Talk:Rail travel in Europe

see also: Talk:Rail travel in Europe/Archive

Linking format

Links in this article are neither internally consistent in format nor consistent with current external links guidelines. It will be a big job to clean them up. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:19, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

I still see naked links. That's not the format that's standard on this site. Ikan Kekek (talk) 11:14, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Passenger rights

The issue arose elsewhere, but it is of course relevant here. The European Union has passed a law guaranteeing a certain set of rights for all train passengers in all EU member states. All passenger rail companies have to comply with said regulation and its effects can be read (in all official EU languages) here. We might wish to include (some of) these rights into the text of this article. Best wishes Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:51, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Northernmost

The northernmost passenger service in Scandinavia is Kiruna-Narvik line (just outside map), while on the Russian side there is a passenger service from St Petersburg to Murmansk on the Barents ocean - at more than 68 degrees North this is possibly the northernmost rail service in the world? --Erik den yngre (talk) 10:05, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I believe the line to Murmansk is the northernmost passenger railway in the world. There is one further north in Siberia to Norilsk, but it apparently is for freight only. ϒpsilon (talk) 11:08, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Rail timetables change in Europe in a week

Swept in from the pub

Are there any major changes to travel time we might have to mention (besides routes like Erfurt-Dresden or Frankfurt-Dresden now taking one hour less) in some of our guides? Or on our coverage on rail travel? Hobbitschuster (talk) 22:39, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

What is the question? If travel times significantly change then by all means update them. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 05:59, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Well I know of one major change (namely the Erfurt - Leipzig line being opened in Germany) but there may well be other changes like new services or the withdrawal of services we currently mention, e.g. night trains... I think I will try and update the articles mentioning the upgrades to the line (the second phase, cutting Berlin - Munich travel time from six to four hours is planned for December 2017) and I was asking whether you were aware of any other major changes to rail travel in Europe Hobbitschuster (talk) 09:33, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

I remember the 6 hour ICE journey from Munich to Berlin! Good that it will be down to 4. I guess you could start with Rail_travel_in_Europe although it is a bit of a mess right now... Andrewssi2 (talk) 10:02, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

The uninspired long list at the end of the article

Does the list of railway companies really help the voyager? Because the way I see it, it's just a pointless - probably outdated - list that is impossible to verify and get useful information from. Hobbitschuster (talk) 11:24, 19 June 2016 (UTC)

The main place for railway company details is the get around section of country articles. However I have just looked a couple of smaller countries and did not find any links. I think that a compromise might be to keep the links where there is only a single operator, and change the long lists to links to the country articles. The single operators are unlikely to change in a hurry, as they are often state owned. AlasdairW (talk) 23:14, 19 June 2016 (UTC)

I still think the list looks godawful and doesn't belong here. Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:50, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

Missing information

I noticed we had quite many images of alpine or snowy landscapes in the article. Exotic and nice, but not necessarily representative. I put in one little more urban one, and a few interiors (what I happened to find, there are certainly better ones). But where is the place for the one of a dining coach? Or bikes? Or the playing department (not yet uploaded, it seems)? I cannot find the word "child(ren)" in the article! I think these are aspects of rail travel that are quite well handled in Europe, at least in some of the countries. Does anybody know the general situation? Anyway sections about these aspects should be added. --LPfi (talk) 08:33, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

some information is also very likely outdated Hobbitschuster (talk) 09:11, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Safety

Do you really need to be in well-lit areas in the night? In the same car as the conductor? Locals travel in all apartments, and I haven't heard of any problems. People "routinely take laptops on high speed trains" – don't they take the laptops with them whenever on business travel? And reporting suspicious characters to the conductor? You could of course, but is it common to do so? Wouldn't it be better to just state that the conductor takes care of any problems you might have, at least giving advice. –LPfi (talk) 13:48, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Trains don't normally have carriages that are more or less well-lit than each other. I think keeping an eye on your luggage when travelling is common sense, and doesn't need to be stated. Reporting to the conductor may be as well, but perhaps less so.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 14:13, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Less so, and not necessarily good advice. If you witness a theft, isn't it common sense to report it? And if somebody is just suspicious, reporting them might lead to trouble – and I think the locals can take care of that if needed. I think that knowing the conductor is the one to contact if needed is enough. And keeping to people and well-lit areas when you feel unsafe should be stated in Travel basics or Stay safe. –LPfi (talk) 14:36, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

I'm not sure "all cars are well lit" is true for trains in mid-income countries at all times... At any rate the information that one should pull the emergency brake if one deems it necessary before looking for a conductor is germane, given the importance following such advice could have had in the Eschede train disaster... Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:14, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Just to clarify, I don't claim that all carriages are well lit, but rather that all carriages on a single train are going to be lit the same, except in case of malfunction. Ergo, it's not usually possible to move to a "better lit" carriage.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 18:42, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Suggested task

Swept in from the pub

If somebody would like to edit, here's a suggestion:

The brand Thalys does not exist anymore. It has merged with Eurostar. So everything that was Thalys before belongs now to Eurostar.

So search "Thalys" via the Wikivoyage search box and replace/merge everything regarding that brand name to/with Eurostar. 80.187.75.63 18:57, 9 March 2024 (UTC)

OP, please plunge forward as you see fit! --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 08:20, 10 March 2024 (UTC)

It looks like 57 articles still mention this name. I updated one but left the old name in ("Eurostar (formerly Thalys)") in case it might be useful to readers who were looking for the old name. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:01, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

Expensive seat reservations?

Per this edit: Which countries charge lots of money to reserve seats on long-distance trains? We took trains in and between Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the last 2 months while on Eurail passes, and I don't remember ever having to pay more than 8 euros per seat (maybe 9?), which is not very expensive. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:57, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

I have the impression that French TGVs charge enough that it affects the usability of the Interrail ticket. European rail passes#Reservations says "… supplements, particularly in Spain, Italy and France, which makes rail passes for these countries rarely worthwhile (see Infobox)". The infobox cites €20 as typical for TGV if I read it correctly. –LPfi (talk) 21:22, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

€20 doesn't sound hugely expensive at least compared to UK train prices. --SHB2000 (t | c | m) 08:50, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

I don't remember what reservations cost in Italy from Rome to Florence, but the entire trip, including reserved seats cost for 2 people, was €45.80 (ergo €22.90/person), and we did not use a Eurail day for that because it seemed too cheap to be worthwhile (in the end, we had one day remaining that we didn't use, but we didn't know our trip would end up like that). Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:35, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

You paid for the flexibility, which probably was alright.

€20 isn't much for Paris–Lyon, but if you mainly take short rides and already paid for the Interrail ticket, then it is quite frustrating, at least if you are on a tight budget. Paying €40 extra per travel day more or less doubles your travel costs (depending on country etc.). In most cases the Interrail is a bargain, but not always.

–LPfi (talk) 09:53, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

If the problem is specific to France, that should be stated, but what are the fares for the routes you're talking about? If you're saving, say €200 for the tickets but paying €40 for seat reservations, is that useless? Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:10, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

I said it is a problem for those taking the train for short legs. Anyway, I don't know how common high supplemental costs are. I know them only from France, and the rail pass article seems to note only a few other countries, with moderate seat fees. I think we should tell the reader to check such fees on their own, knowing that there are scenarios where the passes aren't worthwhile. Just a note; details are best left for the pass article (as always: put things that are likely to change in one place only, in the most specific article). –LPfi (talk) 15:45, 19 June 2024 (UTC)