Train travel is relaxing, social, and, when taking it overnight, can help you save time and/or money. Throughout my many years of travel, I have often taken the night train alone on my trips.
Sometimes I choose to do so due to a time constraint. To make the trip I want fit into the time I have may require overnight travel.
Sometimes it’s about saving money. A night on the train can save a lot on a hotel room. That savings can make the trip financially viable or leave money for a splurge on something along the way.
Most of the night train travel I’ve done has been in coach. This is not a comfortable situation for any more than one night. (Though I did it for two nights many years ago.) I have twice had a sleeper and, not surprisingly, it is far more comfortable.
Regardless of the sleeping accommodation, riding a train overnight can result in unique experiences that you would otherwise not have. Once, the experience was not to my liking but the situation was resolved quickly.
Read on.
The Night Train Alone and a Party in Coach
While the comfort of a sleeper can be welcoming, I usually travel coach for two reasons: the price and the people. It’s cheaper, yes. But if I’m going to spend a few days traveling I also want the people to be social and interesting. I have found that the people in coach are almost always just that.
In 2007 I traveled from Toronto to Vancouver by Via Rail. Passengers at the front of the train had bedrooms and a dining car with its fine china. In coach we had a seat, a snack bar, and a dome car. But I knew I was in for a great time even before we left Toronto’s Union Station.
The couple across the aisle from me were traveling from Newfoundland to Winnipeg to see a new grandchild. I had such respect for them. They sat quietly throughout the journey. It was a long haul for them, sitting up in a seat for one night on a boat from Newfoundland to the mainland and then two nights on a train. Such determination for family love.
But then there were the other passengers on board that night. They were the ones who made the party.
There was the father and son team who had traveled across Canada to pitch CBC television’s Dragon’s Den with their plain, pine wood casket system. They weren’t successful on the show, but what a memorable trip for father and son. At one point, they performed their pitch for everyone in the dome car.
There was the aging hippie couple who traveled full-time from festival to festival, hitting as many as possible; the woman who designed costumes for theater; and the Korean family whose sons loved playing euchre. Then there was the fellow from Israel who was traveling after being dumped by the love of his life and the once-upon-a-time train engineer who took the time to explain how rail signals and switches worked. They were all unique and interesting in different ways.
If you’re going to spend three days and nights on a night train alone with strangers, they may as well be interesting and memorable. This group was certainly that, as you can tell since I can still write about them many years later.
The Night Train Alone and an Almost Miss
I started Solo Traveler in 2009 and I took my first trip specifically for stories that I might share on this site. That trip was down the Blues Highway, from Chicago to New Orleans, by train. The train, called “The City of New Orleans”, was made famous by the song of the same name written by Steve Goodman and performed by Arlo Guthrie. I chose my stops along the route based on the fact that I only had ten days and could, therefore, reasonably make only four stops. I chose Chicago, Memphis, Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans itself.
The ride between Chicago and Memphis was overnight, arriving in Memphis around 7:00 am. I had a coach seat and a small sleeper compartment. This was my first time using one and I checked with the conductor as to whether I would be woken in time to disembark or whether that was up to me. I was assured that I would be taken care of.
However, it didn’t work that way.
I was jostled awake by the train coming to a stop. I looked out the window to get a sense of where we were, not thinking that it could be my destination. Then I saw the sign. I scrambled everything into my suitcase and jumped off the train just in time.
The lesson: set your own wake-up call.
The Nocturnal Solution
I was in China–Beijing to be precise–with Overseas Adventure Travel when I had a fall. It was a bad fall and while blood was oozing out of my nose, it was my arm that sustained the real damage.
I passed on the afternoon activities to rest and avoid passing out from shock. By the time everyone returned, I was feeling better and ready to join in the preparations for taking the train to Xian that night. There were 12 of us on the trip and we had a bit of a party that night. Then to bed I went, sharing a room with Sunny. But, in the middle of the night I awoke in severe pain.
I couldn’t sleep. Despite the comfortable rhythm of the train, there was not a comfortable position to be found. I ended up just resting, holding my arm straight up in the air, wondering what I was going to do. I longed for my acupuncture therapist at home. He would have been able to deal with this.
Then it occurred to me that I was in China, the birthplace of acupuncture. I spent the rest of the night in anticipation of not only having my arm fixed but also getting an acupuncture experience in China. We arrived in Xian in the morning and, with the support of our guide, made it to hospital where I was a guest of the Chinese healthcare system. Read Travel Health Emergencies: Stories of Health Care Around the World.
Night Train Hospitality in India
The hospitality of Indians came as a surprise to me. It’s not that I expected them to be inhospitable but what I discovered is that they go to great lengths to be kind, helpful, and gracious.
I first noticed this on a train from Agra to Puskar. There was a mix-up with my ticket. I was supposed to sit beside a friend I had met at an Ashram in Rishikesh but had a seat a few rows away. When I asked about us being moved so that we could sit together, a young man in his early 20s sitting beside my friend volunteered to move. I tried to say no, that he didn’t need to move. His response was memorable. He said, of course he would move as “You are our guest”.
Later on that trip I was waiting for the overnight train from Ranthambore to New Delhi. I got to the station early and sat at the point on the platform where my car was to stop. Two women, sisters-in-law, arrived and sat beside me. We chatted and I learned about their annual trips together. They took care of me from there on and beyond. They helped me find my berth (it was a top one), checked on me before lights out, and ensured that I was up for morning arrival in New Delhi.
Their support continued from there. I felt very safe with them. We drove into the city together and one of them arranged for a driver to show me around Delhi as I only had that day before flying out. The driver dropped me off at the airport. Incredible hospitality.
A Solo Travel Safety Lesson
My first trip to Europe was in 1985. It started out poorly as I was caught in a con game in Paris. This experience put me on alert for the rest of my two weeks on the continent and has informed much of my solo travel safety advice on this site.
I went from Paris to Vienna to Budapest and then traveled west again. Halfway through the trip I was traveling on the night train alone from Vienna to Zurich and I had become very capable of speaking up for myself. I was in a compartment alone with one middle-aged man. He looked harmless enough so, with money belt secure and my head on my backpack, I turned my back to him and went to sleep.
I’m not sure how much later but I awoke to find this same man crawling up my body. My sudden strength was formidable as I pushed him off me and the loud fuss I made had the conductor running. Yes, if you generally have a quiet voice, you should find your loud one before heading out solo. You never know when it might come in handy.
I was moved to another compartment where I was told the young fellow was passed out drunk and could do me no harm. The rest of the night was just fine.
Last updated: 27th May, 2025
