European Trip: Eurostar, TGV, ICE

[bmorechris]

Just got back from a trip to Europe, specifically London, Paris, and Munich. We used trains to travel between the cities and here is a little review of the different services. I'll also include some notes about the local transportation systems at the end of the mainline reviews.

London St Pancras International Station to Paris Gare du Nord International

Eurostar 9004

Dep London 6:53 AM

Arr Paris 10:17 AM (+1 hr)

Travel Time 2:24

We purchased our tickets online direct from Eurostar, for 2 people in 2nd class tickets were $62 each one way, pretty reasonable. We printed tickets before we left and had them on arrival. We arrived to the station by taxi, and made our way inside. There are signs for international services and a security checkpoint. We went through the metal detectors, got ourselves sorted, then headed to passport control. England is not part of the Schengen area so you have to go through passport control to enter France. It was very cursory, I don't think the French immigration officers even scanned the passport, just checked the person and picture matched and stamped it. It may be possible that because we were American they didn't give much thought, but im not sure. The waiting area isn't luxurious, some benches without backs and normal seats. We grabbed a couple of muffins and coffee from the coffee shop and waited for our gate to be announced. About 20 min before departure, the gate was announced and we proceeded to use the inclined moving sidewalk to make our way up to track level.

We located our car and found our seats. Luggage racks are at the end of the car and overhead space is limited to backpacks and briefcase sized bags. The interior of the train could definitely use a refresh. There is fraying fabric on the corners of the seats. The color scheme is primarily grey and drab. Seats have an outdated look, almost like an old airline seat. Seat pitch leaves something to be desired, especially when the person in front of you reclines. The windows are large with integrated pull down shades. I didn't go to the cafe car but have heard the selections aren't that good.

The train departed right on time, and we soon went into a tunnel under central and eastern London. After you get through the main tunnel and can see outside, you could start to really sense the speed. You certainly feel it in your ears when you change elevation and especially when you enter and exit tunnels. I had gotten a cold that morning which probably exacerbated the issue, but my wife also experienced trouble with her ears. I can't say enough about the ride quality, especially on High Speed 1 in England. There was no jerking (makes sense since they are fixed sets), little to no swaying, generally ultra smooth. There are also very few times when the train even needs to slow down, its essentially full speed all the way. The Channel Tunnel is very anticlimactic, you enter a tunnel, then realize you have been in it for quite a while, then you are all of a sudden back into the light and in France. The rails on the France side are slightly rougher, but still very smooth. We arrived into Paris right on time, and stepped off the train into Gare du Nord, and immediately headed down to the Metro to head to our hotel.

Our overall impression was that the interior is in real need of a facelift. The overall service was very good as it ran on time, was incredibly smooth, and was reasonably priced.

Paris Gare de L'est to Munich Hauptbanhof (train change at Stuttgart Hauptbanhof)

TGV 9571

Dep Paris 7:24 AM

Arr Stutttgart 11:04 AM

Travel Time 3:40

<Change Trains>

ICE 1091

Dep Stuttgart 11:12 AM

Arr Munich 1:33 PM

Travel Time 2:21

Total Travel Time 6:09

We booked these tickets through the German DB Bahn website, with the price being 39 euros each (about $120 total) and then an additional 5 euros each for seat reservations. We printed out our ticket before we left the US, and I do mean ticket as one ticket is good for the both of us. It was all in German so I had to do some translating to make sure I knew what it said.

The first part of the journey was on a TGV POS (Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland, German for Paris-Eastern France-Southern Germany) trainset from Paris to Stuttgart via Strasbourg and the new LGV Est. We arrived to Gare de L'est by Metro, and found ourselves in the middle of the station. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a cafe and sat waiting for our track to be announced. When it was, we walked down to the track, found our car was the second one and went to find out seats. We had two seats facing forward in the middle of the car and the luggage rack was right behind us. The design was much more pleasing than the Eurostar set. The interior had purple and red seats, with the tops of the headrests at an angle. The overhead space again was small, allowing only small sized bags. Again we didn't head to the cafe car so I'm not sure what it was like.

We left right on time and began to make our way out of the city on conventional tracks until we reached the new high speed LGV Est. The conductor (or is it ticket collector in Europe? Not sure of the responsibilities of everyone) came by to check our tickets. Since the train is run by SNCF in conjunction with DB Bahn, each had a representative to check their respective tickets. The DB person scanned the barcode, then stamped the ticket and thats all that was needed. We soon started to pickup speed and looking out the window could really tell we were moving at a good speed. TGVs operate at up to 199 mph on these tracks, and I believed we were making that speed. You feel like you literally fly by small towns and rolling country side. The tracks were excellent and again very smooth. Very little variation in speed, it seemed that we were running at a constant speed most of the way. Since the new LGV Est does not reach Strasbourg yet, we transferred to conventional tracks once again, but continued to move well without many slowdowns.

