Brussels to Prague by EUROPEAN SLEEPER: The very FIRST train!

[@doc7austin]

Well, it was also pleasure to meet thibault and you on this inaugural journey; yes, i think i saw myself three times in your video 😂 ; i think having several youtubers aboard this train allows viewers to experience different perspectives; see you soon again;

[@Paul_Lucas]

Great to meet you too Doc! 😃

[@peteygti1]

​@@Paul_Lucas loved this video, is your website coming back though?

[@Everythingwithonehand]

In my teens I always planned on going around Europe by train as soon as I finished high school and before starting university. Unfortunately, I suffered a major stroke before that could happen and I resigned myself to never travelling the world. Now I’m in my forties I’m finally in good enough physical health to do some travelling so I’m delighted that sleepers are coming back in Europe. I have expensive plans this summer and next but hopefully to convince my husband to take a Grand Tour of Europe in 2026.

[@barbaralcharles]

Good luck and healthy to you.

[@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm]

Never give up. Keep pushing the envelope. Enjoy your travels but relax and do not push too hard. Everything in moderation.

[@dwblurb]

Wonderful! Travel well.

[@Hepad_]

"Midi" is a synonym for "South", in old French. That comes from that fact that the mid-day sun ("midi", in French) was oriented towards the South. It's still used mainly to designate the South of France. You have "Septentrion" (refers to Ursa Major which points to the North) for the North, "Midi" for South, "Occident" for West and "Orient" for East. They all come from Latin.

[@Paul_Lucas]

Top fact, I love this and probably should have made the connection - my old Latin teacher wouldn't be best pleased!

[@publicminx]

wrong! MIDI = "Musical Instrument Digital Interface") is a technical standard that describes a communication protocol that connect a wide variety of electronic musical devices. This means, this Brussels station was originally meant to connect Sound Instructions/Music Data (not Humans!) to other cities! ... ;)

[@PauldeSwardt]

I lived in Brussels for 6 months and never knew that I thought it was the Walloons being bloody minded!

[@strider2175]

Watching this had me feeling a bit nostalgic, since I lived in (West) Germany as a kid, back in the 80s, taking the trains to various places throughout the country. Thanks for the wonderful video!

[@Jimbodisfan]

Though I am USA American, I've been subscribed and enjoying your videos for a couple of years. This is a good one.

[@Nadia1989]

Couchettes are a good option for students. My last trip in Nightjet I shared a compartment with a couple of students going back to Bologna with their bags full of fresh clothes for the rest of the semester. They did the math and in their case it was more convienent than flying.

[@huiostheoukaisoteros]

I was at Deventer train station last Friday late in the evening (traveling through after after gamenight towards home) and saw a train on the electronic board I totally didn't recognize. I checked what kind of train it was and it was actually this very train (maybe not yours specifically). What a coincidence.

[@ocshaljufrian6109]

Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.,the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, thank you sis and bro.,Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, to lembang is Ciwidey ,kota Bandung BRAGA,...thank you sis and bro.~*

[@jfenemer]

After a long 7 hour flight from Dubai with Emirates, this is exactly what I need, keep it up Paul👍😀

[@ocshaljufrian6109]

Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.,the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, thank you sis and bro.,Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, to lembang is Ciwidey ,kota Bandung BRAGA,...thank you sis and bro.~*

[@ocshaljufrian6109]

Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.,the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, thank you sis and bro.,Try it bro, you can ride the highest speed train for the first time in Southeast Asia. The highest speed is 350 kilometers per hour, the Indonesian fast train Jakarta - Bandung, the newest, most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, the first,.the way to the beautiful and comfortable and beautiful and cool and cool city of Bandung, to lembang is Ciwidey ,kota Bandung BRAGA,...thank you sis and bro.~*

[@SuperalbsTravels]

this video deserves more views 😍

[@doc7austin]

... i already watched it - and saw myself quite often in the video 🎉

[@luke211286]

Hoping you'll be doing a video on this train as well

[@FREDALLEN119]

Give me a pack of beers and some snacks and this is my idea of heaven tbh.

