London to Berlin by Eurostar High Speed & European Sleeper Train!
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- Опубліковано 23 бер 2024
- Kicking off the second instalment of my point to point journey series "From A to B", I'll be documenting my near 15 hour odyssey travelling from London to Berlin by both Eurostar high speed train and Europe's newest night train operator, European Sleeper! This two-legged journey now means that London to Berlin is only one sleep away... so join me as we go capital to capital without flying!
Journey details:
Date of travel - November 2023
Operators - Eurostar and European Sleeper
Origin - London St Pancras International
Destination - Berlin Hbf
Price - £271.69/€313.74/$332.03, broken down as follows:
Eurostar standard class - £97/€111.99/$118.53
European Sleeper private cabin - €201.75/£174.69
/$213.50, including 25% promotional discount offered by Seat61 (huge thanks!) www.seat61.com/
Duration - 14 hours, 44 minutes
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video!
Music from EpidemicSound and is used under license.
Huge thanks to @doc7austin for his contributions to this video, please do check out his channel!
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Link to the Eurostar Café menu: www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel...
For further information on European Sleeper's catering offerings, see here: www.seat61.com/trains-and-rou...
#eurostar #london #berlin #europeansleeper #nighttrain #sleepertrain #sleeper #uk #germany #tripreport #vlog
"There's no doubt this operator is Dutch" made me chuckle
Especially since I'm pretty sure this is an unaltered Deutsche Bahn car.
I've taken a train from London to Berlin twice, taking a 0815-ish Eurostar to Brussels, then ICE to Cologne and change for another ICE to Berlin, arriving about 1815 local time. So only 9 hours travelling and early enough in Berlin to check into your hotel and get a nice meal.
I've done it, it was fun, but there's sod all to look at really. The people I met doing the same route made up for the underwhelming scenery however.
Yes, train is convenient in trip☺️ Hope the rail tickets bought in a cheap price can use🥺
Tallyho! Dear boy. Germany, is a great place to visit. This train journey, must be grand.
Berlin is amazing hope you had fun
ever since, has been a staunch fan of this railroad video channel of very high order with crisp videos and detailed description. rail journeys tower above all other travel options, especially in eu, uk, au and north america. that privilege of experiencing premier train travel without leaving home, is brought, by this channel like no other. compulsive viewing, indeed.
Yessss! Tourists can also buy it for saving🥺 and I also know a cheaper channel😎
One of your best videos
What a great video I really enjoyed . Keep up the good work 👍.
Brilliant video as always
Beautiful well-made video, plenty of useful information, thanks so much.
Really good review of this combined service, thanks!
Fantastic Review, very well Narrated and Explained, very Professional over all. I liked the background Music 👍 Those 2 trains look very reliable and comfy. I just Had to Subscribe. 👌
When we went to Berlin, we went by daytime train, changing at Brussels and Cologne. I have to admit, I've been rather put off sleeper trains by our experience last summer, when we took a sleeper from Hamburg to Stockholm that ran 7 hours late!
Ha that sleeper from Hamburg to Stockholm has some issues. Was it the one run by SJ? We also took that last year and while the delay was only about an hour, we were surprised to find out our sleeper car just wasn't there. It wasn't part of the train. The staff seemed fairly clueless, but did manage to put us into an empty couchette compartment that we had to ourselves. The same thing happened on the return journey too.
Wow that is strange and goofy
Excellent video.
Very informative and great information.
Great video
Very interesting
Thank you
What a lovely video i hope too travel on a train like this soon
Brilliant video. Would love to try a sleeper train.
nice video and lovely shots; i like the video of the full train with the berlin tv tower in the background 😂
Love the champagne bar in St Pancras!!! I took the same train couple of weeks ago 9142 Easy Travel!!!
Super video, thanks! We shall certainly consider this but in the opposite direction, I hope it stops at Spandau, Berlin Hbh is a pain!
Did this same route in the summer in a 6 berth couchette with my whole family. It was great fun and one of the coolest experiences of my life although obviously there was no air con and with it being August we did nearly boil alive. 😂
They weren’t branding the water bottles then, things have obviously got fancy since 😂
Hello Sir! Very informative video. Thanks for your service. I was wondering if there’s a way topen the window in the couchette car or the sleeper wagon? Thanks again and greetings from Berlin ❤
My first mainland Europe trip in 2016 was to Berlin by train, although not all in one go. Had a couple of days in Brussels and Cologne to break up the journey.
