As rail services either restart or expand overseas, one very welcome development in Europe is the growth in the number of sleeper trains traveling all over the continent.

France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have all increased both the capacity and the frequency of the sleeper service.

And many of these newly designed trains offer larger or separate compartments, so families don’t have to be separated and you won’t have to share your sleeping quarters with a stranger.

Given the time, distance and cost involved, it has become a retro moment. In many cases, the sleeper train service has become both a logistical as well as an economic alternative to flying between countries.