R AI L
As we went to press Eurostar’s destinations were affected by either lockdowns, quarantine or the need for PCR tests
continue to run their revised schedules, passenger numbers remain low owing to pandemic restrictions. Still, some positive developments are appearing in mainland Europe. First, let’s look at the Eurostar
A 52
ABOVE: Eurostar has been hit hard by the pandemic RIGHT: OEBB’s Nightjet is adding new services
situation. In winter, when the high-speed operator was reduced to operating a sparse schedule, the situation was dire and the chief executives of both Eurostar and HS1 – the high-speed link between London and Folkestone – stated that their operations might fail. Late last year, Eurostar’s schedules were
reduced to a single daily service to both Amsterdam and Paris, with no dedicated route to Brussels, which instead became a mere stop on the London-Amsterdam route. Never have I known Eurostar to provide such a limited operation. At the
s I write these words, much uncertainty remains about European rail travel. Although operators
OUT OF THE DARKNESS So what’s the positive rail news? Te biggest developments are the rebirth of night trains plus rail-air expansion. In recent years, two main operators, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB) and France’s SNCF, have either axed or severely reduced their night sleepers. Fortunately, Austria’s OEBB took over a few of DB’s former night trains and placed them under its Nightjet banner. Now there are plans for major
expansion, with OEBB planning more Nightjet services out of Switzerland, including a new link from Zurich to Amsterdam via Frankfurt and Cologne. At the same time, a new generation
of state-of-the-art Nightjet stock was unveiled in Vienna in February. Service entry is planned for December 2022 and initial routes will be from Vienna and Munich to Italy, covering destinations such as Milan, Venice and Rome. Te advantage of these new trains is
the provision of many more single-berth compartments that will be priced more economically than today’s counterparts. As we all know, single compartments are ideal in the Covid era. Te EU’s green agenda means it
favours rail travel and 2021 has been designated the European Year of Rail, so it comes as no surprise to learn that night services are being expanded along with rail-air links. OEBB will operate the planned night
time of writing in mid-April, the core schedule remains exactly the same. Te problem for Eurostar is that, as we
went to press, all of its destinations were affected by either lockdowns, quarantine restrictions or the need for PCR tests. In addition, pre-Covid-19 it was taking more and more travellers beyond Brussels and Paris to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. Such travel is more difficult, if not impossible, at the time of writing.
MAY/JUNE 20 2 1 bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
routes, which are to be relaunched over the coming few years. Te first two, Zurich-Cologne-Amsterdam and Vienna-Munich-Paris, will start in December this year, to be followed in December 2022 by Zurich-Rome and in December 2023 by Berlin-Paris and Berlin-Brussels. December 2024 will then see the launch of Zurich- Barcelona. Funding for these services is being provided by the state-owned rail
→
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
