For the first time in half a century, France will launch the construction of brand-new night train rolling stock in 2026. The collective Oui au train de nuit (Yes To The Night Train) stresses the need for multiple comfort levels, from affordable budget options to business-class cabins.
Capacity is a key factor if night trains are to become truly popular, with low fares that can compete with cars and planes.
Night trains: a mobility solution for the future
Critics of night trains often claim they have ‘low capacity’. In reality, night trains can be highly capacious. In 2019, the Occitan night train (Paris – Toulouse – Latour-de-Carol – Rodez) offered 876 seats across 16 carriages—comparable to a classic single-deck TGV (754 seats) or four Airbus A320 aircraft.
Price is one of the main determinants of long-distance travel choices. On high-speed rail, demand is highly price-sensitive, which is why TGV sets are designed to maximise capacity. The same logic applies to night trains, especially as demand is now constrained by a shortage of seats.
However, some start-ups are promoting luxury concepts that drastically reduce capacity, mainly to attract investors. At the same time, recent night train orders have delivered poorly designed high-capacity options, especially reclining seat coaches, by manufacturers such as Siemens and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
This raises a key question: how should comfort be designed in the night trains of the future?
Reclining seats: the most capacious option must also be comfortable
Reclining seat coaches are essential for low-cost travel and can carry up to 76 passengers per carriage. Many operators offer them, but recent designs need major improvements: seats must genuinely recline and include proper sleeping accessories.
Until 2020, SNCF reclining-seat coaches offered 76 seats per carriage. They were never refurbished due to budget constraints and were replaced with less comfortable cars with rigid, barely reclining seats—and lower capacity (58 seats).
Future orders must ensure real recline angles, comparable to historic Corail BSI coaches or night buses. Yet some new ÖBB Nightjet coaches built by Siemens have non-reclining seats, an obvious design failure.
Retractable footrests and leg rests are also essential, as used widely in night buses. These must fold away to preserve legroom. Some CAF-built trains (such as the Caledonian Sleeper) have limited recline and poor legroom, again a missed opportunity.
Headrests should include side wings to prevent the head from falling sideways during sleep. Instead of optimising seating accessories, some manufacturers simply reduce capacity, for example, only 33 uncomfortable seats per carriage in some CAF designs.
Maintaining around 76 seats per carriage is important, and in any case more than the 60 places offered in couchette coaches. High capacity helps during peak demand and ensures fewer passengers are left behind, particularly on regional routes with limited alternatives.
Night trains also foster social cooperation: passengers often coordinate reclining seats together, creating a shared experience and a sense of collective etiquette—one of the unique social aspects of night train travel.
Night buses are major competitors in this segment, and train designers should study their seat ergonomics. Properly designed 76-seat coaches can offer more comfort and space than night buses, without excessive costs.
Six-berth couchette compartments must be preserved
Six-berth couchette compartments offer 60 places per carriage and are unfairly criticised. They are the most popular comfort level on SNCF night trains, with very high occupancy rates. They enable low fares while allowing passengers to sleep properly.
Claims of “unbearable overcrowding” often come from decision-makers who do not use these compartments themselves. In reality, shared compartments foster mutual respect and a positive collective experience.
Most night train passengers in France sleep with strangers in shared compartments every day, demonstrating a renewed civic spirit and conviviality. This model remains widespread in Eastern Europe and should be defended.
Six-berth compartments are not only for budget travellers: they fit the holiday spirit and group travel. The Travelski Night Express (2025–2026) uses only six-berth compartments, proving their appeal.
Four-berth compartments are not a universal replacement
Four-berth compartments are larger and offer fewer places: 36 versus 60 per carriage. Replacing all six-berth compartments with four-berth ones, as Renfe did in Spain, increases costs per passenger by about 66% and makes night trains harder to finance.
Demand for shared accommodation remains strong, as seen in hostels with six- or eight-bed dormitories. Many travellers actively seek low prices, and six-berth couchettes remain highly in demand on SNCF and European Sleeper services.
Mini-cabins: interesting but not a universal solution
New Nightjet trains include mini-cabins or ‘capsules’, but they have drawbacks: limited luggage space, noise from sliding doors, and complex boarding logistics due to separate luggage storage.
They are also less practical during daytime travel on long routes, where passengers may prefer sitting rather than lying down for 14 hours. Experimental designs (e.g., by Škoda) are promising but should not replace proven solutions.
A useful innovation: adjustable middle berths
On journeys longer than 10–12 hours, the middle berth should be foldable, allowing daytime seating. This is standard practice on long-distance trains in Eastern Europe and Asia and should be adopted in Western Europe as well.