Having just returned from travelling on numerous Shinkansen in Japan, its interesting to hear the amount of background noise in the carriage. The shinkansen specifically ask if you want to talk or take a call to move to the area between carriages. So peaceful
Great video. In the autumn, i will travel on the eurostar from London to Brussels with my dad who is a pensioner. We will go to Berlin after spending a few nights in Brussels. I asked him if he wanted to do the sleeper from Brussels to Berlin, he is not up for it - so it will be two ICE trains from Brussels to the German Capital with a change at Cologne. I would have liked to have done the Nightjet as well. I enjoy your videos - and look forward to more.
Nice that long distance travel by train is beginning to be more popular. In the '70th we went on holiday with a sleeper & car train from Den Bosch (NL) to St. Raphael in France. Dinner on board. For a young kid, interested in trains, the ultimate way to travel!🤗🤗🤗
Nice video. I mean to try European sleeper once but it has to compete with the combination of a Ryanair flight to Berlin and a night in a hotel. A single occupancy compartment costs 319 EUR in a month from now. You could get one night in an IBIS and Ryanair for much less than that. Ryanair are also very reliable.
OBB seem like a clear choice in terms of night trains.
I agree with you about the pricing, particularly considering the disgusting bathroom in mediocre food.
We have been to Brussels/Bruges on holiday precovid but not since as the Eurostar no longer stops at Ebbsfleet International which is our local station. Now we would have to catch the hispeed to St Pancras and then get onto the Eurostar there to travel back past the Ebbsfleet station. We are still hoping it will reopen.
Same here!
I notice straightaway that Eurostar still hasn't learned how to clean a train window. I cross three or four times a year and the grimy windows really irritate me. I know it's only a detail, but you'd imagine that the PR department would have flagged this up to management by now. It could be fixed even if it meant a permanent team of people on the platform of St. Pancras or Gare du Nord giving a quick squeegee to the windows before boarding starts.
I did this trip in reverse last year, but actually starting from Hamburg!
It was quite stressful, there was a signaling failure on the route form hamburg to berlin so my ICE hat to crawl along at 25 km/h until reaching the next section where things worked again, made me almost miss the sleeper and I had to hurry up the escalatros from the lower platforms to the upper ones.
Then misfortune continued, I had been notified in advance that I was downgraded as their coaches needed repairs, so I got a couchette instead of the sleeper cabin. There was some cold airflow going through my compartment and I had to pull the blanket over my head to not feel it.
Then in the middle of the night, the heating system failed. It was late october and outside temperatures were near freezing, it got really cold inside and I was sitting there, fully clothed, jacket on and wrapped in the blanked and it was still cold.
But wait, there's more! In Rotterdam, some blind passenger hopped onto the train and got into an argument with the people 2 compartments over, I couldn't quite make out what the argument was about but him being onboard illegaly surely was part of it. The train had to make an unscheduled stop in Dordrecht so police could arrest him, which meant delays and em staying in the cold for longer.
I was so happy to be on the warm and comfy Eurostar afterwards...
Yikes. That sounds horrible. These videos always make sleeper trains sound like the best thing ever, but I feel like they must be leaving out some of the down sides.
My experience was as near ghastly as yours @Dr Nagi! I, too, got a dirty, tired, couchette instead of a sleeper cabin on the outward trip - and on the way back, there was no hot water. The lavatory was disgusting. European Sleeper cannot make these primitive, ancient, carriages suitable for today’s traveller - they are way, way past their sell by date.
Detailed and clear expression🙏 Thx for ur devotion😘 I tried the app mentioned by comments section, amazingly it is 💥super save🤩
It's great to see. I would like to add that there are extra discounts on train tickets recently, friends who are interested can pay attention to it.
Quite enjoyable thanks for posting. It must be over 40 years since I took a train from Christchurch (Dorset) to Prague. None of your highspeed sleeper trains then. Unfortunately my memories of the journey are fading with just vague recollections of the efficiency of the trains.
We're booked in on this train in June but we're going all the way to Prague!
13:01 out of STP and the same 19:22 you took to Berlin and onwards.
How was the transition in Brussels? My adult ed German teacher said he found it confusing.
