May 2013

Latest updates on Twitter:  Follow my trip to Istanbul from 21 May...

Just a reminder that I'm on Twitter as @seatsixtyone, and will be tweeting updates and notable news as it happens, as well as updates as and when I travel... I shall be travelling from London to Istanbul from 21 May, tweeting on the way, to make a press trip on the Danube Express from Istanbul to Budapest via Bulgaria & Transylvania.  These will be the 5th and 6th train journeys between London & Istanbul that I have made since 1995!

Crazy! Deutsche Bahn to stop selling Thalys tickets.

News just in, DB in Germany is to stop selling Thalys tickets, prior to withdrawing from its minority stake in Thalys.  That means that if you call DB, you'll be told there are only 4 trains per day between Germany and Brussels!  This may or may not affect DB's UK office.

European timetable change on 8 June...

All European railways change their timetables on the 2nd Sunday in June & December.  Reservations are often late opening for booking for dates after the timetable change, and Spain and Italy are key culprits.  I'm pleased to say that French Railways actually extended their booking period over the summer.  I'm not expecting any major changes after 9 June, so use the information on this site on the assumption that little will change.

Latest on international trains to/from Istanbul...

As of 6 May, it's reported that the Bucharest/Sofia to Istanbul train will be terminating at Cerkezköy, 115km short of Istanbul, with a replacement bus laid on to Istanbul Sirkeci.  This comes after a period when the train was running as far as Halkali, 27km short of Istanbul, with passengers travelling by scheduled bus into Istanbul, but it's better than the situation from March to December 2012, when the train terminated at the Bulgarian/Turkish border at Kapikule at 01:25 for a bus all the way to Istanbul.  With a scheduled arrival in Cerkezköy of 05:44 (plus an inevitable delay, no doubt) you'll at least get some sleep in your couchette or sleeper!

New page, new video:  Tito's deluxe private train, click here.

Following a trip last month on Tito's private train from Belgrade to Bar, the first of 6 trips being organised this year by Montenegro Holidays, I've added a page about this unique train, complete with video guide - see the new Tito page.

New video:  Bar to Belgrade by train, click here.

One of Europe's most scenic routes linking Montenegro on the Adriatic with the Serbian capital Belgrade, I've been able to improve the Serbia & Montenegro page and add a video guide to this remarkable journey.  The video features an unfortunate incident at 00:02:40, when the train hit and killed a horse (in fact, two horses if you look closely) which a local man was leading across the line.  See the Serbia & Montenegro page.

Direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs put off until Autumn?

Problems with certifying the TGV Duplex sets to run into Barcelona Sants seem to have postponed the start of direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs until later this year, see www.railjournal.com/index.php/high-speed/technical-problems-delay-paris-%E2%80%93-barcelona-tgv-launch.html.  In the meantime, bookings for the current Paris-Figueres service have opened for the summer.

Odds & ends this month...

  • New e-visa for Turkey:  As of April 2013, you can buy your Turkish visa online at www.evisa.gov.tr.  You'll still have to get off the train at the border at Kapikule for passport control, but now you won't have to queue at the separate visa window first!

  • Australia:  With the Victorian government fussing about subsidy, the Melbourne-Adelaide Overland is being cut to just twice a week in winter, details on the Australia page.  The worst ever service between these two cities?

  • New video clips added, showing a Hungarian sleeping-car from Munich to Budapest, and the elderly Serbian sleeper from Belgrade to Budapest, see the seat61 Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/user/markgideonsmith/videos?view=0&sort=dd&tag_id=.

  • New deluxe Premier Classe train linking Johannesburg & Port Elizabeth twice a week.  See the South Africa page.  This is great news, as Premier Classe is both affordable and gets rave reviews from those you use it.

  • Following the trip to Montenegro I've been able to make numerous improvements to the Hungary, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Bulgaria pages with extra photos and info, including details of Budapest & Belgrade station facilities.

April 2013

Latest updates on Twitter...

Just a reminder that I'm on Twitter as @seatsixtyone, and will be tweeting updates and notable news as it happens, as well as updates as and when I travel...

Operation Tito 17-23 April...

Follow the Man in Seat 61 on a train journey from London to Montenegro 17-23 April, see here & follow on https://twitter.com/seatsixtyone.

Amsterdam-Warsaw Jan Kiepura reprieved!

It looked almost certain that the Amsterdam/Cologne to Warsaw Jan Kiepura would be discontinued at the end of June, knocking a big hole in east-west rail travel via Poland.  The good news is that is seems to have been reprieved.

New Zealand closed for business between May & October?

New Zealand appears to be closing for business in winter, as it's just sadly been announced that the Coastal Pacific (linking the ferry from Wellington with Christchurch) will not run at all from 7 May 2013 until early October, leaving no civilised transport link at all between Wellington and Christchurch in a supposedly developed country.  This follows a drop in visitor numbers after the Earthquake.  You may wish to postpone your visit until things sort themselves out!

High-speed trains start Eskisehir-Konya in Turkey...