This feature also allows operators to convert six-berth compartments into four-berth compartments during low demand and is useful in sleeping cars with three-berth cabins.
Business-class comfort is necessary but for a minority
Private cabins, sometimes with showers and toilets, are needed to attract business travellers and shift them from aviation. However, showers are rarely used; station showers are cheaper and more efficient. Toilets and washbasins are more essential.
New Nightjet sleeping cars offer only 20 places per carriage, down from 30 in older models. Lower capacity inevitably increases costs. Business-class travellers in Northern Europe may afford this, but such budgets are not universal, especially for regional routes.
Mixing comfort levels is essential
Some start-ups propose removing six-berth compartments or reclining seats to create luxury-focused trains. This reduces diversity and excludes low-income travellers.
Night trains should be inclusive, offering multiple comfort levels in the same train, as most current services do. European Sleeper is an example, with seated, couchette, and private cabin options covering a wide price range.
Rolling stock will last decades, so proven high-capacity solutions must be prioritised.
Increasing capacity in the future
Historically, night trains of up to 23 carriages and over 1,100 places operated in France. Longer platforms and trains could return. Double-deck night trains (as in Austria and Finland) could further increase capacity where infrastructure allows.
New rolling stock should be interoperable across Europe, enabling routes to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and Scandinavia.
How many places per comfort type?
As in TGVs, around two-thirds of capacity should be affordable and one-third premium. Business travel has declined since 2020, so relying solely on luxury segments is risky, especially with competition from low-cost airlines.
A balanced 16-car night train could include reclining seats, six-berth and four-berth couchettes, mini-cabins, sleeping cars, and service cars, totalling around 750 seats—similar to a classic TGV.
A strategic moment for night trains
France plans to order up to 340 night train carriages. Designers, manufacturers, and leasing companies all have incentives to optimise capacity and versatility for decades of use.
The key questions remain:
- Will six-berth compartments be preserved and valued?
- Will reclining seats finally be genuinely comfortable and high-capacity?
For Oui au train de nuit, the answer must be clear: capacity, affordability, and inclusivity are essential if night trains are to become a mass mode of transport again.
More on cross-border trains
- Back On Track Belgium salutes return of Brussels–Milan night train as “a real feat”.
- Antwerp now linked to Cologne in Germany with direct Deutsche Bahn ICE via Brussels Airport.
- Antwerp-Central sees increase in international train travel.
- Europe’s night-train revival: a real comeback or a false dawn?.
- Dutch and Belgian passenger advocates call for swift reopening of Hamont-Weert railway.
- European Sleeper plans Brussels – Antwerp – Malmö night train service for 2028.
- ‘New’ Amsterdam-Hamburg ICE service is actually a diversion of Berlin trains.
- RAIL IN EUROPE | Off-the-shelf trains to speed up delivery and cut costs.
- GoVolta unveils ambitious expansion with new services to Cologne, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, plus high-speed trains to Paris.
- PASSENGER PACKAGE | European Rail Passengers’ Federation and Back-on-Track Europe welcome EU rail reforms but call for stronger cross-border rights.
- European Sleeper, Nightjet and OUIGO Train Classique services through Belgium to change from September 2026.
- Catalonia and Andorra launch studies for first cross-border Tramvalira project.
- Arriva expands Paris train ambitions with extra The Hague to Belgium connections.
- EUROSTAR | From Brussels to London in Eurostar Plus (2026).
- NMBS / SNCB: International train travel continues to grow in popularity with Belgian holidaymakers.
- Political push in the Netherlands for Eindhoven to Brussels EuroCity.
- TGV inOui Brussels – Strasbourg – Basel from July 2027.
- Deutsche Bahn Cologne – Ostend ICE caters to 700,000 Belgian Coast-loving tourists from Germany.
- RAIL BALTICA | Tallinn – Valga / Valka – Riga – Vilnius by train.
- SPAIN | Renfe suspends Paris high-speed project amid certification deadlock.
- Finland and Sweden to be linked by rail this summer.
- European Parliament rubberstamps new regulation to upgrade cross-border railway capacity coordination.
- GoVolta launches daily Amsterdam to Paris day train via Antwerp and Ghent, with tickets from €19.
- EUROPEAN SLEEPER | Brussels to Milan night train now via Antwerp, Breda and Eindhoven instead of Liège and Aachen.
- ÖBB NIGHTJET | New generation carriages to debut on Amsterdam–Zurich route in December 2026.