🇬🇧🇫🇷🇧🇪🇳🇱🇩🇪🇪🇺
Exciting also you mentioned the freight trains which are also vital to trading.
Sad that Brexit has lead to cuts of Eurostar services.
I want to travel on the Eurostar Myself.
Looks great, but with prices like that, I might as well use an Interrail Global pass and then book reservations on those two trains, then I'd also be able to use the pass to get to London from my local station in Blackburn, as well as use the trains around Berlin with no extra cost.
Loved your video, august 2023 i went from London to Warsaw By train and it was amazing which you should try, London-Amsterdam-Frankfurt-Berlin-Warsaw!
Definitely a train fan, and would certainly try this sleep to add to the journeys I’ve tried. I would however say, that the train website can be improved with more indication as to availability of each category. You have to click date and thenSeats, Couchettes or Sleepers to determine availability. If was you are searching isn’t available then you have to go back several steps and carry out the process all over again. You really have to want to travel by train doing this back and forth with the website.
Doing the couchette option end of May to Dresden
Have you done the Rome Express overnight sleeper from Calais? Or does it even exist anymore? I did it twice in the 70's - quite some journey. Great video by the way.
Long gone-I did one to Italy from Paris once-that’s been revived too now.
24:00 amazingly for Germany currently 90% of our trains are on time and its getting better everyday! great video, thanks
And now we in Austria have a big issue. Our trains are often canceled, so they are no delays...
@@Kaiserschmarren they are just not affordable. In England a train ticket is even more expensive, costs as much as a flight across the pond
I mean if you ignore long distance trains and the recent strikes it’s pretty decent in Germany.
@@martijnwo4840ah yes, and here is another example again: A good example of a German whiner complaining about their national train operator. Whining has become number one hobby of the Germans these days (disclaimer, I’m German myself and I’m soooooosick and tired of this attitude).
@@marcd6897 I’m not German, but have had the displeasure of being shafted by DB long distance trains multiple times.
Nice video. What did you think of the E320 train? Not to claustrophobic?
Another great video with excellent commentary. I was your age in 1998 when I bought a 10 day Eurail pass for Germany. I took the Eurostar to Brussels from Waterloo, journey time back then was 3hrs 15 mins (no HS1 and no Belgian high speed line) before taking the sleeper to Berlin in a couchette. Amazing.
The NightJet services seems to sell out instantly when I look to plan a trip on a specific date. Was your journey planned around the availability or the date you wished to travel on? Also, the cost of other options on this train would have been useful. Ta.
Let’s face it the only people who would make/pay for that journey are those who love trains or those who hate/fear flying. The cost and time taken rules it out as an even 3rd or 4th option the plane and hotel being the first.
I have travelled all over Europe by train albeit a good few years ago and enjoyed the journey plus it was a lot cheaper than flying… now it’s the reverse
The last time I arrived into Berlin by train was as a soldier posted to Berlin from Bielefeld on the famous military train which ran from the then West Germany through East Germany into West Berlin during the Cold War… now that was an interesting train trip lol
Your commentators are right. There are big reservations on this project.
You should be able to get to Berlin the same day.
The intransigence of the major shareholders SNCF, causing problems for DB to run a direct service, has just been messing about and restricting the potential of the Tunnel.
At present, it's 6 hours from Brussels to Berlin and that includes a half hour wait at Köln (which could be eliminated).
This gives you an insight into European red tape.
I experience it all the time even on my telephone, so much so I'm installing an non-European VPN.
I noticed eurostar and tgv fares here un france are high if your not leaving from paris or the end terminus, i live soth of lyon with a tgv station but the prices are so high for london,berlin amsterdam etc its easier and cheaper to fly as for sleeper trains one to paris makes a driver and engine change at the central station but we cant buy a ticket for it
The new Eurostar logo is ok but it needs something. I liked the older logo but if they made the new logo bolder, it would be good. Cool vid!
I wish European Sleeper were to travel to the UK 🤞😊
Maybe hauled by Class 92s?
Not only due to the lower speed conventional lines... The Traxx loco that European Sleeper used on this service appears to be the cargo variant of the Traxx Multivoltage... evident by the [140] on the UIC number... so the loco reaching ~133 km/h is not a flaw in the system...
But in Belgium and the Netherlands speed at conventional lines is max 140 km/h. Has nothing to do with the locomotive. 🥴
What software do you use for the map?
