Other Countries, Other Trains??

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KiwiKate

Train Attendant
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
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It is very interesting reading the discussion topics and travelogues etc.

I'm not sure if it the "done thing" or not, but do other train journeys in other countries ever get a mention on this site? I know it is for Amtrak fans - it amazes me how dedicated and knowledgable some of you are - but I am interested to know of anyone who has travelled on longer train journeys in other countries?
 
Three years ago, I traveled between Malmo, Sweden and Berlin, Germany on a day train and between Berlin and Paris on a night train. I recall the equipment and roadbed being top-notch on both routes.

Part of the trip between Malmo and Berlin included a ferry where the entire train rolled right onto the ship. The sleeper on the night train was paneled in dark wood and the shower room was much more spacious than on a Superliner or Viewliner. The bed was very comfortable.

Service was great except for one German lounge car attendant who was a bit surly. On-time performance was exceptional although the 12-hour overnight trip arrived in Paris almost five minutes late! :)

All in all, I remember every aspect of these trips to be very positive. I suppose some things may have been overlooked because of the excitement of my first (but not last) European adventure but I really don't think so.
 
I've traveled on a Russian train from st. Petersburg to Sofia, Bulgaria, a 71 hour trip. Pretty nice though I was bored because I finished my book the first seven hours.

I've taken dozens of great trains in europe, hardly any negative experience, except for in Yugoslavia. Awful!

1 train in Thailand (interesting)

The best: The Canadian from Toronto-Vancouver.
 
I traveled quite a bit in Brussels a few years ago. The best experience I can recall is riding the luxury train, the Thalys. It is a beautiful red and grayish/silver train. I took a round trip ride from Brussels to Amsterdam, and of course, we arrived right on time.
 
If you look in the trip reports section, I did a trip report about my trip last summer in Europe. It is listed by my name, Steve4031.

I never have luck with links, but if some one inserts one to help me out, that would be great.

Just click here for Steve's report. :)
 
I, too, have written about my experiences riding foreign trains in past discussions. One is reprinted here; this is about riding an Italian Cisalpino train (Italy's version of the TGV) between Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland. The train's final destination was Venice.

One of the most interesting and exciting train trips I have taken was in Switzerland between Geneva and Lausanne. I arrived in the morning with no particular train in mind to take, and there was an Italian "Cisaplino" train, Italy's version of the TGV. All I had to do was show my railpass and was able to get on board, and I rode in the diner. It was a nice train: Sleek, fast, comfortable, furturistic!

Cisalpino train leaving Laussane, Switzerland

In Canada, I have also ridden the Malahat Dayliner between Victoria and Nanaimo and BC Rail between North Vancouver and Whistler (BC).

I sat there, sipping coffee, looking out the window at both the train and the beautiful scenery outside--Lake Geneva, the French Alps on the other side, farms and vinyards and castle ruins on the other side. It was a sunny day, so everything sparkled. The trip lasted only about an hour, but it was a memorable one.

While in Europe, I also rode: France's TGV, Paris Metro and suburban (commuter) trains; in Switzerland, the Panorama Express between Montreux and almost Spietz, a regional train to Interlaken, a regional, cog-wheeled train between East Interlaken and Lauterbrunner and another one to Lucerne. I also rode the Maria Theresa from Zurich to Salzburg (Austria). Other trains between Salzburg, Vienna, Venice, and Florence. I took an overnight train from Florence back to Paris. It was the first time I had ever slept on a berth on a train.

Regional--cog-wheeled train in Switzerland (The train uses cogs for part of the trip, going up or down the steepest grades on the line, which is why you don't see a third rail in these shots).

Swiss train in the mountains. (Actually in this picture, the train in coming down. But note the steepness of the track grade and that the line goes higher up into the mountains. One line goes to the top of the Jungfrau--13,000 ft in elevation.)On the train between Interlaken and Lucerne.
 
