MRMCD 2026

Sleeping across 4 borders - a day in a night train manager’s life
2026-09-12 , Weltraum - C205
Language: English

Ever since 1872 night trains are border crossing heroes. But we’ve come a long way from Georges Nagelmackers’ original vision of borderless travel experience, or haven’t we?


Ever since 1872 night trains are border crossing heroes. But we’ve come a long way from Georges Nagelmackers’ original vision of borderless travel experience, or haven’t we?

A year ago i quit tech to follow my dream and became a train conductor. Not on a boring high speed train, but crossing more borders than most people do in a year in one night: working on the night train!

Join me in the story of how night trains broke down borders and how new digital borders appeared to replace them. A dive into train technicalities, (failure of) collaboration, cultural diversity and just the daily life of the night train as told by a collector of safety certifications.


This submission abstains from the use of AI:

Maartje is a train manager and conductor working on night trains connecting Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague on a daily basis.

With her past as software engineer she also brings on-board experience toghether with software in working with international railway standards and on-board systems.