Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The Deutsche Bahn AG is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company (AG) and the largest railway company in the world.
The Rail Delivery Group Limited (RDG), previously the Association of Train Operating Companies, is the British rail industry membership body that brings together passenger and freight rail companies, Network Rail and High Speed 2. The RDG is approximately half-funded by Network Rail, the remainder of its funding being provided by the various transport groups it represents.
Transport in Europe provides for the movement needs of over 700 million people and associated freight.
Trenitalia SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself partly owned by the Italian government, the company is owned publicly and partly private from a private investors group. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transport.
The Interrail Pass is a rail pass available to European citizens and residents. Citizens of other countries residing outside Europe may purchase the Eurail Pass instead. Types of Interrail Pass include the Interrail Global Pass and the Interrail One Country Pass.
Ashford International railway station is a National Rail station in the town of Ashford, Kent, England. It connects several railway lines, including High Speed 1 and the South Eastern Main Line. Services are operated by Southeastern and Southern.
City Night Line, abbreviated CNL, was a train category of German railway company Deutsche Bahn for overnight passenger train services between Germany and neighbouring European countries. In late 2015, Deutsche Bahn announced that it planned to terminate all night train services in December 2016, and this plan was implemented on 11 December 2016. The service on some CNL routes was replaced by ÖBB Nightjet services.
The Japan Rail Pass, also called the JR Pass, is a rail pass sold by the Japan Railways Group exclusively for overseas visitors. It is valid for travel on all major forms of transportation provided by the JR Group in Japan, with a few exceptions. The pass is designed to stimulate travel and tourism throughout the country. It is cost effective only for long-distance travel, particularly by bullet train. It is of limited use within larger cities, as private operators generally do not accept it.
Rail transport in Europe has diverse technological standards, operating concepts, and infrastructures. Common features are the widespread use of standard-gauge rail, high operational safety and a high proportion of electrification. Electrified railway networks in Europe operate at many different voltages, both AC and DC, varying from 750 to 25,000 volts, and signaling systems vary from country to country, complicating cross-border traffic.
Railteam B.V. is a closed company with limited liability (B.V.) based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It operates as an alliance of European railway companies in the field of international high-speed rail in Europe, modelled on the airline alliances and was founded in Brussels on 2 July 2007.
A train ticket is a transit pass ticket issued by a railwayoperator that enables the bearer to travel on the operator's network or a partner's network. Tickets can authorize the bearer to travel a set itinerary at a specific time, a set itinerary at any time, a set itinerary at multiple times, or an arbitrary itinerary at specific times. The last two categories are often called passes: the former is often sold as a discounted block of trips for commuters; the latter is often sold to vacationers, such as European Eurail passes.
A rail pass is a pass that covers the cost of train travel in a certain designated area or areas within a certain period of time. It is contrasted to a point-to-point ticket in that it allows the holder unlimited travel, within the pre-designated area and period, while a point-to-point ticket only permits the holder to travel from a point to another once. It is different from a season ticket in the sense that, while both of them grant unlimited travel to the holder, season tickets normally target commuting travellers, whereas rail passes usually target tourists. Based on this difference, terms of use are thus normally set differently.
The British Rail Class 373, known in France as the TGV TMST and branded by Eurostar as the Eurostar e300, is a French designed and Anglo-French built electric multiple unit train that was used for Eurostar international high-speed rail services from the United Kingdom to France and Belgium through the Channel Tunnel. Part of the TGV family, it was built with a smaller cross-section to fit the smaller loading gauge in Britain, was originally capable of operating on the UK third rail network, and has extensive fireproofing in case of fire in the tunnel. It is both the second longest—387 metres —and second fastest train in regular UK passenger service, operating at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph).
There are four main types of airline-railway business alliance or codeshare agreements: dedicated services, entire network access, Night&Fly, and re-protection agreements. The currently active air-rail alliances are listed in the tables below.
The France Rail Pass was a railway ticket available until December 2018 for non-European residents provided by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF), or French railway. The France Rail Pass provided unlimited travel for non-European residents on the national rail network of France. The pass provided unlimited three to nine days of unlimited rail travel within one month. The France Rail Pass is a SNCF Voyages et Développement product for the SNCF company.
The Korea Rail Pass, also commonly called the KR Pass, is a rail pass offered by Korail, the national railway operator of South Korea. The pass is offered exclusively to foreign visitors and is valid for most of the rail lines operated by Korail in the designated period, including KTX, the high-speed railway in South Korea. However, the pass is not valid for subways and tourist trains, even when they are also operated by Korail.
Rail Europe, SAS is a company that specializes in providing train tickets and rail passes for travel in Europe.
Raileurope.co.uk is an online booking service for train travel in the United Kingdom and Europe. It sells tickets through its website and via its smartphone app which is available on iOS and Android platforms.
The Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) is a commercial agreement between 17 major European rail operators, to allow international train passengers on the next possible train without additional costs, in case of a missed train connection.
