I don't think the title of this thread is accurate. The day services of the railways involved, won.
I travel to Europe regularly, and I used the night trains. ( Paris-Berlin, Paris-Munich, and Munich-Berlin). However although excellent, they are inconvenient for the tourist, with checkout from the hotel at 11am. I became an expert at using left luggage lockers at main stations, while I filled in my day waiting for the night train.
With the day services speeded up, it is now quite feasible to travel London-Berlin and vv by the day trains, which I now do.
Travel by air in Europe inevitably requires a train trip from the main station to the airport. It is just as easy to get a fast day train to your destination.