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Another excellent opportunity to discover or re-visit Italy’s treasures!
Rail Europe is offering a 20% reduction on the Trenitalia Pass, which is valid for reservations made between 1st October and 31 December 2006 for travellers wishing to visit Italy between 1st November 2006 and 31st March 2007.
The Trenitalia Pass is not available in Italy, so buy before you fly and take advantage of this fabulous promotion!
Rail Europe consolidates its leadership with the opening of its new representative office in Buenos Aires. This new office is the fourth opening in line with the company’s development strategy. Other representative offices are located in Japan, Korea and India.
The office is run by Maria Corinaldesi who was previously agent for Rail Europe in the area. She will be responsible for promoting and positioning rail as the best way to travel through Europe for the whole South American continent.
Commenting on this opening, Xavier Theret, Sales Director for the region, said, “South America represents an important market for RailEurope, particularly Argentina and Brazil, and the opening of this office is a clear signal of our intentions to develop this market.”
Eurostar announced the opening of a new station, Ebbsfleet International, in autumn 2007, which will enable UK travellers to access the Eurostar services to France and Belgium, without having to drive into Central London. This new station, strategically located near Dartford in Kent close by major roads and the Bluewater shopping centre, will give travellers an easy alternative to London’s overcrowded airports. Ebbsfleet is indeed more quickly accessible than any of London’s airports including Heathrow.
Ebbsfleet International will be a 2h05 journey to Paris, 1h41 to Brussels and 1h10 to Lille.
Almost half of the Eurostar services will stop at Ebbsfleet International, with time-tables to suit both business and leisure travellers. The new station will offer 9,000 parking spaces and seamless connections to public transport. The service will commence once the switch has been made from Waterloo to St. Pancras International, in the autumn of 2007.
For more information on using the Eurostar service, please contact your agent www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy
Holiday-makers interested in travelling through the Balkans will be pleased to know that Turkey is included in the Rail Europe Balkan Flexipass. Other designations included in the FlexiPass are Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania.
A brief focus on rail travel in Turkey shows some major changes as the country in the process of adopting high-speed trains and by 2008, Ankara, the capital, will be a mere 3h from Istanbul. This train line is one of the most crowded in the country. Currently, there are express trains, a night train and local trains using the line, and in a country where 12 million people travel between Ankara and Istanbul, this is insufficient. However, with the new high-speed trains, this is about to change.
The new high-speed service is being built in two phases, with the first section due to be completed at the end of this year, between Sincan (near Ankara) to Inönü, 251km apart. The second section between Inönü and Köseköy (158km) will be completed in 2008 as well as the linking lines between Sincan and Ankara and Gebze, near Istanbul. The Ankara-Istanbul high-speed project is the first of future projects. Another project will be to link Ankara to Konya, one of Turkey’s major cities in terms of agriculture and industry. Travel time between Istanbul and Konya is currently over 12 hours and will be reduced to 3 hours and 30 minutes.
For travellers intending to visit the country between now and 2008, when the high-speed trains will be introduced, there is still a number of types of interesting trains running through the country with, among others: Super Express trains serving large cities where travellers can choose between luxury pullman or saloon carriages, as well as restaurant and sleeping carriages on the night services. You can also travel on the fast “Blue Trains between Izmi, Iç Anadolu and Cukurova or on traditional Express or Normal passenger trains.
Rail Europe’s Balkan Flexipass is valid for any 5, 10 or 15 days unlimited travel over a one-month period, in 1st class and costs 160€ for an adult travelling any 5 days/month. Offering a large number of reductions on sea crossings between Greek Islands and between Greece and Italy, on hotel prices and on excursions in different cities, Rail Europe’s Balkan Flexipass is undoubtedly the nicest and most cost effective way to travel in the Balkans.
For more information on the Rail Europe Balkan Flexipass, services, travel information and reservations, please contact your agent www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy
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