I was on board European Sleeper’s first train to Venice. It didn’t even reach Italy

“Unforgettable!” That was the promise of the European Sleeper rail company ahead of its landmark new night train journey between Brussels and Venice which launched to great fanfare late last week.

As one of those on board the inaugural trip, I can confirm that the journey was indeed unforgettable – but not in the way intended.

A last-minute technical glitch involving locomotives meant that the new service was unauthorised to enter Italy with passengers having to disembark in Innsbruck – some 380 kilometres short of the final destination – from where alternative trains were to transport them on to Venice.

It was hardly a dream start and even the most rose-tinted sleeper train fans on board – and there were many – found themselves wondering how on earth something as fundamental as permission to take the train into one of the key countries along the route was denied with literally a day to go until launch.

“I’m afraid this has shown once again just how difficult it is to set up new rail routes – in this case a highly complicated one running through five different European countries [Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy] and involving several different sets of regulations and locomotive requirements along the way,” said Mark Smith, the rail specialist behind the Man in Seat 61 website, who was among the passengers witnessing this little piece of rail travel history.

“I think those behind European Sleeper thought they could iron out all the difficulties but given the complexity of what they were trying to do it’s no wonder they came a cropper.”

The sudden curtailment of what until that moment had seemed like an almost too-good-to-be-true reworking of the legendary Venice Simplon-Orient-Express journey – at a fraction of the cost – did cast a shadow over proceedings at what had been intended to be a celebratory pre-departure press conference in Brussels.

Chris Engelsman, co-founder of the European Sleeper, tried to put a brave face on it, waxing lyrical about how with its cosy compartments and dining car conviviality the train – which launched two years ago with a Brussels to Berlin routing – was proving a great hit with lovers of slow travel and was helping to connect people with the cities of Europe – in the case of the latest journey, in addition to Brussels and Venice, the great centres of Cologne, Munich, Innsbruck, Bolzano and Verona.

But there was no denying the disappointment in his voice as he said: “Yesterday we got a phone call from our Italian operator that we are not going to reach Italy at all.”

Though not fully explained, it appeared that to enter Venice the train needed a locomotive at the front and the rear – which it did not have – and that there were further technical issues that the Italians found fault with.

The word “debacle” sprang to mind. But in truth, for all the talk of greater connection and the waving of European Union flags that attended the Brussels event, the continent’s rail network remains deeply fragmented, a cluster of national systems with different rules and authorities.

Breaking through that is a very tall order – particularly when attempted by a start-up private company without the clout and financial muscle of state-backed enterprises offering sleeper train services such as SNCF in France and OBB in Austria.

So where does this leave the celebrated revival of sleeper train travel in Europe?

While disappointing, this setback is unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm of people who want to travel more sustainably – and who have come to realise that there is great joy to be had in this form of journeying itself.

Certainly that was my impression as I wandered along the corridors of the train shortly after we’d left the drizzle of Brussels behind us for what was still going to be a proper overnight train adventure to Innsbruck.

Groups of families and friends looked very comfortable in their couchettes, some playing cards, some chatting amiably, some drinking wine and eating pizza, some sitting and reading or watching the world go by. There was a relaxed, almost party-like air – a buzz.

I bumped into an English couple from Bath, Ed and Polly Kirton, whose eight-year-old son, Ivor, was beside himself with excitement. “He’s not going to sleep a wink,” said Polly. “He loves the whole experience of sleeper trains and will be looking out of the window all night.”

At the very front of the train, those lucky enough to have booked ahead had places in a festive-looking dining car, which as the evening went on was transformed into a bar with much clinking of glasses filled with Belgian blonde beer.

It wasn’t all perfect. The departure from Brussels was itself delayed by just under an hour. The lights were occasionally a bit off and on; in some of the washrooms the water wasn’t flowing and in one carriage the heating wasn’t working (to be fair passengers in that one were moved elsewhere).

Many of these issues are down to the fact that European Sleeper consists of rolling stock that dates back largely to the 1980s and 1990s and in the case of the more private sleeper carriages as far back as the 1950s.

For enthusiasts, that is part of the train’s charm and authenticity; for those seeking modern comforts, it’s probably not ideal.

“There just isn’t much sleeper train rolling stock out there,” said Engelsman, who together with fellow Dutchman Elmer van Buuren, launched European Sleeper in 2023. “If we could get more we would. Unlike the state-owned operators, we are not in a position to build new trains but we would like to renovate and improve the stock we do have.”

Engelsman was hopeful that the difficulties with the Italian rail authorities would be ironed out and that the remaining trips to Venice – there are six in total scheduled – would proceed as planned.

And far from being derailed, there are plans for a further expansion of the European Sleeper network, with a new routing from Brussels to Barcelona hopefully coming further down the line. This would follow the extension of the Brussels-Berlin route to Prague last year, a journey that has proved very popular and which – given how easy it is to get from London to Brussels by Eurostar – attracts a lot of British travellers

“There is an undeniable demand for this kind of experience,” Engelsman told me as we eased into the journey to Innsbruck. “It’s an efficient way of having a long weekend away and a great chance for small groups of families and friends to really connect with each other in a meaningful way.”

Personally I need no convincing. I love sleeper trains and their soothing rhythms. I love never quite knowing what is going to happen, whether you will arrive on time or who you will meet along the way.

My couchette buddies included a Chinese PhD student with a penchant for Belgian chocolate, a member of the Dutch Air Force who had been doing a ski touring course (many of those on board were winter sports fans getting out in Austria) and an Italian heading to Dortmund to pick up a car. All random, all memorable and despite occasional snores, all agreeable companions with whom I enjoyed animated conversations in between stints on the corridor staring out of a window you could actually open (bliss!) and catching stirring glimpses of the Rhine at Cologne at first light and Alpine peaks as Bavaria gave way to Austria.

Has the European Sleeper project been derailed?

“Definitely not,” said Mark Smith. “They are a robust outfit and are doing well on their main route to Berlin and Prague. They will learn from this and I think they may be more circumspect about announcing new routes in future.

“For all the issues with getting into Italy on this one, no one got left behind, food was provided, alternative trains were found. It was fun; it was an adventure!”

How to do it

Adrian Bridge was a guest of European Sleeper which offers Brussels to Venice in a shared six-person couchette one way from €99 (europeansleeper.eu) and Eurostar, which offers London to Brussels one way from £39 (eurostar.com).

Asked when the European Sleeper would be able to run into Italy, a spokesperson for the company said: “We are talking to all relevant parties and we will be able to confirm if we’ll be able to run the route to Venice very shortly – but we do not have a confirmed answer yet.”