Surprise, surprise! 70% of business travelers prefer to travel by train, according to a survey conducted by the British Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) for their latest business travel manifesto; while 66% says they would rather take the train than fly to a destination for a meeting or conference, if the journey time and cost were lower.
Not realizing, perhaps, that high-speed trains are often the fastest way to travel between city centers beating short-haul flights for journeys of up to about 350 miles (560 kilometers) in Europe. At speeds of up to 350 kph (220 mph) the train certainly takes the strain; and compared to airports (what I have called the slowest common denominator of air travel) high-speed trains are stress-free citadels of peace.
Trains score well on that shifting equation of comfort, convenience and cost. (On short-haul flights, flying time can be as little as 20 percent of total journey time.) What counts most with rail travel is the quality of uninterrupted time from the moment you board (10-minute check-in times for business travelers, includes going through security) to the time you arrive. Take the Blackberry and laptop along (power-points are provided) and do a pile of work in peace.
Guillaume Pepy, chairman of Eurostar and chief executive of SNCF (French Railways), has a research-based rule of thumb that business travelers are willing to travel up to four hours on a high-speed train because of ‘increased productivity,’ compared with airline travel, while the limit for leisure travelers is trips of up to six hours.
‘No contest’ then for travel between scores of city-pairs across Europe. The simultaneous opening of Eurostar’s new London terminal at St. Pancras International and the 67-mile ‘High Speed 1’ rail link in Britain, shaved 20 minutes from timetables, cutting the non-stop journey time between London and Paris to two hours and 15 minutes, and Brussels, one hour, 51 minutes. London and Lille, in Northern France, are just one hour, 10 minutes apart. Journey times between London and Cologne (via Brussels) were cut from 4 hours 38 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes; to Amsterdam from 4 hours 46 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes; and from London (via Paris) to Strasbourg, from 6 hours 32 minutes to 4 hours and 33 minutes. Who wants to fly? Unless you’re ‘interlining’ to somewhere else.
Since the first TGV Sud Est entered service between Paris and Lyon in 1981, cutting the journey time by half to just over 2 hours, high-speed trains have been getting even faster. with constant improvements in locomotives and dedicated track.
SNCF’s TGV Est European service which started in June 2007, links Paris with more than 20 destinations in France, such as Reims, Strasbourg, Nancy, Metz; and 10 destinations in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, such as Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Zurich.
Trains travel at 199 mph (320 kph), which have cut previous high-speed journey times by one third to one half.
The double-decker train is a version of the modified V150 TGV train (named for traveling at 150 meters per second) which broke the world speed record on April 3, 2007 by traveling at 357 mph (575 kph) on a special section of track between Paris and Strasbourg – faster than some light airplanes.
(This is the record for ‘wheel-on-steel’ trains: Japan’s ‘maglev’ (magnetic levitation) train set a world record for ‘non-contact’ trains in 2003 at 361 mph.) China expects to have 12,000 kilometers of high-speed network by 2012, plus intercity lines like Beijing-Tianjin and Guangzhou-Zhuhai, with speeds of 350 kph (220 mph).
Journey times are Paris-Reims, 45 min; Paris-Nancy, 1hr. 30min; Paris-Luxembourg, 2hr, 5min; Paris-Zurich, 4hr, 32min; Paris-Frankfurt, 3hr, 50min.
While high-speed trains challenge airlines on short routes, there are synergies between the two modes of transport. Air-rail links through high-speed train stations at major airports, such as Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Brussels, Lyon, that enable travelers to connect between a long-haul flight and a train, assuming the role of a regional airline.
Some airlines are even thinking about direct involvement in high-speed rail – an open-rail policy in Europe allows rail companies to compete with each other on certain routes. Thus Deutsche Bahn and Virgin Atlantic would be free to compete with Eurostar on services between London and Brussels and Paris
Paul Charles, former director of communications at Virgin, and a former chief spokesman for Eurostar, said: ‘Short-haul travel will definitely gravitate around trains in Europe.’
Useful sites: www.railteam.eu; www.eurostar.com; www.tgv-europe.com; www.sncf.com; www.raileurope.co.uk.
Paris to London in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 39 seconds, and Brussels to London in one hour, 43 minutes. These are record-breaking speeds that were made on September 4, and September 20, 2007 respectively by Eurostar, the high-speed train operator that links the UK with the Continent, on proving runs between Paris Gare du Nord Station and the new St. Pancras International Station in London, before Eurostar switches services from Waterloo to St. Pancras on November 14;
Both inaugural runs, with bands playing on the platforms at both ends, champagne and canapes for the great and good, and attendant hacks, had a festive, febrile air; film crews rushing up and down the train, and an overhead clock in each carriage counting down the minutes and seconds. The aim was to put the two journeys within the ‘two hour club’ - which includes Paris-Lyon and Paris-Strasbourg. Paris-London might have made it to the club had there not been an unscheduled slow-down before Calais, and in spite of the English driver (who took the controls mid-Channel) touching an awesome 200mph on the Medway on the proud new 60-mile section of English high-speed track.
The precision of the record runs was somewhat artificial. (I was reminded of a news report from August 31, 1936 when the Queen Mary regained the ‘Blue Riband’ from the SS Normandie ‘when she passed Bishop’s Rock, Scilly Islands, 3 days 23 hours 57 minutes after leaving the Ambrose Light.’) A train loses precious minutes gathering speed and crawling up to the buffers, instead of racing up to the checkered flag.
Still, timetable journey times from London to Paris and Brussels will be cut by 20 minutes - to 2 hours 15 minutes, and one hour 51 minutes respectively. London and Lille, in Northern France, will be just one hour 10 minutes apart. Journey times between London and Cologne (via Brussels) will be cut from 4 hours 38 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes; to Amsterdam from 4 hours 46 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes; and from London (via Paris) to Strasbourg, from 6 hours 32 minutes to 4 hours and 33 minutes.
Eurostar offers three classes of travel: Business Premier (10-minute check-in; lounge access; at-seat meal and drinks or express breakfast option; power sockets; newspapers/magazines and optional chauffeur service in each direction for extra cost); Leisure Select (30-minute check-in; same seats and service as Business Premier); and Standard (30-minute check-in; economy airline-style seating; and a bar-buffet car).
High-speed trains are often the fastest way to travel between city centers beating short-haul flights for journeys of up to about 350 miles (560 kilometers) in Europe. At speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour the train certainly takes the strain; compared to airports high-speed train stations are stress-free citadels of peace. Trains also score well on that shifting equation of comfort, convenience and cost. (On short-haul flights, flying time can be as little as 20 percent of total journey time.) What counts most with rail travel is the quality of uninterrupted time from the moment you board; (10-minute check-in times for business travelers, includes going through security) to the time you arrive. Take the laptop and do a pile of work in peace.