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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

April 1999: Focus on High-Speed Rail

Riding the High-Speed Rails in Europe

Have you ever wished you could ask Scotty of "Star Trek" fame to "beam" you instantly to your desired destination? This notion certainly came to mind last fall when I was planning a brief visit to three European cities. With a packed itinerary in Amsterdam, Paris and London, I had to move quickly from point to point.

Lacking the necessary 23rd century transport technology, I weighed the present-day options of train or plane for zipping between cities. In terms of speed and cost, high-speed rail proved to be the hands-down winner.

All-Aboard for Paris

The author in Paris "To get from Amsterdam to Paris, you want the Thalys," said Linda, my travel agent. "The Rail Europe people say it's newer and better than the TGV."

The name -- intended to evoke the notion of "speed and comfort" -- proved to be apropos. This train, operated jointly by the nations of Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, could zoom! With the Thalys, my husband, Brian, and I traveled 346 miles from Amsterdam's Central Station into Paris' Gare du Nord -- central city to central city -- in just over four hours.

At the Amsterdam station, we had no trouble finding the platform, marked with special Thalys flags. The sleek burgundy and gray train arrived, and passengers had about five minutes to board, stow luggage and find their seats. As promised by the published schedule, we pulled away from the platform at 9:54 a.m., exactly.

In our second-class car (roughly $70 per one-way ticket), we had plush, reclining seats that faced each other, with a fold-out table in the center. My one gripe: skimpy leg room. I found myself wondering if it would have been worth it to spring for the extra $40 for the more spacious accommodations in first class.

Ten minutes later we were at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where a large number of passengers boarded.

Soon we were off again, with views of the green, flat countryside out the large windows. A waiter came through selling sandwiches and soft drinks, but, hoping for a more extensive menu, we opted for the dining car. To get there, we crossed through the smoking car, and a "baby den," complete with changing table, wash basin and bottle warmer.

After lunch, we blazed through a number of train stations, stopping only at a few major points -- The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam. After quick stops in Antwerp and Brussels, the train reached its fastest speed of 186 miles per hour.

Here the recessed tracks and soundwalls obscured the view somewhat. We had glimpses of country homes and agricultural lands and, every so often, a Belgian freeway. We passed cars as though they were standing still. At this speed, I discovered, as I made my way to one of many clean, albeit cramped, restrooms, walking was quite a challenge.

Before long we were entering Paris, disembarking at the Gare du Nord at 2:05 p.m. We grabbed our gear, and queued up for a taxi, ready for our Parisian adventure to begin.

Good-bye, White Cliffs of Dover; Hello, Chunnel

Given the stormy November weather that greeted us on the day of our departure from Paris, I did not wax nostalgic about foregoing a ferry boat trip between France and England. Besides, we were eager to ride the much-trumpeted "Eurostar" train, which promised to deliver us from Paris' Gare du Nord to London's Waterloo Station in just three hours.

At the Paris station, massive signs and posters directed us to the appropriate platform. Our hearts sank, however, when we got to the waiting area, which was segregated by ticket class. Ever the cheapskate, I had again opted for second-class tickets (we paid roughly $120, while first-class tickets ranged from $200 to $300). In lowly second class were two wooden benches, already filled with grumpy-looking budget travelers. In the first-class area were upholstered furniture, magazines and telephones.

Oh well, I rationalized, all the more money for London theater tickets.

After a short wait, we were instructed via loudspeaker to descend stairs to the platform. The stylishly modern-looking Eurostar awaited us, with its pointy nose and gleaming gray, blue and gold exterior. The sparklingly clean interior of the Eurostar was much like the Thalys, but with more leg room and forward-facing seats.

We pulled away from the platform at 11:46 a.m., three minutes late. Pounding rain obscured our view of Paris as we headed west. We filled out a customs card provided by the train crew, then dined one last time on French fare: a baguette, wine and cheese that we had packed for our trip.

Planes have their turbulence and high-speed trains have their jostling, we discovered, as the Eurostar picked up its pace (186 miles per hour) out in the countryside. After about an hour, we were in the French coastal town of Lille, where more passengers boarded. We galloped a bit further toward the ocean before entering the Channel Tunnel, or "chunnel." Very much like BART's own Transbay Tube, the tunnel was monotonously dark, with lights posted along either wall. We were below ground for all of 20 minutes before we ascended into the daylight of the British countryside.

We whizzed through small English rail stations so fast that I couldn't make out the names on the signs, and arrived in London's Waterloo Station on time at 1:47 p.m. Factoring in the time change between France and England, our channel crossing took just three hours -- not bad for a pair without access to Star Trek travel tricks.

-- Ellen Griffin

Eurostar

For more information on Eurostar, check out the Web site www.eurostar.com; for Thalys, www.thalys.com. Rail buffs also may want to explore the Web site of the "European Railway Server," mercurio.iet.unipi.it/, which links to both official and unofficial high-speed (as well as conventional) rail pages.

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