For our first event of the autumn, let Monisha Rajesh take you for a nocturnal adventure on some the world's most fascinating sleeper trains. In conversation with Adam Biles.

Free & open to all. Places limited. Arrive early to avoid disappointment. Most events take place on our first floor, which is accessible by stairs. If you have any concerns about access, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Following her award-winning journey in Around the World in 80 Trains , Monisha Rajesh explores the art of slow travel by sleeper train with her signature wit, warmth and enthusiasm in Moonlight Express.

After hopping on and off eighty trains to circumnavigate the globe, Monisha Rajesh was ready for a break – so she turned to the relaxing experience of travelling on night trains. In Moonlight Express, she trades the mayhem of constant international connections for the quiet solitude of a night-time cabin.

Boarding a night train is like checking into a hotel in the Twilight Zone, a drifting between reality and fantasy. In this nocturnal adventure, Monisha explores the art of slow travel and the romantic nostalgia of railroads by moonlight. She unearths local stories from South African wineries and polar bear-infested Canadian streets, discovers gothic-spired churches in the heart of Transylvania and discusses eco-travel with a Norman engineer living in Bucharest. From Sweden to Scotland, Moonlight Express takes us inside the luxurious cabins of sleeper trains on some of the world’s most exciting railway routes. With her two children in tow, Monisha immerses herself in different cultures, communities and cuisines around the world – and gets a good night sleep on the tracks in between.

Monisha Rajesh is a British journalist whose writing has appeared in Time magazine, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Sunday

Telegraph. Her first book, Around India in 80 Trains, was named one of the Independent’s best books on India. Her second book, Around the World in 80 Trains, was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book Award and won the National Geographic Traveller Award for Best Book. In 2024 she was selected for Conde Nast's Women Who Travel Power List, alongside Eva Longoria, Padma Lakshmi and others. She lives in London.