Trains - Dislikes/Losses/Problems
 

Has anyone had any luggage losses/theft while taking long-distance (3 hours or more) trains around Europe.

Any comments about theft, malfuntioning aircon, reserved seats taken, overcrowdedness and the like would be most welcome.

We are interested with ICE, TGV, Cisalpino, Eurostar, Trenitalia, but any unpleasant experience with trains would most useful to us.

A couple of girls lifted something out of my backpack in a train station in Belgium while I was squished on a crowded escalator - the police kind of chuckled when I reported it. Be careful in crowded stations.

I used a rail pass and was told I would need reservations for a seat on the ICE trains. That wasn't true. I bought reservations at the advice of my TA and it usually was the only one seating in my FC car. The reservations were pretty much ignored.

Why are you interested only in bad experiences? The only trip we took on a train that might be considered a bad experience was that we bought first class seats from Milan to Venice, and they had apparently oversold first class, so a lot of passengers had no seats and ended up standing in the aisles much of the way. We, fortunately, were among the first onto the train in Milan and so had seats. Also met some terrific women from Seattle we ran into occasionally in Venice.

Moral of the story: S_ _ _ happens. Best to get over it quickly. Life in the big city ain't always easy.

We later traveled second class from Venice to Florence and enjoyed it thoroughly and met some terific people on the trip.

My only suggestion is to book reserved seats, evn if you're traveling first class.

I've travel by train to all over Europe, many times and never experience any luggage losses or theft, but I always keep an eye, just in case.

My advice, never buy your tickets in advance at any travel agency or by internet, you most likely will have problems, specially if you decide to change dates or departure time.

Some of this huge central train stations can be very intimidating and confusing. First, they are thousands of people running around, there are dozens of ticket counters with little patience employees that don?t speak English and a loudspeaker communicating messages in a foreign language. Therefore, arrive with plenty of time, have and hotel employee write down a clear note indicating what you want, always buy your tickets the night before, and make sure you know the gate # in advance.

Try always to travel during weekdays, is less crowded and less confusing. I?ve never experience a malfunctioning aircon on the trains I travel. If possible, try always 1rst class, is usually empty, cleaner, more comfortable and the difference in price is insignificant.

Reserve seats are always respected by most Europeans, but if taken by someone, just show your ticket and ask them to leave your seat, no problem. Always check, because rules vary from different trains lines & some charge extra just for reserve seats, even in first class. If your making a long trip from one country to another, I advice to reserve a seat, sometimes its very annoying to have somebody remove you from your seat in the middle of a nap. If you want to save some money, always buy regular tickets, and if trains are very crowded, switch to first class & just pay the ticketier the difference went approach.

Finally, my most important advice, if traveling by train thru Europe, travel light, and always be ready to get off before your stop, sometimes at certain small stations, stops are very brief.

Bon Voyage!

What odd questions. It almost seems you are writing an article or book and want fodorites to provide your material.

Do you actually want to know about the services/safety of all those lines, or are you simply trolling for info?

Why are you bothering to leave your rocker if you are only expecting bad experiences. Talk about a way to start a journey. Get positive.

What's with the "three hours of more" requirement?

We've used trains exclusively for European travel for many years. The only problem we had (almost had) was on an overnight from Venice to Naples.

I suspected we would have a problem so we got to Venice (mestre) train station early and fixed it.

The train left Venice 11:45PM but we got on in Mestre for the sleeper that departed 12:15AM. Our ticket was marked for the wrong date. Several other Americans had the same problem.

Since we got there early, we got the only sleeper left. I refused to pay extra as requested. The trainmaster photocopied our ticket in the morning.

I complained to the Italian train service when we returned and they sent me a refund even though I didn't pay extra.

We were warned about thefts on trains, so we've always travelled prepared and have had no problems when other bags were missing. It has happened a few times that people have taken our reserved seats. Nicely show your ticket and ask for your seat, but expect that you may encounter someone that asks you to take another seat. If it is really important to you that you sit in your reserved seat, find a conductor to help. Sometimes the local trains don't have good aircon, but the premium trains are usually comfortable.

Well,

On every train I have taken a trip of 3 hours or more I have had some of my luggage stolen while arguing with a person who was sitting in my reserved seat in an overcrowded, overheated train with airconditioning that wasn't working.

If this is not your idea of travel, I suggest that you might want to stay home.

Maybe Nathan is trying to 'build' a case against the train, in favor of car rental..?

Nathan, I'm sorry to report that we've done 2 European trips involving lots of train travel (and 2 sleeper trips), and can't think of one negative. :-D

Why are you pros so hard on this guy? He probably is a novice, as I am, and wants to be prepared and avoid anything untoward that would deminish the pleasure of his trip. There are some scary stories around (Rick Steves!) and he went to you for aid. Travel is not supposed to be only for the bold and experienced. [a bag taken on each and every time? that's how these stories get started] Shame

Hi Doc,

You may note that Nathan didn't ask if there were problems or how to avoid these problems, but wanted to hear all the bad stories.

I take your point Ira, but then again it might just be a questionable choice of words.

Quite so.

geez, it looks to me just like Nathan wants to be prepared and know what to expect or be on the lookout for. Why is that so odd?

The only bad experience I had was on a TGV from Tours to Paris. It was second class, late Sun afternoon or evening, thus extremely crowded with folks returning from weekend trips. There were no extra seats, so you would have needed a reservation, but the bad thing was some drunken hooligans on the train who were harrassing an old man. They were guys in late teens, I'd guess -- French punks. Not a single French person in that car did anything, not even tell them to stop it. I almost did myself because I couldn't stand it, but thought that would not be wise for an American woman to do given there were several of them.

Never had any theft problems. The above incident was unusual, but I usually go first class on TGVs now in heavy periods on long trips as it is more pleasant and the cost isn't that different. I have had reserved seats taken on TGVs, that is going to happen anywhere, but the folks left when I told them they were in my seat.

I'm not sure the length of the trip has anything to do with crime, with the exception of an overnight train which includes other risks. Actually trains that stop frequently might be more dangerous, because someone can steal and jump off. Just a thought. If you are concerned about your luggage, pack light so you can put your bags above you in the overhead rack. If you have some huge carryon, you may have to leave it at the front/back of a train car, far away from your seat.

Well, you can all think or say what you wish about Nathan but I do find it interesting that he has yet to re-post.

I've never had a problem on a long or short distance train in Italy, France or England. Train stations are another matter. Someone tried to lift something out of my carry on in Milan. My pocket was picked in Paris but luckily I lost very little.

Maybe Nathan hasn't reposted because he got tired of all the smarta$$ comments. The guy has some funky syntax and is overfocused on schedules and security but that doesn't make him a troll. At least he's asking real travel questions, not foolishness like "is Stonehenge worth it?" or the latest go round on shoes.