The best combination of ease of travel with a place to sleep are sleeper trains.Before the introduction of travelling by air, sleeper trains were the most preferred mode of travelling through long distances on land. Unfortunately, the rise in the number of flights which are now cheaper than train travel and high-speed trains which have reduced travel time, are together responsible for the disappearance of sleeper trains. There are different categories of accommodation in sleeper trains uk which vary from one train to the other. Following are a few of them:
- Sleeper cabins: These cabins are usually either one or two berth cabins and are for exclusive use, just like a hotel room. It is just that a cabin is a little cramped up when compared to a hotel room and has just a sink as a washing facility.
- Couchette: These are berths which are shared in a carriage.
- Seats: These can either be seats as those in a daytime travel or they may even be reclining in some cases. These seats are seen particularly in trains which are meant for travelling through shorter distances.
Sleepers usually need to be booked in advance unlike the daytime trains. Most of the railway services permit you to book sleepers in the same way as you would book any normal daytime train. If the railways are giving you a pass, it is only for the standard seat. The additional surcharge for the sleeper service has to be paid on top of that.
Few of the facilities that you can avail in sleeper trains are:
- Food: Few of the sleeper trains have a separate dining carriage while a few of the sleeper trains have the facility of offering you food at your cabin. The dining carriage has a limited supply of food hence, it is always recommended that you carry a little food of your own in the unfortunate occasion of the train being delayed. Most of the renowned sleeper trains have their menus posted up on their websites so that you can get an idea of what you can expect for food and can plan to carry more as backup.
- Drink: The tap water available on the trains is usually not fit to drink. Hence it is advised to carry your own bottled water for your train journey.
Sleeper trains offer an optimum level of comfort with the advantage of sightseeing which is not possible when you are travelling by air. In most of the cases, sleeper trains are still the cheapest way to travel.
