NachtzugSchlafwagen seit 1994

Six lines / eleven countries / one timetable

Go to sleep in
one country and
wake in another.

Six sleeper services across Europe, every one of them slower than flying and better than arriving.

A sleeper compartment at night with a made-up bunk, a warm reading lamp and a dark window
NZ 401, compartment 7. Somewhere south of Villach, 02.10.

The six lines

  1. NZ 401Wien HbfRoma Termini19.4209.121Daily
  2. NZ 412Zürich HBZagreb Gl. kol.20.5510.281Daily
  3. NZ 430Berlin HbfKraków Główny21.1007.441Tue Thu Sat
  4. NZ 455Hamburg HbfSofia Central18.3018.052Fri
  5. NZ 470Paris EstBucurești Nord17.4820.552Wed Sun
  6. NZ 488København HLjubljana19.0511.361Daily

Four ways to lie down

  1. Couchette, six

    from €49

    Six bunks, a curtain, and the entirely reasonable expectation that somebody will snore.

  2. Couchette, four

    from €69

    Four bunks, a washbasin, and enough room to change without choreography.

  3. Sleeper, two

    from €139

    Two berths, a proper bed, a door that locks and a window that opens twelve centimetres.

  4. Sleeper, single

    from €219

    One berth, one lamp, and the whole compartment. Booked out three months ahead in summer.

A long sleeper train standing at a lit platform late at night
Wien Hbf, platform 9. Boarding from 19.10.
An empty dining car set for breakfast with lamps lit and night outside
The dining car opens at 06.30 and closes when it empties.

Aboard

  • Breakfast is included in every berth, at whatever hour you appear
  • The window opens. This is not negotiable and never will be
  • Bicycles travel in the van, six per train, booked separately
  • Dogs travel free in couchettes if the whole compartment is booked
  • No wake-up call before 06.30 unless you ask for one
The narrow corridor of a sleeping car at night with warm lamps receding
Carriage 274, built 1988, refitted 2019.

Booking

Telephone
+43 1 000 000, 07.00 to 21.00
Opens
Six months ahead, at 08.00 Vienna time
Whole carriage
Thirty berths, by arrangement, six weeks notice

Three reasons the night train survived

It was written off four times between 1998 and 2016. Here is what kept it running.

01

The bed

A night on a train is a night of accommodation. Costed that way, the sleeper stops looking expensive and starts looking obvious.

02

The border

Nobody wakes you. Schengen did more for the sleeper than any marketing campaign, and a whole generation has never been asked for a passport at 03.00.

03

The arithmetic

Twelve hours that would otherwise be spent awake, in an airport, being processed. The train is slower and the day is longer.

Rolling stock

Everything is owned and maintained at Wien Simmering. Ages are honest.

  1. Sleeping car, WLABmz1988201924
  2. Couchette, Bcmz1991202131
  3. Seating, Bmz1986201712
  4. Dining, WRmz197820156
  5. Van, Dms199420208
  6. Locomotive, hiredn/an/aPer section

Before you board

Is there a shower?
In the two-berth and single sleepers, yes, at the end of the carriage. In couchettes, a washbasin in the compartment and nothing else.
Can I book a compartment to myself?
Yes, at the whole-compartment rate, which is less than the sum of the berths. Most solo travellers who have tried it never go back.
What if I miss my connection?
Our tickets are through-ticketed, so the next service is on us. This is not generosity; it is the rule the whole network runs on.
Does the window really open?
Twelve centimetres, in every sleeper and every couchette. We have replaced entire carriages and kept the mechanism.