Rail Europe

Opening of the new Lötschberg tunnel

Only 25 days to go before the new Lötschberg tunnel opens… and opens you new travel horizons!

Literally slicing through the Alps, the34,5km-long new train tunnel will be the quickest way to cross Switzerland from North to South by train, as it allows top speeds of 200Km/h (124 mph)!!!

As of the 9^th of December, it will not only significantly reduce journey times between South Switzerland and the rest of the country (making it easier to reach destinations such as Brig or Zermatt), but also speed up the trips between Italy and Switzerland! Check it out:

	Today	As of 09/12	Time savings
Zürich/Basel - Zermatt	4h 24min	3h 12min	1h 12min
Zürich/Basel - Brig	2h 42min	2h 08min	34 min
Bern - Zermatt	3h 18min	2h 08min	70 min
Bern - Brig	1h 36min	1h 04min	32 min
Milano - Bern	3h 16min	2h 44min	32 min
Milano - Basel	4h 27min	3h 55min	32 min

From 2008, there will be 6 daily services between Basel, Bern and Milano… and by 2009, Switzerland-Italy trips will be even more comfortable and faster with the new Cisalpino tilting trains, allowing an additional reduction of travel time by up to 60 minutes!!!

Tomorrow even more than today, rail will definitely be the best option to discover Switzerland, whose dense and efficient network offer the travellers a cost effective, scenic and comfortable way of travel. Make sure you make the most of it, thanks to the famous Swiss Pass, available from Rail Europe network.

For more information or to purchase your Swiss Pass, consult your Rail Europe travel agent www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy.

Eurostar sets a new record for the journey between Brussels and London

Rail Europe is delighted to announce that last Thursday, 20th of September, Eurostar, the high-speed train operator that links the UK with the European Continent, achieved the fastest journey time ever between Brussels and London, setting a new record for the journey between the Belgian and British capitals.

It took just 1 hour and 43 minutes to cover the 373 km (232 mile) distance, travelling at 300km/h (186mph) on the UK’s new high-speed line, High Speed 1. It was also the first run from Brussels to arrive at St.Pancras International, Eurostar's new terminal in the heart of London, , which will open on 14th November 2007.

On board the inaugural run were 12 journalists from Australia, Japan, India, South Korea, Hong-Kong, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina & Malaysia, invited by Rail Europe and Eurostar to discover high-speed Europe. This journey closed the week long 2007 Rail Europe Press Trip, which this year focused on the high ! speed trains members of the rail alliance, RailTeam, of which Eurostar is a founder member.

On the 5th of September, Eurostar also broke the record between Paris and London, with a run of just 2 hours and 3 minutes and 39 seconds!) for the 492 km distance, running at speeds of up to 320km/h (200 mph) on the French and British High Speed Lines.

From 14 November, the scheduled non-stop time between St Pancras International and Brussels will be 1 hour and 51 minutes, cutting at least 20 minutes off the current journey time from Waterloo. The time savings between Paris and London will also be at least 20 minutes, and the scheduled non-stop time will be 2 hours 15 minutes. Richard Brown, Chief Executive of Eurostar, said: "Today’s journey puts London and Brussels firmly within the ‘two hour club". Eurostar is quite simply the fastest, most convenient way to travel – avoiding wasted time and money in getting to out-of-town airports, lengthy! check-in times, and baggage reclaim delays.

From 14 November, E urostar will also move to its new London terminal overnight, with services at Waterloo ending the previous evening.

Eurostar tickets are available through Rail Europe’s accredited sales agents in your country.
Just log on to www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy to find their contact details.

Eurostar is moving. 14th November 2007

Rail Europe is glad to announce that from 24th July, travellers can book their Eurostar tickets to/from Saint Pancras International for their journeys between 14th to 19th November through Rail Europe's accredited sales agents. The sales to/from the other new station, Ebbsfleet International, are also open.

Wednesday, 14th November 2007 will be a big day for Eurostar. It's the day they launch services from / to Saint Pancras International in central London and the day Eurostar starts running on High Speed 1, the UK's first high speed line.

