Book a whole compartment on Nightjet, SJ and Snälltåget

A couchette bunk is cheap because you share the compartment with strangers. If you travel as a family or a group, or you simply want the door closed on everyone else, three operators sell the whole compartment: ÖBB Nightjet, SJ and Snälltåget. Each one does it differently, so this page sticks to what the operators say on their own pages, which we read on 16 October 2026. Prices are not quoted here: none of those pages gives a fixed fare, and it changes by date.

ÖBB Nightjet: by car type

Nightjet has a dedicated page for travelling in your own compartment. What it says, car by car:

• Sleeper car. You book your own compartment by the number of people travelling together: single (1 person), double (2) or triple (3). These types can be selected and booked online.
• Couchette car. A private compartment takes up to 3 adults, and up to 6 people in total with a maximum of 5 children up to 14. Online it appears, when available, as “Private compartment couchette” or “Private compartment couchette comfort”. Nightjet’s couchette page describes the comfort version as a private compartment for up to 4 people (1 to 3 adults, at most 3 children up to 14) at a package price.
• Seating car. A private compartment has 6 seats and takes up to 3 adults, with up to 3 people in total and at most 2 children up to 14. Online it is called “Privatabteil Sitzwagen”.

Nightjet also gives the rule of thumb for groups. A group of 4 can book its own 4-berth compartment, and a group of 6 its own 6-berth one. A group of 5 simply buys a ticket for a free couchette berth. If your group is too big for the private seating compartment, or the private option has sold out online, you can buy tickets for the remaining seats and keep the compartment to yourselves.

If the private compartment no longer shows online, Nightjet says to contact any ÖBB ticket counter or ÖBB Customer Service on 0043 5 1717.

Two details from Nightjet’s tariff page are worth knowing. It recommends a private compartment (couchette or sleeper) for families with children. And a dog can travel on the Nightjet only if you book an entire compartment, which Nightjet explains as a hygiene rule.

SJ: the 2nd-class sleeper

SJ’s night train runs from Narvik in the north to Malmö in the south. Its 2nd-class sleeping compartment holds three beds, and SJ says you can book the whole compartment for yourself or share it. In a shared one you choose between a women’s and a men’s compartment. The beds are made up when you board, the compartment has a sink, and the shower and toilet are in the carriage corridor.

The 1st-class sleeping compartment is private by design: its own shower and toilet, with breakfast included. SJ describes the 2nd-class couchette as a compartment you share with other travellers, so for a whole compartment look at the sleeper rather than the couchette.

Snälltåget: “Egen kupé”

Snälltåget’s whole compartment is called Egen kupé (your own compartment), and it is one of the fare levels on its night trains, next to seat, first-class seat and a berth in a shared compartment. The company says the compartment has six places. You board with it set up as a seating compartment, and at bedtime you convert it to night mode with three beds on each side, reached by a ladder to the upper ones. Bedding is provided but you make the beds yourselves.

The conditions of travel add a few rules that matter if plans may change:

• A cancellation must be made at least seven days before departure for an Egen kupé on a night train, against 24 hours for other tickets. A ticket bought on the day of travel cannot be rebooked or refunded, and for an Egen kupé on a night train the terms set that cut-off at six days before departure.
• You cannot cancel single travellers out of an Egen kupé.
• A booking of more than four Egen kupé counts as a group trip, whatever the number of passengers.
• Empty places in the compartment can be used for luggage in the same way as for a traveller.

Which one fits you

If you are choosing between cabin types in the first place, start with our cabin guide. For the Nightjet booking window and rail pass rules, see how to book the ÖBB Nightjet.

Sources

All read on 16 October 2026 and subject to change by the operators:

• ÖBB Nightjet, “Travelling in your own compartment”: nightjet.com/en/komfortkategorien/ganzes-abteil-buchen
• ÖBB Nightjet, couchette comfort category: nightjet.com/en/komfortkategorien/liegewagen
• ÖBB Nightjet, general tariff information: nightjet.com/en/buchung/tarifinformationen/allgemein
• SJ, “Sleeping compartment 2 class” and “Sleeping compartment 1 class”: sj.se/en/about-the-journey/sj-night-train
• Snälltåget, “Våra komfortnivåer och prisklasser”: snalltaget.se/komfortnivaer-prisklasser
• Snälltåget, “Resevillkor”: snalltaget.se/resevillkor