How to travel by train in Europe

 Since climate change is real and academics are increasingly starting to think about how to reduce their carbon impact, I have started to work on taking the train more frequently for trips within Europe. It is always an adventure but certainly not always easy. In this blog, I will describe the things I learnt so far.

Booking

• The first hurdle for train travel is booking. In contrast to flights, trains are not actually working with a unified booking system, which means that often for across-border travel you need to connect with various railway companies to book. I found that for the trips I have made, usually bahn.de has very comprehensive booking options. Another solution is to book with companies such as https://www.thetrainline.com I have not tried it, but someone I know has good experience with it. If you find that a ticket is not available with one railway company, it's often worth checking out whether it is available with another company. Some particular finds I have done in this department:
• in general, when a particular train is not available, try booking alternatives to find out what is and is not available. For example, what happens if you change the dates to further away and closer in advance? What happens when you change the booking to a different train station (for example, try one halfway the journey, because it may be you need to book the remainder with a different company)? This separate booking can allow you to find tickets. The reason this works is that different tickets of different companies typically become available at different times.  For example, for a trip to Poland I was able to book the intercity portion of the trip on https://www.bahn.com/en, and then had to wait to book the local tickets on the Polish website until only a few weeks before the journey. 
• to book an overnight train, you may need to book specifically with https://www.nightjet.com/#/home. I have now taken one of these overnight trains, booking an actual sleeping compartment, and the experience was veyr good. My compartment had a little sink, and a good toilet and shower were available in the wagon. There were separate male and female compartments, and the conductor was very nice. When you book these early, it's also quite affordable. The website also had good information about what train stations are and are not available and why. For example, when I tried to book Italy this summer, it was possible to go to Bologna, but not to some other Italian train stations due to engineering works. Once I figured this out, I booked the overnight train with  https://www.nightjet.com/#/home, the train further to the Netherlands with https://www.bahn.com/en and the trains in Italy with https://www.trenitalia.com/.
• When I tried to book a ticket to Poland, I had a lot of trouble: many of the websites I tried would show a trip, but then error out right before getting the ticket. Eventually I found that https://www.intercity.pl/en  allows you to buy intercity tickets in Poland. Although the website is only in Polish, you can use it in Google Chrome to automatically translate it. This still doesn't work for local trains in Poland, which need to be booked with https://bilkom.pl/
• One other booking hack is to make sure you leave plenty of time for important connections, especially when those involve different railway companies. This ensures that when there is a delay, you have less stress because you most likely will still be able to make it. And it also makes the journey more pleasurable, because you can visit some cities along the way and roam around a little or find a nice spot to have a good meal.

Travelling by train

• For travelling by train, I found it invaluable to download the apps of the respective train companies to my phone (for Italy I used the trenit app, which is in English, and gives detailed connection information). These apps give you information about whether the train runs on time, what platform you are arriving on or departing from, and what services are available at train stations. Importantly, when there are delays, these apps can allow you to find alternative connections (the bahn.de app is one that is particularly helpful for this. I also found this really helpful when travelling by train in India. Without an app (I used railyatra), finding the track is very hard, especially at New Delhi railway station, and with it, it's easy-peasy, and you even get real-time updates on whether the train is on schedule.
• Make sure you double- and triple-check the timing of the trains before you leave. Sometimes track works or accidents cause changes in departure times of trains. Often the railway companies warn you about this, but it may get lost and better safe than sorry. 
• Make sure to leave sufficient time when you arrive in the train station to find the relevant track. Sometimes the track organization is quite confusing, e.g., in Poland, but also some other stations such as Munich and Firenze.
• When making long train trips, it's also worth paying attention to whether there is food on board or whether you need to bring some. In the Netherlands there is pretty much never catering, but in the German ICE (high speed) trains the catering is quite nice. If there is no catering, it's worth bringing some food with you or buying it at a train station. In France you need to pay particular attention, because the catering services may be on strike. A positive exception of this is the Eurostar, where you even get served a small meal and a drink (at least in Standard Premier and up).
• Particular learning moment for Eurostar (train between Europe and the UK through the channel tunnel): they have some luggage requirements and actually scan your luggage similar to airports. I sadly lost a small knife, which I use to cut up fruits and vegetables, in this process. So if you travel Eurostar, check the luggage guidelines before you go. Other than that the train is a very pleasant experience.

• 

  ballet class on Berlin railway station

  Sometimes you need to break up your journey for a connection by bus or metro. For example, Paris has multiple train stations, and you often need to take the metro or RER to get to another station. Leave plenty of time for that because it often involves substantial walking. Bus connections are often due to track works. In my recent trip to Italy, this was quite confusing, but by asking people, I was able to work this out without a problem. It's actually a really nice way to meet people!
• When your train gets delayed and you miss a connection, this is where things get complicated. Often it's worth asking the train conductor what to do. Sometimes your train app also gives an idea. In France, I found that I needed to go to the SNCF office at the arrival station, queue up and get a ticket for the new train. In this case it was quite helpful to already have searched a new connection on the SNCF app so this could be handled very efficiently. For Germany, you technically also need to go to the Bahn.de office to get a replacement ticket, but in my most recent trip I just boarded the alternative train and explained my situation to the conductor, who proceeded to check the situation to verify my story and let me on without a problem. 

After the trip

• If you have been delayed, many companies give you some kind of reimbursment. In some cases, e.g., the French SNCF, this information is even given when you get delayed in your actual train app with a link to the form you need to use to claim compensation. 

Despite all the challenges, I just want to emphasise that travelling by train is a great experience. You actually get to move your body during the trip, meet interesting people, and I often find the train one of the best places to work (especially when I book a first-class ticket, which especially on the German railways is quite affordable when you book early). In one of the pictures you can see me doing a small ballet class on a train station in Berlin. Moreover, it's really fun to watch the landscapes change as you proceed on your train journey!

Me in my little bed on the nightjet train