Rail Europe

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.”

Christmas markets

Should you find yourself wondering what to do with your last few weeks in December BEFORE Christmas, Rail Europe has some excellent suggestions to bring interesting alternatives to the traditional approach to Christmas. Come explore some of continental Europe’s Christmas markets. Yes, they will bring back all the magic of Christmas, with their log cabins, hand-craft gifts, delicious smells of mulled wine and regional savouries, you’ll give yourself a welcome break from the usual Christmas stress and no doubt find some beautiful, original gifts. It provides memorable sights, sounds and smells for all the family. 

Christmas markets date back to the 16th century, when religious holidays were also social events with fairs and entertainment. This tradition continues in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Scandinavian countries. What better way to take the pain and commercialisation out of Christmas shopping than to visit some of the best-known Christmas markets by train.       

                                       

Rail Europe has selected some of the top Christmas markets in Europe for short week-end breaks, easily accessible by train:

• Strasbourg Christmas Market (Christkindelsmarik): Place Broglie through to rue de la Comédie are a wonderland for children and adults. Renowned for its traditional gifts, wines and foods, the Strasbourg Christmas market attracts tourists looking for new ideas for Christmas... since the 16th century! The market opens 26th November to 23rd December.

• Lille’s Christmas market on Place Rihour entertains and delights tourists and locals alike every year with stalls selling gifts, arts and crafts and northern delicacies. Don’t miss the music and entertainment each Saturday with a big concert held on the last Saturday before Christmas.

• Go south for Provençal Christmas markets! Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Arles, numerous cities and towns in the south of France hold their Christmas markets with the well-known provençale “santons” or figurines dressed in their traditional costumes and work garbs of gone-by days. Wines and local gastromic delights are for sale as well as music and street theatre for children... not forgetting Santa’s hut!

• German Christmas markets – from Bremen in the north, to Berlin, Cologne, Koblenz and Freiburg, German Christmas markets are set against the back-drop of beautiful historic squares and City Halls (“Rathaus”), with music, stalls, tempting dishes and wines and beers for this special season.

         

• Try an Alpine Italian Christmas markets – high in the Dolomites, or in the surrounding Alpine cities, experience the beauty of the snow-covered mountains, the Italian hand-craft gifts and wondeful food to enjoy an atmospheric experience.

• Belgian Christmas markets – The Brussels annual Christmas market takes place in Place St. Catherine with its wonderful bright lights from the beginning to the end of December. For the first time this year, young children can ice-skate on the nearby ice-rink to bring a real atmosphere of Christmas. Find all kinds of gifts and ideas in these magical surroundings. Nearby on the coast, Ostend also holds its annual market with stalls, boutiques, all cheefully lit up for the occasion.

• Swiss Christmas markets – Basel is one of Switzerland’s most popular Christmas markets, when the city is alight with lights and stands selling all types of gifts.

Rail Europe, the World’s largest distributor of European rail travel offers travellers a number of easy solutions to visit Christmas markets in several countries or to visit several Christmas markets within a specific country:

• Eurail Select Pass – With this 1st class pass, travellers can visit 3,4 or 5 adjoining countries connected by train. It would be possible, for example, to visit the Brussels, Cologne, Paris and Strasbourg Christmas markets. It would also be possible to visit, Freiburg, Berlin, Prague and Vienna.

• Eurail Regional and National passes – There are many combinations for regional and national passes. All enable travellers to use the train in countries where are held Christmas markets. The passes offer you unlimited travel by train in the country / region covered. They are valid for 2 months, available in 1st or 2nd class, with great flexibility (“continuous” or “flexi” formulas).

• City to city tickets – Enjoy selected destinations at high speed! Rail Europe indeed sells a unique range of high speed trains, to quote but a few: Eurostar (London-Paris/Brussels), Thalys (Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam/Cologne), TGV (France), ICE (Germany), Artesia (France-Italy), Lyria (France-Switzerland) and Italian fast trains, allowing you to visit and experience many different traditions and atmospheres even during a short stay in Europe

For more information on passes and tickets, please contact your Rail Europe 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.

RAILTEAM is now on tracks!

A major step forward has been achieved with the agreement in Berlin, on June 14th, between the major European railways – German, Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, Swiss and French. This alliance between the main high-speed services operating in Europe (Thalys, ICE, Eurostar, Lyria, TGV...) will offer travellers top quality service on Europe’s high-speed network. RAILTEAM is similar in concept to alliances set up by the major airlines.

Types of services which will be offered by mid-2007 include:

• Facilitating tickets, rates and platform changes at “hubs” such as Brussels, Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle airport
• Harmonising rates, on-board services, in-station services to increase awareness of high-speed services
• Access to top notch services – waiting rooms, internet access
• Combining passenger loyalty schemes and determining passenger rights
• Combining marketing and communication activities to encourage usages of high-speed services in Europe

The alliance will be headed up by a top level committee with 4 working groups to implement plans. Guillaume Pepy, CEO of the French Railways, commenting on this new alliance said “Our ambition is to bring high-speed Europe to customers. By combining German and French services, we have a large network and top level quality service on offer. We aim to be the rail alternative for customers looking for an alternative to the airline offer.”

Berlin’s new station

In the previous edition of the news release, Germany was mentioned in connection with the speeding up of its high speed trains and increased services in preparation for the World Cup. Once again, Germany is in the news, this time for the opening of its new central train station in Berlin. DB, German Railways, describe it as the largest multi-level interchange station in Europe, due to its north-south link and the network of long-distance and regional trains.

