Traveling by Train With Rail Europe

London <-> Paris: The most efficient and comfortable way to travel between London and Paris is via the Eurostar. With journey times averaging 2hr 30 mins, pick the most suitable class of travel on offer - Standard, Standard Premier or Business Premier.

London <-> Benelux: The Eurostar connects London to Brussels in 2hrs; and to Amsterdam via under 4hrs. Seat reservations on all Eurostar services can be made up to 11 months in advance. 

Routes & times: For more information on all of Eurostar’s routes, travel times and facilities, refer to this product sheet under Planning Resources.   

Expert tip: For comfort seekers, the Business Premier ticket offers access to their elegant departure lounge, a hot meal service at the seat, the flexibility to make changes on the ticket and even refunds.  

When booking Eurostar trains, use the generic stations for searching availability; London (All stations), Paris (All stations). This lets the system chose the best railway station for you.  

Travel advisors are invited to reconnect with Rail Europe and discover the new features on its booking site. In addition, advisors can expand their knowledge especially on : “all aboard Eurostar” as well as all the other rail offerings in Europe to become an expert with Rail Europe's e-learning program. 

By making booking easier, Rail Europe aims to attract more people to choose rail travel. Book and save with Rail Europe in just a few clicks!

Italo: A privately owned high-speed rail operator servicing the major cities of Milano, Bologna, Firenze, Roma, Napoli, Salerno, Venezia, Torino and Padova. Italo trains offer competitive pricing and travel times. 

Italo Classes: Italo trains offer three classes of service: Smart (2^nd class), Prima (1^st class), and Club (Premier 1^st Class / Business). All classes come with leather seats, individual power and USB sockets and free WiFi, but that’s where the similarities end. Refer to our comprehensive Italo product factsheets under planning resources or click here to see what each class includes.

Italo network: The Italo high-speed network connects 51 cities with 59 stations throughout Italy.  Milan – Rome operates 32 daily services from early in the morning to late in the evening.  Of these 32 services, 13 stop in Bologna, 2 extend to Turin, 2 to Genoa and 2 to Caserta.

Expert tip: Check fare conditions against pricing. Often it is only a small difference between a Semi Flexible and Flexible fare, providing you and your clients greater security and peace of mind.

ÖBB: The Austrian ÖBB fleet offers travellers day, overnight, high-speed and regional train services across Austria and the European continent in three classes (Business, 1^st and 2^nd). 

To learn more about the Austrian train fleet, products, destinations, fares and services click here for direct access to the product sheet.

Good to know: For overnight journeys, options include Couchettes and Sleeper compartments. Refer to this link for all of OBB’s overnight routes

Expert Tip: While seat reservations are optional on Railjets, they are highly recommended for longer journeys. Reservations on Nightjets can be made up to 180 days in advance.

Eurail Pass: Be it for a single country or multiple countries, the Eurail Pass provides travellers maximum freedom and flexibility to explore Europe. Pick from flexible travel days or consecutive ones and class of travel according to your clients’ itinerary and budget. For added convenience, help them set up their Mobile Pass before they travel. 

Did you know: Children under the age of 12 travel for free with their guardians, while youth travellers from 12-27yo enjoy 25% off their passes, and senior travellers enjoy 10% off their standard passes. 

Expert tips: To help your clients save more money, ensure they know their Eurail Pass comes with a variety of discounts for hotels, attractions, restaurants and experiences. 

Ouigo SpainNetwork:  OUIGO's low-cost offers apply to two types of train services - the OUIGO Grande Vitesse and the OUIGO Train Classique. The OUIGO Grande Vitesse TGV trains will take you to 50+ destinations throughout France. Then there’s the family and budget friendly OUIGO Classique trains serving 14 cities including Paris, Nantes and Lyon.

Interesting fact:  OUIGO is a low-cost rail service company established in 2013 as part of the SNCF group. Unlike the TGV INOUI service, OUIGO trains only have one class, which is equivalent to second-class travel. This is why OUIGO tickets are so affordable.

Expert tip:  The booking horizon for some trains (particularly those in Spain and Italy) can vary depending on the type of train, route and season. For e.g. some trains in Spain can be booked two months in advance (60-62 days), others much longer (120 days).

Trenitalia:  The Leonardo Express high-speed train runs 126 times non-stop between Rome Fiumicino Airport and Roma Termini in just 32 minutes. Trains depart approximately every 15 minutes and run between 05:20hr and 23:23hr. For each paying adult, a 4-12yo child travels for free.  

Did you know: The Frecciarossa 1000 is the new high-speed train of Trenitalia. It can reach up to 400km/h (249 mph) thanks to its 16 powerful engines distributed on all the coaches. The first high-speed train certified for its environmental impact, the materials used in its construction are almost 100% recyclable and it can achieve only 28mg/CO2 emissions per passenger/km.  

Expert tip:  For more detailed information on trains in Italy, navigate to the Planning Resources tab from the agent website home page, scroll down to Product fact sheets and select Train.

Deutsche BahnNetwork:  The ICE (Intercity-Express) train is the fastest and most comfortable way of travelling on the Deutsche Bahn network. Reaching speeds of up to 320 km/h (199 mp/h), ICE trains link nearly all major German cities at hourly or two-hourly intervals; and also connect into Switzerland (Zurich, Interlaken and Basel); Austria (Vienna), Belgium (Brussels), France (Paris), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Denmark (Copenhagen).

Did you know:  On some lines, ICE Sprinter trains offer virtually non-stop connections between major German cities. The Berlin ↔ Frankfurt, Hamburg ↔ Koeln and Hamburg ↔ Frankfurt ICE Sprinter can cut your journey time by up to one hour.

Expert tip:  Always check system connectivity before booking to ensure the rail operator isn’t undergoing system maintenance:  https://agent.raileurope.com/health-center