Ankara-Konya & Eskisehir-Ankara high-speed trains are already operating at up to 250km/h.  A new curve linking these two lines has now allowed two daily Eskisehir to Konya trains to start.  Regular trains take 7 hours, buses take 5, these new trains take just 2 hours.  Ultimately, by perhaps 2015, these high-speed trains witll link Istanbul & Ankara, Istanbul and Konya, revolutionising train travel in Turkey.  See the Train Travel in Turkey page.

Latest update on start of direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs...

The high-speed Perpignan-Barcelona line is complete, and documents leaked to the Spanish press suggested that the two daily Paris-Figueres TGV Duplexes were going to be extended to Barcelona as from 28 April.  This seemed confirmed by the fact that bookings for the existing Paris-Figueres service were only open up to 27 April.  Unfortunately, it looks as if this date has slipped, as bookings for the existing service terminating at Figueres (with Spanish connection to Barcelona) were subsequently opened as far as 10 May, and now until 29 May.  An unconfirmed source within SNCF did indeed suggest that direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs will not now run before the end of May 2013.  See the London to Spain page.

Odds & ends this month...

  • Australia page revised to recognise that there's now no Red Service (economy) sleepers, or lounge car, on the Indian Pacific or Ghan.  If you do Red service (economy) there's now just seats and the Matilda cafe.  Or you go Gold or Platinum sleepers with lounge and restaurant, meals included.  No economy sleeper-with-lounge option!

  • Rail Europe UK change their prices slightly again, recognising changes in the pound-euro exchange rate so £ prices on the Elipsos trainhotels and Paris0-Italy trains revised again, this time slightly upwards.

March 2013

SailRail fares now available via Liverpool, London to Belfast from £57...

Stena Line have now launched combined train & ferry SailRail tickets from any rail station in Britain to Belfast via their Liverpool-Belfast ferry route.  The time-effective overnight service means you can leave central London after 5pm, Birmingham or Manchester after 6pm, sleep in a comfortable private cabin with shower & toilet on the luxurious ferry and arrive in Belfast 06:30!  This makes eco-friendly business trips or weekends away feasible without the pain of the plane.  At this stage, they can only be bought from Stena Line, not rail stations or train company websites.  See the Northern Ireland page.

Win a 6-day escorted holiday for two to Belgrade & Montenegro...

In April, I'm travelling aboard Tito's luxurious special train on its inaugural departure from Belgrade.  The Belgrade-Montenegro line is renowned for its spectacular mountain scenery, and I've jumped at the chance to travel this route in comfort on such a historic train.  Now you've a chance to come along too (or on one of their other April or May departures if you prefer), as www.montenegroholidays.com are kindly giving away a holiday for two as the prize in Seat61.com's first-ever competition.  Click for details of how to enter.

The end of the Jan Kiepura from 1 July...

It now looks almost certain that the Amsterdam/Cologne to Warsaw Jan Kiepura will be discontinued from 1 July 2013, the last in a series of cuts by Polish Railways.  This makes a hole in the journeys to Poland, Ukraine and Russia, especially as it may also affect the Frankfurt to Moscow sleeping-car run by the Russian Railways.  I've put a warning on the relevant pages, and will work out alternatives in due course.  The Jan Kipeura's last westbound departure from Warsaw will be 29 June, it's last eastbound from Amsterdam will be 30 June.

Direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs to start from 28 April?  Or the end of May?

It now looks likely (but not yet officially confirmed) that the first direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs will start running from 28 April.  These will be an extension of the current two daily Paris-Figueres TGV Duplexes, so departure from Paris will still be at 07:15 & 14:07 daily southbound, 09:29 and 16:29 northbound from Barcelona as shown on the London to Spain page.  In fact, it now looks as if there will be a third daily departure on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays northbound, Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays northbound.  Reservations for the new service will open in due course, but nobody yet knows exactly when.

Latest news 29 March:  Bookings for the existing Paris-Figueres TGVs have just opened until 10 May.  That clearly means direct TGVs won't now start on 28 April.  Maybe 11 May?  I now believe a report originating within SNCF that suggests direct Paris-Barcelona TGVVs won't start until the end of May.

Just remember that back in January, tickets for the new Madrid-Barcelona-Figueres trains only went on sale 7 days (not the usual 92 days, just 7 days!!) before the first train ran, so just sit tight, stay calm, keep an eye each day on the booking websites, when booking opens and you can actually see trains, then you can book.

Summer train bookings with French Railways...

Just a heads-up!  SNCF is extending its summer booking horizon, and travel dates 4 July to 25 August will open on 4 April, travel dates from 26 August to 2nd September will open on 14 May.

Odds & ends this month...

  • Crossing Paris.  On recent trips with family & luggage I've found myself using taxis more to cross Paris.  I've improved the information on this option on the How to cross Paris page.

  • Netherlands:  It's reported that from 1 April Stena Line will stop refunding the cost of Dutch train tickets to passengers arriving at Hoek van Holland, who have bought an Any Dutch Station to London Dutch Flyer ticket but who have not received their tickets by post so have had to buy additional NS train tickets to reach Hoek.  Basically, this means that if you don't have a Dutch address, you can only book westbound Dutch Flyer tickets starting in Hoek van Holland to London (so the ticket can be emailed to you in pdf format), not from Any Dutch station to London, which requires Stena to send tickets by post, which they will now only do to Dutch addresses.  Which in turn means that you'll need to buy a separate NS train ticket to reach Hoek.  And yes, this costs a few euros more.

