Passenger rail travel in Europe continues to expand, with new routes opening up and competition heated up on key routes, including railway lines running beneath the British channels. Plans to streamline the booking process across Europe can also make rail travel easier and more efficient.
The European Commission encourages push. At a confirmation hearing in November, Apostoros Zizzicostas, the new European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, said connecting European cities by high-speed rail was “a top priority.” He also vowed to present draft regulations for the European Railway's single digital booking and ticketing system before the end of the first year that fell on December 1st.
The demand for train travel is growing strongly. According to the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Enterprises, a Brussels-based industry group, traffic rail traffic within Europe increased by 7% in 2023 compared to 2023. Passenger rail traffic in individual countries has increased by about 3%.
Victor Thévenet, railway policy manager for Transport and Environment, a Brussels-based environmental group, described the possibility of a single booking and ticketing system as “a big part of the 2025 agenda.”
“On a single ticket, you can purchase a journey that links various train operators. If something goes wrong during the journey, you can protect the rights of passengers,” Tivente said. I did. I work on all long-distance and regional trains across Europe. He added that public consultations on such plans have been taking place this year and that the proposed legislation should be sent to the European Parliament in 2026.
From Paris to Milan and more
Railway lovers have plenty of new routes to choose from.
In-person daytime service between Paris and Berlin took about 8 hours in December. Tickets for routes that also stop at Strasbourg, Karlslu and Frankfurt in Germany start at 60 euros, or around $62. The new route is being added to slower overnight service, which opened in late 2023, connecting the French and German capitals.
Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the industry group European Railway and Infrastructure Enterprise Community, described the new Paris-Berlin route as “a key connection between the two major European capitals.” However, he added that the route is partially fast. With the right infrastructure, travel time can drop to just 5 hours. “We have the opportunity to make it even better,” he said.
Paris will soon see other new services, especially as Italian railway operator Trenitalia has increased its presence in the French market.
French national railway companies Trenitalia and SNCF will resume competing services between Paris and Milan more than 18 months after landslides in the French Alps were forced to close the line. SNCF's Paris-Milan Service will begin on March 31st, with tickets starting at 29 euros. Trenitalia's services will open the next day. Both operators include stops in Lyon and Turin, among other cities along the route. Elsewhere in France and in competition with the SNCF, Trenitalia will begin operating services between Paris and Marseille on June 15th, stopping at Lyon, Avignon and Aixn Provens.
Spanish operator Renfe has also invaded in France. The company announced that it will soon begin operating high-speed services between Barcelona and Toulouse in southwestern France. The 3.5-hour trip includes stops in Perpignan and Carcassonne in France and Girona in Spain. It runs seasonally from the second quarter of this year and continues until mid-September.
High-speed connections are also found in works between Belgrade and Budapest. Lisbon and Porto. Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic.
A new sleeper service has also been launched this year. Private operator European Sleeper opens seasonal overnight railway connections between Brussels and Venice, offering two services per week in February and March. The company already operates sleeper trains between Brussels and Prague all year round. This is a service that started last year.
The revival of sleepers has spread to Portugal and Spain, with the government working to resume overnight services between the two countries. The service linking the Lisbon, Madrid and French town of Hendy, located on the Spanish border, was cancelled in March 2020 when the pandemic lockdown hit, but was able to start running again in the first half of this year .
Cross-Channel Competition
The competition heats up along the lines running under the English Channel, one of Europe's iconic railway routes. Travelers who want to travel by train between London and the Continent may one day travel with non-Eurostar railway operators in the early days prior to 2029.
Eurostar, which has dominated the cross-channel route since it opened in 1994, has seen strong demand. Across the network, including connections between London and Paris and London and Brussels, operators hosted 19.5 million passengers in 2024, an increase of over 5% from the previous year. The company has suspended nearly eight months this year to upgrade its infrastructure at Amsterdam's Central train station, and now it's one more thing this year as direct services between London and Amsterdam will begin this month. I was able to see two supporters.
However, companies that have scaled their networks during the pandemic still face challenges. A December report released by Thévenet's nonprofit EuroStar, last ranked 27 European railway operators, earning low points for bike prices, reliability and its strict policy . (Due to security restrictions beyond Eurostar control, fully assembled bicycles are not permitted at the Paris London Service. On other routes, Eurostars are “under limited numbers and certain conditions.” Bicycles are allowed.
Eurostar CEO Gwendolyn Cazeneve wrote in an email that she disagreed with the findings of the report, saying the rankings “we were not recognized for Eurostar's contribution to the major environment.” Ta. Paris. “
Competitors line up. The two fronts are Virgin Train, part of the Virgin Group founded by Richard Branson, and Evolin, a new operator led by the travel industry heavyweight, a Spanish space family.
Virgin Trains Managing Director Phil Whittingham said the company is expected to close trading on its 12 highway trains in the first half of this year. He added that Virgin is applying for access to Temple Mills, London's maintenance depot. Gaining access to the depot is an essential step in starting a cross-channel service.
“I believe there's room for it to get in,” Whittingham said. “I think competition is good for them and good for us.”
Lisa O'Brien, a spokesman for the UK Railway Roads Authority, confirmed that both Virgin and Evoline have applied for the Temple Mills Depot space. She added that government regulators have appointed external consultants to determine the Depot's ability to handle more trains.
“Our next step will depend on the results of that competency research,” she said.
Richard Bauker, former chairman of the UK's Strategic Railways Authority and now co-host of the Green Signal Railway Podcast, said that in the past, the challenger to the Eurostar “has failed,” but “I feel it's different this time.” I stated.
Bauker, who worked for Virgin Group, also described the company's “a well-earned track record of being a destroyer” and the depth of the Evolyn team's experience in the transport sector.
“It's exciting,” he said. “It suggests growth, and more travel opportunities, and better deals for consumers.”
Page McClanahan is the author of “New Tourists: Awaken to the Power and Risk of Travel.”
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