- 8.7 billion rail trips in Europe in 2024 as Switzerland leads and Belgium’s data remain unavailable.
- Deutsche Bahn, DSB and Vy present direct Berlin to Oslo route, from summer 2028.
- European Rail Passengers Union: EU must act now to make cross-border rail travel seamless, fair, and green: passengers demand guaranteed rights and simpler ticketing.
- European Sleeper sets out vision for 40-route night train network across Europe, including London.
- RAIL BALTICA | Elron, Vivi, and LTG Link launch joint tender for regional trains.
- Trenitalia / FS Group advances Paris hub to power European high-speed expansion, looking at Belgium and the Netherlands in the long term.
- Train Charter Services replaces Keolis as operator for GoVolta trains.
- Trenitalia unveils €2 billion investment plan and orders 74 new Frecciarossa high-speed trains.
- Belgium and the Netherlands work on Brussels to Eindhoven direct train, possibly via Antwerp.
- Snälltåget to run Stockholm – Malmö – Copenhagen – Hamburg day trains from May 2026.
- Nox night trains: a smart new cabin concept or just an unachievable dream?.
- How firm are Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn’s “2030s” Germany to London train link plans?.
- Leo Express files plans for extraordinary 2026 Bratislava–Ostend and Venice–Northern Germany services.
- Rail should be functional, not fine art: EU leaders call for standardisation and lower costs.
- Subsidies for night trains? “You cannot fix this until someone builds more sleeper and couchette carriages”.
- Leo Express and Arenaways plan direct train between Prague and Venice.
- Italo targets the German high-speed rail market.
- Trenitalia eyes expansion into Germany’s high-speed trains market.
- European Commission wants to link all EU capitals by high-speed train by 2040… and that’s not going to happen.
- Travellers in Europe increasingly open to choosing trains over planes for short-haul journeys.
- REVIEW | European Sleeper night train.
- Paris Nightjet axed: France’s withdrawal threatens Europe’s night train revival.
- Iron Rhine gets renewed political attention in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
- ÖBB prioritises Railjet over Nightjet: Is the night train revival a False Dawn?.
- EUROPEAN SLEEPER | Brussels to Barcelona night train to stop in Avignon, Montpellier, Narbonne, and Girona.
- Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB launch Frecciarossa EuroCity trains linking Berlin, Munich, Milan, Rome and Naples.
- EU train travel report sees increase in cross-border passenger trains and easier bookings.
- Brussels to Luxembourg by train under 2 hours by 2030?.
- Eurostar and five more train operators joined the European Agreement on Journey Continuation.
- ÖBB’s new Nightjet sleeper cars accommodate solo travellers with Mini Cabins.
- EUROCITY EC-8 | Basel to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
- REVIEW | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 Paris – Milan in Business Executive.
- RAIL TOUR OF EUROPE | How easy is touring Europe by train?.
- Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
- REVIEW | ÖBB Nightjet Amsterdam – Zurich night train.
- Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
- Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
- Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
- To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
- Night trains in Europe.
- Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
- Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.
Channel Tunnel updates
- Virgin Trains takes major step towards London–Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam services.
- Eurostar to offer direct, no-train-changing London to Antwerp services from December 2026.
- EUROSTAR | From Brussels to London in Eurostar Plus (2026).
- TRENITALIA | FS Group orders 19 high-speed trains for expansion in France and Paris – London route.
- A loop as a creative solution for serving Cologne Main Station on a Frankfurt to London route?.
- Switzerland – United Kingdom direct train moves closer as SBB-CFF-FFS, SNCF Voyageurs and Eurostar sign memorandum of understanding.
- A London-bound Eurostar terminal at Antwerp-Central? Highly unlikely!.
- #CROSSCHANNELRAIL | Expanding UK-Europe train links most realistically leading to Switzerland.
- Eurostar unveils €2 billion Alstom ‘Celestia’ fleet of double-decker sustainable trains.
- Gemini Trains partners with Uber for Stratford to France Channel Tunnel route.
- Eurostar and St. Pancras Highspeed back major station expansion to double capacity amid growing international demand.
- EUROSTAR | London – Frankfurt, London – Geneva and Amsterdam – Antwerp – Brussels – Geneva from 2030?.
- Alstom wants its double-decker trains to ride through Channel Tunnel.
- London St. Pancras Highspeed pledges financial support for cross-Channel rail services.
- London St Pancras Highspeed and Getlink aspire to to triple train services to France, Belgium and the Netherlands and add services to Germany and Switzerland.
- Heuro wants to operate high speeds trains between Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris and London from 2028.