February 2013

New video guide: London to Cornwall by sleeper...

After a recent trip at the invitation of First great Western, I've added new photos and a short video guide to the London to Cornwall sleeper train page.

Istanbul's classic Sirkeci station closed to long-distance trains from 1 March 2013...

If you've been following the story, since March 2012 the Bucharest/Sofia to Istanbul train has been terminating at Kapikule on the Bulgaria/Turkey border with a rail replacement bus onwards to Istanbul, due to engineering work to rebuild the rail line into Turkey.  The good news is that while the weather is poor in January/February/March 2013, the engineering work is suspended and the train is again running through to Istanbul.  The not-so-good news is that  from1 March 2013, Sirkeci station is closing to allow lines to be rebuilt in connection with the Marmara Tunnel project.  That means that even though the train is currently running through to Istanbul, from 1 March it will terminate at a suburban station called Halkali, some 27km short of Istanbul city centre.  You can hop on the regular railway-replacement buses from there for the last bit to Istanbul, these are buses that are replacing the Istanbul suburban service.  Bus replacement Kapikule to Istanbul Sirkeci may resume some time in March, but there is no set date yet.  Sirkeci station itself is still open, serving just a short remnant of suburban train service.

Fyra fiasco update, Brussels-Amsterdam...

Fyra high-speed trains were introduced from 9 December 2012 between Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam & Amsterdam, then withdrawn indefinitely due to serious technical problems.  You can now travel Brussels-Amsterdam by high-speed Thalys train, or on the frequent non-high-speed InterCity service Brussels-Antwerp, followed by the hourly local train Antwerp-Roosendaal, then by frequent Dutch InterCity trains Roosendaal-Amsterdam.  However, very shortly two daily direct InterCity trains will be reintroduced between Brussels-Antwerp-Roosendaal-Rotterdam-Den Haag, increased to 8 per day from 11 March.  Not quite the old hourly Brussels-Amsterdam pre-Fyra InterCity service, but they are trying to extend them to Amsterdam.  This may or may not be possible in due course.  However, it may be months before Fyra resumes.

Odds & ends this month...

January 2013

Fyra kaput...

The new Brussels-Amsterdam high-speed Fyra service has fallen victim to poor construction of its V250 trains by Italian firm Ansaldo Breda.  One expects a few faults when any new train first comes into service, but it seems these trains have had more than usual, can't cope with the snow, and when a part fell off a train's underside, the Belgians banned them from their network until further notice.  That leaves Thalys as the only train directly linking Brussels and Amsterdam, unless you take the IC Brussels-Antwerp, all-stations local train Antwerp-Roosendaal and Dutch domestic IC Roosendaal-Amsterdam.  Which many people are now doing!  Belgian Railways will shortly be extending their Brussels-Antwerp IC to Roosendaal, and work is progressing on reinstating the old hourly Brussels-Amsterdam IC.

Italy improves its child age limit for children, sort of...

From 9 December 2012, Trenitalia increased the age limit for child fares from 'under 12' to 'under 15', but only for national trains, meaning the high-speed Frecciarossa/Frecciargento/Frecciabianca services and long-distance InterCity, ICN and sleeper trains.  Regional trains retain the long-standing 'under 12' age limit.  This will no doubt cause confusion on journeys such as Rome to Siena, where one leg is on a Frecciarossa or Frecciargento, the other on a regional train, with differing age limits.

Turista Plus & lack of Club class in Spain...

In Spain, Renfe have introduced Turista Plus on many but not all AVE trains, which appears to mean Preferente (1st class) seats but without the at-seat meal & wine.  Furthermore, some AVEs are being sold without Club class, and on these you may end up in a Club class seat with a Preferente ticket.  Indeed, when booking a Preferente ticket on these trains it will pay to use the 'select exact seat' option and make sure you choose a seat in the endmost car with the Club class seating.

Bus replacement between Bulgarian border & Istanbul temporarily over.

The Bucharest/Sofia to Istanbul train has been temporarily replaced by a bus between Kapikule & Istanbul since March 2012 until October 2013 due to major railway engineering work related to the Bosporus Tunnel Project.  Trains seem to be running direct to and from Istanbul, but it now seems that the work is not over, this is just a temporary respite while the weather is too bad to work.  The bus replacement will resume in mid-March.

UK versus Europe train fares comparison...

Just for fun, with all the fuss over UK having the highest rail fares in Europe (yawn) I thought I'd actually do a test myself.  The results surprised even me.  It seems that in 10-15% of cases we have the highest train fares in Europe. In the other 85%-90% we have the lowest!  See the UK & Continental Europe train fares comparison.  Update 9 January: It's nice to be recognised - This page was quoted in the House of Commons this evening, by both Iain Stewart MP and in his summing up by Norman Baker, Under Secretary of State for Transport.

London to Madrid in one day, without flying!

The final section of the Perpignan-Barcelona high-speed line now seems set to open on 8 January 2013 (although they are very late opening bookings!).  Several Madrid-Barcelona AVE high-speed trains will be extended to Figueres Vilafant, two with TGV connections to and from Paris.  For the first time in history it will become possible to travel from London to Madrid in a single day, see the London to Spain page.

