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Point to Point travel can seem confusing. Each country has it's own rail carriers, all with different names and different looking trains, and many of them cross borders into other countries.
This area of the site is dedicated to making European rail much clearer, explaining names and terms, and giving you the tools to sell rail confidently to your customers.
Here is your quick reference guide to which train companies operate where. This will appear as a handy pop-up so that you can refer to it whilst navigating around the site.
Why Rail?
Rail travel is a very credible alternative to flying. It's much more flexible, with many services to choose from, and train stations at practically every destination in Europe.
Trains take you straight to the heart of your destination, there's no need to transfer from out of town airports. Once on board, trains are much less restricting than 'planes, you can get out of your seat, grab a snack from the restaurant car, play games, use your mobile or work with your laptop.
And, of course, you get to see the countryside you're travelling through.
An evolving network
The European rail network is constantly evolving, new services and routes are springing up all the time, to better serve the customer by reducing travelling times, adding new destinations and improving the quality of the trains that run between the cities of Europe.
Why Rail?
Rail travel is a very credible alternative to flying. It's much more flexible, with many services to choose from, and train stations at practically every destination in Europe.
Trains take you straight to the heart of your destination, there's no need to transfer from out of town airports. Once on board, trains are much less restricting than 'planes, you can get out of your seat, grab a snack from the restaurant car, play games, use your mobile or work with your laptop.
And, of course, you get to see the countryside you're travelling through.
An evolving network
The European rail network is constantly evolving, new services and routes are springing up all the time, to better serve the customer by reducing travelling times, adding new destinations and improving the quality of the trains that run between the cities of Europe.
2007 will be an exciting time for European rail travel, there are three major new developments taking place.
- CTRL 2
An extension to the Eurostar line is currently being built in the UK, bringing high-speed travel with it. This will decrease time spent travelling between the UK, France and Belgium on the Eurostar.
- TGV Est
A new high-speed line will be launched in France - TGV Est - linking Paris to Strasbourg. Travelling times to destinations on the Eastern line from Paris will be roughly halved.
For more information please click on the TGV Est information document and the TGV Est Map.
- Cologne - Brussels - Amsterdam
Connections between Brussels - Cologne and Brussels - Amsterdam will be changed to high-speed.
In 2009, a new high-speed line will connect France with Spain. Travelling time from Paris to Barcelona will be reduced from 8hours 30 minutes to 5 hours 30 minutes.