Berlin’s history partially explains the necessity to re-think and re-build its rail network, as rail services were part of the whole scheme to keep East and West Germany separate. Prior to the fall of the wall in 1989, rail services from West Germany travelled non-stop to West Berlin. On the East German side, trains travelled from the East only to East Berlin with no trafic going through West Berlin. When Germany was reunified, trains could only come to Berlin from the east or west side, adding on additional time to journeys. The challenge therein was to identify a location which would enable north-south lines to operate with sufficient space to build a brand new station to serve trains travelling east-west and north-south: the solution lay in the former Lehrter station to the north of central Berlin. The concept which was adopted is similar to a mushroom in shape, incorporating existing main lines and new main lines. The project included the construction of 6 new tracks – 4 for mainline trains and 2 for S-Bahn.

When the new station opens 28th May, the number of long-distance trains passing through Berlin will increase from 388 to 439 per day. The opening of the north-south line will mean a time saving of between 40 and 50 minutes, for example, Berlin-Leipzig will be an hour apart, compared to 1h50 and Berlin to Stralsund will be 2h40 compared to 3h20.      

The 10€ billion project was designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners, an architect firm from Hamburg, and its impressive glass roof reaches a height of 16m and is 321m long. The east-west platforms are located on the top tier at 10m off the ground. On the ground level, there are the links to the public transport system as well as shops, restaurants and cafés. Underground, there is a car park for 900 cars and 150 bicycles. The deepest level at 15m underground is where the platforms for long-distance and regional trains, as well as the U-Bahn converge.
                                                               

Beginning of June, travellers to the Berlin station, Potsdamer Platz and from the end of June, travellers in the French train station, Gare du Nord will be able to view the travelling exhibition dedicated to the new Berlin station. This is part of a kick-off twinning operation to associate the two stations. The twinning operation will be extended to other major train stations in Europe.

For more information on getting to, about and from Berlin by train, 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.

Germany – why not rent a bike to explore major cities?

Explore Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt or Munich by bike, a relaxed and different way to see the sights at a leisurely pace. The German Railways have developed a service called Call a Bike for travellers to these four cities. No doubt more cities will be included in the programme at a later stage. The service offers high-tech bikes at reasonable rates and only requires a a simple phone call. Would-be bikers can pay by credit or debit card to the hotline registration service and bicycles can be picked up and returned at any of the major cross-roads.

On calling the service hotline number 0700 05 22 55 22, visitors can register for bike rental. Credit card holders are debited 5€, which is then deducted from the final amount due. The hotline service provides a code to be used on arrival at the nearest cross-roads where bicycles await their future riders. Simply press the red button on the electronic lock and if green (indicating the bicycle is not in use), enter the code provided by the service hotline and the bike is released. Returning the bike is also simple. Lock the bike at the cross-roads nearest your stop-off point, press the electronic lock which provides another code and call the service hotline to end the rental charges. Bikes can be rented for as long as you wish, by the minute, by the day...by the week. At 7 cents per minute for casual users, or 15€ for day trippers or 60€ for the week, Call a Bike offers a great way to visit top German cities.

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.

Broadband available on German trains

Broadband is now available on pilot ICE trains in Germany. Hot spots have been installed by Deutsche Telecom in seven carriages on the Dortmund-Cologne line. This test phase will finish end of March and will be free for passengers and their lap-tops until April.

Business travellers will be particularly interested in this technology advance which means emails will no longer accumulate during the train journey and direct access via the WLAN on the laptop will mean no down time on a trip.

Tilting trains

Countries looking to develop their high speed rail strategies have several potential solutions, including introducing tilting trains, which offer more speed using existing lines or building new speed lines for dedicated high speed train services. Obviously, cost is oftentimes a major concern, but nowadays, saturation on existing lines is also a factor. Tilting trains have been mooted as a fast and less expensive option to high speed services, simply because of the cost involved in building new lines.

In many countries, existing rail lines date from the 19th century and were built to cater for speeds up to 80km trains per hour, fast at the time, but nothing compared to the 300km of some high speed trains today,
notably in France. Tilting trains take the existing lines into consideration in their design and therefore are designed to “tilt” in sharp bends, so that passengers on board can enjoy speed without being thrown against the sides of the train in sharp bends. They can run at speeds up to 230 km/h. For the amateur, the difference between tilting trains and high speed or regular trains is the centrifugal force on tilting trains means that they tilt on corners.

Several countries have opted for the tilting trains and they include Amtrack, in the US with Acela Express, the ICE-T trains in Germany, the Pendolino in Italy, the Talgo in Spain, the X2000 in Sweden, the Intercity trains in Switzerland and the Cisalpino between Switzerland and Italy. Time savings are quite high compared with regular train services and travellers to Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, as well as some of the Eastern European countries, will enjoy their continental holiday without perhaps knowing that they are travelling on a tilting train.                     
                               

However, some countries are now facing saturation on their existing lines and tilting trains, whilst they go faster than regular trains, have to contend with existing trains on the lines – freight trains, regular trains, night trains – and use the lines accordingly.

The alternative approach means investing in separate high speed lines and high speed trains. Due to saturation, this strategy, whilst involving initial heavy financial commitment and time to building new lines, does mean that there are dedicated high speed lines which are separate from the regular trains, including slower freight or night trains. Therefore, high speed trains can run long distances making fewer stops and maintaining high speeds over longer distances.

French Railways made the high speed choice over twenty years ago and over the years has built up its high speed network, so that Lyons is 2 hours from Paris and Marseilles a mere 3 hours. Had the French Railways opted for the tilting trains, time savings on a 4 hour Lyons-Paris trip would only have been shortened by about 10 minutes.