The Anonymous Widower

Would A Sleeper Train Work Between London And Cologne?

In Disappointing Cologne, I said that if there was a sleeper train between London and Cologne, I’d use it.

• Many passengers like quality sleeper trains.
• Those like me, who do long journeys across Europe, often break the trip in as hotel. A sleeper would be a good alternative.
• More and more people are avoiding flying.

I have used sleeper trains down from Scotland a few times. The Caledonian Sleeper is a civilised way to travel, which leaves late evening to come south, where you can get a decent snack and a good night’s sleep.

I last used a sleeper during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, as it meant I arrived in London early in the morning and I didn’t have to spend a night in Glasgow, where hotel rooms were in short supply.

In the end, the cost of the First Class sleeper ticket, was less than I would have paid for something like a Premium Inn in Edinburgh, which was all that was available.

Sleeper trains in those circumstances are good value for money and you don’t waste time travelling during the day.

The Caledonian Sleeper is being given new carriages and a lot of promotion and I suspect in a few years time, it will be a thriving service.

On the other hand, I once took a sleeper from Munich to Paris, which was run by Deutsche Bahn. I wrote about it in The Sleeper From Munich To Paris.

Deutsche Bahn have decided to discontinue their sleeper trains, as they are not profitable. But given their legendary customer service, passengers have probably chosen other methods of travel.

I believe that if a sleeper was setup between London and Cologne, that run on similar principles to the Caledonian Sleeper or the Night Riviera, that it could work.

Consider.

• Cologne is a city of a million people in a region of three million.
• Passengers arriving in Cologne could be in Frankfurt around 1000, Munich around 1100 and Berlin around 1200.
• Passengers arriving in London could be in Birmingham before 0900, Cardiff before 1000 and Liverpool/Manchester before 1000.
• Leaving late at night, must give a greater time to work or play.
• If the new rolling stock for the Caledonian Sleeper is a success, I’m sure CAF would be happy to build some more!

The original plan for sleeper trains through the Channel Tunnel was too ambitious and relied on getting the regional business. I think that what is needed is a core route like London-Cologne, where the sleeper trains run, that uses the excellent high-speed services from the two end cities to connect onwards.

Surely, providing Customs and Immigration for a sleeper train would be a lot easier.

It would probably be easiest if they were done in London.

• Outward to Cologne, changing to an onward service would be very easy in that station, after perhaps a passport check.
• Inward to London, how many undesirables would use a sleeper train as a means of smuggling themselves or illicit goods into the UK.
• A decent passport check by the Germans at Cologne would probably sort out the more blatant abuses.
• After the atrocities in Brussels and Paris, I can’t believe that International travel checks won’t be tightened.

If London-Cologne could be made to work, would other core routes be viable?

They would probably need.

• A destination station with lots of connections.
• A journey time that would enable arrival in the destination early enough to catch important onward connections.
• The city/area away from London must be able to provide good core business.

If we assume that passengers would want to be on their way from the destination at seven, then this would probably mean an arrival at five, so probably a six or seven hour journey time would be the maximum before it isn’t a viable option for passengers.

This would probably mean that Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris could be possible as destinations, but Munich and Geneva probably wouldn’t. Brussels would probably be ruled out, as Cologne would serve the same onward destinations better.

I think it is going to be interesting to see if and how this market develops.

May 21, 2016 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Cologne, Sleeper Train