European Rail News & Notes

Your source for updates on European train travel
History
published on 12 August 2020
by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
Can you hazard a guess as to how many night trains to Scotland might have left London every evening sixty years ago? Four or five? A dozen perhaps? Enjoy our detailed review of Scotland-bound night trains in 1960/61.
Notes
published on 4 August 2020
by Paul Scraton
Tony Judt, who died ten years ago in August 2010, is remembered as a first-class historian. But he was also a great advocate for rail travel. Berlin-based writer Paul Scraton shares thoughts on Tony Judt's enthusiasm for the train.
News
published on 30 July 2020
by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
Here is an update on European night train services as of July 2020. In this post we particularly take a look at night sleepers which, for one reason or another, have not yet been reinstated. But there are also some entirely new routes.
Journeys
published on 16 July 2020
by Paul Scraton
There are proper night trains, the ones with couchettes and sleeping berths. And then there's the more spartan variant of the night train. merely offering passengers a seat for an overnight journey. Paul Scraton joins the 21.48 from Aachen to Berlin and discovers a certain ascetic pleasure as the ICE train rumbles eastward through the night.
Practical Info
published on 29 June 2020
by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
Although some summer-season trains will not be running this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are still plenty of services which will operate. Here we give an overniew of some of the summer specials which this year are running to Catalonia, the Alps, the North Sea and Baltic coasts and to Italian resorts.
Journeys
published on 15 June 2020
by Paul Scraton
We were travelling to Świnoujście for no other reason than curiosity. Perhaps because of growing up on an island myself, land borders have always fascinated me. The excitement of early Interrail trips was as much the novelty of being able to take the train to another country as it was what I found when I got there.