As we approached Stuttgart, they announced that we would be a couple minutes late, and the connecting train would be held an extra 2 minutes to allow transferring passengers to make it. We arrived on track 6 and scurried off and over to track 16 only to find our connecting train just pulling into the station. The departing passengers got off, and we got on the second car and found our pair of seats, this time facing backwards (When booking the tickets, you can choose some options like 2 people next to each other, across from a table, in a compartment, etc. and you are assigned a seat that tries to match the criteria. Never found a way to change the seat assignment). After a few minutes, we were off again. This trainset was a refurbished ICE 1, and was in my opinion the nicest of the three trains we rode. I'm having difficulty finding any pictures online (I didn't take any on the train), but the interior was very nice. The vestibules are separated from the car interior by a glass wall and sliding doors that open automatically. The walls are bright and there is wood veneer trim. Overhead racks were more generous than the other trains, and we were able to fit our two suitcases on the rack above our seats. Seat pitch is decent and the seats were comfy. Each 2nd class car is separated into two areas, regular seating with seats facing both ways and two sets facing with a table in between, and then another area (through another all glass sliding door) with compartments for seating 6 or 8 people. Moving between cars is easy, with very wide doors where the cars connected and protected from the elements (I assume similar to Acela since they are both fixed sets). On this train we did head to the restaurant car and were very impressed. Although we brought our snack back to our seats, a meatball sandwich (literally just a meatball on a roll and a mustard packet) and a toasted ham and cheese baguette, many people opted to stay in the restaurant car to eat. One end had booths, while the other had more of a lounge feel with small tables and seating along the wall, as well as 2 high top tables. If you eat in the restaurant car, you get glass dishes, real silverware, glass coffee mugs, and if you order one of the six draft beers, a glass corresponding to the beer you order! It was very impressive. The other meals looked very good too, and they even provided English menus. The train felt very modern but comfortable. The train ran on conventional tracks to Munich, so speed was not very high but again the speed was maintained except for station stops. Again we arrived on time into Munich Hauptbanhof, and made our way to the S-Bahn and off to our hotel.

The TGV was certainly a step up from the Eurostar, but we felt the ICE left them both in the dust in terms of comfort and interior fitting. The LGV Est was a treat and you could really feel the speed of the train moving through the country side. Although the ICE didn't have that wow factor of high speed, it was a smooth ride, very comfortable, and had a great design.

It really showed what the US is missing in terms of rail travel. It is somewhat difficult to directly compare because of the different distances involved and the cultural differences in regards to personal cars and mass transit, but it really made me envious. Amtrak would never dream of guaranteeing an 8 minute connection time, but there were able to do it there between 2 different companies running between 2 different countries. I certainly enjoyed the rides, and look forward to my next Amtrak trip too.

Transit System Info to come

 

[jb64]

very interesting report. thanks for sharing.

 

[train person]

ICE 1 is probably the best HS train in Europe, if they had a front saloon behind the drivers cab, like the ICE 3 variety then they would be perfect!

Eurostar sets are looking tired now, there was talk of another internal refit, but that seems to have disappeared off the drawing board.....

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Nice to get a view of European trains from an American perspective. As a Brit, I think most of us are still stunned by the fact that one can take a high speed train from London to Paris at all, and so fail to notice the deterioration of the train itself!

Did you like St Pancras station? I think they have done a good job preserving the original gothic frontage, and the glazed ironwork of the old canopy.

Cheers,

Ed

 

[bmorechris]

Hi,

Nice to get a view of European trains from an American perspective. As a Brit, I think most of us are still stunned by the fact that one can take a high speed train from London to Paris at all, and so fail to notice the deterioration of the train itself!

Did you like St Pancras station? I think they have done a good job preserving the original gothic frontage, and the glazed ironwork of the old canopy.

Cheers,

Ed

We just got a quick glimpse of the front as we were drove by in the taxi, we were dropped off on the east side with the red brick facade. And when we went up to track level to board, we were more preoccupied with finding our train car than looking around, so i really didn't get a good look at the canopy. The waiting area where we spend most of our time was clean and new so we at least had a good impression from that!