HS1 (High Speed 1)

High Speed 1 is the biggest engineering project in the UK for over 100 years. With 109 km of high speed track (a quarter of it underground), HS1 will allow Eurostar to travel at its full speed of 300 kmh (186 mph) all the way from the centre of London to the Channel tunnel. Thanks to this new high speed line, journey times will be reduced by at least 20 minutes to offer more seamless journeys and trains will be even more punctual.
Journey times from/to Saint Pancras International will be as follows:
Paris: 2h15
Brussels: 1h51
Lille: 1h20

Saint Pancras International

On 14th November, Eurostar moves from Waterloo International Station and launches services from Saint Pancras International in central London. As of this date, all journeys will depart from/arrive to Saint Pancras International and no longer from Waterloo International.

Saint Pancras is a beautiful Victorian station, with red rubber bricks and streaky bacon stone. It is being transformed, setting new standards for a railway station in the XXIst century. Taking inspiration from New York’s Grand Central Terminal, Saint Pancras International will be “Europe’s destination station”.
The modern Saint Pancras has been designed with the customer at its heart, with a world class brasserie, arcade shopping and a daily farmers’ market selling the very best, fresh, British and Continental products. And last but not least, overlooking the platforms will be the longest Champagne Bar of Europe!

To top it off, Saint Pancras International has also the best connectivity of all the central London stations. It has 6 underground lines and is close to 7 mainline operators at Saint Pancras International, King’s Cross and Euston. Travellers can easily reach the north of England, discover the rolling countryside of the Lake District and the jewels of Scotland.

Kent stations

Ebbsfleet International
On 19th November will open a new Kent station, Ebbsfleet International.
Between Ashford and London, conveniently located close to major highways including M25, M20, M2, A2, the Dartford Crossing and Bluewater shopping centre, Ebbsfleet will offer an easy “park and ride” option to many travellers.
High speed domestic services from Ebbsfleet International will begin in 2009, taking travellers to Saint Pancras International in 17 minutes flat at speeds up to 225 kmh / 140 mph. It will become both an international and domestic rail hub with easy access by rail to all of Kent.

Ashford
Eurostar will still run services from Ashford International and its services will complement those offered at Ebbsfleet International.
Services stopping at Ashford International will be timed to suit both Leisure and Business travellers. There will be 3 trains a day to Paris along with the daily direct Eurostar to Disneyland and the weekly Avignon trains during the summer.

For more information about these services or to purchase an Eurostar ticket, please consult your Rail Europe travel agent. List to be found on www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy

EUROPEAN HIGH SPEED RAIL OPERATORS LAUNCH RAILTEAM

Railteam makes international travel on high-speed trains
to and from Europe easy for travellers

Real alternative to air alliances and to travel by car

By 2010, 25 million international travellers on European
high-speed rail network

Rail Europe, the leading distributor of European Rail Products overseas is glad to advertise that on 2 July 2007, seven European high speed train operators announced the start of Railteam. SNCF (France), SBB (Switzerland), Eurostar (UK, France and Belgium), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SNCB (Belgium), NS Hispeed (The Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria), and subsidiaries Thalys, Lyria and Alleo offer then to give travellers seamless high-speed train travel across international borders in Western Europe.

The already wide range of products of Rail Europe, with a Western European high speed rail network that links over 45 major urban destinations in Europe via over 4,700km of track, will keep on growing as the network will stretch to 6,000 km by 2010 and will triple in size by 2020. However, despite the size and continuing growth of the high speed rail network, many international travellers remain unaware of the benefits of taking high speed rail.

Easy, faster and seamless journeys.

From today, if for any reason, a traveller misses their connection because of a late running service, Railteam will ensure they can hop on the next train, irrespective of the ticket type they have.

Rail Europe’s offer will gain in quality with the diffusion of multi-lingual information onboard trains and in stations that will ensure international travellers know where, when and how to connect onto other services.

Railteam information points will be installed in the five main hubs (Brussels, Cologne, Lille, Frankfurt and Stuttgart), and in the coming months, at other major stations such as London, Strasbourg, Amsterdam and in the main high-speed train stations in Paris.

To reduce transit times for travellers, Railteam partners will also better coordinate connecting departure and arrival times.

Railteam members are investing 30 million euro in a new distribution system that will allow international travellers to find an attractive combination of prices, make a reservation, pay, and receive their ticket from Rail Europe in one transaction.  The new system will go live in 2009.

Railteam also will seek to introduce new innovations as technologies develop over forthcoming years such as text messaging about timetables and service disruptions.

