Train Travel

Now it is fashionable to travel by train, people from the UK are now able to book rail travel to Europe online.

The revival of rail travel is linked to the success of Eurostar. This train service transports 70 per cent of all Paris bound traffic. The increased popularity can be seen by the fact that two million people visited Rail Europe website that acts as a ticket agency for the French railways.

It is thought that the availability of iDTGV tickets on the Rail Europe website will bring even more business to the rail services. France launched this idea last year, as competition between rail and low cost airlines increased. If you are prepared to book well in advance, a ticket can cost as little as 19 euros. Booking online allows you to book four months in advance whereas if you book normally you can only book three months ahead of your trip.

The iDTGV services have exclusive use of some trains on southern routes Paris. These routes include Avignon, Marseille, Nice, Cannes, Bordeaux and Toulouse. One or two iDTGV services are available every day on each route. There are two carriages to choose from, iDzen and iDzap. The iDzen ban mobile phones and for 2 euros passengers can buy a 'sleep kit', this contains an inflatable pillow, eye maskand ear plugs. Choosing the iDzap carriage gives you the opportunity to rent a games console or DVD player to use with headphones. Rental of a games console is six euros, a DVD nine euros and fifty cents. MP3 players will be available to rent shortly.

These services also have a buffet car where you can choose from French, Japanese or Italian cuisine, as well as a bar and a disco. This would indicate that they aim their services at younger travellers. In previous years, unless you were fluent in French, booking online with the French railways website was very difficult. An English language site is now available at www.raileurope.co.uk/idtgv. This site is easy to use and links to a booking page for Eurostar, if you are starting your journey in the UK.

These type of services are attracting a whole new generation of train travel enthusiasts. It is also a green option for those people concerned with the environment.

If industry analysts are proved correct then these services could become an economical option. Due to concerns about pollution, low cost European flights are under threat from the introduction of the carbon emission tax. Also consumers become more aware of environmental issues, air companies will not be able to justify flying half full planes from every UK regional airport to every one in Europe.

Will people choose air travel over rail travel? There are benefits from both but travelling to southern France with Eurostar via Paris to Avignon will take six hours. This is no longer than travelling by air by the time you have checked in, and then have to find transport on your arrival.

Booking these trips is now easy. You just need to open a link to www.eurostar.com. People confidently book online for a simple trip London to Paris etc.but for more complicated jouneys people may prefer a more personal service to help them make the right choices. Specialised rail travel agencies, in the UK, are able to advise on what is available on board and where the station is situated in each city. However, because of the rail operators decision to cut agents commissions in half from ten per cent, most agencies now charge for their services. This charge is usually eight per cent, although some agents set a maximum charge. This service is invaluable if you need expert guidance or you are short of time. You tell the agency what you want and where you want to go and they arrange it all.

You can book online with Eurostar for travel from London to Paris and Brussels and for certain trips in France, Belgium and The Netherlands. To travel through France to Spain, Switzerland and Italy you will need to book through Rail Europe or Voyages SNCF. The latter company will post the tickets to an address in the UK, this is important because travelling by train still needs proof of purchase, which is the tickets. Lastminute.com only sells Eurostar and UK rail tickets. The international booking site which is affiliated to the leading UK agent, The Trainline, only offers European rail passes or Amtrak tickets for the US rail network.

Booking online should be easy but if people cannot find the English language button on the site they choose another option because they do not speak the language. It is worth checking out both Voyages SNCF and Rail Europe and remember to check the exchange rate they offer when converting Euros to Pound Sterling.

Be prepared to persevere if you log on to Voyages SNCF. The English language button can be found bottom left! Initial problem solved you find the ticket prices for thr trip you desire and then the site refuses to let you pay in Pounds Sterling, for this they direct you to Rail Europe. This site may save you a few pounds but you will need to work out if this site is cost effective. Another problem with this website is that the price is not shown until you are a few clicks into the booking. Rail Europe displays the price earlier in the booking process but cannot show a route if it has more than two changes. An improved site is due to be relaunched and this will have improved navigation and will make it easier to book point-to-point tickets. There is still no website available for rail users which displays a choice of departures and a range of fares so that you can choose the cheapest option.

Booking early can secure cheaper fares but once those are sold out the price reverts to the original fare.

To get a better deal or save money you need to check out ticket prices for different sections of your journey. Booking the complete trip means that you will not get the cheapest fare on each section. Booking each section of your journey separately also enables you to book different classes of travel. It enables you to book a sleeper or a couchette for travelling overnight.

The complications facing travellers trying to book rail journeys makes it easy to understand why many choose to buy an InterRail pass. The pass (all-zone) costs , or for passengers under 26. An all-zones pass lasts for a month and covers your travel through most of Europe, Morocco and Turkey but it excludes travel in the country where the pass holder is a resident. If you want a pass for a shorter time or for fewer zones it will cost you less. Some rail agents believe the passes are not good value for money as you have to pay a supplement to travel on faster trains or in a sleeper. Also you cannot reserve seats online. The pass is good value if you are planning more than three journeys across Europe but remember if travelling through Eastern Europe then it is cheaper to pay separately for individual journeys.

If after reading through this you do decide to book your journey in stages, then there is no one website that will search and book all your rail trips. You will need to research several sites before you decide to purchase.

For a site that gives alot of information for connections, including platform numbers and transport links to main stations try Swiss website. This site has fast loading pages and a simple display. Another site with good information is the German rail site, it has an 'International Guest' link which has an English translation, it also shows links to trams etc.

Some rail journeys are better booked direct using telesales.

It is difficult to decide which is the best way to book a rail ticket but as always the final decision is yours. So whether you book online, direct with telesales or a rail travel specialist remember itis your individual journey.

Websites to aid your choices:

Need to know

www.europeanrail.com: rail specialist selling tours, passes and point-to-point overseas rail tickets

www.eurostar.com: for Paris, Brussels and selected French destinations

www.festtravel.co.uk: rail specialist selling international rail tours, short-breaks, passes and point-to-point overseas rail tickets

www.internationalrail.com: rail specialist selling tours, passes and point-to-point overseas rail tickets

www.raileurope.co.uk: for European rail starting in France

www.rail.ch: for Swiss rail

www.thalys.com: for high-speed Belgium-Holland-France-Germany links

www.thomascookpublishing.com: for the Independent Traveller’s Edition European Rail Timetable

www.voyages-sncf.com: for European rail starting in France and domestic France travel