Europe Rail Travel Expansions challenge Airlines

Is the European railroad system on a comeback? It’s definitely a question you must ask yourself, especially after reading a New York Times article on new European railroad expansions taking place. The article cites the several substantial decreases in travel time that will result from rail upgrades all around Europe.

Paris

First, the travel time between Paris, France and Strasbourg will be cut in half in June, to nearly two and a half hours by a new service from TGV Est. Paris will also see faster connections with Germany, Switzerland, eastern France, and Luxemborg from TGV Est’s improvements.

Great Britain

EuroStar is opening up in St. Pancras International station in London to offer the country’s first high speed rail line. This will open up northern England and Scotland to the rest of Europe. Travel to Paris from London will also be improved to about 2 hours 15 minutes.

All Over the Place…

Really, everywhere else is also getting in on the action. Brussels, Amsterdam, Italy, Spain, and Germany are all opening new high speed railroads in the next couple years.

European Travel in the Future

This is the first news piece that I have seen in awhile to suggest that European rail travel is on a comeback. In the last couple years, many budget travelers and backpackers migrated toward the European budget airlines because of their amazingly low air fares.

Well, with potential fare hikes and the future of jet fuel prices in the next decade, I see another shift back to the European rail ways. It’ll be nice to see the romantic rail traveling backpacker have better travel opportunities in the future.