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[CNJRoss]

Associated Press, 3/6/24

 

Climate-conscious travelers are jumpstarting Europe’s sleeper trains

 

 

After being gently rocked awake in her sleeper cabin, Sarah Marks spent the morning of her 29th birthday watching the Alps zip past the windows of her overnight train to Zurich.

 

“The train comes in right next to the lake, with the mountains coming up behind it,” Marks said wistfully. “Very romantic, I have to say.”

 

By the time of that 2022 journey from Zagreb, Croatia, it had been four years since she had taken a flight— since around the time Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg began to spread the term flygskam, or “flight shame.”

 

They join an increasing number of climate-conscious Europeans, particularly younger travelers, who are shunning carbon-spewing airplanes in favor of overnight trains. In the process, they’ve spurred something of a night-train revival while discovering what many say is a slower, richer way of traveling, one that had been on the edge of extinction.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Associated Press, 3/6/24

 

New to riding a sleeper train? Here’s the best way to book tickets

 

As more people reconsider how they travel on a warming planet, a small but growing contingent in Europe wants to switch from high-emission, short-haul planes to more climate-friendly sleeper trains.

 

But for all the climate benefits — plus the enduring romance of overnight train journeys — it’s not always simple building a vacation around them.

 

Several national railways and private operators have moved in to meet the rising demand, and the result is a patchwork of overnight routes sold at over 30 different websites. Many routes may not run every day, and online ticket aggregators don’t include all countries that have night trains.

 

“I’ve always gone around on trains and boats and buses, so it was normal for me,” said Cat Jones, founder of the flight-free travel agency Byway. “But friends would say, ‘Oh, that sounds amazing, but no way am I going to plan all that.’”

 

 

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