Overnight Travel Study shows overnight travel is the future

What is the Nachtsprung Study?

In January 2026, the City of Zurich's Environmental and Health Protection (UGZ) and Zurich Tourism jointly published the study "Nachtsprung Zurich 2040". The goal: to establish Zurich as a central hub in a Europe-wide Nachtsprung network — thereby simultaneously achieving climate policy goals and boosting the city's tourist appeal.

The study is based on a multi-stage process involving 48 experts from the fields of tourism, mobility, sustainability, politics, and placemaking. Their findings: ten concrete strategic potentials that show how the vision of a Europe-wide Nachtsprung network can become a reality.

Why now? The numbers speak for themselves.

Two figures from the study highlight the urgency:

International tourism in Europe is projected to grow by 40% (Source: Oxford Economics, June 2025). Without genuine alternatives to flying, this means: more CO₂, more congestion at airports, more pressure on urban infrastructure.

At the same time, surveys show: 62% of the Swiss population would travel by night train — if the service is right. The willingness is already present. What's missing is a dense, comfortable, and easily bookable night travel network.

The Climate Argument: 10 to 20 Times Less CO₂

Travel is one of the largest personal sources of CO₂ — and flying is by far the most climate-damaging mode of transport. The Nachtsprung study states: The CO₂ footprint of night buses and night trains is approximately 10 to 20 times smaller than by plane.

For Twiliner, this figure was independently verified by myclimate: A Twiliner journey causes up to 91% fewer CO₂ emissions than a comparable flight. This means ten Twiliner journeys have the same footprint as a single flight.

René Estermann, Director of Environmental and Health Protection for the City of Zurich, sums it up: The "Nachtsprung" initiative is a building block of the city's climate strategy — and a call to action.

Night Bus and Night Train: A Shared Network

A key finding of the study: Night buses and night trains are not competitors but complement each other perfectly. Night trains efficiently connect major European centers on main routes. Night buses cover the wider area — destinations where demand isn't sufficient for a dedicated train connection, but which should still be accessible at night.

The decisive advantage of the night bus: It is quickly scalable. It requires no rail infrastructure, no track slots, and can react flexibly to seasonal fluctuations. With acquisition costs of around CHF 750,000 per vehicle, it is significantly cheaper than rail vehicles — and is currently operated profitably without government subsidies.

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