Wonder how much this cost ? Thanks for sharing it looks amazing something love to do
European Sleeper is actually a Belgian-Dutch cooperation
Cool, I have traveled with Eurostar quiet a few times and I enjoyed. European rail network is wonderful, I have used it many times, in different countries and enjoyed it very much, I recomend it to everyone, however, I think London to Berlin is a bit too far for a train ride unless you are just enjoing yourself and having fun and have plenty time. I could do it for fun and for the experience but not as a method. Thanks for the video.
Indeed. I've also travelled on rail passages between countries in Europe, and it's a bit of a long ride, but it's not a bad experience. My friend told me that there are still discounts on train tickets.
Does DB publish MDBF for their rolling stock?
I’ll fly
Sleeper trains are perfect if you have plenty of time, no hard travel deadlines, and are ok with various adventures you may encouter on your way (my last one was that all toilets on the train were out of use, bar one..)
They make sense to run overnight to maximise time. It’s a shame there’s no cross channel sleeper train.
That must have been tough!
The original Eurostar had sleeper cars and was intended to run from Manchesrer to Paris. With the privatisation of BR the operator did not want to run such a service. The carriages were parked in an army base in Warwickshire before being sold and shipped to Canada.
Now I'm sad you don't see an aquarium while in the channel tunnel 😢😂😂
I took the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam back in 2018, stayed there a few days and then took a direct train to Berlin. London to Amsterdam was great. I was visiting London from the US, staying with a friend who lives 2 tube stops away from King's Cross. He was leaving town the same day at almost the same time on another train, so we left together in the late afternoon and arrived 15 minutes later. Try that with a London airport.
The trip to Amsterdam takes I think around 4 1/2 hours - quite a lot of the track after Brussels wasn't high speed, at least at the time. This sounds bad, but really it wasn't. Getting to the airport and then getting thru the airport to the gate in London takes at least an hour and a half in my experience, if you want to leave sufficient time for clearing security lines. Then there's customs and the trip from the airport into town on the other end. I'm sure I could have gotten to Amsterdam faster by plane if everything had gone right and there had been no delays, but probably only 90 minutes to an hour or so faster, and with a lot more stress and rushing about.
But here's the deal - I'd have also needed to stop at some point for dinner, either paying outrageous airport prices for food after clearing security (assuming there was still adequate time to eat) or dining late in Amsterdam. On the Eurostar, they served us a fantastic meal I could eat at my leisure, so of that 4 1/2 hour trip, I consider an hour of it "dinnertime", time I would have spent anyhow even if I'd flown.
If I were leaving early in the day on a business trip or something I'd still consider flying to Amsterdam, but for leisure travel later in the day, if I'm staying or living in central London and the train includes dinner, I'd rather just take the train and not deal with the hassle. You're saving yourself a lot of hassle and worry and city travel and not really consuming much more actual time, since you'd have to find a restaurant and grab dinner once you arrived, anyhow.
The trip from Amsterdam to Berlin wasn't as much fun. The air conditioning on the German train was malfunctioning - a common occurrence (unlike the Americans, Japanese and Koreans - and even the French - air conditioning seems to be a technology which vexes the Germans) - and we were held up for almost an hour once crossing the border as they swapped out an engine or something attempting to fix it. I think it ultimately took like 6-7 hours to get to Berlin. The train was crowded and somewhat uncomfortable, although my cabin mates were a friendly older family from Hamburg. And the countryside was beautiful to watch. Still, I'd totally try a sleeper car from Brussels or Amsterdam to Berlin. I've always thought it was a time and money saver to sleep and travel at the same time, sparing you the expense of a hotel for the night and also the tedium and stress of travel by sleeping thru most of it and arriving refreshed. It puts the night to work.
What was the real time train app you mentioned please
Its ok
The cost of home to london by train is more than a return flight from nearby airport to berlin, and a return coach to London isnt much less than a flight all the way. Let alone the flight even with generous allowance at airport and travel is about 7hours max. So i can leave at a similar time get a flight and then stay in a bed in berlin and be completely rested for a day in berlin and even including mid price hotel would be a lot less
Unless, of course, you count the train journey as a part of the adventure!
@@jeffreycrawley1216 I count flying definitely part of the adventure. Much safer too.
