Night Train
Writer Horatio Clare takes a train from Paris to Vienna for a night-time journey across Europe - and into the archive, aboard night trains of decades past and of the imagination.
In literature and film, night trains are the setting for intrigue and romance, espionage and sudden death. And in real life too theyâre places of possibility and the expectation of new adventures. Writer Horatio Clare boards a train to Vienna for a night-time journey across Europe⊠and into the archive, aboard night trains of decades past.
His journey begins at the Gare de lâEst in Paris, the departure point for the original Orient Express. He looks back to the golden age of the Wagons-Lits, sleeper trains with wood-panelled cabins, an attendant in every carriage ready to be summoned and dining cars where evening dress was obligatory. It was an era which provided rich inspiration for writers and Horatio evokes his predecessors who used night trains to tell stories of brief encounters, betrayal and, of course, murder.
But luxurious Wagons-Lits are only one part of the story. Other travellers find themselves on very different night-time journeys. There are the rucksack-lugging student inter-railers of the â70s and â80s, sleeping in train corridors on expeditions of discovery (and self-discovery); the perils of sharing sleeping compartments with strangers; and the Ukrainian refugees reluctantly taking the âRescue Expressâ westward as they fled the Russian invasion.
After a long period of decline, night trains are on the rise again as new routes open up across Europe. Maybe itâs because weâre tired of the indignities of budget air travel but itâs also driven by the âFlight Shameâ and âTrain Bragâ movements - a growing awareness that travelling by train is better for the planet. âIâm on a trainâ is no longer an apology for a poor phone signal. Now itâs a claim to the moral high ground.
Horatioâs journey doesnât quite go to plan. But as he overcomes the challenges and navigates his way to Vienna, he discovers that night trains have always taken our imaginations to new destinations.
Produced by Jeremy Grange for ±«Óătv Audio Wales and West
Nazanin and the mystery of a decades old tank debt
Seriously... Archive
Even more seriously interesting documentaries from Radio 4.
Seriously... Reads
Read more about some of the amazing stories in Seriously...
Podcast
-
Seriously...
Seriously is home to the worldâs best audio documentaries. Introduced by Vanessa Kisuule.