Stories from our co-owners
30 March 2026
European Sleeper began with a simple belief. Night trains belong to all of us. We are not backed by a single large shareholder or distant investment fund. We are a cooperative. More than 6,000 co-owners have chosen to invest in the revival of night trains in Europe. Travellers, railway enthusiasts, climate advocates, families, entrepreneurs, students. People who believe that how we travel shapes the continent we live in. This is their story.Manuela Talana has been a co-owner since the very beginning, joining in 2021 during the first campaign. At that time, night trains were still widely seen as nostalgic or unrealistic. For her, investing was both a personal conviction and a clear statement of support for entrepreneurs who dared to revive international night rail.
She values the cooperative model deeply, both professionally and personally. As she explains, “It is not only about profit, but about shared responsibility, long-term thinking and collective impact. Being part of a community-owned company creates a strong sense of involvement and trust.” For Manuela, this structure reflects how travel and mobility should function in Europe, with accountability and collaboration at the centre.
What has strengthened her belief most is the tangible progress since 2021. Demand has grown, European Sleeper is operating real routes with real passengers, and expansion continues. Seeing travellers actively choose the night train for comfort and experience confirms to her that the concept is not only realistic, but necessary.
She believes night trains combine sustainability, efficiency and human connection. They offer a genuine alternative to short-haul flights, reduce pressure on airports, and make international travel possible without sacrificing daytime hours. Beyond the environmental impact, she emphasises their cultural value. You fall asleep in one country and wake up in another. You meet fellow travellers and rediscover a sense of distance and geography. In a time when Europe can sometimes feel fragmented, night trains rebuild connections in a way that is both practical and human.
When Andreas Pilzecker became a co-owner in 2023, he described the feeling simply: “It is pure happiness to travel in a train which is ours.”
For Andreas, the journey is personal. He has travelled between Leipzig and Brussels for many years. “I’m a railway addict,” he says. “The idea to connect 4 European capitals with one train was just brilliant.” Brussels. Amsterdam. Berlin. Prague. One train, crossing borders while most of us sleep.
But ownership, for him, is not abstract. It becomes real in the small hours of the evening, somewhere between Belgium and the Netherlands. He recalls the many long conversations with fellow passengers, stretching from Brussels towards Amsterdam, until someone gently interrupts: “Ahm – what about making the beds now?”
These are the moments that strengthen belief. Not only in a company, but in a shared idea of Europe. As Andreas puts it, reviving night trains matters “because it connects Europeans in the best imaginable way.” Connection is not only about infrastructure. It is also about encounters.
Jean Pierre Bojimans joined as a co-owner in 2022. For him, investing was “the chance to be part of a movement of change.” He speaks about doing this together. About a shared belief that a night train is both an adventure and “an essential tool in supporting the natural wonders of this world.”
He sees night trains as something deeply practical and quietly romantic. They “offer an alternative to traffic jams, crammed terminals and airplanes, and bring back the romance of travel.” Romance, here, does not mean luxury. It means time. Space. Waking up somewhere new.
Jean Pierre values the cooperative structure itself. “It’s amazing that we all own a piece of this organisation. A nice example of how railway companies can be reinvented.” Reinvention does not always come from the top. Sometimes it begins with a community willing to take responsibility. To invest not only money, but trust.
He points to the “relentless drive to change, finding new routes, keeping this on everyone’s agenda” as a moment that strengthened his belief after joining. For a young cooperative like us, progress often comes in small steps. A new timetable slot. An additional carriage. A new partnership. But step by step, a network grows.
Ruben Timmerman became a co-owner in 2023 with a clear hope. He wants his investment to help create “a ‘plane-less’ European continent.” It is a bold phrase. But behind it lies a simple desire. Fewer short flights. More meaningful alternatives.
Ruben admits he is “mostly still fuelled by the hatred for flying short distances.” Each time European Sleeper announces a small success, even if it is just one more step towards a larger goal, he feels encouraged.
He also values the openness of the cooperative. “I love the regular updates and the fact that European Sleeper is involving so many people to become a part of it.” A cooperative is not only a financial structure. It is a commitment to transparency and dialogue; to sharing setbacks as well as milestones.
For Ruben, night trains are not only about emissions, but about unity. Making it easier, especially for younger people, to travel long distances and see more of each other’s countries.
Today, more than 6,000 co-owners stand behind European Sleeper. They invested and chose to help bring night trains back to Europe.
Our investors come from different backgrounds. Together, they demonstrate that rail can be community-driven and financially supported by the people who believe in it. Ownership does not have to sit with a handful of large investors. It can be shared across borders, across professions and across generations. A train can be both reliable transport and a cooperative effort with long-term purpose.
Our co-owners remind us why we started and why we continue. Manuela’s focus on long-term impact, Ruben’s ambition for fewer short flights, Jean’s belief in reinvention and Andreas’ simple joy in travelling on a train that feels like his own all point in the same direction: a practical, connected and lower-impact way of moving across Europe.
Interested in becoming a co-owner? Learn more here.