 

[bmorechris]

I can't edit the main post so here is the info on the transit systems

London Underground

We used the tube extensively to travel around London, and for the most part was very easy to navigate. We arrived at Heathrow and bought 2 Oyster cards (we got the limited edition Royal Wedding Oyster card) and set off on the Piccadilly line to our Gloucester Rd stop. Unfortunately, there was a derailed train further up the line that caused extensive delays, so our 35 min journey turned into an hour and 15 min journey. Not the best introduction but I promised the wife it would be better! From then on it was, and except for a planned cancellation for the District and Circle lines (2 of the 3 lines that ran through the stop closest to our hotel), we had no trouble navigating the system. The trains are generally quite clean with little graffiti. The most common item left on the train is the newspaper, which almost seems customary as people would get on and just pick one up and start reading, and then toss one away as they got off. Service intervals are short, most times we never waited more than 3 min for a train, on Sunday and at further out stations we waited at most 10 min for a train to come. All the major sites are conveniently reached by the tube or by bus. We found the double-decker buses to be a great way to see things as well as get around (I am talking about the regular transit buses and not bus tours which also use the double-decker buses). One thing that may be an issue for some people is the lack of accessible stations. Many are so old they were never built with accessibility in mind, and some are designed in such ways that retrofitting is either impossible or not economically feasible. There are often flights of stairs to go up, sometimes large gaps between platforms and trains (mind the gap!), and long hallways to escalators or elevators. Also, there is a very high level of staffing. There was at least 2 staff members in every station we visited that were happy to answer questions or assist in getting suitcases through the turnstiles. All in all we experienced for the most part, a well run, clean, quick transit system. Of course, if you ask the locals, there are all sorts of delays and problems, many of which seem to be caused by improvements for the 2012 Olympics.

Paris Metro

The first thing we noticed with the Paris Metro was graffiti. We even noticed it before we even got on but were coming into the city on the Eurostar. I know ever city has graffiti, but I had never seen as much as I saw in Paris. The Metro trains generally felt dirty and worn. Windows were scratched, stickers all over, there was even graffiti on the inside of the Metro tunnels! They must go down when the system isn't operating because there can't be more than a few inches clearance between the walls and the train. We only stayed for 2 days in Paris so made less use of the Metro than in London. We simply purchased a carnet of tickets (10 tickets for 12 euros) that was plenty for riding the Metro and buses. Single tickets cost 2.40 euros so if you use 5 tickets or more, you benefit from the carnet. There are also other ticket options for unlimited rides but they weren't necessary for our short trip. The Metros ran frequently and got us to where we needed to go for the most part. To get to the Eiffel Tower we took a bus from our hotel, but returning was difficult as it appeared the bus was not running anymore (around 11pm) We ended up taking a taxi back, with a particularly interesting cabbie. He was very much a hippie, he asked if we knew about Woodstock, Haight-Ashbury, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, he even had a Woodstock CD! The final indignity for the Paris Metro was as we were making our way to Gare de L'Est to board the TGV towards Strasbourg and Germany. Someone had used the Metro passageway as a toilet, and not just to do #1. A most unpleasant departure from Paris!

Munich S-Bahn and U-Bahn, Trams, and Buses

The most efficient of the three systems was Munich's. One thing Munich has going for it is that its a relatively modern design. Most of it was built for the 1972 Olympics, so it had the benefit of modern planning and design. When we arrived we purchased an Isarcard that allowed us to travel unlimited in the 2 innermost circles of the city (based on the transit fare system) from Monday to Sunday. These tickets did not need to be scanned to enter the train, simply go to the platform and get on. We did have transit officers on one train check our tickets, they removed another person who did not have a valid ticket. We primarily used the S-Bahn ("Stadtschnellbahn", meaning "city rapid railway" and essentially commuter trains) which is very convinient for short trips in the center of town. Almost all of the S-Bahn lines converge for the trip across the center of the town, they primarily run east-west. This means for a short trip from the main train station, you can get to the city center on any line with only 1 or 2 minute intervals between them. This can be more easily seen on this map. S-Bahn lines 1-8 run concurrently from Laim through the city center to Ostbahnhof (East train station). The map also shows the U-Bahn lines, which are really subway lines. There is also an extensive tram system in the city that runs on surface streets with traffic as well as on tracks in dedicated medians. The system was very clean and very punctual and easy to understand. The major tourist stops all had clear announcements in German as well as English. All bus stops, tram stops, and train stops had boards with the next trains and time til they arrived and they were incredibly accurate. (The other cities also had these, but Munich's seemed to be the most accurate). We also used the S-Bahn to get to the airport, and it was a quick 35 min ride outside the city right to the terminal.

Overall, Munich was probably the best transit system we used, but London's is certainly close behind and has a certain charm to it. The Paris Metro got you where you needed to go, but was not a pleasant environment.