Odds & ends this month...

December 2012

Eurostar downgrades bike policy...  See the bikes by train page

Eurostar's new (well, 2008) bike service, where you can book a bike space on the same Eurostar departure as yourself for £30, has been a great success.  But as an alternative, you've always been able to take bikes free of charge as ordinary luggage, semi-dismantled in a zip-up bike bag not exceeding 120cm long, which you are allowed to do on almost all European trains right across Europe.  Eurostar has now removed the ability to take bikes in bags up to 120cm and is sticking to its general '85cm maximum length' policy for any luggage at all, which pretty much rules out taking anything except folding Bromptons and children's bikes.  This is totally at odds with the policy of onwards train operators such as Thalys, Elipsos and most TGV, where you can ONLY take your bike if you put it in a bike bag, semi-dismantled, max 120cm long.  And this is in spite of Eurostar and Thalys both being 85% owned by SNCF (French Railways), TGV is of course 100% SNCF, so even train companies within the same group aren't working or thinking together as a team.  Does Eurostar expect you to pay £30 to take your bike undismantled to Brussels, and in the 18 minutes connecting time, take it to pieces, stick it in a bike bag that you've brought with you, to take onwards to Cologne or Amsterdam?

On the plus side, I have now improved the bike by train page to make the options for taking bikes to mainland Europe clearer, with better coverage of the Dutch Flyer train and ferry option.

The St Petersburg to Irkutsk Baikal to disappear (almost) in May?

Train 9/10 from St Petersburg to Irkutsk, originally Moscow-Irkutsk, has been a mainstay of the Trans-Siberian route for years. Decades!  It's now reported that it will be downgraded to run only Novosibirsk-Irkutsk, a shadow of its old self.

It's on!  Fyra Brussels-Amsterdam is go from 9 December!  See the Fyra page

The new high-speed Fyra service between Brussels & Amsterdam will indeed now start on 9 December with 10 trains a day, rising to an hourly service a few months later.  Bookings were due to open on 29 October.  They didn't, but finally opened on 3 December just days before the new service starts, after a last-minute political deal between the Belgians and the Dutch allowed the new service to start as planned.  See the new Fyra page.

Highlights & lowlights of the new timetable across Europe from 9 December 2012...

The new timetable starts from 9 December all across Europe.  Pages are slowly being updated to reflect the new times now.  Here are some of the key changes expected in the new timetable.

Odds & ends this month...

November 2012

Seat 61 wins 'Favourite Travel Website' in the Telegraph Travel Awards 2012...

I'm absolutely delighted (not to mention still a little stunned) that seat61.com has won the 'Favourite Travel Website' category in the prestigious Telegraph Travel Awards 2012.  17,000 readers voted on their favourite travel companies, destinations and websites, and seat61 beat tough competition such as Tripadvisor and i-escape.com.  The award ceremony was held on 13 November at the very swish ME Hotel in London (which isn't yet open to the public - as ceremony host Clive Anderson put it, what better place to hold a travel awards ceremony than a half-finished hotel?).  I'd like to thank everyone who voted for seat61 as their favourite site.  For a full list of the winners and runners-up, see www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9675436/Telegraph-Travel-Awards-2012-the-winners.html.

New motorail route to Slovenia for summer 2013...

Dutch Motorail (Auto Slaap Trein) will be operating a new weekly motorail from the Netherlands to Koper in Slovenia, handy for Trieste, Venice & Croatia, every weekend in July & August 2013.  Meanwhile DB Autozug have discontinued their motorail to Verona and Trieste for 2013.  See the Motorail page.

Odds & ends this month...

October 2012

When will bookings open for dates after the European timetable change on 9 December?

Reservations for dates from 9 December onwards always open late, as train operators are always late loading the new data.  Expect bookings for most trains to open from mid-October, the usual 90 day booking period squeezed to 60.  Just sit tight until reservations open.

Italo start their new Venice-Florence-Rome route from 3 October...

...in competition with State-run Trenitalia.  See www.italotreno.it.  Initially, there'll be 3 trains a day.

The demise of the Berlin-Kiev 'Kashtan' from 1 October 2012

Without warning, with just weeks to go, UZ (Ukrainian Railways) announced that the long-standing 'Kashtan' sleeper train between Berlin and Kiev will be discontinued permanently as from 2 October 2012.  That leaves all passengers having to travel to Warsaw then take the daily 'Kiev Express' to Kiev.  A great shame.

Odds & ends this month...

September 2012

New videos:  Morocco to Madrid, Madrid to London via Brittany ferries

I've added two new videos following a recent holiday - Morocco to Madrid on the Morocco page and Madrid to London via Brittany ferries Santander-Portsmouth on the Spain page.  The videos show the ferries, trains and scenery on these routes.

London to Vienna, Salzburg & Switzerland

I've now added an alternative route to Switzerland via Brussels and Cologne, as this avoids the need to cross Paris, and with clever use of German Railway's 'London Spezials' from €49 can actually be the cheapest way to Switzerland.  Thanks to tweaks made recently by Eurostar and DB, the 06:50 Eurostar from London once again officially connects with the 10:25 ICE to Cologne, so it's once more possible to travel from London to Vienna in a day.  I've added this option to the Austria page.  And as Salzburg is classed as a German station even though it's in Austria, you can buy a 'London Spezial' all the way from London to Salzburg from €49, making this the cheapest way to reach Austria, so I've added this option to the Austria page too.