[@erichstocker8358]

A lot of the renaissance of sleeper trains is due to Austrian NightJet. This company maintained the only sleeper trains for a very long time in Western Europe. It is nice to see the resurrection.

[@CarlosSilva-td3nn]

Great journey!!! Many thanks from Sao Paulo, Brazil.❤️🙏

[@777_Luver]

Paul! You are the man!! Been enjoying your content for a long time brother!

[@Paul_Lucas]

Thank you! :))

[@jampinkhearts]

Enjoyed this journey with you, Paul. As always, a super video! 🚉

[@rowanmorgan457]

Fantastic as always Paul

[@lukascph]

Interesting announcement of the train in Bruxelles-Midi: Impeccable Czech "hlavní nádraží", clear Czech accent in the German "Hauptbahnhof" - must have been spoken by a Czech!

[@PauldeSwardt]

Yes I noticed that also! Am considering the journey myself but from Brno where I'm almost equidistant from OBB's NightJet from Vienna-Amsterdam

[@rezaalan3991]

Great trip. There are plenty trip reporter taking this train at that time, so it give viewers plenty of angle at single time, nice. Also it's great to see, finally there's sleeper train connecting Western Europe and Eastern Europe after a long hiatus.

[@ryanfrisby7389]

Fantastic trip report as always!

[@druhyprogram]

At 16:14, just as you say you are entering Usti nad Labem, you show the castle and the station in the town of Decin, not Usti nad Labem but some 20 km earlier. Footage from Decin continues to 16:40. Then at 17:02 we get a glimpse of the Strekov Castle, which is in actual Usti nad Labem. These two towns are in a very similar scenery :)

[@Paul_Lucas]

Good spot! This is my mistake 😃

[@LotusLady9]

Thank you Paul!

[@liortepper3619]

Thanks for the superb content you make.

[@scottyerkes1867]

Nice inaugural ride. Nice accomodations. A dining car should be added.. Thank you Paul.💚👌

[@gamesbybastiaan6739]

why? You enter the train after diner

[@ronik24]

Nice! 🙂 Your P-Type carriage had been refurbished for ÖBB. I remember using it in the 90s and 2000s a couple of times. For example to Oostende and back for the ferry in 1994 and to Brussels for Eurostar in 1995. In the late 2000s they still ran, but only on the route to Belgrade. They are my favourite sleeper compartments, with the opposite third seat definitely the best daytime mode.

[@joemeyers3127]

Loved this video. Now I want to ride that night train!

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

The route is awesome, trhe views are awesome, the compartment is awesome, in fact, Paulu, I think you've found a good 'un here. Plus, London-Prague in a day? What a time to be alive!

[@daanlagerwaard3657]

A few weeks ago I traveled with European Sleeper from Rotterdam to Berlin and back, which was truly amazing, yes the carriages are a bit old but I highly recommend it, hope to try out the route to Prague in the future!

[@NormanAllen-ps9ju]

I missed your meeting with Thybault ; but enjoyed the trip ! Thanks Paul

[@bbpete8349]

I like this train trip - thank you!

[@ianlove1215]

I am tempted to try this one day, even doing the London to Prague!!!

[@srowley85]

The last time I took a sleeper was a round trip from New York to Miami back in the infancy of Amtrak in the 1970's. The train was 5 hours late going down and almost 2 hours late coming back. The rolling stock was knackered and dusty, but the staff was really friendly and helpful. This looks like a much nicer experience. We took a bike trip along the Elbe east of Dresden years ago, and seeing your footage of this region brought back some really nice memories.

[@TheRareVideosXL]

Great content as always.

[@drdewott9154]

I'd love to travel by sleeper train more myself but in Copenhagen which I live close to, we dont exactly get much. The CityNightLine trains that ran to Basel, Amsterdam, and Prague shut down in 2014, and since then the only new Night train really are the seasonal services by the Swedish company Snälltåget to Berlin and the Austrian alps. SJ technically runs a night train but it passes through in the middle of the night, and infamously there are several cases of them not stopping, leaving passengers that were suppoed to get on stranded. I can only hope European Sleeper comes to Denmark in the future. Possibly with a branch off of this service so we get a Brussels to Copenhagen Night train. I know that the company's next planned service is an Amsterdam to Barcelona train, which is very ambitious, but seems to be hit by near constant roadblocks, especially by the French Railway administration in SNCF Reseau.

