Taking the mystery out of train travel

Travel and Leisure

Europe has an extensive rail network, and travelling via train is fast, efficient, and stress-free. High speed trains can get you to your destination faster than using a car, and avoids the hassle of navigating, tolls, and finding parking at your destination.

Swiss trains are fast, comfortable and on-time!

However, after just returning from Portugal, where we used the train to travel efficiently from Porto to Lisbon and then to the Algarve, I was surprised at how many tourists were struggling with how to use the train. I am assuming it is because as North Americans, we don't often use the rail network to get around, and so the basics of train travel can be new to a lot of first-time European tourists. The tips that follow are for inter-city routes; regional trains will be very similar to the metro or underground rail that you have likely already used at home.

Google translate will help you figure out what your ticket says

Buying your inter-city ticket at the counter is a very simple process, but pre-purchasing online will usually save you some extra money. It is usually at the station where I see tourists start to struggle. The issue I have found, is that most folks don't know what station is at the end of the line for their route.

Let's have a look at a recent ticket as an example (click on the image to see larger version). As you can see, the train route goes from Mulhouse to Paris Gare de Lyon, with a few stops in between; if you were going to say, Dijon, you need to know that your train eventually terminates in Paris. So when you enter the Mulhouse train terminal, you would look on the video monitors for the departure platform for Paris - Gare de Lyon; there won't be a listing for Dijon. It is easy to cross-reference the train departure time on the monitor with the one on your ticket to make sure you are at the right platform; the ticket on my iPhone for the SNCF train goes one better, and lists the platform number. The online site or the counter will tell you this information, but sometimes it will not be shown on the actual ticket. You also need to watch the signs and listen to the speakers for any last minute changes, as sometimes your train does not arrive at the platform that was originally listed.

Note: If you have purchased an unassigned seating paper ticket, there may be a need to validate it in a machine somewhere on the platform; these will typically have a mag strip or barcode that gets scanned. Tourists often get caught without validated tickets, and end up paying a stiff fine; tickets purchased on train apps typically are not validated at the machines, and you simply show the barcode to the conductor who will scan it. 

Once at your platform, you may see signs overhead noting where the 1st class and 2nd class cars will show up on the platform; proceed to the section of the platform corresponding to your ticket. From my ticket info above, you can see that we are in Coach 6; the monitor shot shows that we needed to be between around zone V to board our specific coach. Wait at the wrong area, and you'll end up having to hot-foot it down the platform to your coach. 

If there are no signs denoting this, or you're at a small rural station like the one at Tunes (right), you will need to watch for the large numbers 1 or 2 on the outside of the train cars as they pull up to the platform. Since trains can run in both forward and reverse directions, 1st class cars are not always at the front of the train where the engine is.

Next, does your train ticket show assigned seating, or is it general seating? If it is the latter, simply grab your luggage, and hop on the class of car for which you have paid, and find some agreeable seats. If you have assigned seating however, sometimes you need to watch the outside of the train for your coach number. For our Portugal ticket example, on the return journey to Lisbon (#672), we were assigned coach number 11, and my seat 93. Once we identified the correct carriage, there were two sets of doors - they listed the seat numbers on the outside that were in that half of the car. Enter at the wrong end, and you'll be swimming upstream to get to your assigned seats. Just like on an airplane, the seats are numbered in an ascending or descending fashion, depending on which end of the carriage you entered from. There is often a luggage rack by the doors - if you have heavy items, they are best stowed there; lighter cases can be stowed overhead. There is plenty of space for small bags etc. by your feet, so you can keep your snacks and reading material handy.

That's all there is to it... now sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery roll by!

End of the line on the Rocky Mountaineer - luxury sightseeing rail trip in BC, Canada