European Sleeper experience

[railfan99]

This is very good news for those of us who'd like to travel by train from the north of England to Berlin. The later departure from Brussels makes it a genuine alternative to a daytime train (the civilised arrival time in Berlin helps as well).

Agree: an excellent timetable.

As noted above, my recent 'ES' sleeping car experience was very good, but I appreciate the company has had many problems.

 

[dub_boi]

I'm planning to travel from Dublin to Berlin in the summer on my own with the doggie. For variety, I'm thinking of using the Harwich<->Hook of Holland ferry in one direction and Le Pet Express which is a minibus for pets and their owners which crosses the channel on LeShuttle.

For travel between Paris and Berlin and Amsterdam and Berlin, I'm considering the European Sleeper but the reports in this thread don't fill me with confidence. As it will be summer I would really like a compartment with working air conditioning but I see conflicting information about this. Vagonweb indicates that all coaches have AC, but Seat61 says this is temperamental in the the 1950s vintage "Comfort Plus" sleepers. I've also read else that only the Classic coaches have AC.

Looking at the ES website, as a solo traveller with a dog my options as follows, with prices for a date in late June for Amsterdam to Berlin included for reference:
Classic Private - 5-person compartment - Private €209
Comfort Standard - 3 person compartment - Single €289
Comfort Plus - Spacious 3 person compartment with wash basin - Single €359

Any thoughts on which is likely to be the most comfortable ?

 

[MattSGB]

I'm planning to travel from Dublin to Berlin in the summer on my own with the doggie. For variety, I'm thinking of using the Harwich<->Hook of Holland ferry in one direction and Le Pet Express which is a minibus for pets and their owners which crosses the channel on LeShuttle.

For travel between Paris and Berlin and Amsterdam and Berlin, I'm considering the European Sleeper but the reports in this thread don't fill me with confidence. As it will be summer I would really like a compartment with working air conditioning but I see conflicting information about this. Vagonweb indicates that all coaches have AC, but Seat61 says this is temperamental in the the 1950s vintage "Comfort Plus" sleepers. I've also read else that only the Classic coaches have AC.

Looking at the ES website, as a solo traveller with a dog my options as follows, with prices for a date in late June for Amsterdam to Berlin included for reference:
Classic Private - 5-person compartment - Private €209
Comfort Standard - 3 person compartment - Single €289
Comfort Plus - Spacious 3 person compartment with wash basin - Single €359

Any thoughts on which is likely to be the most comfortable ?

I think that the classic and comfort standard are basically the same thing, except that in comfort standard they give you a mattress topper, better bedding and limit it to maximum 3 occupancy (rather than 5), so that you can sit or lie without reconfiguring the beds. I've not had any problems with the A/C in those 5 bed compartments.

They used to sell 6 berth couchettes which were old Slovakian stock without A/C. Those seem to have been discontinued. I can't speak for the comfort plus because on the two times I booked it, the train turned up formed without the sleeper carriage and I got downgraded.

 

[Mike99]

I'm planning to travel from Dublin to Berlin in the summer on my own with the doggie. For variety, I'm thinking of using the Harwich<->Hook of Holland ferry in one direction and Le Pet Express which is a minibus for pets and their owners which crosses the channel on LeShuttle.

For travel between Paris and Berlin and Amsterdam and Berlin, I'm considering the European Sleeper but the reports in this thread don't fill me with confidence. As it will be summer I would really like a compartment with working air conditioning but I see conflicting information about this. Vagonweb indicates that all coaches have AC, but Seat61 says this is temperamental in the the 1950s vintage "Comfort Plus" sleepers. I've also read else that only the Classic coaches have AC.

Looking at the ES website, as a solo traveller with a dog my options as follows, with prices for a date in late June for Amsterdam to Berlin included for reference:
Classic Private - 5-person compartment - Private €209
Comfort Standard - 3 person compartment - Single €289
Comfort Plus - Spacious 3 person compartment with wash basin - Single €359

Any thoughts on which is likely to be the most comfortable ?

If you are connected to Facebook, try the site, "Interrailing for the older crowd", you don't need to be old or using Interrail, but you'll find lots of related tips and info for this sort of trip/

 

[dub_boi]

I think that the classic and comfort standard are basically the same thing, except that in comfort standard they give you a mattress topper, better bedding and limit it to maximum 3 occupancy (rather than 5), so that you can sit or lie without reconfiguring the beds. I've not had any problems with the A/C in those 5 bed compartments.