[@andrewyoung749]

sncf causing trouble, say it aint so lol

[@fireflyrobert]

What a fabulous journey. That's one long train!

[@christinehodge3608]

Good video, thank you for sharing

[@louislamonte334]

I would LOVE to take this wonderful train soon! A lounge and diner car would be perfect!!

[@nancycowell-miller4321]

Another amazing trip! My lone Amtrak experience makes me wish we had the railways of Europe!

[@TheFrogfather1]

We did a 6 week railtour of the US last year and loved it! Those double deck cars are amazing and the onboard dining is first class :)

[@charlo90952]

America has good trains and they're getting better.

[@debramage739]

Thanks Paul, my dream is every train trip around the world. 😊

[@catherineallen6024]

Glad to see you didn't have any trouble with the toilets. We did the Berlin - Brussels sleeper (return) last summer and there were bad problems with the toilets and the basins. On both trips, within the night, all toilets in all carriages were closed and even before that, all water in the basins (toilets and in-cabin) was unavailable, so even if you could find a useable toilet, you couldn't wash your hands afterwards. It was pretty gross and very disappointing. I'm very glad you didn't have that on the inaugural trip. Hopefully those problem have been solved generally now.

[@Paul_Lucas]

Ouch - that isn't good :(( I did mean to take it last year to Berlin, but circumstances got in the way. Sounds like I dodged a bullet!

[@simonpilk]

Great train and my company did help in a small way having a native Czech speaker who helped Elmer. At 15:22 in the video I noticed in the Elbe section that the train passed a light engine movement of the former DB 120144 variety, a really rare sight. I think this train will be a real success in Summer.

[@Calebs_Aviation]

WOW! 😮 What a GREAT VIDEO Paul! An Inagural train and that looks like a pretty good train service except for no food services! Also when I visit Europe this winter I’ll DEFINITELY consider riding a train! Trains in Europe are just so cool maybe even more than planes! ✈️ 😅

[@mrpeel3239]

I've received so many convoluted email updates from European Sleeper. Thankful that you have boiled down their options and operations.

[@blackmercury956]

I cannot wait to take this trainin 2 weeks 🤩

[@jimthefinger7391]

Another great video.

[@RKMa64]

Wow...where have you been all my (train) life😎

[@tramcrazy]

Amazing to see you do this trip - I did the same last summer to Berlin. It was really cool - well not literally as ES didn’t have air con in the couchettes then and it was the middle of summer 😂

[@curtbonnell4308]

I really enjoy your videos, whether you are on a plane, train, ferry or whatever else you get up to. Keep them coming.

[@joermnyc]

Reminds me of the NYC subway’s historic “Train of many colors” they run for nostalgia trips on the IRT lines (cars from several eras of the subway system. There’s also the “Train of many metals” for the lettered lines as the outside cladding changed much over the decades.

[@jamespercival3111]

I am very interested in this itinerary. Want to look at frequencies to explore at least a layover in Dresden. Loved your presentation. I agree that cafe and bar car would be a fabulous addition!

[@charlo90952]

Very nice. Good to see the revival of sleeper trains. Using crowd funding to finance a dining car is an imaginative idea. Should make it a party train with live music.

[@john07973]

Good stuff 👍

[@RUOKH]

Excellent review - now that a Bistro Dining Car has been introduced, please revisit the train and appraise the on-board catering. Thanks. 🤓👍

[@bishwatntl]

Ah, yes - the Brussels double-named station. The way I remember it is to remind myself that, when French people talk about "le midi", they mean the south. The South name of the station just reflects the Flemish name for it.

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Great vlog as always! Ever taken a sleeper train in Norway? Keep up the good work. Be safe!

