If I can make a plug for my own recent story on the subject:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20070330/dd_trains30.art.htmEuropean rail lines taking a giant leap
High-speed trains challenge air travel
By César G. Soriano Special for
USA TODAY
LONDON — Europe's map is about to get a lot smaller.
The opening of several high-speed train lines this year will dramatically shrink travel times across the continent that, in some cases, will be faster than flying.
For Americans flocking to Europe this summer, the change will be most noticeable in France with the opening of the TGV-East line on June 10 that will finally connect the French and German high-speed rail networks.
Travel times from Paris to the popular northeast provinces of Champagne, Lorraine and Alsace will be slashed in half, allowing visitors to tour the region's famous Champagne houses by day and be back in Paris for dinner.
Or how about lunch in Strasbourg to sample its famous foie gras? The journey time from Paris to Strasbourg, on the German border, will be cut from four hours to two hours, 20 minutes.
Also opening this year:
•The 21-mile-long Lötschberg tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps will trim journey times by up to 50% between Germany and northern Italy when it opens June 16. The Lötschberg base tunnel also will earn the title of longest land tunnel in the world.
•London and Paris will be within day-tripping distance of each other — just more than two hours — when the High Speed 1 line from London to the Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel," opens Nov. 14.
•Spain's largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, will soon be just 2½ hours apart by train, down from four hours. New trains will make the 375-mile journey at up to 220 mph, one of the fastest in Europe. The opening date is expected to be announced by year's end.
•The Netherlands' long-delayed high-speed line will begin partial service in December, shaving travel times among Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp. Amsterdam will be just 90 minutes from Brussels and three hours from Paris when the line is completed in mid-2008.
Europe is investing heavily in expanding its high-speed network. By 2020 it will stretch from Portugal to Poland.
"We're at the foothold of a revolution in short-haul travel in Europe," says Simon Montague, spokesman for the Eurostar high-speed train service, which operates between London, Paris and Brussels.
Traveling by train has always been a rite of passage for U.S. visitors. Over the past decade, trains have taken a back seat to airplanes, spurred by a boom in low-cost airlines.
But in recent months, a greater awareness of the environmental effect of traveling and the growth of "green travel" is swinging the pendulum back in favor of trains, says Mark Smith, rail industry consultant and editor of Seat61.com, a guide to traveling around the world solely by train or boat.
"We certainly are seeing something of a backlash against short-haul flights in Europe," Smith says. "People here are very concerned about lowering their carbon footprints."
A recent British government study concluded that although the aviation industry produces less than 2% of carbon dioxide worldwide, it is the fastest growing sector of greenhouse gas emissions.
Britain responded in February by doubling a tax on airline passengers, adding about $20 a ticket on short-haul flights and $80 on long-haul flights originating in the United Kingdom. The travel industry has sued the government over the tax increase. But for the time being, the price increase is pushing people toward train travel.
"In Europe, there is a fast-growing alternative to short-haul air travel that produces less carbon emissions and causes less environmental damage," Montague says.
The rail industry is also pushing the convenience factor. For example, security checks at European airports have become longer, stricter and widely inconsistent since British authorities uncovered a suspected terror plot last August to blow up passenger jets.
There are fewer such concerns for trains, which also are not beholden to delays caused by bad weather, slow baggage handling, crowded runways and air traffic.
High-speed trains whisk you city center to city center, avoiding pricey transfers. In November, Euro-star will move its London headquarters from Waterloo to St. Pancras, a more convenient station with greater connections to the rest of England and Scotland.
"If you travel low-cost airlines, you have to budget the time and expense to schlep to a weird, out-of-the-way airport at least two hours ahead of your flight," says Chris Lazarus of Rail Europe.
As for those low-cost airfares, the tickets aren't as cheap as they appear on paper. That 2-cent advertised airfare from London to Rome quickly climbs to more than $100 after taxes, and that's not counting fees for such extras as checked baggage and reserved seats.
Europe's rail operators are taking a page from the airline industry with the creation of Rail Team, a seven-country alliance that will soon offer through-ticketing, fast connections and simple timetables. Some airlines such as Continental and KLM offer code-sharing with high-speed trains and the ability to earn frequent-flier miles.
Some train aficionados wistfully complain that the romance of European train travel is in danger of extinction as rail companies continue operating more like airlines. They point to the extinction of the Orient Express — after more than 100 years in service. The current Orient Express, the overnight train from Paris to Vienna, will cease running in June when the TGV-East high-speed line opens.
"High-speed trains have a panache of their own that makes airlines look dowdy," Smith says, noting that the new TGV high-speed trains will have interiors designed by Christian Lacroix.
"Americans coming over here taking a dozen flights will have the same experience a dozen times," Smith says. "If you take the train, every journey is different. Taking the train is a unique European experience."
"There's more to travel than the destination," Smith says. "It used to be called a journey."