A greener and mart choice: the choice of the future!

Rail Europe expects that with travel on high-speed trains becoming even easier and smoother, increasing numbers of travellers will opt for environmentally friendly high speed train travel within Europe. It is common knowledge that high speed rail journeys release significantly less carbon dioxide than flying to the same destinations.

Extensive research has also shown that business travellers are willing to travel up to four hours on rail because of the increased productivity versus the airlines, whilst leisure travellers are prepared to enjoy longer journeys of around 6 hours.

By 2010, the Railteam members expect 25 million international travellers to be using their European high-speed rail network.

Guillaume Pepy, Chief Executive Officer of SNCF said: “It is achievable when you consider that Rail is served by city centre terminals. Factor in the transport time,travelling to airports, grinding traffic jams, security delays ans so on, and it’s pretty clear that on travel times alone high-speed rail is, at the very least, a realistic alternative on any journey across the Railteam member states”

“High-speed rail represents the future of sustainable, comfortable travel across Europe.”

Turkey - plans to introduce high-speed rail

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

Spain: Madrid-Saragossa-Barcelona

For Spain’s 50 million visitors, Renfe, the Spanish Railways, reinforced services on the Madrid-Barcelon line. They recently launch ALVIA, a new service on the Madrid-Saragossa-Barcelona line. ALVIA runs 12 brand new train-sets, designed by CAF-Alstom, and cuts the journey time by 15 minutes between Barcelona-Madrid, which takes approximately 4 hours and 15 minutes on the direct service. As well as time savings, there are more frequent connections with six daily connections in each direction and one direct service between the two cities. The latter operates every day of the week except Saturdays.

Each train has 238 seats in air-conditioned carriages, with 82 seats in first class (there is a specially designed space for handicapped travellers) and 156 seats in second class. Each seat has plug-in facilities for listening to music or watching videos which can be hired in the dining carriage. First-class passengers are treated royally with extra privileges and services such as on-board meals and access to the Sala Club in the terminal train stations.

For more information on Rail Europe Passes to Spain or reserving your train seats on Alvia, please contact your agent: www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy

Spain: AVE high speed trains run at 250km/h

More good news for travellers to Spain! Renfe, the Spanish Railways, who run AVE, the high speed train service announced that trains will circulate at 250km/h on the Madrid, Saragossa and Lleida line, heading northwards from Madrid.

Time savings between Madrid and Saragossa are 19 minutes with journey time now taking 1h40. On the Madrid to Lleida journey, time savings are 28 minutes with the trip now taking only 2h30.

In terms of comfort, the new series of carriages, built by the Talgo-Bombardier consortium, with its 316 seats has several comfort levels for passengers – 6 Tourist Class, 3 Preferential, 2 Club and I Restaurant carriage. Access to the carriages and seating have been adapted to ensure disabled travellers can manoeuvre on board with greater ease. Seats are reclinable and passengers can turn them around so that they can travel in the same direction as the train. Each passenger has its personal audio-video systems in his or her seat which operates via GPS technology and offers a selection of channels for relaxed journeys.
For more information on reserving train seats on the AVE or elsewhere in Spain, please contact your agent: www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy

Germany: 5th High-speed line opens 28th May

On May 28th, Germany’s 5th high-speed line will commence partial service, cutting the journey time on the Munich-Nuremberg line from 1h27 minutes (via Augsburg) down to 1h by December this year. The new service will be up and running in nice time for the ICE trains operating special football services during the forthcoming 2006 FIFA World Cup. Speeds on the line will be up to 300km per hour. The new line will avoid trains en route from Hamburg or Frankfurt having to reverse in Nuremberg.

When initially started in 1998, the project involved upgrading the existing 82km line from Munich to Ingolstadt and building a new 89km line from Ingolstadt to Nuremberg south. This new route will provide the shortest and fastest connection between the two cities of Munich and Nuremberg.

To all fans intending to attend the 2006 FIFA World Cup, please contact your agent for more information.

ICE Sprinter puts Cologne and Stuttgart less than two hours apart

Germany’s high speed trains criss-cross the country. Business and leisure travellers can enjoy a very attractive transport system connecting major towns and cities and in neighbouring countries. Currently, the ICE (high speed) service links Hamburg across to Osnabruck, with connections to the Netherlands. It then goes down through the Ruhr Valley through Cologne, with trains going on to Belgium and France. ICE trains continue down to Stuttgart, with links to Switzerland and Italy, across to Munich and around to Berlin, to name but the major lines.

