From train guard to CEO: Meet the Dutchman who crowdfunded night train start-up European Sleeper

“I've been dreaming of having my own train company for over 20 years,” says Elmer van Buuren.

The Dutch entrepreneur’s dream is finally about to come true. Next week, the night train company he co-founded in 2021 - European Sleeper - will hit the tracks.

Capitalising on Europe’s budding train renaissance, Elmer and his business partner Chris Engelsman saw an opportunity and grasped it: “I decided if I want to make it happen, it should be now because night trains are in everyone’s focus.”

Euronews Travel caught up with Elmer ahead of the sleeper train company’s Berlin-Amsterdam-Brussels launch on 25 May.

Even with 16 years’ experience working in the rail industry, setting up a night train company from scratch has been no easy feat.

“It is very difficult and challenging to set up an international train service,” says Elmer, who once worked as a train guard on the Dutch railways. He has since held roles in railway project management, traffic control and consulting.

In particular, “coordination between the countries is really, really challenging.” In every country, there are different organisations responsible for the timetable, he explains.

Track works aren’t coordinated either - and since they are typically scheduled at night they often throw schedules into disarray.

“We try to be really transparent and keep everyone updated [when there are changes],” says Elmer.

Alongside scheduling issues, operators must grapple with where to park, service and clean the trains when they are not in use during the day.

“There needs to be a clear strategy if we want to attract more people to take the train instead of a plane or car,” says Elmer. “It means that we need to put significantly more trains on the tracks, but it also means that we need