Deutsche Bahn has no plans to bring back night trains despite growing popularity

The German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn has no plans to bring back sleeper cars despite their potential to provide a climate-friendly alternative to flying, the newspaper Tagesspiegel reports. In a letter to the German transport ministry, Deutsche Bahn wrote that it plans to continue using only coaches with regular seats for its night-time service, the article says. That decision comes despite strong public support for night trains, Taggespiegel writes, citing a recent Civey survey that found a majority would like to see the return of sleeper cars as an alternative to air travel. Deutsche Bahn saw double-digit growth in passenger numbers before shutting down its sleeper train service several years ago, the article says.

Activists have been calling for the return of night trains across Europe. Rail companies in Sweden, Italy and Turkey have recently introduced or reintroduced overnight rail routes, reports the UK newspaper The Telegraph, and last month, Austrian Railways (ÖBB) reintroduced such a service between Brussels and Vienna, through Germany. ÖBB also operators a number of overnight sleeper car connections departing from German cities.