As of May of this year, the new ICE Sprinter will link Cologne to Stuttgart in less than two hours and provide additional services to alleviate the peak periods, primarily in the morning and evenings. There is an additional stop-over in Mannheim. Currently, the journey time is 2 hours and 14 minutes by train. The 377 km journey between the two cities, which normally takes 3 hours 40 minutes by car will take 1 hour 57 minutes by train, meaning considerable time savings for all travellers.

First class travellers can relax on the early morning service (dept Cologne 7h29 – arr Stuggart 9h26) and enjoy a complimentary breakfast, avail of the evening meal service on the return leg (dept Stuttgart 18h33 – arr Cologne 20h29) or enjoy snacks and hot or cold drinks outside of these hours. Second class travellers can enjoy their meal at their seats as the trolley car comes through offering meals and drinks or use the self-service machines in each coach. 

For visitors planning to attend this year’s World Cup taking place in June in Germany, this is excellent good news, as all cities where matchs are being played are linked by ICE train services. For more information, please contact your agent.

New high speed train between Rome and Naples now running

Travellers to Italy can now enjoy shorter journey times when planning trips to Italy’s prime destinations. For visitors wishing to include Naples and its attractions (Vesuvio, Pompeii etc) in the Roman leg of their trip, the new high speed service puts Naples a mere hour and twenty seven minutes away.

Work commenced on this line back in 1994 and 90% of the high speed link is completed. Italy’s rich past came once again to the fore as over 23 archaeological sites were discovered during the work phases on the Rome-Naples line which meant rail works progressed alongside exploratory digs. The remaining 20km will be finished by 2008, when the high speed line links are connected in to the neapolitan metropolitan services. This new hub central station, planned at Naples-Afragola, will also be a regional link to stations in the heel and toe of the peninsula.

The overall Italian high speed line will resemble a T, with an west-east link from Turin through to the Adriatic port of Trieste, which will link in to the Slovenian line to Eastern Europe, and on the western side linking in to the French service into Lyon and onwards. Plans to link the port of Genoa to Milan are underway, which will in turn link into Trieste. In this way the principle business and tourist sites in Italy are or will be linked with high speed services, offering travellers major time savings on reaching their destinations and removing the hassle-factor of reaching overcrowded airports.

Saint-Malo now three hours from Paris

On December 8th, Saint-Malo inaugurated the first high speed service between the coastal Breton city and Paris, now only 2h56 apart. In Summer time, there will be three direct trains per day with two services in off-peak periods. Passengers will no longer have to change trains in Rennes, thereby simplifying their travel plans. Mont-Saint-Michel, the second most visited monument in France with more than 2 million visitors per year is more easily accessible. The TGV will stop at Dol-de-Bretagne, only 20 minutes by bus, which greatly facilitates access to this beautiful town for tourists and week-enders.

Residents and regional institutions have high hopes for the changes which a high speed service initiates. Saint-Malo is already a popular tourist destination with over 1.5 million visitors per year and the town is well-known for its sailing, thalasso-therapy, its fabulous sea-food, and its proximity to Jersey.

Businesses are also welcoming the new line as the town has been developing its bio-marine industry in cosmetics and technology. Traditionally, Saint-Malo has depended on tourism and the sea and can now hope to improve the local economy with the arrival of the TGV-Atlantique.

A new train station has been built replacing the old structure. The first section will be used for train-related services. An intermodal platform is planned for operation in 2006 and a new shopping mall is planned for Summer 2006. A hotel is also planned near the new train station.

New high speed line opens between Madrid-Toledo

High speed trains went into operation between Madrid-Toledo mid-November, putting both cities at 20 minutes distance one from the other. Toledo, a beautiful medieval town, is situated 80 km south of Madrid. The new service means visitors can either base themselves in Toledo and commute to Madrid for day trips or vice versa.

Spanish high speed trains, known as AVE in Spain, focus on passenger comfort. Seats are reclinable, the new streamlined train is one single class with 237 seats and 4 entrances, one specially designed for disabled travellers. On-board service in also provided.

