A German company is planning to launch a new train service with private rooms linking dozens of European cities. Sleeper services are growing in popularity on the continent, though travellers aren’t always thrilled by having to share with others or the cost – which can be more than flying. Nox Mobility, a Berlin-based startup, has set its sights on operating overnight trains across Europe with “fully personal rooms for one or two people at the price of a flight” by 2027.
The firm’s co-founder Thibault Constant said in a press release: “Sleeping while a train gets you across Europe is a great concept. But today people have to share their cabins with strangers, beds are tight, and it’s often more expensive than air travel.”
“We want to change that and make night trains an essential part of European travel,” he added.
A new player in the sector, the Nox Mobility also has the ambitious goal of expanding its offering to operate sleeper connections between 100 cities in the continent by 2035.
Mr Constant is something of a veteran on the night train circuit, with more than 400 journeys across the world under his belt, the firm says.
The travel enthusiast documents his train adventures on his “Simply Railway”, channels on Instagram and YouTube, where he has 219k subscribers.
Mr Constant has teamed up on the endeavour with co-founder Janek Smalla, promising to provide overnight travellers plenty of room, while maximising the number of passengers they can accommodate on the trains.
According to the firm, they are planning to have three room types, all of which will have two-metre-long beds, as well as separate seats with tables, and sufficient space for passengers to stand up and store their luggage.
It’s also also looking to provide double beds and beds that have panoramic window views.
“Our room design allows us to fit more people into our trains than traditional operators can,” Mr Smalla said.
“This, paired with a strict focus on standardisation and operational excellence will allow us to offer affordable fares on over 35 European routes”, he added.
Nox says it has already reserved train coaches, and is finalising the approval the compartments’ interior design. the firm is currently preparing the next large financing round for autumn, the press release put out on June 10 added.
You can explore Nox’s planned timetables and prices on its website.