Its ridiculous that Eurostop haven't resumed service at Ebbsfleet. So much more convenient (and cheaper) than schlepping into London.
Scandalous how many Million of pounds have been wasted at UK stations.
Does the train pass by Hamburg in Germany? Or does it take a different route?
why did they move Eurostar from Waterloo to St.Pancras ?
Travelled London to Oostende, Aachen , shunted onto the Paris Moscow express. Through the wall at Helmsted,into Berlin Central, though the wall again, West Berlin bright and alive East Berlin the opposite. Frankfurt oder. Then on Warszawa. 20 coaches in all, of rolling stock of 5 countries. Never forget it, made friends and seen each country and there people. Amazing. Age with held.😊 but you can guess.
NS is not doing a locomotive change at Bad Bentheim anymore either. New NS Vectron locos have taken over from the venerable 1700 class 3 months ago.
Yes I'm aware - this recording was done just before the Vectrons took over, hence why I mentioned in the video "at the time of recording" as it was done in November 2023.
@@OMtheRails cool, no worries.
While St. Pancras is an epic station, I think Antwerp Central is certainly in the same league.
St. Pancras might be the grandest station in Europe, but Antwerp is the grandest station in the EU!
3:30 SHHHHHHHH! 🤫
One must question whether Eurostar is creating an over crowding situation at St Pancras by NOT stopping St Ashford or Ebbfleets so those in the south drive there or in fact run separate trains. Maybe they need to be ordered to and told no on is wasting more money on upgrading St P and to stop being churlish. Not quite sure what Brexit has to do with a train stopping.
I completely agree - hopefully they realise that sooner rather than later and reinstate the stops going into 2025.
Eurostar suffered in the pandemic. As has thalys. That is why both companies merged last year. And services stopping/starting in the regional stations in Kent were cut because of budget constraints...
The pandemic is a feeble excuse. If the UK had a healthy economy by not voting for Brexit, Eurostar services would have been restored to pre-pandemic levels.
The biggest issue is allowing people in too early. He shouldn't have been allowed through over an hour before the train was due.
"Not quite sure what Brexit has to do with a train stopping" - post-Brexit border controls means there would have to be full passport and customs checks at Ashford and Ebbsfleet (and Stratford) for which there is no existing capacity (or indeed spare Border Service staff.) cf. the queues at STP and the lack of southbound direct services while AMS CS is being redeveloped. Yet another Brexit benefit. It's what we voted for, apparently.
Hello. I was thinking that you will have to cross the ocean to reach Berlin.
The tunnel between England and mainland Europe opened 30 years ago. You can get the train as a passenger or if you want to take your car their are carriages you just drive your car onto and they transport you.
I did this distance in December, but a little different: Flix night bus from London to Brussel sud. Then ICE to Berlin, included a 2,5 hours change in Cologne.
With departure 21.00 from London and scheduled arrival 16.00 in Berlin, but obviously 45 min delayed.
Didn’t get a lot of sleep, but it was in total a lot cheaper, around 110 euros.
And an enjoyable trip.
1,5 hrs direct flight. Why would I go on a traun?
Didn't they want to change the name of Stratford International but that was so complicated (act of parliament?) that they didn't bother? PS the new logo is ok-ish. The name is sometimes hard to read /notice, especially on ads. Perferably they would have made a subtle distinction between the old Thalys and old Eurostar services, but hey I think they have more pressing stuff on their itinary.
I'd definitely consider it but I would like a en-suit wc/shower in the compartment.
When I was travelling through Europe 35 years ago, you would always worry about being robbed on sleeper trains, is this not the case anymore?
Could you not get a train to Amsterdam and then change
If the two European company’s want to use St Pancras for end to end trips through Europe then it would need to be expanded as it’s crowded already.
Just a quick note on Stratford, I have no idea why they decide to retain an inaccurate name for that station (although same could be said for Ashford and Ebbsfleet now). Why nobody changed it in 2013 to 'Stratford High Speed' given its location on HS1 baffles me. To this day people must turn up aiming to travel abroad and quickly getting nowhere!
The Dutch trains and companies are amazing but as you no doubt have noticed during your travels with them so far... avoid the toilets at all cost.. regardless of what Dutch service you travel on. And this has been the casee as long as I have been traveling by train in the early 70's.
