European trains - sleeper service

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Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: New Proposed Sleeper Service

Post by Jdsk »

Thanks for that.

Maps out by the fire tonight.

Jonathan
scragend
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Joined: 13 Oct 2020, 7:16pm

Re: New Proposed Sleeper Service

Post by scragend »

Mr.Benton wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 9:45am I received an update email today regarding the new sleeper service from Brussels to Prague. It is due to start running in Summer 2022, with ticket sales starting in the spring.
The best bit about the email was this:
We also offer the possibility to take your bicycle on board.
https://www.europeansleeper.eu/english/
Oh I do hope so!

I'm a big fan of Berlin, been a few times and hired a clunky city bike while I've been there (Rent a Bike 44 in Neukölln if you know it or are interested). Great for getting around the city but not ideal for longer distance riding. If I can get there by train with my own bike that will be sweet.

Sunday night ferry Harwich to Hoek, ride to Amsterdam, spend the rest of the day there and then be in Berlin first thing Tuesday morning sounds very much like a plan. Fingers crossed...
st599_uk
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by st599_uk »

Don't miss Dresden - amazing city.

Could ride from there to Berlin, or vice versa, then same train back to North Sea ferries.

PS Isn't Rotterdam closer than Amsterdam for the start?
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
willem jongman
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by willem jongman »

Rotterdam is closer to Hook of Holland than Amsterdam, but if you are arriving at IJmuiden (i.e. coming from Newcastle) Amsterdam is the more obvious starting point for the sleeper train. In that case, you either cycle to Amsterdam, or you ride to Haarlem (the ride to Haarlem is nice if you take the route through the dunes and forest) and then take the train from there to Amsterdam. Haarlem is also a nice historic town with the Frans Hals Museum (a great building with great paintings ) and the Teylers museum, an eighteenth century collection of scientific instuments in its original setting.
The connection between Hook of Holland and Rotterdam is a light rail/metro line, and on weekdays bicycles are not allowed before 9am and between 4 and 6.30 pm. You could cycle between Hook of Holland and Rotterdam, but it will not be the most scenic route of your life.
scragend
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by scragend »

st599_uk wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 4:48pm PS Isn't Rotterdam closer than Amsterdam for the start?
It is, but with an 8.00 am arrival at Hoek I'd rather spend the day on a leisurely ride up the coast and then to Amsterdam. If I went to Rotterdam I'd be there by mid-morning (and as Willem says, it's not exactly a scenic ride) and I'm not really that fussed about spending almost a full day there.

Noted on Dresden though, I've never been. Definitely one for the list.
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mjr
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by mjr »

willem jongman wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 5:23pm You could cycle between Hook of Holland and Rotterdam, but it will not be the most scenic route of your life.
That depends how much you like rivers!

But Den Haag HS is even closer and cycling through the parliament building is a giggle.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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st599_uk
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by st599_uk »

scragend wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 7:59pm
st599_uk wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 4:48pm PS Isn't Rotterdam closer than Amsterdam for the start?
Noted on Dresden though, I've never been. Definitely one for the list.
https://www.german-way.com/travel-and-t ... y/dresden/
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
mattheus
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by mattheus »

willem jongman wrote: 20 Dec 2021, 5:23pm Rotterdam is closer to Hook of Holland than Amsterdam, but if you are arriving at IJmuiden (i.e. coming from Newcastle) Amsterdam is the more obvious starting point
Fun fact: on Google Maps, if you zoom out far enough to see Hook of Holland AND U.K., you can see the Hull ferry line, but not the Newcastle ones.
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CJ
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by CJ »

So: is Cycling UK using any of the half-million windfall from their closure of CTC Cycling Holidays, to pay a first-rate campaigner to get the level of to- and trans-european cycle carriage needed for trains to support international cycle-touring as aeroplanes do now? And why, given the way Cycle magazine has been flight-shaming us with articles pretending it's oh-so-easy to take your bike by train instead, have we seen NOTHING in those pages about these new services?

Because it's not just European Sleeper. After a bit of Googling I discovered that no sooner had Die Bahn axed City-Night-Line, than OBB launched cycle carrying NightJet trains to and through Austria. Admittedly only a paltry six bikes per train (so no use for group travel) and completely useless if you're coming from UK, because the only Nightjet service that comes even part of the way to Little Blighty (to Köln) does NOT carry any. More interesting is the news that from 2024, Midnight Trains plans to connect via Paris, destinations as far apart as Porto, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Copenhagen and yes - even Edinburgh! There's no little blob on their routemap for London however. Perhaps they're reckoning that by 2024 the 'Auld Alliance' will see Scotland back inside the EU, in which case they'll skip the Untidy Kingdom's inconvenient border and customs hangups by locking the doors and not stopping here!

Anyway: is Cycling UK talking seriously to these companies, or Eurostar at least? I doubt it.
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brumster
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by brumster »

CJ wrote: 22 Dec 2021, 3:14pm So: is Cycling UK using any of the half-million windfall from their closure of CTC Cycling Holidays, to pay a first-rate campaigner to get the level of to- and trans-european cycle carriage needed for trains to support international cycle-touring as aeroplanes do now? And why, given the way Cycle magazine has been flight-shaming us with articles pretending it's oh-so-easy to take your bike by train instead, have we seen NOTHING in those pages about these new services?

Because it's not just European Sleeper. After a bit of Googling I discovered that no sooner had Die Bahn axed City-Night-Line, than OBB launched cycle carrying NightJet trains to and through Austria. Admittedly only a paltry six bikes per train (so no use for group travel) and completely useless if you're coming from UK, because the only Nightjet service that comes even part of the way to Little Blighty (to Köln) does NOT carry any. More interesting is the news that from 2024, Midnight Trains plans to connect via Paris, destinations as far apart as Porto, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Copenhagen and yes - even Edinburgh! There's no little blob on their routemap for London however. Perhaps they're reckoning that by 2024 the 'Auld Alliance' will see Scotland back inside the EU, in which case they'll skip the Untidy Kingdom's inconvenient border and customs hangups by locking the doors and not stopping here!

Anyway: is Cycling UK talking seriously to these companies, or Eurostar at least? I doubt it.
Some interesting and valid questions raised here by CJ. Sadly I feel that Cycling UK is being run by the equivalent of the UK government !
st599_uk
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by st599_uk »

Whilst Deutsche Bahn have axed their night trains, I read they're thinking of reopening them Lufthansa have also replaced some internal flights with point to point trains which may be easier to put a bike on than a flight.
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
simonhill
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by simonhill »

Lufthansa were (in)famous for being one of the few scheduled European airlines that charged for bikes. They compounded this by charging per leg if you were flying long haul via Frankfurt.

If they start running trains, let's hope the leopard had changed its spots.
willem jongman
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by willem jongman »

New European sleeper trains continue to be announced by various companies, including those that offer bicycle transportation. It is quite a revival, supported by a new awareness that flying is bad for the climate, and official EU policies. We were quite frequent users of the Intercity Nightline, so I am more than happy with the comeback.
simonhill
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by simonhill »

Of course there is the elephant in the room when it comes to these sleeper trains. COVID.

Next summer isn't very far away and I wonder how many people who say they are interested in this service, will be happy to be confined in a small sealed compartment with 5 strangers for 8 hours. Unless there's testing and certificates, etc then it's potentially 5 risky strangers.

Sadly, I suspect this may put quite a few people off for a year or two or more.
mattheus
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Re: New European Sleeper Timetable.

Post by mattheus »

Planes and normal trains have the same issue.
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