Task 1
Night trains return to Europe
For most of the twentieth century, sleeping on a train was the normal way to cross Europe. By the early 2000s, however, cheap flights had made night trains look slow and old-fashioned, and many routes were closed. In 2016 the German rail company stopped running its own sleeper services completely.
The Austrian operator took over several of those routes and, to the surprise of many experts, made them popular again. Its trains now connect Vienna with cities such as Hamburg, Rome and Amsterdam. On busy summer weekends the beds are often sold out weeks in advance.
Researchers give two main reasons for this comeback. The first is time: a passenger who leaves in the evening arrives in the city centre in the morning and saves the cost of a hotel. The second is the environment. A journey by rail usually produces far less carbon dioxide than the same trip by plane, and younger travellers in particular say this affects their choice.
Night trains still face serious problems. The carriages are expensive to build, and each one carries fewer passengers than a day train because beds take up more space than seats. Tickets can therefore cost more than a flight. Some governments have started to help by reducing track fees for sleeper services, but critics argue that this support is not yet enough.