European Trains

Europe by trains is an experience by itself. No, I am not paid by Eurail for this post, but really I am all praise for trains and the associated services here. All places around Germany, are mostly not more than a few hours journey away. From Heidelberg, Paris was 4 hours, Amsterdam - 5, Brussels-4, and Zurich-3. That explains why we could see so many places.

Each of these European countries have some superfast train. France has TGV (top speed: 550kmph), Germany- ICE(400 kmph), Austria - Railjet (350 kmph), Belgium – Thalys (300kmph) and Italy has Eurostar Italia (300kmph). Switzerland didn’t go for speed, but has a barrage of scenic trains, spread all over the land-locked country.

For local transporation, there are a variety of trains available too. Suburban Bahns and double-deckered Regional Bahns in Germany are for this purpose.

ICE-3

Inside a coach in Netherlands

TGVs in Paris East station

Aachen Main station

Golden Pass train in Switzerland

I made more than 75 train rides during the past two months, covering about 4000-5000 kms. Of course, without the Eurail pass, things would have been way too expensive.

The stations are impressive too. I never faced any problem finding my way. There were automatic ticket and information machines everywhere. Although, we bought a wrong ticket at Salzburg, it was more of our mistake than theirs.

Their sense of accountability to the public is really commendable. Some line repairs were going on for a stretch near Berlin. So the rail made arrangements for special bus services for the intermediate stations.

Köln Hauptbahnhof

Inside a train engine

A station in Austria

Eurostar Italia