Odds & ends this month...

August 2012

New seat61 site design...

I hope you like the new design - using the word 'design' loosely, of course, as the emphasis has always been on content rather than swish graphics.  But the new design should solve the one regular piece of negative feedback I get, that the small white text on a dark background is hard to read.  The new design:

In addition:

Currently, all the UK, European, train type and great journeys pages use the new design, but the 'worldwide' country pages still use the old design and will be switched over in stages.  I simply can't keep two sets of European pages updated (one old and 'live', one new and waiting in the wings) while I finish transmogrifying all the pages, so please excuse the site being 65% new design and 35% old design while I finish the job.  Do let me know what you think!  Also, do let me know of any glitches, it's highly likely that a few things won't have been carried across to the new pages correctly.

'Overlander' page becomes 'Northern Explorer' page...

This month, many thanks must go to Seat61 correspondent James Chuang who recently tried out the new Kiwi Rail 'Northern Explorer' train from Auckland to Wellington.  Thanks to James I've been able to update the Overlander page, replacing the old Overlander photos from my own trip a few years ago with photos of the new Northern Explorer train which replaced it in June.

Odds & ends this month...

July 2012

Greece reconnected?  But only once a week, July until September!

Greece cancelled all its international passenger trains in February 2011, cutting itself off from the rest of Europe other than by ferry.  However, there's now a glimmer of hope, as they have just reinstated a weekly train between Skopje and Thessaloniki, at least until September.  It departs Skopje at 05:05 every Saturday from 14 July to 30 September, arriving Thessaloniki 10:24.  Northbound, it departs Thessaloniki every Sunday at 20:11 arriving Skopje at 23:11.  For trains between London/Paris/Munich and Skopje, see the Serbia & Macedonia page.  You will need to stay overnight in Skopje.  The fare is 756 dinars one-way, about €10.

Online booking from Budapest enabled:  Budapest to Warsaw or Krakow from €49 with sleeper

Hungarian Railways have enabled online booking of couchettes and sleepers on direct international trains from Budapest to places such as Bucharest, Belgrade, Krakow or Warsaw, with all the local cheap book-ahead prices such as 'sparnight' available, making it far, far cheaper than using any agency based in the UK, USA or Australia.  Budapest to Krakow starts at just €49 per person including a bed in a 2-bed sleeper if you pre-book at www.mav-start.hu.  It's a little fiddly, and switches back to Hungarian half way through, but using the Google Chrome browser with built-in translation sorts that!  Read the tips for using it on the How to buy cheap European train tickets page.

Canada to cut back trains...

VIA Rail Canada has announced that the three-times-per-week 'Canadian' from Toronto to Vancouver will be trimmed to twice weekly off-season, and the 6-times-weekly 'Ocean' from Montreal to Halifax is to be cut to 3 times per week.

June 2012

New video:  Trenitalia's Frecciarossa from Milan to Florence, Rome & Naples...

New video added showing the interior and exterior of a Eurostar Italia Frecciarossa, refurbished with four (yes, four!) classes of accommodation instead of the normal 1st and 2nd, http://youtu.be/Xp3A59Xh-ZE.

New video:  TGV Duplex, France's 200 mph double-deck high-speed train...

New video added showing the interior and exterior of a double-deck TGV Duplex, http://youtu.be/KrXUqOPU9wc.

New video:  Milan to Zurich by Bernina Express...

New video added showing the Bernina Express and the superb scenery, see http://youtu.be/ZHsPFLIMY6I.  Information about the Milan-Tirano train connection is totally absent from the Bernina Express website or brochures (which keep mentioning some Lugano bus link or other, forgetting the major train connection to Italy!), so this video puts that right, showing how to combine a Milan-Tirano regional train with the Bernina Express with a connecting train to Zurich, to travel from Italy to Zurich and even Paris or the UK this way.  More info on the Bernina Express page.

New video:  Paris to Milan by TGV...

New video added showing the train itself, on board food and scenery, see http://youtu.be/B09t_WJz_mM.  I've also updated the Eurostar video guide with shots showing first class seating and food.

European timetable change from 9 June...

As always, all European timetables change on the second Sunday in June.  No major changes are expected, some pages have already been updated, others will be updated shortly.

Zurich-Milan Gotthard route closed by landslide, at least until July...

A major landslide has completely blocked the Gotthard route for at least a month, blocking both the Basel-Milan and Zurich-Milan train routes.  Buses are replacing trains for the part of the Milan-Zurich/Basel journey.  I travelled from Milan to Zurich myself last Saturday, but fortunately had chosen to come up via the spectacular Bernina Route and so avoided the problem.  Geneva-Lausanne-Milan route is OK, as is the Milan-Tirano-Chur-Zurich slow but scenic Bernina Route, see the Bernina page.

Direct Paris-Barcelona TGVs delayed again, until 3rd quarter 2013...