[@matywolf8237]

Nice video thanks ❤

[@jon33040]

Thank you for the great video. IMHO the real test for European Sleeper is how they handle passengers when things go badly wrong. There's a trip report here of just how badly OBB NightJet handled things when the Berlin to Brussels portion was cancelled. I would expect European Sleeper to be worse :(

[@Nadia1989]

NotJustBikes had his family trip with European Sleeper cancelled. He talked about it in one of his videos

[@conniepayne591]

It looks like a really fun trip. Lots of scenery. Maybe they'll add a diner car or some vending machines. So glad you enjoyed your trip and thanks for sharing.

[@chrismv102]

Though Czechia is the EU designation, most of my Czech friends have called it just Czech for the last 30 years. "Returning to Czech", "I'll call you from Czech".

[@drdewott9154]

In my language the name for Czechia/Czech Republic has always been "Tjekkiet" though so for us its already like just saying Czechia.

[@PauldeSwardt]

Also in writing I always abbreviate to CZ!😎

[@tonyr9389]

Just took this trip from Brussels to Berlin via European Sleeper in the 3 bed sleeper cabin with my brother. Paid a decent amount for the tickets and it seemed that the cheaper seats may have been better. We made it to Amsterdam before anyone even greeted us or checked tickets (can probably take this for free for a little while). Of course they stuck a solo guy in our room when there were 3+ rooms in our car vacant the entire time. The “nice” room had the smallest window and only one charge port for potentially 3 strangers to use? The 6 seat rooms that are cheap have charge ports for all and windows outside that open wide. The breakfast was comical we just left it for them to re use. Not sure if we would book them again. Nice video tho Paul.

[@maxart3392]

Where are those red/beige cars coming from? The livery looks pretty much like that of Italian long haul cars from the 1980s/1990s.

[@jonchall71]

None of the OBB Nightjets have dining cars which is a massive pity

[@lvthud]

I should point out that it is also possible to do London to Prague on BA in less than 24 hours, sometimes, unless you have a connection at LHR, then yeah, the train will be quicker and less chance of your connection being cancelled and BA not bothering to tell you......

[@himbourbanist]

dude the kids love Sleeper Trains!

[@pribehystrejdykuciho7633]

Well, you mixed Děčín with Ústí nad Labem. For me as a person from Děčín it's a hard pill to swallow. We simply have a love-hate relationship with Ústí. It's like Manchester and Liverpool in UK...

[@simong7539]

Gare du Midi is a lot nicer than when I lived in Brussels early 2000's. At that time if you wanted to take a train from there you arrived by metro as the area around the station was supposed to be really dodgy, especially after dark.

[@Islandicus]

The Gare du Nord was even worse back then. Dodgy is an understatement.

[@jeanjacques9980]

A restaurant car and bar would be an essential requirement for me to consider a journey of this length.

[@iandavies6575]

what was the cost?

[@tomcarr1358]

Good choice of route by the operator. Many cities worth a stop off as well as Prague of course. Sensible use of old stock to keep the prices down.So what is the frequency of the service?

[@rogiersimons1774]

This service runs three times a week in each direction (since they have only one trainset available).

[@MrGreatplum]

Really interesting video, Paul. The train is a bit of a mish-mash at the moment and is crying out for a dining car. Fingers crossed it can keep going

[@julzb7165]

Shared!

[@guilhermetavares4705]

These young people don't know how lucky they are to be able to travel by train so easily. Something I unfortunately didn't have access to in Latin America.

[@edmundcarew7235]

Excellent video: from Australia, I've previously done that Prague-Dresden section in daylight, enjoying a hot chocolate in the buffet car, so your comment about the need for a 'communal space' being addressed by the operator was well made. My only major historical criticism of European sleeping car trains is that unlike previous Australian designs, the vast majority (save for say Excelsior in Italy) lack a toilet and shower in each compartment. It's an annoying first world problem to have to rise in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, and walk to a facility that may or may not be occupied. Lack of space for larger suitcases is also a problem (especially in couchettes!) as your good advice to 'travel light' is not something those of us who come from 15,000 plus kilometres away always practice. On a visit a few months ago, I did not find Brussels Midi to be dodgy at all. It took me some time to find the small supermarket, but apart from that, no one hassled me. Let's hope despite fare rises, the OBB sleeper trains are a success and the same goes for rail operator European sleeper. So much better than an EasyJet or RyanAir flight.

