European rail guide predicts revival of train travel on continent

Sweden is to reinstate train services to Haparanda, home of world’s most northerly Ikea, from 1 April

The Sweden/Finland border, as seen from Haparanda (Getty Images)

Even though coronavirus infection levels are rising in many European nations, the authors of a newly updated guide to rail travel say that train services are rapidly reviving – and adapting to the age of coronavirus.

In the latest reprint of Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide, Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries report that overnight sleeper services, with the privacy and security of a separate compartment, now have a new competitive edge.

“Attitudes towards personal space changed dramatically during 2020,” said Ms Gardner. 

New night trains from Paris to Nice and from Amsterdam to Vienna launch next month.

In contrast many links, including Eurostar from London to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, are running at a fraction of the normal timetables, while others are suspended altogether – such as cross-border trains between Poland and Ukraine.

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Ms Kries said: “Some routes are just very difficult to follow at the moment. And we highlight the risks and obstacles in the book. But that doesn’t stop people planning for better times – which, with the current pace of vaccination, are surely on the way.

“We are keen to get travelling again, as we want to start thinking about new routes we might include in a new edition of the book for 2022.

“We need to show our readers the way to some new sunlit uplands – and there are plenty there for the choosing.” 

Rail fans in the far north of Scandinavia can look forward to a new destination: Sweden is to reinstate train services to Haparanda, the home of world’s most northerly Ikea, from 1 April.

The town is 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle and at the apex of the Gulf of Bothnia. Haparanda is also the easternmost settlement in Sweden – facing Tornio across the border in Finland. It also has a niche in travel history: 150 years ago, Thomas Cook himself offered an opinion on Haparanda.

“Those who were really well-travelled would surely have set foot in Timbuktu, Samarkand and Haparanda,” said the man who revolutionised mass travel.

The authors predict that, as Europe finally emerges from the coronavirus crisis, travellers’ attitudes will increasingly favour “slow travel”.

Ms Gardner said: “Slow travel is about making conscious choices. It is about deceleration rather than speed. The journey becomes a moment to relax, rather than a stressful interlude imposed between home and destination.”

The latest version of Europe by Rail has been released to coincide with the European Year of Rail, which will be launched in Lisbon on 29 March.

The authors say that supplies of the book have been badly affected by Brexit. 

“Unfortunately the book stock was held by UK customs in Portsmouth,” said Ms Gardner.

It took over two weeks to get the books released, despite the fact that there is zero import duty and no VAT on books being shipped from the EU to Britain.

“The hard edges of Brexit will haunt us for many years to come,” said Ms Kries.

Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide is published by Hidden Europe Publications