Ten return trips will operate per day, with first departure at 6:50am from both Madrid and Toledo, with the last train leaving Madrid at 9:50pm and from Toledo at 9:20pm.

Among the governement officials who attended the opening, the Prime Minister, Mr Zapatero underlined the fact that the high speed service was part of an ambitous Transport Plan (mentioned in previous issue) launched in 1992 to link Madrid to Sevilla in the south and to Lleida and the French border in the north. He qualified the new service as an excellent project clearly meeting transport needs.

ETCS: first link between Vienna and Budapest

ETCS (European Train Control System) is the European Commission’s project to harmonise rail signaling throughout Europe. ETCS means that information can be transmitted between trains and rails throughout the entire journey, helping to calculate and monitor on a permanent basis train speeds. Each train has a computer on board linking into information nodes on the rails. Considerable security, time and cost savings will be made by trains travelling on international routes, thereby increasing rail attractiveness for travellers.

The first cross-border service to inaugurate the new information system, provided by Alcatel and Siemens, is the Vienna-Budapest line. The Austrian and Hungarian Railways, along with numerous European dignitaries attended the opening ceremony which was held 22 September.

ETCS has been adopted and is being implemented in Europe just as GSM became the norm for mobile telephone technology. Currently, international trains move through several national regulatory zones and encounter numerous technical barriers. The European response to this situation has been the development of ETCS to ensure that trains can cross national borders. Within 10 years, some 42,000 rail kilometers and approximately 10,000 locomotives will be fitted out with the new information system. The overall budget investment represents almost 5 billion euros.

Spain: high speed train services

Spain’s governement recently presented a new Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan which puts passenger and freight intermodal needs to the forefront. The plan aims to increase rail competitivity compared to road and air. The government also expects that the plan will help reduce gas emissions by 20% by the year 2020. 

More than half of the €248,9 million proposed investment for the Transport and Infrastructure Plan will be attributed to rail with a major expansion in high-speed services. Over the next 15 years, 9,000 km of high-speed, double-track, “standard gauge” (i.e. size of train tracks) electrified lines will be built. This is an ambitious plan compared with the 1,031 km built in the past 15 years. In the future, the government wants to ensure that provincial capitals are all conncted to the high-speed network. This would mean that more than 90% of the Spanish population would be less than 50km from high speed train services. With “standard gauge” in place, Spanish railways will be accessible to the majority of trains from the European network.

Today’s services connect some of the larger cities on the Barcelona-Madrid-Malaga axe. However, with this Plan, visitors travelling to Spain in the coming years will be in a position to access more easily all parts of the country.

Rail Europe will keep you informed in later issues.

New TEOZ service between Bordeaux and Nice

As of September 5th, a new cross-country Corail Teoz service will connect Bordeaux to Nice, with stops in Toulouse, Montpellier and Marseille. The journey time on direct trains will take approximately 8 hours. This brings the number of Corail Teoz services up to 4 - other lines currently in operation are:

• Paris - Clermont-Ferrand
• Paris – Nancy – Strasbourg
• Paris – Limoges – Brive – Toulouse

Travellers on these lines have increased over 8% in the past two years, confirming the necessity for comfortable cross-country train links. New on-board services have been designed and integrated to ensure travellers’ comfort. First class travellers can reserve their seats in advance, selecting from seating areas with single, double spaces or for 4 and 6 travellers. Spacious leather seating with cushioned head rests and foot rests have been installed for maximum comfort. Each seat has its own light and a lever to raise or recline the seat position. For business travellers, all seating areas have sockets available for recharging lap-tops or mobile telephones. 

Second class travellers also have a choice in seating areas, with double seating and spaces for 4 and 6 passengers. Baggage areas are in the centre of the carriage and sockets are available in certain areas.

Special areas have been designed for travellers with children, offering them more open space with games and room to play, read or relax, without disturbing other passengers. Seating has also been designed for small children as well as a changing table and the possibility to heat a child’s bottle. Lastly, baggage areas are designed to hold several buggys, prams and travel cots.

Two carriages have large sliding doors to facilitate access for wheel chairs and seating has also been adapted to ensure that travellers can access these services more easily.

Travellers bringing their bicycles can do so (surcharge of 10€) in specific carriages on the Corail Teoz services. Special wall fixtures have been installed to this effect.

