Hot answers tagged trains
19
The cheapest, but especially most efficient way of transport to get around Paris is the Velib. You pay a fee of 1,70 EUR for a dayticket or 8 Eur for a week ticket. During the validity of this ticket you are entitled to use any bicycle from the velib network.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The catch to really travel cheap is to change bikes every 30 minutes. ...
17
The wait list system for Indian train tickets is simply a case of supply and demand - there's so many people wanting to travel and only so many seats to go around. So there are three 'booking statuses' which may be specified when you book a train ticket:
Reserved / confirmed: The booking is confirmed and a seat has been set aside for you. Note that the ...
17
The metro is only €1,70 per ride, and if you buy a carnet of 10 the price is €13.30 for all 10.
Probably your best bet. I hate cycling because of the issues with locking it up, worrying about theft, and if you're in the upper arrondissements going uphill on cobblestone sounds like a miserable experience I would rather spare myself from.
The city is ...
15
No!
Profitieren Sie als BahnCard-Inhaber von 25% Ermäßigung auf den
Normalpreis der Auslandsstrecke bei grenzüberschreitenden Reisen in
über 30 europäischen Länder.
Die Ermäßigung wird auch im Anschluss an Globalpreise (z.B. Thalys),
gewährt - nicht aber im reinen Binnenverkehr des fremden Landes.
The last sentence says 'not valid for travel ...
15
All national railway sites whose underlying database is HAFAS(de) can give you timetable information on all european trains. This includes Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. This excludes France.
Unfortunately, pricing and booking is not available on these sites beyond domestic routes and some international ones.
The best site that gather information about ...
15
It's called SAPSAN, there are 7 trains in both directions Saint-Petersburg > Moscow and Moscow > Saint-Petersburg.
Here is link to schedules (Google Translate)
Prices are here (translation). There are business and economy class tickets available.
The average journey is no longer than 4 hours in one direction.
All trains serve every day except train 154 ...
14
It's certainly possible to do a day-trip from Paris to London. Eurostar takes a little over 2 hours each way from Paris (Gare du Nord) to London (St Pancras) and back. In both directions you clear immigration (both exit and entry!) before boarding the train, which adds a little to the total time.
However, if you've never been to Paris before, I'm really ...
14
Generally speaking, train travel on high speed trains is luxury travel. For budget travel in Europe, take the plane. Or the bus if you have time. Neither planes nor busses are as comfortable and convenient as modern high speed trains.
The economic explanation is related to the following points:
The price is determined by supply and demand.
Turnover is ...
14
Short answer: no, you cannot take your bicycle into all German trains (but you can probably reach any destination in Germany).
Many trains in Germany carry bicycles. This is particularly true for local trains, but also most intercity (IC) trains. However, the most common train for long-distance travel is the high-speed InterCity Express or ICE. Usually, ...
13
You may be able to make a Eurail Pass work for you.
Oh so dear but oh so wonderful global pass
Regional passes here
eg Germany Poland here
Eureka! - There are "Select Passes" allowing 3 or 4 or 5 countries of your pecification. These were not shown in the general menu.
Eurail 2013 routes map PDF download. Large and impressive.
Regional Passes:
...
13
Directly after the train station in Zurich there will be nothing to see. You will drive through a tunnel for a quarter of hour and when you will see the daylight again, you are already at the lake Zurich. The train line follows more or less directly the shoreline, and if the weather is nice it can be interesting to observe the people there sunbathing and the ...
11
Officially, you are not supposed to / expected to give tips to anyone on the Indian Railways network. On most express or mail trains, these attendants used to be IRCTC employees, a public sector company but many of them are now being directly handled by the Indian Railways while on other routes, these are handled by private companies.
Regardless of who ...
11
Book early.
Most tickets can be bought up to 90 days in advance. Some tickets can be bought only on shorter notice, and some tickets on even longer notice. The cheapest rates get sold first, so you want to be the first to buy the ticket after it becomes available.
Cheap domestic tickets (on any train) are called Sparpreis and exist in domestic and ...
11
Yes, you can do this. Here are the details on the official site: Change in the Name of Passenger
Change of name of a passenger having a seat or berth reserved in his
name in the following circumstances namely:
(b) Where the passenger makes a request in writing 24 hours before the
scheduled departure of the train that the reservation made in his ...
11
There are some offers that start appearing on the web:
A website called Loco2.com offers that (it's based in UK so be careful with currency of payment - see the co-founder answer to this question).
http://mytripset.voyages-sncf.com offers flights and trains (apparently it's possible to book some outside France [it's a French travel agency] but I cannot ...