American Express Platinum card holders get access to the Eurostar lounges on any ticket
£271 one-way? Insane. If it were £71 I would do it.
Ryanair, £50 return, 90 minutes flight time 😂
@@chairmakerPete+50£ fine for your overweight cabin luggage 🤡
@ChristopherDoron even if true, the passenger is up £171 and tens of hours.
@@chairmakerPete i know ;)
@@chairmakerPete I know, I‘d rather fly as well ;)
I would love to do it but only with ensuite accommodation, the toilet you showed!!!!! And I would never wash my face in the sinks, given what people use them for.
15 hours for 1200 km is not really very fast . That is an average of 85 kmt with a top speed of 300 kmt . But i see at least you can open the windows for fresh air , that is very nice . Did they add an extra coach at the end of the train somewhere during the night ?
good, why would you ant it any faster? it already arrives at the very early 0645, i struggle to ascertain what the benefit of arriving in berlin at 0300 would be...
@@andrewyoung749Nobody ever needs to go faster , i'm just doing math . Max 300 average 85 .
I would never pay 313 Euro for a train ride. I know why I prefer flying. My most expensive flight from Berlin to London was with British Airways for 190 Euro Return. With the money I saved I would book a 3 or 4 Star hotel double bed room.
Eurostar just sadly seems very expensive for it being the only way to travel by train to great britain.
Sleeper trains sound like a good idea in theory. But one thing these videos rarely talk about is where do you have a shower in the morning? I've only seen a couple of videos showing a shower actually on the train, so where do you go? Do you just have to spend the next day walking around Berlin feeling, looking and smelling gross? Perhaps they have showers at the station now? If not, I think they should! Just like airport business lounges do.
Showering is nice but very overrated. You are likely too young to remember when weekly showers were common except for laborors and others with strenuous "sweaty" jobs. Water shortages and population increases may bring back the past. But, don't wait for it. Enjoy now!
@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm They may be overrated for you, but not for me. I feel pretty gross if I go out for a day having not showered. I don't want to pay for the "privelidge" of feeling gross on my holidays.
@@mdhazeldine You are what you have been taught or learned or propagandized. Good or bad. The invention of deodorants and cologne are most useful for trips of 24 hours. You "feel" gross. OK, but are you really stinky. Unless you are running everywhere all day long or doing severe manual labor, it is unlikely. And, if it is true, mention it to your doctor as something else might be happening inside you. Catch it early. Showers won't save you in that case. Good doctoring might.
Imagine if it ran direct to London!
Imagine that
Idd do that how do i do it please?
Both tickets need to be booked separately - I did it through both of the companies' websites which is probably the easiest way to book (Eurostar to Brussels and European Sleeper to Berlin from Brussels)
Pity tgey dont have at least an hpur layover at Berlin on arrival for a more relaxed morning instead of getting kicked out at 6.48am!
A night train between London - Paris - Amsterdam - Berlin would be a true wonder and necessity, although I don't understand why the modern Orient Express cannot cross the pond through the English Channel Tunnel
Would probably be owing to ETCS signalling and clearance being required given the stringent requirements to run through the tunnel - hence why Eurostar has faced no competition since it was founded. DB came close until numerous issues pulled the plug sadly
Leaving aside all the other technical and regulatory requirements for the railways, the main reason for this is that for many destinations on the continent it does not make sense to build and maintain the necessary border control facilities. So if you'd have to get off the train in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam anyway for security and border control reasons, it just makes more sense to have these dedicated services from those cities and have everyone else change there. This is also a major reason why, for example, a direct ICE service by Deutsche Bahn from Frankfurt and Cologne to London has not yet become a reality, despite being discussed for over a decade.
@@OMtheRailsoh, didn't see your answer before posting mine, but as I just did the google search for it, apparently DB and Renfe are interested again, after Getlink announced in january this year that they want to allow other companies to access the tunnel within five years.
why would Englanders want to travel to Europe? Brexit was about they didn't want any relationship with us but with the US and England's colonies
@@patrickhanftMore than that I speculate that it is the lack of direct benefit for DB since the major infrastructure (ie the tunnel) is mostly French and Germans have no share into its business. A Frankfurt London rail destination could benefit at least 20M German people and a Cologne London rail destination I guess at least 50M German people since the Cologne rail "hub" is the German rail entry gate to Belgium... so those are quite sufficient numbers if you compare with Brussels and Amsterdam.
