Graham Forster shares a recent “Train Revolution”.
Europe’s Train Revolution–Sleepy And Sleeper Trains.
Alex Ledsom- Senior Contributor.
European train travel is having a moment. Where short-haul flights and low-cost carriers once made sleeper trains unappealing and economically uncompetitive, there are now lots of new businesses offering budget and luxurious sleeper options to criss cross Europe in style. Paris-based Midnight Trains and the revival of the 1970s Trans-Europe Express linking 10 EU cities with a first-class overnight service are just two examples.
And to add to the growing number of fast train services between European cities, slow train travel is also making a comeback. The Marseille–Paris train route is celebrating 50 years of service, still enticing travelers to the French Riviera at a genteel pace–it is a route that allows voyagers to peruse the southern French countryside, hopping on and off at beautiful French postcard-perfect towns and villages.
The Paris-Barcelona slow route is also a joy, heading through the mountainous Pyrenees via Limoges and Toulouse. Paris to Berlin can also be done on fast or slow trains.
France in particular is undergoing a slow train movement, where a new railway cooperative is planning to snake through long-forgotten village stations and reopen swathes of trainline, currently not served by the fast TGV trains. As reported by The Local, one of the first services will be from Bordeaux to Lyon, taking seven hours and thirty minutes to take in Libourne, Périgueux, Limoges, Guéret, Montluçon and Roanne. Later, a new route is planned from Le Croisic, in Brittany, to Basel in Switzerland, with 25 stops in just over 11 hours.
