 |
| Night train |
The Phrase "NIGHT TRAIN" will likely bring up (no pun intended) some really horrid memories or lack-thereof for some. However, in the context intended it is to open up the post about the City Night Line trip we most recently made from Zurich to the Ruhrgebiet (the Ruhr River valley in Northern Germany).
 |
| Bahn.de Nighttrain in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof |
The City Night Line is a network of International trains connecting much of Europe. To date I have take the Night Line From Dortmund to Berlin, Zurich to Amsterdam, Graz to Zurich and now Zurich to Duisberg (though honestly it is the same line as the one to Amsterdam).
Taking night trains gets two birds with one stone. Transport from one European city to the next and a place to sleep on the first night. In my case as I eliminated one airfare from Zurich to Dusseldorf, as well as one night in a hotel in Dortmund it was super cost effective and convenient to buy a ticker for a single sleeper cabin and still see an overall cost savings. the ticket price was about $150 US for the whole trip. The cheapest one way Ticket I could find that fit this trip was more than $150 US and was not a such a convenient time (I would have had to cut my meetings short).
 |
| StringGirl and Amber like to travel by train just to mix it up once an a while |
Sleeping accommodations range from seated in coach (much like a less crowded version of a narrow body jet taking an 8 hour trip, yuck), to sleeper compartments with as many as 6 to a coachette, to sleeper compartments for one. StringGirl, Amber, Hops, and I jammed ourselves into a single sleeper.
 |
| Roommates StringGirl and Amber take up almost no room at all |
With only one bed deployed in the 3 bunk compartment/couchette. The cabin is not roomy but comfortable enough. Deploying the suitcase to grab your clothes would not be pleasant if the cabin was in the 3 bed set-up (when a ladder gets set up taking even more of the room). In general the room is almost as large as the rooms in the
Yotel Amsterdam Schiphol; minus the bathroom.
 |
| With the sink deployed |
Each one of these private compartments is equipped with a small vanity and sink. A bottle of potable water is provided for each passenger, the water from the sink is only for washing. The sink was well equipped with wash clothes and towels, which I used in the AM to wash up hobo style to avoid having to use the only slightly questionable shower at the end of the train car.
If you happened to be the unlucky of 3 people to land the topmost bunk you would find that your bunk is truncated slightly and that part of your bed is made up by the ceiling of the adjacent hallway. so either your head would be at the window side of the car or over the hallway bridging the crack in the bunk.
 |
| What the compartment looks like when you first enter it. |
One odd thing about the night train is the fact that the train does park for periods in stations along the way. This is not really a big deal; But since the rocking motion of the train is one of the appealing things about sleeping in the train the extended lack of motion usually wakes me. Another disorienting thing is that many of the night train routes I have taken will split the train midway through the route; The Zurich Night train to Amsterdam is also the Night train to Hamburg. When this is the case the train will be split front to back which can also disrupt slumber as the train that was travelling for many hours in one direction will seemingly reverse for the rest of the trip. This time I was in the very last car of the night train when leaving Zurich and arrived in Duisburg in the last car. Again the change in motion did cost me a few minutes of sleep.
 |
| Dawn in a new city/country is beautiful no matter where you travel to or from |
Take the night train when it fits. And spend more daylight hours in the cities you traveled to Europe to see.
Comments