Completion of the Figueres-Barcelona section of the high-speed standard-gauge line from France to Barcelona has been delayed again.  High-speed TGVs were due to start running direct from Paris to Barcelona from December 2012, this has been put back to the third quarter of 2013.  Until then the connecting service of Paris-Figueres TGV and connecting Figueres-Barcelona Spanish-gauge train will continue, see the Spain page.

Eurostar to introduce Quiet Coaches in September...

From 11 September 2012, Eurostar will designate a 'Quiet Coach' in Business Premier and Standard Premier classes (but not Standard class) with a quiet working environment, no noisy kids and no mobile phones.  This will normally be cars 8 & 11, and you'll be able to select this when you book, at least if you book direct with Eurostar.

Odds & ends this month...

May 2012

New Thello sleeper train from Paris to Florence & Rome will now start in December...

It was due to start in June, then this slipped to July.  Thello, a consortium of Trenitalia and Veolia who run the current Paris-Milan-Verona-Venice sleeper train, now plan to start their second service, a sleeper train from Paris to Bologna, Florence and Rome, from the timetable change on 9 December 2012 (although a more recent official Trenitalia news release simply says 'after the summer').

Estonia-Russia:  Tallinn to St Petersburg train relaunched from 27 May...

After a 4-year gap when the only way between Tallinn and St Petersburg was to endure a 7 hour bus journey, a train is finally set to resume.  GoRail will restart a daily morning train from Tallinn to St Petersburg, returning in the late afternoon/early evening.  See the Estonia page.

Odds & ends this month...

April 2012

Italo is go!  Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples...

As of 28 April 2012, private operator Italo is now running its first trains between Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, in competition with State operator Trenitalia.  You can check times and buy tickets at www.italotreno.it/EN/.  In Milan, Italo uses the less-known but still central Porto Garibaldi station.  It uses the main stations in Bologna, Florence and Naples, but a secondary (less than central) one in Rome, Tiburtina.  It has three classes all with free WiFi and leather seats, see the virtual tour at  www.italotreno.it/EN/NTV Tour/classic/intro.html.

Big changes to the Auckland-Wellington Overlander from 26 June 2012

KiwiRail have announced that from 26 June 2012, the Overlander will be replaced by a new train, to be called the Northern Explorer, intended to become a more upmarket tourist experience.  It will run 3 times a week all year round, using smart new air-conditioned panoramic 'AK' carriages.  It will be speeded up, only calling at Hamilton, National Park, Ohakune and Palmerston North - all the smaller places will be missed out.  I sincerely hope it will not become so 'tourist-orientated' that only wrinklies aged 70+ on £10k holidays can afford it, with families, backpackers and New Zealanders themselves priced off. See KiwiRail press release.

New videos added:  Arlberg route & Brenner route...

I've added two new videos, one showcasing a ride through the Arlberg Pass between Zurich and Innsbruck on a Railjet train en route to Vienna and Budapest, the other a ride through the Brenner Pass from Innsbruck to Verona on a Munich-Verona EuroCity train.  the scenery on both routes is excellent!

Problems at Trenitalia.com:  Until further notice, use www.fsitaliane.it, not www.trenitalia.com...

It seems that Trenitalia (Italian Railways) are switching to a new IT platform, but are having problems.  www.trenitalia.com and www.fsitaliane.it should be alternative addresses for exactly the same Italian Railways website, but the web address 'Trenitalia.com' has been switched to the new computer system, and for some reason the search results now open on Trenitalia's high-speed train mini-site www.lefrecce.it, which won't show regional trains or InterCity trains or international trains, and it won't recognise English place names such as 'Florence' or 'Venice' even though you switched it to English.  So it's now as much use as a chocolate teapot, as my Grandmother would say.  However, www.fsitaliane.it is still using the old platform (which works!) so I have temporarily switched all the links to Trenitalia.com (the address which most people know) on Seat61 to open at www.fsitaliane.it, so you can buy all the tickets, in English.

Buy your Dutch train tickets online ...  But at the Belgian Railways website!

I wasted 15 minutes trying to buy a Dutch train ticket at www.ns.nl before discovering that it only accepts obscure Dutch bank cards, rendering it useless.  I then had a brainwave.  I tried the Belgian Railways site, www.b-europe.com, and hey presto, a Hengelo to Arnhem ticket for 15 euros (which is actually €0.20 less than NS quoted) with 21st century payment options including Visa, MasterCard and Amex, and in this case no fees.  I simply printed out my own ticket at home.  There's no need to pre-book Dutch domestic train tickets, of course, as prices are fixed and reservation isn't necessary on Dutch domestic trains, but it saves time at the ticket office, allows you to pay with a card not cash and saves €0.50 (as Dutch ticket offices only accept cash and charge a €0.50 fee).  This tip has now been placed at the top of the Netherlands page, and on the European train tickets page.

Odds & ends this month...

March 2012

Sunday Telegraph Vietnam article...

I'm delighted that an article by me made the front page of the Sunday telegraph on 4 March, see www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/vietnam/9118732/Vietnam-a-view-from-the-train.html.

Latest situation with trains to Istanbul...    See the Turkey page for latest info.

