European Rail News

Archive: 2013
published on 1 November 2013
It was four months ago today that we published a press release from Thomas Cook announcing the demise of the company’s publishing division — a blow to travel publishing and particularly to travellers who valued the company’s European Rail Timetable. So it is with a big smile that we can today formally announce that a new company has been created to continue publishing the timetable. Read the full text of the press release in European Rail News.
News
published on 29 September 2013
A new rail connection between Russia and the Adriatic coast will start in 2014. There will be a seasonal direct service from Moscow to Koper (on the coast of Slovenia).
News
published on 26 August 2013
SNCF quietly expanded its TGV network today with the introduction of a seventh cross-border TGV service from France to Germany. The new service connects the university city of Freiburg im Breisgau in south-west Germany with Paris.
published on 18 August 2013
Is Elipsos nearing the end of the line? In late 2012, The Spanish rail operator cut its routes to Italy and Switzerland. What remains are two night train routes: from Barcelona and Madrid to Paris. And with upcoming competition from fast TGV daytime services from Paris to Barcelona, we wonder if Elipsos' days are numbered.
Practical Info
published on 5 August 2013
When British Railways introduced the Inter-City brand in 1966, no-one could possibly have anticipated how the idea would be emulated and adapted by railway administrations across Europe. Today, the term Inter-City (or IC) is used for a variety of train services – we take a closer look at the Inter-City brand across Europe.
published on 21 July 2013
European Rail News reported last month on the revised train timetables in operation following the Elbe flooding in early June. Europe’s main east-west rail route was severed by those floods, necessitating the diversion of all trains running west from Berlin towards Hanover and beyond. The current interim timetable will be extended until next Sunday, then from Monday 29 July a new schedule will be introduced, the gist of which we present here.
published on 1 July 2013
Following intense speculation on social media late last week, Thomas Cook have today made a statement about their publishing arm, which is set to close this summer. Read the full text of the press release in European Rail News.
published on 30 June 2013
We are saddened to report that Thomas Cook is withdrawing from the UK travel timetable and guidebook market. The August 2013 European Rail Timetable (ERT) will be the last published by Thomas Cook. But a small team, led by the current compilers of the ERT, is creating a new company to continue publication of the timetable.
published on 21 June 2013
Flooding in and around the Elbe Valley earlier this month led to wholesale cancellations of train services to the west and south-west of Berlin. The main railway line running west from Berlin was cut by flooding on 9 June and will take many weeks to restore. Here are some key points to note in the interim timetable introduced by the Deutsche Bahn.
published on 10 June 2013
The Spanish railway authorities today announced that the new high-speed route from Alicante to Albacete will open next week. We look ahead what this will mean for both travel times and the existing rail route.
published on 9 April 2013
Nicky Gardner unravels some of the background to today’s announcement that a rail company will launch an express InterCity bus service across the German-Polish border.
published on 24 March 2013
Long before anyone had even heard of Eurostar, the British Rail Board (BRB) published a series of indicative timetables for a possible Channel Tunnel rail service linking London with Paris. We reproduce here what we believe is the first iteration of that timetable, released 40 years ago in 1973.
published on 28 February 2013
Thomas Cook Publishing this week marks 140 years of the European Rail Timetable. It was in March 1873 that the company launched the first such timetable. Titles and designs have changed over the years, as indeed do train times, but the simple concept enshrined in the book has remained essentially the same over 140 years of publishing history.
published on 1 February 2013
The Belgian Railway authorities this afternoon announced the return of old-style InterCity services from Brussels to stations in the Netherlands. This is to provide some kind of replacement for the short-lived FYRA service, introduced in December 2012 and then withdrawn last month.
published on 28 January 2013
Amsterdam certainly pulls the crowds and for travellers using InterRail (and Eurail passes) a stop in Amsterdam has become almost a rite of passage. For young travellers from Britain in particular, Amsterdam ranks as an almost compulsory early stop on any round-Europe rail tour. We suggest here an onward journey from Amsterdam south towards Cologne that offers a chance to see the rural landscapes of the Netherlands and nearby parts of Germany.
published on 27 January 2013
If you are bound for Amsterdam from London or Paris and are travelling just for fun, might we suggest an alternative to the fast Thalys connection? Make for Lille and then follow our rural itinerary on through Belgian Flanders and Dutch Zeeland. This route takes in lowland landscapes that inspired Flemish and Dutch artists.
published on 26 January 2013
Cast back to last year, and Brits wanting to travel by train to the Netherlands just opted for the cheapest and most obvious route. Eurostar (and plenty of agents besides) sold an Any Dutch Station (ADS) ticket. It cost little more than a regular Eurostar ticket to Brussels, and allowed customers to connect in the Belgian capital with onward trains to the Netherlands. Unfortunately, that ADS ticket is no longer for sale.
published on 17 January 2013
Cast back fifty years and St Pancras station in London had plenty of trains to stir the imagination. The Palatine still ran from St Pancras to Miller’s Dale and The Waverley to Hawick. But during the 1980s and 1990s, St Pancras was a dull place for devotees of interesting trains. It’s hard to get excited about the slow train to Luton or the semi-fast to Leicester. This most august of London termini fell into deep decline.