Eight totally new train sets will come on-board to offer 6 direct daily services and a additional one at week-ends and in the summer season.

New TGV EST

In June 2007, 37 million French and Europeans will benefit from the opening of the new TGV Est. Considerable time savings of up to a third compared with current journey times as well as new destinations will broaden access for travellers.

The new service will link in over 30 stations in eastern France. Not only will this line link into the east, but via the hub links in the Paris area, all the French TGV lines will link in together. This means North (Lille, Arras, Bruxelles etc), West (Rennes, Nantes etc) and the South-West (La Rochelle, Bordeaux etc) will be linked, creating the first high-speed cross-country lines.

For foreign travellers, on vacation or on business in France, the new TGV Est means rail travel will be remarkably smoother and faster. International connections will also increase the frontier countries with the new service, to Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg.

A quick overview:
• Strasbourg to Paris will take only 2h20 compared with 4h today,
• Visits to the Champagne area will take only 45 minutes on the trip between Paris & the Champagne capital Rheims,
• Nantes to Strasbourg, from the western coast to the east of France and doorway to Germany and Luxembourg will take approximately 5h.

We will keep you updated on progress in future issues of our Press Release.

Turin-Novara

For fans of the Winter Olympics, the count-down has well and truly begun. The next Winter Games will take place 10-26 February 2006 in Turin. Transport between the city and mountain venues can be done by rail network and shuttles as well as bus, trams and the new underground system in Turin.

Major infrastructure improvements are underway with the Italian railways upgrading services within the area and linking high-speed train services between major cities such as the new Turin-Naples service. This entire axe is due for completion in five years time.

A brief update on the current state of works in progress:

• On the Rome-Naples section of the line, tests are currently underway with trains circulating on the lines at 300km/h, which will open for commercial service in December 2005.
• By February 2006 ahead of the Winter Olympics, an 86km high-speed section between Turin and Novara part of Turin-Milan line will be opened for commercial service.
• Over 50% of works are completed on the Milan-Bologna sections.
• Over 80% of works are completed on the Bologna-Florence sections.

Journey times between Milan and Rome will be 3 hours apart by 2008 and by 2009, when all work should be finished on the Novara-Milan section, it will be possible to travel between Naples and Turin in 4h30. 

For visitors to the Winter Olympic Games, the main ceremonies take place in Turin, with the venues in the mountain sites situated in two valleys: Val Chisone and Val di Susa. Val Chisone starts from Pinerolo, from 35/40 km to the south west of Turin, and stretches to the sites of Pragelato, less than 100 km from Turin. To the west of Turin, visitors will find Val di Susa, where the other four mountain sites are based: Sestriere, Sauze d’Oulx, Cesana San Sicario and Bardonecchia.

Access by train:
The mountain Olympic stations are Pinerolo – linked directly to Pinerolo Palaghiaccio (curling) – Oulx and Bardonecchia. The stations are served by a free Turin 2006 shuttle bus services to competition venues. Olympic mountain venues will be served by the Turin-Bardonecchia-Modane and Torino-Pinerolo lines.

Tickets will be available for travelling on these lines, meanwhile for further information, please consult your agent. The list of all agents is available on the website www.raileurope.fr.

Berlin-Hamburg connection

Berlin and Hamburg are now only 90 minutes apart by ICE (the InterCity Express). Run by the German railways, the service was launched 12 December 2004. One-way tickets in second class are available from 77USD per person. Deutsche Bahn, the German Railways, expect to increase the number of travellers on this line from 2,4 million to 2,8 million in 2005.

The Berlin-Hamburg connection is historic as the first train line between the two cities was launched on 12 December….1846. It was run by a private company which linked the business communities of the capital and the thriving northern port city. At the time, the journey took 9 hours, an innovation when compared with 27 hours by horse and carriage. In 1933, a new train-set running at 125km/h cut the journey to 2h18. With the Second World War and the Cold War, train services between the two cities were slowed down to 6h with frontier controls between West and East. When Germany was re-unified, the journey time was shortened to 2h30. Plans to build a high-speed connection with the Transrapid were proposed, debated at length and finally dropped in 2000 because of cost factors, thereby leaving the way open for the ICE service.