It now seems the flood damage in Bulgaria has been repaired and the Bosfor Bucharest-Istanbul and Balkan Express Belgrade/Sofia-Istanbul will resume on or shortly after 3 March.  However, the long-term engineering work in Turkey on the line into Istanbul has now started as from 19 March, and both these trains now terminate at the Turkish border at Kapikule with a replacement bus into Istanbul.

How to buy train tickets for India online...  See the India page for info.

Cleartrip.com has until recently been the only way for foreign visitors to buy Indian train tickets online.  They are a private website which provides a user-friendly front end to the official irctc.co.in online booking service.  Unlike irctc.co.in itself, Cleartrip accepts non-Indian credit cards, and originally did not require you to have an Indian mobile phone like irctc.co.in.  However, IRCTC recently forced Cleartrip to require its users to sign up for an account with irctc.co.in.  This requires an Indian mobile phone number to which the account activation code is sent.  The good news is that there's a workaround for this, involving emailing irctc's customer care department with a scan of your passport, and this works, giving you an activated irctc.co.in account on the Cleartrip website.  A step-by-step guide with all necessary workarounds has been put on the train travel in India page.  Indian Railways now quite possibly qualifies as the Most Bureaucratic Online Train Ticket Sales in the World.

Odds & ends this month...

February 2012

New page: Train travel in the Philippines...

A new Philippines page has been added to show the Manila to Naga City 'Bicol Express' that has resumed operation.

New video: London to Scotland by Caledonian Sleeper...

You'll now find this on the Caledonian Sleeper page.

Indian train booking problems for foreign visitors...

In 2011, IRCTC.co.in (Indian Railways' own online booking service) rendered its train booking website useless for foreign visitors by insisting that your account activation code is sent to an Indian mobile phone number.  Until now, I have suggested using Cleartrip.com which allowed registration without an Indian number.  Unfortunately, it seems IRCTC has now forced Cleartrip to require an Indian mobile phone number too, which means foreigners cannot book Indian trains online anywhere unless they use this workaround:  If you register online at www.irctc.co.in, then email their customer care department (care@irctc.co.in) they can help you activate your registration without an Indian mobile number.  They will ask you to email them a scan of your passport and then they will email you the activation code, allowing you to activate your account.

New page:  Train travel in Gabon...

Thanks to traveller Clive Leatherdale, I've been able to add a Gabon page, with details of the SETRAG train service from Libreville (Owendo) to Franceville.

Videos added to the site...

I've been able to add some video guides to the site:  - Paris to Venice by Thello sleeper train;   - How to cross Paris by metro, Paris Nord to Paris Lyon;  - inside a Christian Lacroix TGV

Engineering work affects trains to Istanbul on the European side...

According to a normally well-informed German rail website, the 'Bosfor' from Bucharest will be replaced by a bus between Kapikule and Istanbul in both directions from 1 February until the end of 2012.  There is nothing yet shown on the official TCDD website, but that is sadly not unusual.  Feedback would be appreciated if you go this way!  This is in connection with line rebuilding, which will ultimately link Europe with Asia through the new Bosphorus rail tunnel.  Latest update 2 February:  It now looks as if the work will start on 22 February, with the Bosfor terminating at either Kapikule or Cerkezköy (it hasn't yet been decided which) and a bus will take passengers on to Istanbul.  This will apply in both directions from 22 February 2012, for up to two years.  This is while railways in Istanbul are transformed with the new Bosphorus rail tunnel, and a new underground station in European Istanbul, serving train to both Europe and Asia.

..and on the Asian side

Istanbul's Haydarpasa station closes down for all long-distance trains from 31 January until 2013.  This is while the high-speed line and Bosphorus Tunnel projects are completed, that will ultimately link Istanbul (European side) to Ankara in just 3 hours.  Some trains will start from Arifiye, including the Bogazici Express to Eskisehir with high-speed connection to Ankara, and a re-timed 'Içanadolou Express' to Konya and Adana. The Istanbul-Konya 'Meram Express' is cancelled.  Trains to/from eastern Turkey will start in Ankara.

Odds & ends this month...

 

January 2012

SailRail problems seem to be sorted...

From 31 January, SailRail tickets once again can be bought online at least at Raileasy, London to Dublin from £38, see the Ireland page.  Tickets can be bought from any station in Britain to any station in Ireland, covering both train to Holyhead, ferry to Dublin, and onward trains within Ireland.  A bargain!

Slow travel?  Italy late morning, Switzerland late afternoon, Aylesbury late evening.  Who needs planes?!

Returning from the Thello trip to Italy (see the item below), we left Milan's magnificent Centrale station at 11:25, with lunch and superb Swiss red wine in the dining-car as we passed Lake Maggiore, trundled through the Simplon and Lötschberg Tunnels, past Lake Thun in Switzerland to arrive in Basel at 15:29.  We left Basel at 16:34 by TGV to Paris, arriving on time at 19:37, in plenty of time for the 21:13 Eurostar arriving in time at London St Pancras at 22:36.  Hurling myself into a taxi, I just made the 22:57 from Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway, arriving 23:59.  Who needs planes?!

