C1 reading: The return of the night train

For most of the last thirty years, the overnight train in Europe looked like a relic. Budget airlines could take you from London to Rome in under three hours for less than the price of a decent dinner, and one by one the sleeper services that had once linked the continent's capitals were cut. By the mid-2010s, many railway companies regarded them as expensive to run and impossible to fill.

Then something changed. Travellers began to count the cost of flying in carbon as well as in money, and a growing number decided that a night on a train was a price worth paying for a clearer conscience. Austria's state railway, which had kept faith with sleepers when others gave up, bought new carriages and began adding routes. Other operators followed, and new private companies appeared, promising comfortable cabins and a quiet night's sleep between cities such as Brussels, Berlin and Prague.

The appeal is not only environmental. Passengers often point out that a sleeper turns travel time into sleeping time. You board in the evening, close to the city centre, and wake up in another country without having to get to an airport at dawn, queue at security or pay for a taxi at the other end. For business travellers, this can mean arriving fresh for a morning meeting and saving the cost of a hotel.

Yet the revival has been anything but smooth. Night trains are expensive to operate: each carriage carries far fewer passengers than one on a daytime train, and staff must be paid to work through the night. Tracks are often busy with freight trains after dark, and every border can bring a different set of rules, fees and technical standards. Several new services have been launched with great enthusiasm, only to be cancelled within a year or two because they could not cover their costs.

Price is the other obstacle. A private cabin on a popular route can cost more than a flight and a hotel combined, while the cheapest option, a seat or a bunk in a shared compartment, is not everyone's idea of a good night's rest. Critics argue that, as long as aviation fuel remains lightly taxed, trains will struggle to compete on price, however attractive the experience.

Supporters of the sleeper accept most of these points but remain optimistic. They argue that governments could do much more, for example by lowering the charges that operators pay to use the tracks, or by treating night trains as a public service rather than a business that must make a profit. Whether that happens will decide whether the night train becomes a normal way to travel again or remains a pleasant luxury for those with time and money to spare.