The future of sleeper service on the European continent

The Guardian reports that many European sleeping train services are under threat. These have been under-invested for a long time, so it is not altogether surprising; and as daytime speeds increase there is perhaps less need for them, but there is still no other convenient and comfortable way to arrive in a city early in the morning from hundreds of miles away unless you stay overnight from travelling the previous day.

This decline does not seem to apply in the UK where although sleeper services have been cut in the past, upgrades are promised on the remaining ones linking Scotland and Cornwall with London. Now we just need to persuade someone to stop one at Peterborough.

Long ago, on privatisation, the proposed overnight services through to the continent from the UK were cut even before they started, as were through daytime services from the north of England to Paris. But who knows what the future may hold.