Difference between revisions of "Rail travel in Europe"

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Rail travel in Europe

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(Passenger rail companies)
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*'''Croatian Railways'''. [[Croatia]] [http://www.hznet.hr/ENG/index.htm]
*'''Caile Ferate Romane (''CFR'')''' [[Romania]] [http://www.cfr.ro]
*'''Russian Railways'''. [[Russia]] [http://www.eng.rzd.ru]
*'''Russian Railways'''. [[Russia]] [http://www.eng.rzd.ru] - note, http://www.poezda.net is the official timetable (available in English) for whole CIS
*'''Slovenske Zeleznice''' [[Slovenia]] [http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/]
*'''Latvijas Dzelzcelsh (''LDZ'')''' [[Latvia]]. [http://www.ldz.lv/en/sarakstsi.htm]

Revision as of 01:09, 1 May 2006

Paris, the City of Lights is easy to get to by rail from Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany. From Italy, Spain, and Switzerland it is also possible to get to Paris with minimal effort from other countries.

    This article is a travel topic


The quality, speed and price of train travel depends on the country, Western European countries generally offering higher speed and more luxury trains at higher prices than Eastern European countries. When bought on the spot, trains tickets are more expensive than cheap flights over the same distance, but this difference may disappear when the tickets are booked in advance. Not to forget the costs to get to the airport. Train travel is getting faster every year through the construction of new high speed lines which travel up to 300km/h. Especially Germany, France and Italy have extensive high-speed networks.



The only trains that have sleepers are trains that will take until the next morning to reach their final destination like the Brussels to Warsaw route or a Munich to Berlin route.

Planning your trip


Tickets and Passes

The cost of rail travel varies greatly by country. Eastern European countries tend to offer very cheap travel. Italy is comparatively cheap as well. The most expensive country is the United Kingdom.

If you can, try booking in advance rather than walking up to the ticket desk on the day of travel. Train fares booked in advance are usually competive with airlines fare, or cheaper. E.g., return tickets from Edinburgh to London are just 25 pounds if booked in advance, a 75% discount on the walk-up fare of 94 pounds. German return tickets are 25% cheaper if booked 3 days in advance, 50% if you stay on your destination over a saturday night, and up to 5 fellow travellers get another 50% off on top of the advance ticket fare. Three people travelling Cologne-Munich and back could thus pay 224 rather than 672 euro's for their entire trip.

Advance booking can be done from home if you want to, through the websites of the national railway companies. For international tickets use the railway website of either country you are travelling through. Compare the fares, as they may differ. Tickets can sometimes be printed at home, they may be mailed to you or made available for collection at a railway station. You will usually be offered the option to reserve seats or sleepers; seats may be free or cost 2 euro's; sleepers are usually 20 euro's. Reserved seats are recommended especially on long trips.





Buy tickets


Inter rail Sales Agents

Eurail Sales Agents

Stay Safe

Pictured - Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. There have been reports of "gassings" on trains in Poland.


In Eastern Europe and Central Europe there have been reported incidents of "gassings." This is when a thief enters a cabin and sprays a "perfume," which causes the people in the cabin to fall asleep and awake several hours later with their possessions stolen.






Historical/ Scenic

  • Trans-Manchurian See international routes section.
  • Trans-Mongolian See international routes section.

Passenger rail companies

National railway companies