Latihan: Literasi Bahasa Inggris: Inference

The Quiet Return of the Night Train

(1) For decades, overnight trains in many countries looked like a fading idea. Cheap flights could carry passengers across a continent in two hours, and rail companies cut sleeper routes that no longer paid for themselves. By the early 2010s, several well-known night lines had disappeared from timetables.

(2) Recently, however, some of those routes have come back. Rail operators report that many travelers now compare not only ticket prices but also the total time of a journey, including getting to an airport early and passing through security. A train that leaves a city center at night and arrives in another city center the next morning also saves the cost of a hotel room.

(3) Concerns about the climate have played a part as well. A passenger traveling by electric train usually produces far less carbon dioxide than one flying the same distance, and some governments have begun to support night routes with public money.

(4) Still, the revival faces problems. Sleeper carriages are expensive to build, each one carries fewer people than an ordinary seated car, and routes that cross borders must follow different safety rules in each country. For now, night trains remain a small part of long-distance travel.