European railpass travel
Last January’s railpass price increases were very friendly. We won’t know most of the 2007 prices until the first of next year, but you can insure that you won’t have any unpleasant surprises by locking in 2006 prices before year-end.
When you buy before the turn of the calendar, you have six months to validate your railpass in Europe before boarding your first train. This makes it particularly convenient for travelers planning to use passes valid for longer periods of time, such as one or two months, because they can validate their pass before their 6-month deadline in June, and travel during summer 2007 at 2006 prices.
New passes added in 2006 increased your plethora of options, and choosing the ideal pass for you became more and more complex. With the vast selection of passes available, you need to study carefully to select the pass best suiting your plans. As many as seven different passes may cover your destination country or countries.
You can choose between the consecutive-day railpasses, such as the classic Eurailpass now covering unlimited travel on the national railroads of 18 countries, and flexible railpasses, which you can use for the number of days of your choice within a specified time period.
You need to consider which country or countries you are visiting; how many train trips you plan to take in each country; whether you can justify a first-class pass; your age; the number of people traveling with you and their ages, and the number of long-distance trains you will use.
Railpasses have a price advantage for long-distance trips. They are not competitive for short trips. Cost-conscious travelers can purchase flexipasses to use for travel on long-distance trains but ticket point to point for anything costing less than $30-$40, depending on the cost of the pass.
Let’s take an example:
"Mr. Brunhouse, I read your ‘Railpass Roundup’ in the April issue of ITN (my favorite travel magazine) with interest. We have a trip planned for Europe in September-October this year, actually two tours, and we need to arrange travel to connect with both.
“Our travel agent seems uninformed or confused by all the pass options and prefers to recommend air. Your offer to help encouraged me to write to you.
“We have air reserved to arrive in Amsterdam on Sept. 18. We would like to spend two days there and then travel to Geneva, arriving Sept. 23. We would love to spend two nights and one day in Paris en route. The first tour begins in Geneva on Sept. 24 and ends in Zürich on Oct. 4. We believe we would like to spend Oct. 5 in Zürich and travel to Frankfurt on Oct. 6, as the second tour begins there on Oct. 7 in the morning. This tour ends in Berlin on Oct. 20. We would like to spend an additional day in Berlin and travel to Amsterdam on Oct. 22, as we are scheduled to fly back to the U.S. on Oct. 23 at noon.
“Can you provide us with some information/recommendations regarding a pass or passes to accomplish these travel plans? Thank you.” — Al
“Thank you for your e-mail. I will be glad to give you some suggestions.
“As I understand it, there will be two of you traveling together at all times, so you can use the companion fares. You will be using the following:
“Amsterdam-Paris (one day).
“Paris-Geneva (one day).
“Zürich-Frankfurt (one day).
“Berlin-Amsterdam (one day).
“That makes four travel days through Benelux, France, Switzerland and Germany (four countries).
“You are making long train trips, which makes a railpass economical.
“I suggest considering a 5-day/4-country Eurail Selectpass, which would cost $363 per person, first class. This no doubt will be less expensive than air, even if you choose to overfly Paris. You can use your fifth travel day for transportation from Amsterdam Airport to Amsterdam on Sept. 18.
“You will enjoy your time in Europe.
“Best wishes, Jay”
Al could validate his Eurail Selectpass at the Amsterdam Airport train station and at the same time reserve his Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris’ Nord train station and his TGV train from Paris’ Lyon train station to Geneva. His other trains do not require seat reservations.
New in 2007
TGV Est:
In June 2007, the high-speed LGV Est européene (Eastern European High Speed Railway) will commence service between Paris’ Gare de l’Est and Strasbourg’s historic train station at speeds up to 217 mph using TGV Réseau train sets that have been renovated to provide additional legroom.
FrenchRail points out that the expensive new line is of national importance and will benefit France and the voters living there. Paris will be linked to the major cities of eastern France, and the eastern French regions will be connected to the new High Speed European Railway Network serving northern, western and southwestern France.
The city of Luxembourg will be two hours and 15 minutes away from Paris; Remiremont, two hours and 45 minutes, and Reims, 45 minutes away. The Meuse Region will be one hour and 45 minutes from Lille and 55 minutes from Charles de Gaulle airport. Further, Strasbourg will be two hours and 20 minutes away from Paris while Nancy and Metz will be one hour and 30 minutes away.
Strasbourgeoises, however, have a different spin. They headline “Strasbourg, crossroads of Europe for the high speed train.”
The new line will have the effect of considerably improving access to Strasbourg from Paris and the rest of France as well as from Germany and Switzerland.
There will be four round trips daily to Stuttgart taking one hour, 30 minutes (via Karlsruhe in 40 minutes), two of which travel on to Munich in three hours, 40 minutes. Also, there will be four round trips to Basel taking one hour, 10 minutes and three round trips to Zürich taking two hours, 10 minutes.
It remains to be seen whether the direct Paris-Zürich train will be rerouted through Strasbourg.
HSL Zuid:
The new Benelux high-speed line known as HSL Zuid (High-Speed Line South; www.hslzuid.nl) will be completed in April 2007. Passengers will be carried in Thalys trains, just as they are now, but Thalys will accelerate up to 186 mph north of Antwerp.
Travel time between Amsterdam and Brussels will be cut from two hours, 39 minutes to one hour, 46 minutes, which compares favorably with driving an automobile, which takes two hours, 41 minutes outside of rush hours.
It will take 36 minutes to Rotterdam (down from one hour, two minutes) and one hour, 10 minutes to Antwerp (down from two hours, nine minutes).
Channel Tunnel Rail Link:
Phase Two of the CTRL will enable travel aboard Eurostar trains between London’s St Pancras Station and Paris’ Gare du Nord in two hours, 15 minutes and to Brussels’ South Station in two hours flat when it is opened in 2007, possibly in December.
The project is a 21-mile stretch of track from Ebbsfleet to London’s St Pancras station. It includes two new stations, a 2-mile tunnel under the Thames and a 12-mile twin tunnel into central London. When it is complete, all Eurostar trains will run from St Pancras International Station instead of Waterloo International Terminal.