European Sleeper experience

[befated]

A newsletter from ES this morning promises Brussels-Malmo in April 2028 and Brussels-Barcelona in 2029. Apologies if these are both old news, I hadn't heard anything was actually progressing on the latter. [Attached image shows updated network map with these, including an Avignon call on the Barcelona route, and Amsterdam/Copenhagen calls on the Malmo route. Note it does not show all intermediate stops on the existing routes, so there might be other stops not shown here when the new services start.]

I also paid a quick visit to the website, which now has a 'Good Fare Finder'. It's just a calendar view of prices for a given journey on different dates, nothing special but much easier than having to run a new search query for every date you want to compare.

 

[danshrimp]

A newsletter from ES this morning promises Brussels-Malmo in April 2028 and Brussels-Barcelona in 2029.

Which is interesting given the press release for the Malmö route, merely a week ago, said that Barcelona was also going to start in 2028. That sure slipped quickly!

Other titbits in the pitch deck for potential investors include the fact that the startup costs for the Paris route were enormous (various factors are hinted at, to be honest a lot of them seem related to how quickly they rushed to start so they could replace the ÖBB service), resulting in a significant loss in 2026 despite much-increased revenue, and the fact that they now don't expect to be profitable until 2030.

Paris bookings were below expectations during the first few months of service, as increasing train capacity took longer than planned. Bookings are now gaining momentum. Operationally, the Paris service also had a challenging start, which temporarily drove up costs.

Performance is now improving, and we expect Paris to follow, or even outperform, the upward curve the Prague route realised. In fact, the Paris - Berlin route is performing relatively better than Brussels - Prague from the start, because of our marketing power, better brand awareness and bigger reach. Which gives promising outlook on the future of these new routes.

Say what you like though, very very few thought they'd make it to this stage. Indeed most people 'in the know' didn't believe they'd ever run a single train. Now they're planning their fourth and fifth routes...

 

[Beebman]

A review just published by Superalbs Travels:

I am FINALLY trying the European Sleeper on an epic 15 hour overnight train journey from Prague to Brussels! Charging over 500 Euros for a private room in a 70 year old classic carriage, is this hyped European night train actually worth the money? Join me for a frankly CHAOTIC European Sleeper review as our international sleeper train gets completely lost around Berlin, suffers severe railway delays, and navigates a series of bizarre mishaps. From stunning sunset views along the Elbe River to a poor breakfast, find out what it's actually like to ride this long distance night train!

 

[Jealgu]

A review just published by Superalbs Travels:

Give the type of Sleeper car that video is not very recent. Makes you wonder how worthy it is as review.

 

[duesselmartin]

the title of that "review" already shows that the vlogger did not like it. Some people have very high expectations, seasoned travellers know better.

 

[Bletchleyite]

the title of that "review" already shows that the vlogger did not like it. Some people have very high expectations, seasoned travellers know better.

He's right that the price paid should come with a premium experience. It's many times a typical low cost flight plus a hostel bed, yet the experience is barely up to that.

I think this just proves really that good quality night trains at even vaguely reasonable prices aren't feasible without subsidy.

 

[AlterEgo]

the title of that "review" already shows that the vlogger did not like it. Some people have very high expectations, seasoned travellers know better.

I think people have a right to high expectations if the product is being sold for up to 500 euros - and more in some cases. If we are serious about getting people onto lower carbon forms of transport we cannot just say "seasoned travellers know better (and that it can be crap)".

 

[D6130]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know the latest on Thibault ('Simply Railway')'s planned new sleeper operation?

 

[AlterEgo]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know the latest on Thibault ('Simply Railway')'s planned new sleeper operation?

Yes. There will be something at Innotrans is all I'm prepared to say.

 

[D6130]

Yes. There will be something at Innotrans is all I'm prepared to say.

Thanks. Watch this space!

 

[riceuten]

the title of that "review" already shows that the vlogger did not like it. Some people have very high expectations, seasoned travellers know better.

Which, given what happened is fair enough. I swear there are people here who would defend ES if they proposed the imprisonment of every other passenger

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks. Watch this space!

In fact, he has just posted a teaser about tomorrow: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc1RN3NlxBT/?img_index=2&igsi=YjIxczY1MWI1MHli

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 17:58 ==

Which, given what happened is fair enough. I swear there are people here who would defend ES if they proposed the imprisonment of every other passenger

It is a little bit crazy. It's unfortunate that two people have had bad experiences who have large followings but it is what it is. Youtube isn't Trustpilot and you're only seeing one person's trip. Incidentally I posted a video the other day about a truly marvellous journey which I loved - the Doğu Express - and a lot of the audience turned their nose up at the train!

ES are definitely having multiple issues, and at the same time it is also true that it's a miracle they are here at all. Both of these things can be true at once!

 

[Bletchleyite]

ES are definitely having multiple issues, and at the same time it is also true that it's a miracle they are here at all. Both of these things can be true at once!

Yes, though that probably only really applies to enthusiast passengers who are on it for the authentic 1990s rough round the edges night train experience, not someone who when paying that much expects a modern level of quality you might get a bit closer to with say the Cally (though that of course has its own problems).

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

In fact, he has just posted a teaser about tomorrow:

From Simply Railway on Bluesky:

One year in the making… Tomorrow on the channel, we’re not reviewing a train.

It’s been one year since Thibault announced his night train project @noxmobility.bsky.social

Time for an update! See you tomorrow at 4 PM on YouTube.

Simply Railway (@simplyrailways.bsky.social)

One year in the making… Tomorrow on the channel, we’re not reviewing a train. It’s been one year since Thibault announced his night train project @noxmobility.bsky.social Time for an update! See you tomorrow at 4 PM on YouTube.

bsky.app