With Austria, Germany and Poland, all of which banned anymore smoking on its trains as of Sep 1, 2007 it leaves only two western European countries that allow puffing away on some trains:

Spain - smoking only prohibited on trains of duration of less than 5 hours

Finland - Pendolino, single floor IC and overnight trains have 'smoking corners'

Correction - Spain should have said duration of more (not less) than five hours

Correction, Spain should have said prohibited in every single train no matter the distance.

welcome news

i was repeating a bulletin issued by Rail europe recently and they it was based on a "communication from railroads regarding smoking on trains"

i didn't think Spain could be so retro - thanks for correction.

If there ween't those dangerous electric wires, they could have put a few seats on top of the trains.

LOL, kerouac

>>>Finland - Pendolino, single floor IC and overnight trains have 'smoking corners'
<<<

They are not "smoking corners", they are totally sealed and air-condioned "closets" (one per train) in those trains that go overnight to Lapland. The trip takes over 12 hours, better to have a place for smokers so they don´t have to hide in toilets.

elina the smoking adviso was i think poorly written to say that smoking was allowed in these smoking cubicles they called 'corners' on Pendolino, single floor IC and overnight trains.

Do i interpret you correctly that only on overnight trains is smoking still possible and not on the others that were perhaps erroneously included.

thanks

Well, overnight or overday, trains where people sit (or sleep) 12+ hours have them. The stops on the way are so short that it would be impossible to go and have a smoke outside.

>They are not "smoking corners", they are totally sealed and air-condioned "closets" (one per train) in those trains

I think this is a far better solution than prohibiting smoke entirely on the train. The closets sem to be so small that they don´t have any significant impact on the passenger capacity of a train (unlike the smoking ares before which used to comprise up to 30% of the seats in Germany) and if somebody badly needs to smoke s/he has an oportunity to do so.

highwall - then should these special smoking compartments have higher fares

due to increase upkeep costs, presumably power fans to blow smoke outside, etc.

and conductors have to check tickets, risking their health as well

but i admit i could warm to that type of smoking if controlled correctly

Quoting from Finnish Rail website:

<i>Is smoking allowed aboard trains?

Aboard trains smoking is only allowed in smoking rooms designed for this particular purpose. Express trains and single-level InterCity trains have smoking rooms, whereas InterCity2 trains are non-smoking, as well as the commuter trains travelling within the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

In the mid-90s, a tightening of the provisions in smoking legislation resulted in VR withdrawing its earlier smoking cars. Then separate closed low-pressure smoking rooms were built in the trains, in conformity with the relevant legislation. The rooms are small as they are only intended for bried smoking visits.

The smoking room features exhaust ventilation and its door closes automatically, preventing thus any penetration of smoke in the corridors.</i>

I hope this gives everyone peace of mind on his or her next rail trip to Lapland ;-)

PalenQ, nobody goes there except people who want to have a smoke. It is not a &quot;compartment&quot;, nobody sits there, and conductors check the tickets where people sit. It is a tiny, little cubicle at the back of the train, only 3-5 people fit in at the same time. If those would not exist overnight (or overday) trains would need power fans in all toilets, now one is enough.