Thanks for the replies. We have travelled a few miles on trains as well. Apart from a few in the UK we did a trip from Berlin all the way down through Czechoslovakia,Hungary, Bulgaria to Istanbul passing through Yugoslavia in the early stages of the conflict there. We crossed over to Athens by plane then by ferry to Italy where we continued by train on up via Rome to Venice, through the Alps to Switzerland, then to France, Belgium, Holland back to Paris and north back to London. An amazing journey, using the Eurailpass where we could and staying in each country we passed through for two or three days and in the case of Istanbul - six. Another journey we took, we travelled from Xian in China up through the northwestern regions into Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and on up through the incredible vastness of Russia to Moscow and St Petersburg. That trip was pretty tough in some places as we were by ourselves and tried to use local trains and transport where we could. We kept out of the "Tourist" hotels as well which enabled us to meet more of the local people. The whole journey took 24 days as we stopped off along the way in some of the fabled Silk Route cities. We took a few risks like flying with Uzbekistan Air - in an Aeroflot castoff! and learned so much. I have written a travelogue/journal about that which I can email anyone who would like to read it, a chapter at a time! We've been to India a couple of times but have never been game enough to travel by train but had our own car and driver instead - the way to go in India! I am amazed at the number of sites that are dedicated to Amtrak and train travel in the USA. We travelled from Minneapolis down to New Orleans a couple of years ago and intend going from San Francisco north and east across to Minneapolis/St Paul in September. Trip after that we will more than likely come back down through Chicago and across to Los Angeles. Love train travel. I have started tracking the trains we will use and can only hope that the "On Time"

situation improves before we arrive. Thanks again. Let me know if you would like to read my travel stuff. Kate.
 
KiwiKate,

Reading your post reminded me of a similar train trip I did from Paris (or wherever it was) to Istanbul. This was 1979. :) Fun, huh?

I went through what was then Yugoslavia at that time and then again in 1989, when things were rougher. I remember speaking with Croatians who knew bad things were coming.

Anyway, don't worry about Amtrak being on time. They probably won't be, but then, it doesn't really matter unless you have a connection. Compared to train travel in China, Amtrak will be like heaven.
 
We do have a connection! That's why I'm preparing ourselves for a long wait or a stopover in Portland. No worries as we have plenty of time! :(
 
If you are planning to change trains in Portland from the Starlight (from California) to the Empire Builder (to Spokane and farther east), you should plan for the Starlight to be late and possibly not make a same-day connection to the Builder. It would be a lot easier if you just planned to spend a night in Portland and catch the Builder the next day. There is plenty to do in Portland to while away the hours. For me, the main concern would be having enough money for the extra night in a hotel. But if you were planning for it, it would not be so much of a problem. You can also go all the way to Seattle and spend the night there and catch the Builder there the next day.
 
We have already made bookings and our tickets are on the way here. We have since found out about the unreliability of connections but have also read here, that Amtrak guarentee connections and will provide overnight accommodation if the connection can't be made. How reliable is that guarentee? :unsure:
 
That guarantee is concrete. Amtrak will most likely reaccomodate you on the next days train. But, if there are a large number of passengers connecting to the Builder from the Starlate they may either hold the Builder or bus you from the Starlate and catch you up to the Builder down the road. Should they reaccomodate on the next days train, you may likely be stuck in coach (if you were supposed to be in a sleeper), but they will refund you the accomodation fare, and you should still recieve comp'd meals in the diner, I know many LSA's will do that if you let them know you were supposed to be in a sleeper and it was cancelled because of a missed connection. While you're in Portland your hotel, meals, and transportation to/from the hotel will all be paid for by Amtrak. If you miss your connection just remain level headed, there's nothing more to get you less than a pissed off customer. I know many agents say the people who get angry typically get less because the agent just wants to get rid of them, since the passenger isn't willing to work with the situation. Just remain calm if you miss your connection.
 
Thanks for that - I had read similar on Lonely Planet. We know how to keep calm - travelling through Russia and India have taught us that!

Could someone please explain the blue blobs next to everyone's name!! Also why are some little envelopes blue, some orange and some blue ones even have little black dots in the middle! Anything to do with being logged in, fired up and letting off steam??? :rolleyes:
 
The blue blobs represent how many posts you've made and therefore what level ranking you've achieved (Conductor, LSA, engineer, ....).

As for the envelopes, here's how that works. Orange indicates a "hot topic" meaning more than 15 replies, while blue indicates under 15 replies.

The little black dot within the envelope indicates that you personally have replied at least once within that topic. Also if you started that topic, then it would have a black dot.
 
Back in 1998 I bought a Eurail pass and went on an 8-day whirlwind tour of Europe by train.

I flew into Frankfurt and immediately jumped on a train to Cologne. Later that afternoon, I took the train to Brussels. The next day, a one-hour ride from Brussels to Brugge with a return that evening. The following morning I boarded the Thalys high-speed train for a 200mph journey to Paris, follwed by a ride on the TGV to Geneva, Cisalpino train from Geveva to Milan, the Eurostar D'Italia from Mialn to Venice, three regular "InterCity" trains from Venice to Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Munich, and finally a 3-hour journey on the ICE from Munich to Frankfurt.

I made good use out of my 8-day pass that's for sure. I scheduled the trip so that I could ride on as many of the newer, high-speed trains as possible. It was a great experience, and the service was excellent on all of the routes. Stunning scenery of course.

Steve/NOL
 
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