Europe’s train network is undergoing something of a renaissance – and one tour company is climbing on board
The Swedes have a word for it: tågskryt. It means literally ‘train bragging’, and it’s a growing trend among travellers who boast about their long-distance rail journeys. It’s not surprising: in these climate-conscious days, why wouldn’t you be proud to travel by train?
After all, as independent UK transport expert Christian Wolmar explains: “Railways probably use around 1% of CO2 emissions per passenger compared with aviation, and about a tenth of the amount you’d use in a car.”
There are many more benefits to long-distance rail travel, he adds. “If you take a sleeper train, you can probably save [money on] a night in a hotel. And it means you arrive refreshed and ready to start the day, rather than trekking all the way into the city centre from the airport after your flight.”
There’s no better time to start planning a long-distance train holiday, says Wolmar, with Europe’s rail network undergoing something of a revival. “Some sleeper services have started operating again, and there’s been an improvement in rolling stock.” He also cites Switzerland’s long-term tunnel-building project: “Enabling trains to go through tunnels rather than up and down mountains speeds things up no end.”
Other features of the rail renaissance include plans to open up new routes between the UK (London St Pancras) and Germany and Switzerland, and – in a gesture of Baltic solidarity in tough times – a new train line is linking the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Sustainable travel company Inntravel has climbed aboard the rail revival, offering holiday opportunities that make the most of Europe’s train network. One prospect that may tempt would-be train braggers is the Slow Train through Asturias, a leisurely seven night self-guided trip on a narrow-gauge railway along the rugged beauty of north-western Spain’s Costa Verde.
‘As you go through each distinct rail network in each of the different countries, you get a real flavour of the culture,’ says Sarah Fussey from Inntravel. Image: iStock
Here, travellers can enjoy idyllic secluded beaches and pretty coastal villages with brightly coloured houses perched on steep roads. In the small town of Ribadesella, they can explore the Unesco-protected Tito Bustillo cave. The rock shelter was inhabited by early humans between 22,000 and 10,000 years ago, and is adorned with prehistoric paintings of animals including horses, deer and moose.
“There’s a real nostalgia associated with rail,” says Sarah Fussey, Inntravel’s marketing director. “It’s a lovely way to explore [new places], but it’s also part of the adventure itself. There’s something about it that fundamentally takes people to a relaxed state as soon as they get on a train.”
British travellers who are yet to experience the European rail system are in for a real treat, she adds: “Europe has so many high-speed options: trains typically run on time, and the pricing is very reasonable.”
There’s a real nostalgia associated with rail. It’s a lovely way to explore new places, but it’s also part of the adventure itself
Fussey’s own personal favourite journey is travelling on the Eurostar. “As a child, I recall watching the Blue Peter episode when they finally connected the Channel tunnel, and thinking that I’d like to travel through it one day,” she says. “It’s so special arriving in Paris, looking at the departure board and realising you can get to anywhere in Europe.”
Having recently travelled from London to Budapest entirely by rail, with an overnight stopover in Cologne, Fussey is well acquainted with the delights of long-distance train travel. “Interestingly, as you go through each distinct rail network in each of the different countries, you get a real flavour of the culture,” she observes. Noticing little details, like the subtle variation in the taste of local coffee as she moved between borders, added to her thirst for the experience.
There is much to relish in choosing rail over aviation, she adds. Travellers can look forward to a far more comfortable journey, without all the hassle of going through airport customs and security, not to mention the stress of flight delays. “And you can see the beautiful countryside going past, which of course you don’t get at 30,000 feet in the air.”
‘Our customers are natural explorers, and that’s why they’re embracing slower ways of travelling,’ says Fussey. Image: Pekic
While sustainability is central to Inntravel’s ethos, and the company calculates the carbon footprint for each holiday it offers, Fussey often finds that customers’ main motives for choosing rail come down to curiosity and pleasure. “I think our customers are natural explorers, and that’s why they’re embracing slower ways of travelling, so that they can immerse themselves in the culture and the experience of being in that particular country.” “There’s also a sense of adventure, and a feeling of achievement at having ‘succeeded’ in reaching a new destination all the way by rail.”
Rail is built into the holiday experience, adds Fussey, making it much more than a means of getting from one destination to another. “We’re really discerning about what time of day our customers are travelling, what direction you’re going to be facing, what you’re going to see out of the window. And then we build all of that into detailed holiday notes for you.”
With so much to enjoy about long-distance rail travel, perhaps it’s time for more of us to indulge in a little train bragging.
Main image: a train crossing the Landwasser viaduct in Switzerland. Credit: Nikada