      Destination   Journey Time   Service
    
• Berlin-Hamburg      1h30        7 daily returns

To purchase tickets for Berlin-Hamburg or for more information on the German Railpass 2005, please consult your agent. The list of all agents is available on the website www.raileurope.fr.

Thalys

Travellers using Thalys between Paris and Brussels are accustomed to reaching their destination in 1h25. With 25 daily connections, services between the two cities run almost hourly. For business and leisure travellers continuing their journey to either Amsterdam or Cologne, they have more time however to view the Belgian flat-lands through to Amsterdam or the hilly woodlands and Belgian towns of Liège or Louvain. This is due to change in 2007. New high-speed lines between Belgium-The Netherlands, Belgium-Germany will shorten journey times considerably. Paris-Amsterdam and Paris-Cologne will take only 3h, compared to today’s journey times of 4h13 and 3h56, respectively.

On the Belgian-German front, major works commenced three years ago on the line between Brussels and Aachen on the German border. New viaducts, a new tunnel – the longest in Belgium - and station renovations are included in these refurbishments. Set up of the metallic structure for the train station in Liege, designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, commenced the beginning of 2005.

On the Belgian-Dutch front, new high-speed lines between Antwerp and Amsterdam will also shorten journey times. These new lines run alongside existing lines – among the busiest in Belgium – thereby creating serious constraints for work teams. Great care has been taken to organise works around train schedules to avoid perturbing the service. As a result, the majority of works are carried out at night or at week-ends.

Destinations   Journey Time   Service

                                  Current / 2007
• Paris-Brussels            1h25                        25 daily returns
• Paris-Amsterdam       4h13        3h              5 daily returns, 6 week-end returns
• Paris-Cologne            3h56    3h                  6 daily returns
• Brussels-Amsterdam  2h39    1h30               5 daily returns, 6 week-end returns

To purchase tickets for Thalys, please consult your travel agent. The list of all Rail Europe representatives is available on the website www.raileurope.fr.

France-Spain: Construction started on the new high-speed line between Perpignan and Figueras

Work has commenced on the new international high-speed link between France and Spain, which will connect Spain to the rest of Europe by rail. On the Spanish side of the border, clearage is already underway pending the arrival of the two tunnel diggers which will dig out 8,3 km for the two parallel tunnel tubes.

The new link is 44,4 km long and this high-speed rail-line will enable travellers to shorten the current journey between Perpignan and Barcelona from today’s 2h45 to 50 minutes. The new link will also tie in with the extension to the Madrid-Lerida line through to Barcelona, thereby linking the Spanish high-speed lines to France. Commercial operations will commence in 2009.

The ramifications of this project are of major interest for Spain, as part of an ambitious rehabilitation programme for rail and road infrastructure. The Rail and Road Programme, which was recently presented by the Spanish Transport Minister, adopted a long-term view for infrastructural improvements up to the year 2020.  The Minister proposes to upgrade over 9,000km of the 15,600 km of the rail network in Spain. Spain has the second high-speed network in Europe, after France. Alongside the new rail link, existing high-speed trains in Spain run on 1,045 km of rail-lines: 

• Madrid-Seville (1992)
• Madrid-Lerida (2003)

Other long-term high-speed Spanish projects include:
• Albacete-Madrid,
• Alicante-Valence-Cuenca-Madrid
• Madrid-Valladolid
• Madrid-Santiago de Compostela
• Algesiras-Malaga.

Rail Europe will keep you updated on progress with this new line.

France: New line between Cannes and Grasse

For lovers of the French Riviera, the French Railways will re-open the rail connection between Cannes and Grasse. Cannes is automatically associated with the world-famous Film Festival and its star-glittered red carpet. Grasse, on the other hand is well-known for its perfume industry and is a favourite visit for visitors coming to the Riviera. Now, for the first time in 70 years, it will be possible to travel from Cannes to Grasse by train, this summer. Services on the new 17 kilometre route will operate every hour. The journey between the two towns will take a total of 25 minutes. Travellers using a France Rail Pass will be able to use the service without any additional cost.

• Altogether there will be five stops on the Cannes-Grasse line, which include Le Bosquet, La Frayère, Ranguin, Mouans-Sartoux and Grasse.
• All the stations have been renovated on the line and both Grasse and Moans-Sartoux are newly built stations.
• Services will commence in the first quarter of 2005.