RailEurope, oft maligned by Fodorites, reports sales soared 25% in the third quarter of 2006 and a whopping 41% in Oct 2006 compared to Oct 2005.

Thalys ticket sales were up 12%

RailEurope President Fabrice Morel (RE President always comes straight from the SNCF, or French Railways who is the major stockholder in the American subsidiary) contributed the sales increases to more folks taking Eurostar and Thalys and trains in general, citing 'frustration with airline baggage restrictions and delays at airports' but also added that part of the increase was from RE's non-rail branches such as Avanti Destinations and DER car rentals and air consolidation operations.

So with generally higher fares than in Europe let's hope the sales barrage success trickles down to the consumer!

Was that in numbers or in dollars spent? Since they've raised prices dramatically in the last year or two, 25% could basically just cover the price increases, especially on the reservations and tickets they sell.

I guess I'm the only one who USED to always take trains, but now take intereurope planes more and more due to the time factor and the much lower costs. I'm apparently going against what they claim is the trend. Yet, I'm not sure why there are more and more budget airlines adding more and more inter-Europe destinations if most people are switching to trains. Sounds like they have a good spin writer.

I think the vast majority of American tourists to Europe are not nearly as travel savvy as you and folks who regularly participate in this forum. They may go to a travel agent and blindly say this is what i want...the agent orders blindly from RailEurope, etc.

And i think the boom of cheap air travel in Europe has spurred travel in general - many more Europeans are now traveling in air and also instead of taking overnight trains, etc. now fly.

And i'd say the proportion of sales from point-point tickets is still a fragment of what the railpass market is for RE - and again many folks, such as novice Euro travelers, just go to an agent who blindly advises a railpass, even though these are often not the most cost-effective thing for them.

Yep. Very good points. And I sure do see a lot more advertising for Rail Europe passes these days.

As for taking rail than train, the RE info points out large increases in Eurostar and Thalys tickets - it's these short high-speed train trips that are taking folks off planes. Like Paris-Brussels now in 1.25 hr city centre - city centre - who would fly?

And Eurostar London-Paris and Brussels in just about two hours. It's the long-distance trains that are being hurt - overnight trains are being significantly reduced all over Europe. The Paris-Rome and Florence overnight trains were merged into one train serving both recently i believe.

Please excuse me for hijacking the thread, but it has caused me to wonder. Would you say a night train from Krakow to Prague is inadvisable compared to flying? Was planning to use a 1st class European East rail pass which includes travel in Poland, Czech Republic and Austria (am going to Vienna/Salzburg after Prague).

I am finding timetables on the German rail website but no fares yet so I'm unsure at this point of the monetary savings of the rail pass vs. point-to-point tickets. But do you folks think flying between the cities would actually be a savings of Euros or is it a mostly the time-saving factor?

Thanks so much,
Sandi