Dookie: I would not even attempt to calculate that - only a public school (UK) matriculator could even attempt that!

An article in Libérations says:

La SNCF a lancé, à l'automne , son écocomparateur. Un outil très prisé par les internautes, avec 10 000 visites par jour et 152 000 sites Web faisant référence à son petit module de calcul. Il fait la part belle au train et à son fleuron, le TGV. L'outil est pourtant très approximatif. Sur un Paris-Strasbourg, il donne 3 kilos de CO2 pour un trajet en TGV. Or, notre estimation (1,2 kg) démontre que même la SNCF pourrait sous-estimer ses performances. La raison ? La compagnie fait ses calculs à partir de moyennes, mixant le TGV (très propre) aux trains corail et aux motrices diesel (beaucoup plus sales).

In terms of planes and trains running the same route, my understanding is that with the advent of the so-called "high speed line" between Cologne and Frankfurt, Lufthansa basically cut out flights between the two cities as a result.

ditto for Paris-Brussels i believe - no flights since 1.25 hrs by rail

Hi all,

Starting in September, smoking will no longer be allowed on trains, buses and taxis in Germany.

See news clip:

"German lawmakers are among the users of some 500 federal government buildings who will soon be barred from smoking inside the premises, after Parliament approved anti-smoking legislation that takes effect in September.

The Bundesrat, or upper house, passed the bill today after failing to push through more stringent measures last year. The smoking ban extends to ministries, courts, job centers and railway stations and on public transport including buses, trains and taxis. It excludes restaurants and bars, over which Germany's 16 states and not the federal government have jurisdiction."

Bloomberg News, 2007-07-06
Author: Claudia Rach
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aJLk.3h0lIck

kiki - about time!

As per ICEs and no reservations i checked bahn.de site yesterday and it seems ICEs Saarbrucken-Paris Est do indeed require reservations so i guess they have caved in to French demands that all trains on the route be obligable reserved. have to do a better check however to be sure all are.

So, Kerouac, how was the TGV trip? Tell us about the trains, etc.!

The trip was excellent, but rather disorienting when one has the old travel times still in memory. I used to take the Metz train in 2h45, so it was actually quite difficult to adjust to the fact that we were pulling into the Metz station after only 1h25.

I have a divorced friend who takes the train to Strasbourg every other weekend to see his 3 kids, and it has changed his world to get to Strasbourg in only 2h20 instead of 5 hours. Also, the kids will be coming to Paris much more often now.

Meanwhile, the renovated Gare de l'Est is looking VERY nice, but the 50 new shops are not yet open yet. Some of the shops say "coming this summer" while Virgin says "coming this winter" so I guess they will open little by little. There are a dozen new escalators from the metro, which will make people with suitcases happier (there were already escalators in the past but not as many).

I haven't taken an ICE, but I must admit that the ICE trains look considerably more spectacular than a plain old TGV, at least from the outside.

PalenQ there are still plenty of flights between Paris and Brussels. Why any one would choose to fly rather than take the train is another question entirely.

>Why any one would choose to fly rather than take the train is another question entirely.

There are even flights between Basel and Zürich (90 km; 50 min by train). I don´t understand why any one would fly this distance, but obviously some people do.

I was on a plane once between San Francisco and San Jose. 8 minute flight. But it was continuing elsewhere.

"There are even flights between Basel and Zürich (90 km; 50 min by train). I don´t understand why any one would fly this distance, but obviously some people do."

Because, if there weren't such flights, people in the Basle/Mulhouse/Fribourg area would have to fly to Heathrow, Frankfurt or CDG for long-distance connections. With flights to Zurich, they can catch their flight to Sydney or Hong Kong there.

>people in the Basle/Mulhouse/Fribourg area would have to fly to Heathrow, Frankfurt or CDG for long-distance connections. With flights to Zurich, they can catch their flight to Sydney or Hong Kong there.

It is distance-wise akin to flying Stansted to Heathrow.

Do these poor Stansted area residents have to fly to Paris or Frankfurt for their long-distance connections?

Kerouac - did you notice if the Consigne - left luggage at Est has reopened. In Feb i asked and they said it was closed for construction but would reopen. Any word? thanks.

The big art deco consigne sign is right over the location of the upcoming Flo Brasserie. But I think they will have lockers and left luggage elsewhere (unless they already do somewhere that I haven't noticed).

Took the ICE from Frankfurt to Paris with the change at Saarbroken or whatever it is called...I think they will be allowing through traffic between Frankfurt and Paris in the future....trip used to take 7 hours...cut it to 4....was great...the ICE train must have hit 320 km/hr at some point on the trip and arrived exactly on time at Gare de l'est.