The overnight trains here (Scotland) have lockable cabins and lockers for those that choose to use the reclining seats. Not that crime is a problem anyway.
> Also, train with a small child
Travelling by plane with a small child seems equally irritating.
60kmh is pitifully slow. It certainly explains why plane is actually faster where you are. In the Blue Banana [1] high speed rail is a reality. The airlines have stakes in it, and discontinued regional flights for that reason.
The trains are cruising at 300kmh within 5 minutes of leaving the station.
I experienced that first hand and I rather have a flight. For me it was 2 hours flight plus another 2 hours getting in and out of airport. That's nothing with 23h of train ride on the same route with couple train changes. From my experience any travel over 4 hours long is almost impossible with a small child especially if most part of that time require sitting in one place.
I've had these long distance trains a couple of times and ICE of Deutsche Bahn (I went through Germany with ICE) did not have such coupes or lockers.
> It certainly explains why plane is actually faster where you are.
It was an example of a vacation in Serbia. Train is great here in The Netherlands. People moan they're not on time, but if you look at the density of the infrastructure its a prestige.
> Travelling by plane with a small child seems equally irritating.
True, but the thing is, that travel by train (as I described) is very long. Either way all you gotta do is keep them (relatively) silent. Either via asleep or by keeping them occupied.
Regardless now that I have a child, I have a lot more sympathy for other parents with their child. And dogs remain the most disgusting, for me.
Get mugged while asleep. Also, train with a small child?
Also,
> The loss of time is minimal for small distances (< 500km) as you don't have check-in and don't have to travel to the airport first.
Depends. In like 2009 or so I had a train in Serbia. It went with 60 km/hour. It took me a whole day (24 hrs) to get to my destination. With plane and bus, it only took me half a day.