Thello:  The 'new' Paris-Venice sleeper train....    Watch the Thello video   New Thello page

In a lightening trip to Italy a few days ago I checked out the 'new' Thello sleeper train from Paris to Italy and have already posted new information and photos on the Paris to Venice by Thello sleeper train page.  Although it uses the same fairly old sleeping and couchette cars as its lacklustre predecessor Artesia, I'm glad to say everything else is significantly improved.  Staff were friendly, beds comfortable, the ride smooth, and we had an excellent dinner in the restaurant car washed down with some great Chianti.  The train now leaves from the historic Gare de Lyon not the awful Gare de Bercy, and we left and arrived spot on time. The sleepers lacked carpet and had been cheaply refurbished by Trenitalia a few years ago before being inherited by Thello, that is where Thello needs to concentrate its efforts next.

Kenya:  Nairobi-Mombasa train cancelled until April...

News just in, it seems the famous Lunatic Express between Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya has been cancelled from 30 January until at least April 2012.  This is while Kenya Port Authority works to clear massive freight congestion at the Mombasa Port. The line will be used to haul cargo away from the port to inland dry ports on the outskirts of Nairobi.  See the Kenya page to see what you're missing...

Major problems booking SailRail tickets to Ireland...

It's been two weeks since the new range of SailRail fares were introduced on 2nd January, and the requirement for seat reservations seems to have totally stuffed anyone's ability to buy these tickets!  Online systems are failing to find the London-Dublin £38 'Advance' fare, they are picking up the walk-up £43 fare, but even this fails to book, producing an error message saying that there are insufficient reservations available!  (Update:  The new tickets apparently make use of the rail industry booking system's 'sleeper' functionality, requiring capture of names and phone numbers for the ferry company, and as Raileasy.com can't do sleepers they cannot now sell SailRail to Dublin at all.  Thetrainline.com can do sleepers, but they haven't modified their system so they can't sell these new SailRail tickets either.  It's a shambles).  Phoning a railway telesales line is no good, as the staff seem to have the same problem.  I hope they sort this out soon.  In the meantime, if you have a UK postal address, tickets from London and a few other key cities such as Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool & Birmingham to Dublin can be booked with no reservation problems at www.stenaline.co.uk instead.

City Night Line sleeper fares...

After several years at the same price level, these have risen a bit this year, the starting price for a couchette from Paris to Berlin or Munich is now 59 euros rather than 49 euros, a bed in a 2-bed sleeper 99 euros rather than 79.  However, the task of compiling one consistent coherent table of fares for these CNL trains is driving me up the wall.  A man with one booking system knows the fare, a man who checks several alternative booking systems is never quite sure...  The cheap 'Savings' fares in my fares tables are now all taken from the German website bahn.de, which shows Paris-Munich in a couchette from 59 euros, as Rail Europe shows £63 so bahn.de is cheaper.  Yet full price in a couchette seems to be £129 on Rail Europe but 196 euros (£170) on bahn.de, so for the full price part of the tables I've taken the Rail Europe prices as for these, Rail Europe is for some strange reason significantly cheaper.  Although Rail Europe seems to show £63 as the full price for a seat, which is presumably a glitch as full price is really 180 euros, so I've had to use the German price for the first box in the full-price row of fares that are otherwise taken from Rail Europe.  Oh, by 'otherwise' I mean apart from the full-price fare for 4-berth couchettes which I always have to take from the German system, as Rail Europe can't book 4-berth couchettes on these trains for some reason.  Simple, eh?  And there's a senior and youth discount on the full price, too.  Or is there?  A lower full price fare appears in the search results if 'senior' or 'youth' is selected instead of adult at Rail Europe, clearly indicating the existence of such fares (in fact, it's confirmed in the Rail Europe trade fares tables), but the age of the passenger makes absolutely no difference to the price when using bahn.de.  So do senior and youth fares exist, or not on the CNLs?  Then we have the Cologne-Vienna Austrian EuroNight.  DB seems to have applied their own new prices to this, so a couchette starts at 59 euros, yet on the Austrian railways website oebb.at the same train still starts at 39 euros with a couchette.  I've decided to show two rows of 'savings' fares for this particular train, one if booked at bahn.de, one if booked at oebb.at!  Finally, it seems a couchette supplement is no longer one simple fixed price whatever type of ticket or railpass is held.  A higher supplement is charged if you have a railpass than if you have a normal ticket.  So even DB and ÖBB now think a railpass is worth less than a regular ticket!  Aargh!

Long-term engineering work affects trains into and out of Istanbul from 2012...

It's been threatened for a year or two, with many false starts, but this time it looks like it's really going ahead.  The line from Istanbul Haydarpasa to Izmit (on the line to Eskisehir and Ankara) will close for long-term rebuilding in January 2012, affecting all trains from Istanbul Haydarpasa station into Asian Turkey until June 2015.  Work is also being carried out in 2012 affecting trains into Sirkeci station on the European side.  Details will be shown on the London to Turkey page and Train Travel in Turkey page, being progressively updated as more info becomes available.

Rail staff 'priv' travel in Europe...

I've now added a page on 'priv' travel in Europe for rail staff.  Feedback to help add to this page would be very welcome.  It's now some time since I lost my own free and reduced rate travel facilities!

Odds & ends this month...

News items from 2001 to 2011

For old news items from 2001 to 2011, see the news archive page...

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