Riding the rail is often thought of as a budget way to travel, but these days, train travel is often luxurious.
Brussels to Prague
Train travel has long been a quintessential part of visiting Europe. Yet despite the continent’s robust rail system, there’s a distinct lack of affordably priced sleeper trains — until now. Case in point, The luxurious Orient Express is returning to Italy in 2023 and will offer a higher-end overnight rail experience. Servicing a more budget-conscious audience, Dutch-Belgium startup European Sleeper is now looking to connect Brussels and Prague with an overnight train that will launch this summer.
Operated in partnership with Czech company RegioJet, the train will take passengers between these European capitals in 15 hours with stops in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Dresden, Germany along the way. This rail route will debut with three weekly services and plans to expand to daily service as soon as possible. Each ticket will include complimentary Wi-Fi, breakfast, and a lie-flat bed.
UAE to Oman
A new UAE-Oman rail network will increase market competitiveness and reduce the overall cost of supply chains, due to its increased efficiency compared to other modes of transport. The network will also provide trade and investment opportunities for the private sector, providing new and diverse job opportunities, training national human resources, enriching tourism activities, improving the competitiveness of the two countries in global trade and establishing their position as logistics hubs that serve as gateways to regional markets.
Passenger trains will run up to 200 km per hour, reducing the time of the journey between Sohar and Abu Dhabi to 100 minutes, and between Sohar and Al Ain to 47 minutes, while the freight train speed will reach 120 km per hour.
Krakow to Vilnius
The $6 billion Rail Baltica mega-project will provide a fast link for passengers and freight between Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland. Sustainable travel options to Europe’s three Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – are currently somewhat limited by a lack of rail connections.
For the more adventurous rail explorer, there’s finally a daily train link between Krakow and Warsaw in Poland and Vilnius in Lithuania.
That’s definitely luxury, isn’t it?
Vienna and Munich to Rome, Milan, and Venice
Austria’s Nightjet sleeper trains have been the catalyst for a remarkable revival in overnight rail travel over the last few years – and they’re about to get even better. New routes and a fleet of superb new custom-built trains will significantly expand and improve Nightjet’s services for European travelers in 2023.
Since December, the Vienna/Munich to Milan Nightjet has been extended to the port city of Genoa, while the Munich-Venice/Budapest trains now start back at Stuttgart, offering better connections from southwest Germany and France. However, the big news for Nightjet passengers in summer 2023 will be the introduction of those new trains on key international routes from Vienna and Munich to Rome, Milan and Venice.
By the end of 2025, 33 new generation Nightjet trains will be in service, adding much-needed extra capacity, greater comfort and increased privacy. Each new train will feature cutting-edge interior design, including pod-hotel -style mini-cabins for solo travelers, sleeping compartments with en suite showers and toilets and a multi-function car with secure bike spaces and space for bulky luggage and winter sports equipment.
