Railway European Overview
First of all, consider high-speed trains running between different European countries. The most famous representative is considered to be IntercityExpress (ICE), whose homeland is Germany. It is in this country that Ice is common most, while their possessions also extend to neighboring states: the Netherlands (to Amsterdam), Belgium (to Brussels), France (to Paris), Switzerland (to Zurich, Bern, Basel and Interlaken), Austria (to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna) and Denmark (to Copenhagen and Aarhus). On the Internet, you can buy tickets for ICE trains on the official website of German railways.
Following the popularity of French TRAIN GRANDE VITESSE (TGV). The route network of these trains is looking not only to France itself, but also neighbors: Belgium (to Brussels), Germany (to Stuttgart and Munich), Switzerland (in Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne), Italy (in Turin and Milan), as well as a dwarf state Luxembourg. TGV even reaches Spain, or rather to the first cross-border town of Irun, where it is in place with local railways. Buy tickets for TGV trains via the Internet on their official website.
In the struggle for the European railway palm of the championship also involved trains Thalys (Tha), which can be moved to Germany (to Cologne), the Netherlands (to Amsterdam), Belgium and France (by many directions). View route routes and buy tickets on the official website Thalys.
For communication between island and mainland, high-speed compositions are used EUROSTAR (EST). They associate the UK with France and Belgium, passing through the tunnel under the strait of La Mans. You can purchase tickets for this type of train in advance on the official website of EUROSTAR.
It is worth noting that the eponymous trains also run through the territory of Italy. However, they have nothing to do with the English Eurostar, and what is even otherwise indicable (ES instead of the traditional EST).
High-speed compounds RailJet (RJ) Popular in Austria, connecting it with the nearest neighbors: Switzerland (Zurich), Germany (Munich) and Hungary (Budapest). On the Internet you can buy tickets for RailJet on the official website of the Austrian Railways.
It is also impossible not to mention the train EUROCITY (EC) and INTERCITY (IC), which run between the largest cities of most European countries. Many of them do not have their own name and a separate management company. In a sense, Eurocity and Intercity is a collective image of all European speed and high-speed trains. Tickets for them are usually available on the official website of the national railways of a country or another.
Night international trains
Night trains in Europe – the phenomenon is more rare than in Russia, after all, there are several other distances there. In addition, recently, this type of transport has greatly fastened budget airlines, allowing passengers to save both time and money. However, night travel lovers on the railways of Europe still grabs.
The most common night trains are EURONIGHT (EN). They, as well as the above-mentioned Eurocity and Intercity, run between the largest cities of many European countries and personify themselves a whole group of night railway workers. Tickets for such trains are purchased on the official website of the national railways of the relevant country.
Another famous representative of the family of railway midnights – CityNightLine (CNL), The greatest distribution in Germany. However, the route network of this type of trains still goes beyond the boundaries of one country and covers almost the entire Central Europe. You can buy ticket tickets CITYNIGHTLINE through the Internet on the official page of the train, it also describes the possible accommodation options during the night travel.
France and Italy launched their own night trains line Artesia, Connecting numerous cities of these two states from Rome and Venice to Paris and Lyon. And although these trains have their own page on the Internet, in fact they belong to the type Euronight and even retain his letter designation (EN). You can buy tickets in advance on the official websites of Italian and French railways.
Spain, together with France, Italy and Switzerland, organized trains Elipsos, Connecting Paris, Milan and Zurich with Barcelona and Madrid. View various accommodation options on the ELIPSOS page. For the purchase of tickets via the Internet, contact the website of Spanish railways.
Elipsos belong to the family of Spanish night trains TRENHOTEL (TH), cruising between the largest cities of the Pyrenean Peninsula. Other international representatives of this type of train are Lusitania and Surexpresso, connecting Spain and Portugal. The first transports passengers from Madrid to Lisbon and back, and the second comes from the Portuguese capital to the border of Spain and France (the town of Irun), which interfaces with the previously mentioned TGV. Read on housing options in these night trains the best of the Spanish railway workers and advance purchase tickets on the official website of the Spanish and Portuguese railways.
Intercity trains
Now let’s talk a little about high-speed trains plying within the same country. First of all, it is already mentioned earlier InterCity (IC), living in various countries in Europe from Finland to Portugal and from Norway to Bulgaria. In the Internet tickets for trains of this type usually are purchased without any problems on the websites of national railways.
InterCity except in some countries have their own high-speed trains. The greatest variety in this case Italy and Spain caused a stir.
In Italy high-speed inter-city trains are called EuroStar Italia (ES), of them mentioned a little earlier in the story of the same name on the iron compositions UK roads. However, the Italian EuroStar – is quite different train. Their main representatives are the three arrows: Red, Silver and White (Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca respectively). The fastest and most popular – Red arrow passing through the major cities along the route Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples. Silver and White Arrows move a little slower and less popular routes are mainly interconnected capital or major settlements regions. The repertoire of Italian trains there are other EuroStar Italia, do not have any special names and cruising on a variety of areas.
spanish speed trains represented an even greater variety than Italian, so tell only some of them. Fastest and punctual are compositions Alta Velocidad Espaola (AVE), Guiding mainly between the most important cities of the country: Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia and Valladolid. Trains Alvia (ALV) Connect three major cities (Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante) with smaller, located across the country. But tie the Spanish capital with southern regions, Andalusia and Mursia, entrusted high-speed compositions Altaria (ATR). There are also trains Arco, Rowing between different regions.
We will tell about some other high-speed trains. In Portugal These are popular Alfa Pendular (AP), which intersect the whole country from north to south on the route Braga-Port Lisbon-Far. Their closest relatives are Finnish pendolino, Connecting capital Helsinki with a large city of Turku and several smaller settlements. In Sweden Ride other high-speed trains called X2000 (x2). They move between Stockholm and less large cities (Malmo, Gothenburg), and also drive to the Danish neighbors in Copenhagen.
The main features of high-speed and high-speed European trains
- Such trains usually associate exceptionally large cities and do not stop in small settlements;
- When using uniform travel Interrail for the fare on high-speed trains, it is often necessary to pay extra;
- Tickets for such trains are mainly sold with a specific place, so they do not need to compost in advance, although just in case it can be done, the passage will still not lose their strength;
- For the speed and comfort of high-speed trains, you have to be generously paying, although in most cases you can drive on a similar route and in low-cost, but slow, regional trains.
It is also important to note that In the absence of the opportunity to purchase tickets for high-speed trains via the Internet, You can contact the previously mentioned Agency of TGT, which for some time he offers its customers and such a service.