Cologne is almost as distant from London as Paris is... the Cologne-Bruxelles service could be reduced from 1h50 to 1h20 if the line was upgraded, making the Cologne-London direct service within 3 hour....
But surely Germans see it more profitable if they maintain the air travel to London via the existing rail-well-connected German airports (where regulatory passenger checks are performed)
Maybe if from the start of its construction the tunnel had been a true European project with Germans having an equal share as the French then they would be more interested in using that expensive facility...
In a sense the Channel tunnel can be considered as an (anglo-)French rail hub...
No nation likes financing other nations' hubs...
A shame no dining car, almost a necessity on a 14hr sleeper journey, hopefully will be introduced when refurbished. Last overnight continental sleeper trip was on the old Night Ferry from Victoria, travelling to Marseille involving a rush hour Taxi between Paris stations. The food on board both trains was of course excellent as expected. No operator has yet come close to the standard of service then provided by the Pullman Car Company, Wagons - Lits and SNCF in conjunction with British Rail, albeit at a price.
Mistral from Paris Lyon south presumably...
Yes, sleeping cars, onboard diners, and shower facilities all make for a real class act.
A very well presented video it’s such a shame that Eurostar are such an appalling train operator and don’t provide any service to the people of Kent
It’s time they stand aside and let a new operator take over the services so we can have the service we deserve from both Ebsfleet and Ashford
I recommend reading pooterchannel's comment above: "... there would have to be full passport and customs checks at Ashford and Ebbsfleet (and Stratford) for which there is no existing capacity (or indeed spare Border Service staff.) (...) Yet another Brexit benefit. It's what we voted for, apparently."
I was interested to hear how old that sleeper coach was. Here in Canada, we have a large fleet of trains that date back to 1955. They are well past their life expiry date and, although VIA Rail does do their best, Canada *really* needs to invest in its rail services. VIA's maintenance crews are literally pulling rabbits out of their hats to keep the trains rolling, but a number of coaches have been withdrawn and we're at the point where if the government doesn't do something NOW, the world-famous Canadian will soon have to be discontinued because the coaches just can't handle the work.
You are spot on. Justin Trudope rather hikes the carbon tax than doing anything else
@twinsonic Agreed, but VIA has been underfunded for decades by all governments--with the exception of David Collenette's little spending spree. And now the P 42's and Renaissance cars are due to be replaced--not that that will happen anytime soon...
@@twinsonic I mean, Canadians are willing to lectured on racism by the G7/8/whatever's only blackface minstrel, when he isn't dressing up as a stereotypical cartoon Indian (while calling everyone else racist obv) doesn't say a lot good about Canadians...
Stainless steel passenger rail cars actually do not have an expiration date. Exteriors almost last forever. Moving parts and interiors need refurbishment every decade or so. Better more often, of course. Very economica passenger carl purchase, though expensive short term.
I was the customs? What was your favorite food on this train? If you slept on this train how many hours of uninterrupted sleep did you get on this train?
I did london to munich by train I went eurostar to Paris then Paris to munich on a double deck tgv. All in first class, I was amazed how smooth the tgv was at 184 kmh, didn't feel a bump at all. One of the best train journeys i have ever done 😂
US Amtrak system--New York City to Miami, Florida. About 1800 miles, time of train ride, 24 hours. Lovely, huh.
Guess you did not enjoy the ride or sights along the way. Sorry, no refunds.
@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm Oh it's great seeing the US, but the ride is so slow. We have the technology to make it so much faster, but here in the US, trains are an after thought.
@@edwardcricchio6106 Younger generations in the USA look at trains as being old technology. Trains are an old concept but modernized, they can provide a very useful service. Alas, the youth decide on something and are never willing to revisit any concepts upon which they have already decided, perhaps wrongly, are not useful today. Never let the facts change your settled opinion. It is an admission of initial stupidity. No one likes to do that.
@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm The automobile then air travel were huge factors in the death of the train. Once the US built the inter-state highways it was obvious the train was not a priority. When the government deregulated the airlines and prices dropped to be afforded by the masses, it was over for the railways. Like anything in the US, the the government gets involved, you know things are only going to get worse--Amtrak.
@@edwardcricchio6106 Sad, but true. Thanks for your comments.