Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Europe Rail News newsletter! My name is James Clark, and I have been an online travel publisher since 2001. In that time I have been based in London, Dublin, Lucerne, and Budapest, and I've travelled to many places in between. And when in Europe I prefer to travel by rail. In my last epic European rail quest, I visited 57 cities in 31 days with a 1 month Eurail Global Pass.

I've subscribed to the main railway news sites as part of my publishing business research. Most of the news is industry announcements that are not of interest to regular passengers (you probably don't care which company Deutsche Bahn is buying hydraulic dampers from).

What I want to read is news for passengers, so I am creating this newsletter. This newsletter will cover new routes, service updates, train travel tips, ticket deals, and features on European destinations by railway. That's a lot of information for one blog or news site, which is why I prefer presenting information in a newsletter format. I can curate news from multiple sources, providing a variety of articles on the subject.

As a new newsletter, I'm still tinkering with the format and timing, as well as fine-tuning news sources. As an early subscriber you will get to see this project evolve over time, so thanks for subscribing!

Many of you have found this newsletter via my travel newsletter at Nomadic Notes. In the same spirit of that newsletter, Europe Rail News will serve as travel inspiration while waiting for the world to open up again.

European Year of Rail 2021

It seems appropriate that I start a European rail news site in the European Year of Rail 2021. One could argue that every year is rail year in Europe, but this initiative by the European Commission will officially "highlight the benefits of rail as a sustainable, smart and safe means of transport".

One of the events of this year is the Connecting Europe Express. This is a scheduled railway service that will stop in more than 40 cities in 26 countries.

The train departs from Lisbon on 2 September, and after a circuitous journey around the capital cities of Europe, it will arrive in Paris on 7 October. They have also made a Google Map where you can see the route.

Ever had the dream of owning a railway company?

Here is a news item you don't see every day. How would you like to buy a railway company? Or at least shares in one.

European Sleeper is building a new sleeper train network from the Netherlands and Belgium. They are partnering with Czech railway operator RegioJet for their first route. 

It's worth reminding you at this point that this is a news curation site and not financial advice site, so buy shares in a railway at your own discretion.

News

Eurostar has been saved

"Eurostar has received a £250 million refinancing package guaranteed by its shareholders: France’s SNCF, Patina Rail LLP (a number of Canadian investors), fund manager Hermes and Belgium’s SNCB."

Rail Baltica concept trains inspired by sun, sea and sand

"Rail Baltica project promoter RB Rail has produced conceptual images to help inform the public about the type of trains which could link Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with Poland and western Europe using the future standard gauge line."

Belmond Grand Hibernian, Ireland: Train to be packed up and moved to Europe

Europe asks travelers to ditch planes for night trains

"Countries including France, Germany and Austria are spending billions of euros to remake the continent’s aging railway system. Their leaders are hoping to spur a renaissance in international train journeys, especially as the coronavirus pandemic ebbs and travel picks up again. After all, hopping on a train is often more convenient than flying (for one thing, there’s no airport security)."

This new European high-speed rail network will take you from Vienna to Berlin in four hours

"Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria have agreed to work together to upgrade train routes and create high speed lines to improve connections between Vienna, Prague and Berlin."

France hops on night train craze, reopens Paris-Nice line

Belgium-Austria night trains restart with expanded offer

New agreement signed for construction of Verona-Padua high-speed railway

If you're enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to friends who are interested in European rail travel.

- James Clark