They used to sell 6 berth couchettes which were old Slovakian stock without A/C. Those seem to have been discontinued. I can't speak for the comfort plus because on the two times I booked it, the train turned up formed without the sleeper carriage and I got downgraded.

Thank you. It looks like Comfort Standard would be fine.

It's a pity OeBB Nightjet dropped the Paris<->Berlin route. Their Comfort Plus sleepers are great.

 

[dub_boi]

If you are connected to Facebook, try the site, "Interrailing for the, you don't need to be old or using Interrail, but you'll find lots of related tips and info for this sort of trip/

Thanks, I've just applied to join. I probably fit into the "older crowd" category anyway...

 

[Mike99]

Thanks, I've just applied to join. I probably fit into the "older crowd" category anyway...

I'm 67 does me ok, there's plenty to learn, have a look at the website, Man in seat 61,

 

[danshrimp]

(As an aside, I gather from the latest sharefunding webinar that they're working on a second iteration of the dining car pilot, this time using a couchette coach - which they have plentiful access to, and which are more reliable and require less complex logistics than the actual dining car they briefly rented - to serve proper meals into compartments essentially converted to private dining rooms with tablecloths, little lamps etc. No timeframe on that though.)

Confirmed in an email this morning as part of a timeline of planned developments this year. Simply says "New dining on board concept introduced - Starts in March 2026" with the below image.

 

[mad_rich]

The dining car they carried on Brussels-Innsbruck last year had a few compartments at one end of the carriage IIRC. They were set up for dining.

(It was either that or the next coach)

Maybe that’s what they plan to do, which would give them flexibility to sell as seats or use for dining, according to demand. As long as the kitchen can cope

 

[doc7austin]

Comfort Plus - Spacious 3 person compartment with wash basin - Single €359

That travel class is to be avoided:
Often that car is cancelled.
And very often no toilets work on that car.

 

[LUYMun]

European Sleeper is currently offering a flash sale on the Paris-Berlin route from the launch of the new operation in March up to 2 July. Prices start from 30-50 Euros per direction in the Classic compartment depending on the day of the week. Sales ends 12 January.

| European Sleeper

www.europeansleeper.eu

Paris - Berlin Flash Sale​

From €30 one-way. Valid on many trains from 27 March to 2 July.​

 

[popeter45]

any more news on the Milan service yet?

 

[rvdborgt]

any more news on the Milan service yet?

Not really:

Night train to Milan | European Sleeper

The direct night train connection from Amsterdam and Brussels to Milan city centre is planned from June 2026.

europeansleeper.eu

Bookings should open soon. They'll surely make an announcement once they open.

 

[bkhtele]

Last August they promised me a refund re my downgrade from sole sleeper to sole 5 berh couchette compartments. .They said that hat they will try & refund me within 7 days when I chased them in September. Nothing. Finally I wrote this month threatening small claims court. No written response but received refund in my account. Disappointing customer service I want to support them, but 5 months for a promised refund is unacceptable, doubtful that I will use them again

 

[rvdborgt]

Last August they promised me a refund re my downgrade from sole sleeper to sole 5 berh couchette compartments. .They said that hat they will try & refund me within 7 days when I chased them in September. Nothing. Finally I wrote this month threatening small claims court. No written response but received refund in my account.

I've heard similar stories from others, although usually for things that were a it less less straightforward than a downgrade. It sounds to me like cash is tight for them.

 

[danshrimp]

In today's email:

• Next week in the newsletter: exciting news about a new destination in Northern Germany.

I wouldn't mind betting this is Hamburg, as previously suspected for the Paris-Berlin route.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jan 2026 ==

As suspected, Hamburg is added as a stop from 13 July. Timings below.

Among other things a potential gamechanger for UK-Scandinavia travel, eliminating the need to stop overnight along the way. Might even make it possible to get to Sweden within 24 hours.

 

[Frothy]

In today's email:

I wouldn't mind betting this is Hamburg, as previously suspected for the Paris-Berlin route.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jan 2026 ==

As suspected, Hamburg is added as a stop from 13 July. Timings below.

Among other things a potential gamechanger for UK-Scandinavia travel, eliminating the need to stop overnight along the way. Might even make it possible to get to Sweden within 24 hours.

Definitely this makes UK-Denmark a lot easier. I suppose you could have done London-Hamburg in a day and transferred there onto the Snalltaget to Sweden to avoid staying over somewhere, but it did make the travel chain somewhat fragile.

