OPINION
By Nicky
Gardner
How the
UK’s lamentable railways compare to the rest of Europe
Germany's
trains are less than punctual and Spain has just opened an expensive rail
tunnel, but investment continues on the continent
December 26,
2023 6:00 am(Updated 6:02 am)
https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/travel/how-uk-railways-compare-europe-2820392
France is
investing in new trains such as the TGV "InOui" that will come into
service in 2025
In late
November, passengers bound for Amsterdam were trapped for more than eight hours
on a Eurostar train in Kent. The following week, travellers on one of Deutsche
Bahn’s smart ICE trains were stranded in a tunnel in eastern Belgium. These
delays, and similar tales of woe from train travellers across Europe, suggest
that all is not well on the rails.
Across the
European Union, there is huge investment in rail. In Spain, King Felipe VI cut
ceremonial ribbons on a new high-speed line that tunnels under the rugged
Cantabrian Mountains in November, slashing an hour off journey times – now less
than three hours – between Madrid and Asturias on the Costa Verde. At almost
25km, the Pajares Base Tunnel on that new rail route is far longer than any
tunnel being constructed on Britain’s HS2 route from London to the Midlands.
In Britain,
things are different. New rail timetables this month have seen services axed.
Liverpool loses hourly trains to Hull as part of a package of cuts that
operator TransPennine Express coyly tell us will “deliver improved punctuality
and reliability”. So a key Northern Powerhouse axis across England is now
served by just one direct train each day and that short hop from Liverpool to
Hull takes longer than the Eurostar journey from London to Brussels or Paris.
Great
British Railways (GBR) has been trumpeted as a big step forward for British
rail travellers, but the enabling legislation is unlikely to clear Parliament
before the general election. And this month it was announced that GBR’s plans
for a centralised booking system have been shelved.
New
timetables have also been introduced across continental Europe this month,
ushering in many new travel opportunities. From this month, you can snooze your
way in sleeping car comfort on new overnight routes from Salzburg to both
Warsaw and Brussels, from Berlin to both Aachen and Paris, from Krákow to
Munich and from Dresden to Budapest.
Meanwhile,
Eurostar trimmed its list of continental destinations during the pandemic,
although there is the distant prospect of better rail connectivity between
London and the continent as Eurotunnel’s parent company Getlink has announced
plans to make it easier for new rail operators to run trains through the
Channel Tunnel. This ushers in the possibility of direct trains from London to
Germany and Switzerland in a few years.
Continental
rail travellers don’t need to wait that long for new international links. This
month’s new schedules introduced much improved daytime services across
Scandinavia, from Oslo to Gothenburg with good onward connections to
Copenhagen. “The train timetable from Copenhagen to Oslo has never looked so
healthy,” remarked Mark Smith, the brain behind the legendary Seat 61 website,
on his X (formerly Twitter) feed.
Extra trains
are now offered on the busy Hamburg to Copenhagen route. Poland is better
connected with a doubling of daytime services from Kraków to Berlin and a new
direct daytime train from Wrocław to Vienna.
Deutsche
Bahn this month launches regular non-stop services between the German capital
and Bavaria, with the fastest trains taking just 2hrs 37mins for the 276-miles
dash from Berlin Südkreuz to Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof.
Rail
operators across Europe are chasing the business market with more high-speed
connections, while also tempting new leisure travellers onto their trains.
Germany, Austria, Portugal and Slovenia have all introduced network-wide
bargain tickets designed to lure leisure travellers out of their cars and onto
the rails. Tourist boards across Europe are keen to promote a wider rail offer
for visitors, and new tour operators like London-based Byway Travel are
showcasing rail-based holidays.
This month
sees Poland’s premier ski resort at Zakopane reconnected into Europe’s rail
network. After more than a year with no trains at all, Zakopane station
reopened on 22 December with the fastest train to Warsaw taking under five
hours.
Climate-conscious
leisure travellers in the EU now tolerate much longer journeys by train as an
alternative to flying. Swedish rail company Snälltåget has been running trips
from Stockholm to Dresden’s famous Advent market – it is a journey by train of
19 hours from the Swedish capital to Dresden. I just wonder how many British
travellers could match that Swedish tolerance of very long train journeys.
So is
continental Europe getting it right when it comes to passenger rail? And is
Britain really lagging behind?
It grieves
me to say so, but unfortunately the answer is probably yes on both counts. Over
the last three months, I have travelled on trains in nine EU countries with my
fair share of cancellations and delays. Indeed, in Germany Deutsche Bahn’s
punctuality dropped to a record low last month.
But I have
never been left stranded and even on much-delayed trains in Czechia, Austria
and Germany, I have enjoyed excellent meals in restaurant cars with friendly
and welcoming staff. On one occasion in Germany where a train developed a
fault, passengers were transferred to a clean and warm replacement service at
the next major station.
That German
resilience was not matched in Scotland in late November, when I travelled south
from Aviemore on LNER’s normally excellent Highland Chieftain service. With
coffee and bacon rolls served at Kingussie and fine scenery slipping by beyond
the carriage window, all was going well until the rain set in as we dropped
down into Glen Garry. What should have been a brief stop at Pitlochry extended
to a dozen minutes and then came a breezy announcement over the intercom that
our London-bound Azuma train, so full of interior creature comforts, didn’t
have any functioning windscreen wipers.
“We’ll
proceed slowly to Perth with the train manager sitting with the driver in the
cab. Always good to have an extra pair of eyes in the rain,” ran the on-train
announcement. In Perth, passengers from the nine-carriage Azuma were left to
tussle for space on a cramped local ScotRail train which offered the next
opportunity to continue south to Edinburgh. In truth, everyone was very
courteous and there was a sense of camaraderie among the passengers. “Well, we
all have to stand together in a crisis,” said the guy beside me. And, yes, it
is a crisis because if it’s not windscreen wipers at Pitlochry then it’s cows
on the line at Carstairs or a signal problem at Surbiton.
Britain’s
long suffering rail travellers have had enough. So too have the many thousands
of rail travellers across other parts of Europe whose journeys were disrupted
by snowstorms this month. But there is a qualitative difference between a
blizzard and defective windscreen wipers.
There is a
lack of maintenance and investment in rail infrastructure in Britain, which
means that small issues escalate. Above all, when things do go wrong – as
happens everywhere from time to time – there is not the resilience on Britain’s
beleaguered network to get things back on track.
Rail
investment in Britain has slipped, while across the continent major projects
are gathering pace. In France, Prime Minister Elisaberth Borne’s new deal for
rail includes major investments in infrastructure and new trains to smooth the
ride for overnight passengers and commuters.
Spain and
Italy have both committed to major investments in rail as part of their climate
action plans.
This does
not mean that everything is uniformly rosy in continental rail travel. Late
German trains are the butt of many jokes. But on the whole, I do have greater
confidence in the capacity of continental operators to find some spare
windscreen wipers. And to eventually get me to my destination, albeit sometimes
rather late.
Nicky
Gardner is co-author of Europe by Rail: the Definitive Guide, now in its 17th
edition.
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