[@pitdoctor]

@15:52 I don't even see @HONESTGUIDE referring to it was Czechia in his videos.

[@Toffeeabi81]

Paul I would be interested hear from you or any if the channel watchers. How acesablible these trains for passengers with visual impairments autism and other types disabilities. Ive always want to do european sleep train trip. I wanted to do interrail when i was younger but was put of buy a couple of bad experiences my friends even though they were told it was accessible and any support that was need would be given in the it was. It was passegners and not staff that gave them the assistsnce they had booked before the trip.

[@markoobid2005]

This one is currently not accessible, as it uses leased old rolling stock. But they have plans to acquire new cars. The Nightjet from ÖBB does have accessible cars for disabled passengers.

[@Toffeeabi81]

@@markoobid2005 thanks that's god to know I'm partially and do have a good level.of sight.

[@catherineallen6024]

The old rolling stock also means it's pretty loud - so it's not great for people whose autism is triggered by noise. At least, not without good earphones. The EuropeanSleeper we were on had only the first type of toilet shown, which was extremely difficult for the two of us (nominally able-bodied, but over 50) and by the end of the night, all toilets on our train were out of service and there was no water at all - neither in the toilet compartments nor in our "top-of-the-line" in-compartment sink.

[@Toffeeabi81]

@@catherineallen6024 thank you for letting me now this

[@MartinBrez]

Did you find the Man in Seat 61 on this train?

[@jacquihughes6172]

Great video pretty views

[@chadshill]

Very enjoyable report Paul 👍🏼 I made my first Euro Sleeper trip last year, Vienna > Rimini, and may have got hooked!! It'd be great if European Sleeper could be used with an Interrail pass.. maybe that'll happen in the future?? 🙏🏼👍🏼

[@Paul_Lucas]

I believe they are actively looking into this!

[@edmundcarew7235]

Seat 61's site says you can use it with Eurailpasses or Interrail passes. Supplements are payable.

[@Paul_Lucas]

@@edmundcarew7235 good spot. I spoke to one of the management on the train who said they were still looking into it for the new Prague leg, but it seems it’s now live on the site!

[@Jackal776]

For some reason sleeper berths always make me think of From Russia With Love.

[@SternenruferinPatchouli1]

yeah a Bar that has drinks and snacks would be nice esp when so many younger People travel

[@markoobid2005]

A dining car is the next planned step, but as the company is a 100% private startup, they need to get more money for it.

[@johnburke1317]

Nice video

[@sea80vicvan]

Informative video. Im surprised there was no dining car for communal use, having one us standard pn most passenger rail services, but if they're working to asd one it will improve the experience. Considering the renewed interest in trains as a more sustainable method for getting around I was happy to see a lot of younger people using this. Hopefully the congestion issues around Berlin delaying arrival times won't become that common. Thanks for showing us this.

[@drdewott9154]

You'd be surprised, very few trains in Europe still have dining cars. Deutsche Bahn just discontinued theirs on all non-high speed Intercity services, and most night trains, especially in western Europe, dont have any communal dining car or cafe onboard. At best its usually just a small snack kiosk. But with DB having just retired all their dining cars, it means they're up for grabs by any interested party. DB's old 80's-90's era IC coaches that have just been retired are selling like hot bread!

[@Charlizzie]

4:50 Abteil 3, say what? 6:06 the tagline sounds like Liverpool 6:07 EUR14.50 for a decent breakfast. 10:43 Ahhh, I see why I should buy food before heading on the train. Much like a Japanese bento. 15:52 Yes, they want to rename the country so that could be in the same blended sound as Slovakia.

[@tsrgoinc]

If it had been in existence last June, I wonder how much it would have cost for the Europa league final?

[@alexandrakikialexa]

So unfortunate that it's not available anymore for july :/

[@markwillis2800]

Pity they won't start up a direct service from London At Pancras to Prague.

