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this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Last weekend, a few friends of mine and I made a trip halfway through Europe. I took the plane because I couldn’t get a ticket on the train any more, the others took the night jet (Austrian train service driving through the night with beds on board).
My 1.5h flight was delayed, and it was a big drama with connecting flights etc. It was by 5 minutes.
My friends' route was through Germany. Besides them needing 14h according to the regular schedule, they had a delay of 3h. There was no special accident or anything, the train just had to stop on the track a few times and in some sections it went at walking speed, probably because the track is in such a bad shape.
This is such a miserable experience. The price was about the same, btw.
Tbh if it wasn't for horrendous delays I'd still prefer a 14 hour night train over a 1.5 hour flight that in reality is usually a 5 hour test of my ability to kill time waiting. I'd rather get on at 8 pm, watch a movie, fall asleep, get up, have breakfast in the bistro car and get off at 10 am. Especially if it's the same price. Usually night trains are considerably more expensive if you desire any kind of comfort or privacy.
Breakfast is included with these Nightjets, although it's pretty minimal (two rolls with butter and jam and a cup of coffee or tea). On the plane I got a sandwich with awful bread and a single thin slice of cheese in it.
The train is also an exercise in waiting, since there are about 4 hours before and after it's bed time. However, it's not so much time lost, because you have a fixed space and don't have to move around so much like on an airport, so it's easy to open up a laptop and get some work done.