End of the line for Europe's iconic night trains?

The Night Riviera, a sleeper train operated by First Great Western and one of only two sleeper services in the UK – the other being the Caledonian Sleeper. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian To their fans, night trains sum up the best of the European project. They are time efficient, environmentally sustainable, and irresistibly romantic: you go to sleep in one country and wake up in another, possibly having made friends along the way.