[@seprishere]

Would a later Eurostar work? The earliest I can get to London from Newport on a Super Off-Peak Return is 1144, so the 1301 Eurostar, while theoretically possible, would be a stretch.

[@keithss67]

Love your videos. But I’m super unimpressed with this train. No dining car? No bar car? Plus it looks like A mish-mash of different old worn out train cars kind of thrown together. Also seems like a disorganized mess. For the moment I will stick to flying. It would be ok for a 5-7 hour hop, but not an over nighter. Keep the videos coming 👍

[@hitbyathunder]

You have to keep in mind that ES isn't a big operator, it's just a small private business that tries to get their hands on anything that funding allows.

[@keithss67]

@@hitbyathunder I admire their pluck. But it doesn’t look like a great experience.

[@Keikdv]

Nice report. Would like to see the same trip in the same compartment with 3 people in it, though. Maybe you are not so positive... 08:12 > schools from the Netherlands booked a lot of students on this train, not knowing it was it's first run... The train is not set up to get a direct route from Brussels to Praque. It is a combined effort of 2 start-ups from Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgium ones could not get their train running so 1 + 1 = 2. Hence the not so direct route. Since in the early '00, almost al 'normal' sleepingtrains did not run anymore, there are a shortage of useable choaches to run these trains. And than you have to manage to get a route for 1 train between 10000 of commercial and subsidised trains. It is far from perfect, but it runs and there is a choice now, not to use planes. Best of luck, European Sleeper, and you with your channel ((I did put some money in it in 2021 and now happy to see it running))

[@SamirVagner]

16:16 l am sorry to be correcting you but this isn't usti nad labem but Děčín castle but great work👍

[@runarandersen878]

I wish it all the best, but think it was a bit pricey. At least for me not wanting to share a sleeping cabin with strangers ;)

[@leed206]

Great journey my style have mobility problem's & prefer train travel to anything else. Have done Indian Pacific & across Canada (many moons ago) including Rocky Mountains. Still need to do the Ghan but think I've left it too late.

[@peternouwen]

I’m still wondering when the French are going to allow cross-country sleepers through France. I can’t wait for direct connections like Edinburgh to Napoli via London, Paris, Turin, Milan and Rome. Or Lisbon to Berlin via Sevilla, Madrid (airport), Barcelona, Toulouse, Paris (airport), Strasbourg, Frankfurt am Main (airport) and Leipzig. Or the one I would have liked to have been able to take coming weekend: Amsterdam to Warschau by sleeper train, and being able to switch on a daylight HS-train from Warschau to Krakau! 🎉

[@andrewyoung749]

presumably the first problem with any that would run via the chunnel is safety and particularly fire risk standards, which would require all new purpose built stock.

[@metamodernbarbell]

Brussels-Midi definitely doesn't have particularly salubrious surroundings, but during daylight hours it's alright, and Brussels-Nord looks worse!

[@marcd6897]

Have you been travelling with the man in seat 61? 🤨

[@rosssavage3172]

Why can’t you flush in a station?

[@paulvanderhaegen761]

nice train but what the ecq do one go to Prague.

[@thegrumpyguy1043]

Midi in this case means South; so the two names of the station are Brussels South in French and Flemish. Still that’s being picky, another great video.

[@OllieRamone]

Your videos are so enjoyable to watch on a Sunday morning. And I do prefer Czechia instead of Czech Republic. And that's coming from an American with no Czech blood.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Way more views, at least 10! ❤

[@davidhawkins683]

If you were flying from London to Prague would you book a flight from London to Brussels and then a flight from Brussel to Prague with a completely different airline ? Probably not because if your flight is delayed from London to Brussels, you will have to pay for a new flight from Brussels to Prague and quite possibly a hotel as well. But this is precisely your suggestion for the rail trip ! Fine if the Eurostar is running to time but an expensive disaster if the Eurostar is delayed. And the sleeper doesn't run every day so you are facing several nights in Brussels and a new expensive booking on the sleeper. If anyone apart from hard core rail enthusiasts wants to travel by rail from London to Prague they need a through ticket with a hotel if there is a delay. That's what you get with a flight.