Rail Europe

Travelling with a France Rail Pass has never been so easy…

Rail Europe is delighted to announce the launch of a new product, specifically tailored for non-European travelers, which will make travel in France even easier: the France Rail Pass "Easy Access" Passholder fare. This new kind of reservation is available as of today for France Rail Pass Holders.
As a reminder, the France Rail Pass is the best rail pass to travel in France. Holders of this pass can enjoy unlimited travel on the 31 000 km of the French Rail network aboard some of the most modern and comfortable trains in the world, including the famous TGV (the French high speed train, running at up to 320 km/h) as well as scenic and regional trains.

France Rail Pass offers great value for money and comes in different validities, to match everyone's need. As reservation is compulsory in France on most trains, travelers just need to purchase in complement to their pass, the reservation corresponding to the train they want to board, as much in advance as possible in order to ensure availability.

That’s where the “Easy Access” Passholder fare is so interesting: not only because it only costs 12€, but above all, unlike a regular Passholder Fare, it is not subject to availability… In other words, France Rail Pass holders always have the possibility to book a reservation on a train, even 1 hour before train departure (provided there are still seats available on the train!).  This fare is a France Rail Pass exclusive only offer.

This new benefit adds to the impressive list of special prices and bonuses already offered by premium partners, and makes the France Rail Pass the best companion to discover France. Visit the France Rail Pass official website www.francerailpass.com to build your perfect itinerary thanks to relevant tips and original suggestions.

The France Rail Pass Easy Access Passholder fare is only sold by Rail Europe accredited agents and direct websites, and in France by SNCF ticket desks.
Rail Europe is the world's largest distribution network of European Railways' products and the official distributor of the France Rail Pass. Through its distribution network and websites, Rail Europe allows travellers from all over the world to easily, smoothly and securely book all their rail journeys in Europe
For more information about the France Rail Pass, to purchase your Pass and book your seat on French trains, please contact your Rail Europe travel agent. Contact details to be found on www.raileurope.fr/wheretobuy

Travel like it’s meant to be between London, Paris and Brussels

In such an economic environment, it is nice to know that Rail Europe and Eurostar are committed to always make train travel between UK and the continent more affordable… Indeed, following the success of the Eurostar Promotion in the beginning of the year, Rail Europe and Eurostar launch a new promotion this summer, the "Eurostar Summer Promotion".
Travel in style between the 3 most vibrant European capitals, and save money at the same time! Between the 3rd of June and the 27th of July, for travel between June 10th and August 31st, the "Leisure Select promotion" costs only 83€ for a one-way trip or 128€ for a return (subject to availability).
Leisure Select is the name of the 1st class accommodation for leisure travelers, offering style, quality and value, with a seat service designed to maximize the enjoyment of the journey: Champagne welcome drink, choice of meal, power plugs, large, reclinable seat, and more. On-board imagery even feature pictures of cultural hotspots - particularly cafes, bars and restaurants - in London, Paris and Brussels that have been selected as offering great value for money!
Whether it is to enjoy the thrill of a 20 minutes ride under the Channel, to make the most of the British pound at its lowest (ie get great deals in hotels and restaurants as well as opportunity to snap up bargains in the shops), or to treat yourself with the high level of comfort of the Eurostar's Leisure Select class at a great price, there are plenty of reasons to benefit from this promotion from Eurostar and Rail Europe!

Eurostar is the high-speed rail link between UK and the continent. This state-of-the-art train joins London and Paris in only 2h15 and London and Brussels in 1h50.
Rail Europe is the worldwide leader in European rail distribution, and a major distributor of Eurostar. Through its distribution network and websites, Rail Europe allows travellers from all over the world to easily, smoothly and securely book all their rail journeys in Europe.
For more information or to purchase your Eurostar ticket, please consult your Rail Europe travel agent. Contact details can be found on www.raileurope.fr

Rail Europe presents the new Eurostar’s interior designer, Pininfarina

Eurostar, the high-speed rail passenger service that links London to Paris and Brussels announced that they have awarded the design contract for the interior refurbishment of its fleet to the Italian design consultancy Pininfarina. Rail Europe, Eurostar's primary distributor on non-European markets, welcomes this news which will contribute to making travel by train even more comfortable and popular.
Eurostar is already the #1 transportation mode between London and Paris/Brussels. Their goal with this refurbishment is to anticipate the 21st century travelers' expectations and to offer the highest standards in comfort, style and innovation. Pininfarina's design will focus on a great travel experience, thus mixing their style and outstanding functionality with a clear vision of future train travel.
Pininfarina is a world-class design house that is best known for its work in the car industry (with prestige brands such as Ferrari and Maserati) but has also extensive experience in the rail industry, having designed the interiors and exteriors of Italy’s high-speed trains, rolling stock for Swiss, Danish and Norwegian Railways, automated light rail cars in Lille (France) and trams for cities in Italy, Greece, Sweden and Turkey
The first renovated Eurostar trains (out of the 28 in the fleet) are due in service in 2012. This refurbishment follows that of numerous high speed trains in Europe: TGVs in France in 2007 (new design by French designer Christian Lacroix), Italian high speed trains in 2008 (by Pininfarina) as well as Thalys, between France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, in 2009 (new interiors by Ethoven Associates Design Consultants & Première Design Graphique).
"We're thrilled about this great news, says Laurent Bijaoui, Marketing Director for Rail Europe. As the worldwide leading distributors of European rail products, we are happy have the European railways for partners -and Eurostar in particular - as such initiatives clearly illustrate their sincere and entire commitment to making our customers journeys a safe, comfortable and memorable European experience".

For more information about Eurostar, to purchase your Rail Pass or ticket, please consult your Rail Europe travel agent. Contact details to be found on www.raileurope.fr.

The new high speed line between Madrid and Barcelona opens tomorrow, the 20th of February: book your tickets with Rail Europe!

Rail Europe, the World leading distributor of European rail is delighted to announce that the high speed line between Madrid and Barcelona will finally open on February, 20th!

The two vibrant capitals, Madrid and Barcelona, are now connected with 17 daily services, in 2h38 instead of 3h55 today. Thanks to this new line, it will also take only 1h51 to go from Saragossa to Barcelona (39 minutes saved) and 1h03 from Lerida to Barcelona (27 minutes saved).

Enjoy this new European High Speed experience in total comfort, aboard the AVE trains, some of the most technically advanced trains of the Spanish Railways… and in the world!

Between Madrid and Barcelona, you will enjoy at high speed (300 km/h – 186 mph) the high quality services usually proposed onboard AVE trains such as individual sockets, reclining seats, movie screenings, etc. And if you travel in “Club” or “Preferente” class, you’ll even benefit from a new catering offer at your seat.

Just contact your Rail Europe travel agent to book your rail trip in Spain or just to get more information about Spanish trains and destinations.
Contact details to be found on 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.”

Trenitalia – Winter Promotion

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!

EUROSTAR – Ebbsfleet International

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

Record numbers on German trains during the World Cup

German Railways recently announced that over 15 million travellers used their services during the World Cup, 5 million more than initially expected! Cities such as Dortmund, Cologne or Gelsenkirchen where matchs were held, had an increase of between 1,2 and 1,5 million passengers during the World Cup. Over 370 extra trains were added to regular services throughout the country to cope with demand. The World Cup was an excellent opportunity to showcase the excellence of DB and to win new customers over to train travel.