.1
EN 50237​	Stuttgart Hbf​	Budapest-Keleti​	11.4	2.1	79.8

*************	******************	******************	*************	*************	*************
NJ 40424​	Berlin Ostbahnhof​	Paris Est​	26.1	9.4	55.4
NJ 479​	Bruxelles Midi​	Mannheim Hbf​	30.2	7.4	38.6
NJ 424​	Berlin Ostbahnhof​	Bruxelles Midi​	31.6	6.7	55.0
NJ 40425​	Bruxelles Midi​	Wien Hbf​	42.5	6.0	40.8
NJ 40469​	Paris Est​	Berlin Hbf​	27.4	5.9	55.2
NJ 425​	Bruxelles Midi​	Berlin Hbf​	41.8	5.9	44.8
NJ 468​	Wien Hbf​	Paris Est​	28.6	5.2	36.3
NJ 40468​	Wien Hbf​	Bruxelles Midi​	38.8	5.0	47.7
NJ 402​	Zürich HB​	Amsterdam Centraal​	23.8	4.8	56.9
NJ 478​	Mannheim Hbf​	Bruxelles Midi​	26.4	4.5	41.9
NJ 403​	Amsterdam Centraal​	Zürich HB​	42.8	3.6	33.8
NJ 421​	Amsterdam Centraal​	Innsbruck Hbf​	51.7	3.0	38.4
NJ 40421​	Amsterdam Centraal​	Wien Hbf​	54.8	2.9	31.1
NJ 40295​	München Hbf​	Milano Lambrate​	7.3	2.6	76.3
NJ 40490​	Wien Hbf​	Amsterdam Centraal​	62.9	2.5	20.3
NJ 295​	München Hbf​	Roma Tiburtina​	8.8	2.2	75.9
NJ 40491​	Hamburg-Altona​	Innsbruck Hbf​	45.8	2.1	60.7
NJ 237​	Stuttgart Hbf​	Venezia Santa Lucia​	12.3	2.1	75.6
NJ 470​	Zürich HB​	Hamburg-Altona​	28.9	2.1	43.9
NJ 471​	Hamburg-Altona​	Zürich HB​	26.6	2.0	63.4
NJ 469​	Paris Est​	Wien Hbf​	36.4	1.9	33.3
NJ 408​	Berlin Hbf​	Zürich HB​	32.5	1.7	61.3
NJ 420​	Innsbruck Hbf​	Amsterdam Centraal​	64.0	1.7	25.0
NJ 409​	Zürich HB​	Berlin Hbf​	39.3	1.6	46.8
NJ 491​	Hamburg-Altona​	Wien Hbf​	54.2	1.4	55.7
NJ 490​	Wien Hbf​	Hamburg-Altona​	51.6	0.9	46.8
NJ 40420​	Innsbruck Hbf​	Hamburg-Altona​	52.5	0.9	47.7
NJ 456​	Graz Hbf​	Berlin Hbf​	20.5	0.8	56.7
NJ 236​	Venezia Santa Lucia​	Stuttgart Hbf​	32.4	0.8	34.1
NJ 457​	Berlin Hbf​	Graz Hbf​	15.1	0.8	70.1
NJ 294​	Roma Tiburtina​	München Hbf​	24.5	0.7	56.1
NJ 40235​	Milano Lambrate​	München Hbf​	28.5	0.0	55.9

I don't think you can look at these figures and say that compared to other night train services, European Sleeper is some kind of major outlier when it comes either to delays or cancellations. In fact I'd say they compare pretty favourably and appear to be better than average.

I don't know anything about how these data are collected or how reliable they are. And there may well be ways in which things are reported that distorts reality in some ways but this appears to be the best there is in terms of objective numbers. I think I'd pay much more attention to this than to a general feeling from social media or youtube trip reports.

A couple of years ago I did something similar on the Caledonian Sleeper thread, comparing the sleeper to Inverness with flights, looking at delay and cancellation rates. Because so much more attention is given to problems with the sleeper than the airlines, it would be easy to get the impression the sleeper was terribly unreliable. But the real world statistics didn't seem to bear this out at all - it was no worse than the flights and if I remember correctly actually a bit better. And it looks to me like the same is probably true here - because of the nature of the operation ES gets a lot of attention and what gets published (including in reviews) is heavily biased towards the times when things go wrong.

Perhaps next year we'll be able to look at a similar set of numbers that includes the Paris/Berlin ES services.

 

[MattSGB]

Of the many problems that I have encountered with European Sleeper, delays is not one of them. I got significantly delayed once, but it was understandable. However, I have had several instances of ES making very short-notice amendments to their timetable, including multiple instances of early departures, and at least one planned late arrival. I would assume that this kind of short-notice timetable change would help their punctuality stats, where perhaps other operators would just arrive delayed? I appreciate ES running diversions rather than just cancelling services, but I would argue that a last-minute notification of an early departure is potentially more disruptive than a late arrival.