 

[riceuten]

It definitely sounds as if they are struggling to deliver a reliable service and I assume lack of funds and staffing contributes towards this.

Planning new services when the reliability of the existing services is dubious sounds a bit desperate to me. When they inevitably go bust, I can see the headlines already "DB/SNCB refused to honour the ticket I bought from European Sleeper"

 

[Jealgu]

Their problem, or at least one of them, is the overhead of their business that needs to be supported by only one line. They need to run more lines to have a chance.

 

[signed]

I wouldn't mind betting this is Hamburg, as previously suspected for the Paris-Berlin route.

Hamburg stop on Paris-Berlin has been officially announced

Will copy the newsletter leter

 

[riceuten]

Their problem, or at least one of them, is the overhead of their business that needs to be supported by only one line. They need to run more lines to have a chance.

A line they appear to be doing spectacularly badly on. I for one wouldn't risk booking it

 

[Jealgu]

A line they appear to be doing spectacularly badly on. I for one wouldn't risk booking it

Bad in what way? Okay, the sleeper car has problems, but they have less delays than Nightjet.

I am happily booked for a May departure

 

[bkhtele]

Guess if you book with a credit card & it is over £100 you have some protection

 

[Jealgu]

It is true that they have not yet made a profit, and that it is not a given they make till 2030 (with the new lines coming I am hopefully though). But if you think they go bust next year you have not paid attention to the recent sharefunding

 

[riceuten]

Bad in what way? Okay, the sleeper car has problems, but they have less delays than Nightjet.

I am happily booked for a May departure

The innumerable complaints about trains either not running or carriages that have been booked not running, or, as outlined above, refunds being promised but not delivered until legal threats are made. Nightjet don't swap out sleepers for couchettes on a regular basis because they only have a couple of rakes of carriages. Nightjet's toilets tend to work. Nightjet don't use ancient, unreliable time expired stock prone to breaking down. Apart from that, fine

 

[Jealgu]

Trains that often do not run is a new one for me.

 

[rvdborgt]

I've also been on Nightjet twice in the past 2 years where the toilets in my carriage didn't work. In 2024 Amsterdam-Zurich (an older RDC sleeper carriage) and last year on Amsterdam-Vienna (minicabin in a new Dani set).
European Sleeper do have their problems, but AFAIK not running does not occur very often compared to Nightjet.

 

[railfan99]

The innumerable complaints about trains either not running or carriages that have been booked not running, or, as outlined above, refunds being promised but not delivered until legal threats are made. Nightjet don't swap out sleepers for couchettes on a regular basis because they only have a couple of rakes of carriages. Nightjet's toilets tend to work. Nightjet don't use ancient, unreliable time expired stock prone to breaking down. Apart from that, fine

Untrue: in 2022 my wife and I had our NightJet ex Venice with no working toilets in most compartments in our sleeping car.

In the morning approaching Vienna when I found a vacated compartment with a working loo, after I used it the Newrest staff member oddly closed and locked the door to the compartment, meaning others could not use.

 

[danshrimp]

They've said recently that they're now turning a profit in summer but not in winter. They say they're approaching a break-even point (suggesting that the former is currently not outweighing the latter) but their feeling is that, as @Jealgu says, really the route to profit is running multiple routes, utilising the overhead costs they're already paying.

This seems like a ambitious way to do it, and it is - by all means their last attempt at a new route came with no shortage of teething issues - but much of this has been in the making for years. Paris-Berlin is a bonus opportunity they spotted with OeBB withdrawing that it made sense to capitalise on ASAP, but they can achieve it by redirecting the resources that were about to go to go in to making the Brussels-Prague route daily. It makes sense, I don't think they've gone mad with power.

It'll be interesting to see what their rolling stock strategy looks like for these new routes though. They seem remarkably confident in it given the state of the market so I wonder what they know that we don't.

 

[43096]

Untrue: in 2022 my wife and I had our NightJet ex Venice with no working toilets in most compartments in our sleeping car.

In the morning approaching Vienna when I found a vacated compartment with a working loo, after I used it the Newrest staff member oddly closed and locked the door to the compartment, meaning others could not use.

Likewise I have been on NightJet with most, if not all toilets, out of use. It was also heavily delayed.

As I said at the time (with apologies to W.H. Auden):
“This is the NightJet crossing the border,
Badly delayed and the loos out of order…”