11
This forum post just popped up in my alerts because it mentions Loco2. I'm co-founder of loco2.com so don't want to get lambasted for self-promotion, but actually @Vince isn't quite right. Loco2 has print at home tickets for lots of trains (Eurostar, TGV, ICE trains etc) which means it doesn't matter where you are.
We're integrated with the French and ...
10
It's common practice on the iron ore train in Mauritania.
The train carries iron ore in huge hoppers. There are no roofs -- passengers either ride with the ore or pay a small amount for a ticket in the passenger car. The scenery is barren desert, the ride is brutally uncomfortable, and temperatures are extremely hot. I rode last summer solo from Choum to ...
10
Amtrak
Amtrak offers a series of USA Rail Passes:
8 segments within 15 days $429
12 segments within 30 days $649
18 segments within 45 days $829
To discourage commuters from buying a pass (as opposed to a multi-ride ticket), travel is restricted to four one-way trips between any two cities and the cities in between them on the same route.
As with rail ...
10
It depends. If your ticket comes with a seat reservation ("PRENOTAZIONE POSTO") then you do not need to cancel your ticket: just board the train.
Shorter range tickets with no seat reservation, on the other hand, must be canceled. Your ticket probably reads "DA CONVALIDARE" somewhere at the top. Trenitalia personnel typically doesn't cut tourists much slack ...
10
It does depend what ticket you have, and who you're with.
If you are delayed on another RailTeam service, the ‘Hop on the next available train’ (HOTNAT) feature means that you may not even need to rebook (depends on the station), but if you do it'll be easy. (Keep the ticket from the delayed service though!)
If you bought a domestic ticket that included ...
10
Take the Metro.
Better than a carnet if you plan to ride often, I suggest you consider unlimited-ride passes. These give a sense of freedom, "need a ride? let's go!". You an use the underground network as well as buses and light rail.
Available short-term passes that are:
Paris Visite : The tourist thing. Rather expensive, with a booklet of vouchers for ...
10
The fastest route is the Thalys train that takes 1:22 hours and is a non stop train. If you compare that to the car, you need more than 3 hours according to Google. Consequently, buses can't be any faster than cars. Another option would be flying, but a flight takes around 1 hours, without including the time for getting to the airport, security check, ...
10
Thalys is definitely the fastest way of getting from Brussels to Paris. You can buy tickets directly at the Thalys website. You can also buy them at the Belgian (SNCB) or French (SNCF) railway companies. The prices are in principle identical.
The trip by bus takes around 5 hours, to be compared to the 1h20 of the train trip. Apart from Eurolines you can use ...
10
In Belgium and in the Netherlands you can take your bicycle on the train. Some restrictions may apply.
In Belgium, the conductor will show you the place where you can store the bicycle. It costs 5 EUR per journey, or 8 EUR per day. Folding bicycles are carried for free. You are advised to avoid trains during the peak hours, although it is not strictly ...
10
I did some checks on prices for you. Prices are from Bahn.de. Please verify this yourself as well.
Krakow - Prague: $37 (this one's from Rome2rio.com - Bahn wouldn't give it up)
Prague - Munich: $120 $87
Munich - Hamburg: $200 $102
Hamburg - Warsaw: $200 $102 (possibly cheaper possible, since these are ICE train)
Total: CAD$328
A 5 day Eurail Select ...
9
I'm surprised no answer so far has mentioned Raildude. This is a very useful, community-driven website for international trains in Europe. It is particularly focussed on budget travel, and indeed originates from a Interrail-related website.
Hafas considered harmful
I'd like to issue a word of warning about Hafas-based search engines. Bahn.de, B-Rail, ÖBB, ...
9
With a quick look I didn't find a good definition in the IRCTC website FAQ, but a web search found this explanation:
I-Ticket - Delivered to the customer at his desired address through courier.
E-ticket - The user can take a printout of the Electronic Registration Slip (ERS)
9
Note that the prohibition linked to only mentions checked or unchecked luggage, and not items you might carry on your person.
I do not know this for a fact, but am guessing the rule is not influenced by the airline's prohibition on knives and other sharp objects after 9/11, but instead because trains are subject to quick, sudden jerks and jolts, both ...
9
Provided you are carrying only one large bag, and provided you are carrying it yourself and can place it on the overhead rack without assistance, a slightly oversized rucksack as you describe is unlikely to bring you grief, especially if the train is not completely full. Many people on the Northeast Corridor trains are day trippers, with little more than a ...
9
Since the trip on the Eurostar to London from Paris is 2:22 and back is slightly longer at 2:27 it is certainly feasible to make a day trip to Paris from London. The earliest train on August 1, for example is at 07:13, arriving at 08:40; and the last return trip from London to Paris leaves at 20:55, getting to Paris at 00:17.
Tickets on the Eurostar aren't ...
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