Welcome to my channel, which focuses primarily on train travel - not only do I find it to contain interesting history and great scenery, but it's also a good way to unwind and relax.
Here you'll find trip reports, journeys and comparisons of trains from all over the world - videos are released weekly at 5pm UK time, so hit subscribe and enable notifications so you don't miss any of my adventures by rail!
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I travelled by train around most of the UK back in 1986 / 87 & 1991, i believe back then i was travelling on British Rail., and i was on the Intercity125. Before leaving my homeland of New Zealand, i purchased from my travel agent what was known as a Britrail pass., for a month's use on any British Rail Train. I enjoyedf watching this video you made, you've done a awesome job in presenting this video., and this video brought back a lot of memories for me!.
It's Good That The Class 360 Desiros Have Found a New Home at EMR Since They Left Greater Anglia 👍
I took this exact route in business class, it was so cool to see the European countryside whisk by. Definitely made for an epic experience as a train enthusiast
Why aren't we more outraged at the Eurostar monopoly?
Embarrasing dirty TGVs... SNCF is a joke!
Yes, the Restaurant and cafe sets the ICE apart. Kudos to DB. The TGV seats is the only thing I like about TGV, now. I have never encountered a comfortable seat on any Siemens train. SNCF is very shitty when it comes to clean trains and food service. It seems the French Railways no longer have any pride.
Is there any map or information about all inter-country trains in Europe including night trains showing names of train companies?
What months are the rush season in these trains and when are the fares lower?
Please suggest some nice night trains
It should remind me the classic hydraulic transmission loco NY6 manufactured by Henschel. Based on Deutsche Bahn V320.
Frankfurt to Paris: 475 km, 4 hours Paris to Bordeaux: 570 km, 2 hours 10 mn
It makes sense, the German population is more dispersed, so there comparatively more attention to the regional rail network. France is much larger than Germany but Germany has 10000km more rail. This also means high speed trains have to share routes with regional rail which slows them down.
@@user-cz9ss4yq4xGermany is slightly larger then France. It’s population is 1,6 times as large
Germany isn't centralised around one city. So there are more interdependencies on service. It's impossible for German high speed trains to be as fast or as punctual as french trains and would make no sense. Still a lot of room for improvement though, and things have gotten worse over the last 10 years.
@@MrJimheeren I meant France being larger in terms of area, not population.
@@kokotheclown I guess it's gotten worse in other parts but the south has seen some nice improvements. The new Go-Ahead regional trains run very reliably and frequently now after a painful start and they easily go 150km/h. I made the journey from Munich airport to Augsburg in about an 1:30h yesterday (15 min deboarding, 40 min S-Bahn, 25 min ICE, few minutes of wait times). This is an hour faster than it used to be due to scheduling bubbles. Stuttgart 21 is finally completing soon too which upgrades the whole south of the country and Europe west-east rail at large. All of this comfort comes at the cost of lower top speeds for ICEs at least until the Deutschlandtakt is ready...
Folks, I need to pour water into the wine. In theory, the ICEneo is Europe's most recommendable HST next to Italy's Frecciarossa 1000, which I regard the the currently best train in Europe. However. I am from Germany and a frequent business traveller on the Frankfurt to Düsseldorf route. Here, ICE3neo already are in revenue service. My general experience with ICE travel is: Out of 10 services, on 5 the restaurant is closed, serves only drinks or none at all because the kitchen is broken or the coffee machine, or the crew didn't show for work - they are never short of reasons not to serve the passengers. What is more you urgently should avoid to have any litter, the litter boxes are a joke. Until couple of years ago, a cleaning guy would walk the train every hour end to end and collect trash into a big bag - gone. Most likely cost cutting measure so the upper managers to get an even higher bonus. Which they are gettiing anyway. Not for making the German railroad the reliable transportation again it used to be for 150 or so years. Came rain or shine, the train was alwasy 'there" and on time - back in the days when I was young. Maybe they did not have these fancy high-spped ICE, but snow could pile up to the sky - the trains were running. On the dining car, they served real cooked meals on real china, not these microwave crap they serve today. But, of course, strictly vegan and organic. Today, for German railroad management it is only important they hire enough women and immigrants and all that stuff. DEI at highest standards outside the Harvard university. It is just into May and I already have had my fair share of passengers sitting next to you, listing loudly to music from their smartphones, making video calls on loudspeaker to Syria or Afghanistan. I witnessed two brawls about reserved seats, and no conductor bothered to show up... I could tell you a whole lot more. Not for all of these issues the DB is at fault. But often I wish in Germany, trains couldn't be accessed without any check or control. Recently, I was in the US, in Florida. They now have this Brightline service from Miami to Orlando. It isn't high speed. only a small section at 125 mph, the rest is 79 to 90 mph. But service is much better. The stations... you wouldb't believe what is possible, if you only know German railroad stations. Clean you could eat from the floor. No smell of piss, no beggars, pickpockets or drug pushers which are frequent attendants at Frankfurt Central. Security is similar to air travel, but it makes the journey more secure. How is the situation in the UK? As bad, or is it any better. Any yes - at times, my ICE is on time, the toilets not defect and the other passenger quiet and polite. But that would be one joureny out of 10.
I'd love to do this train service. Albeit between Paris and Strasbourg
They Should Have Just Moved The Class 332s To Reading Depot When Old Oak Common Depot Was Removed And Then Heathrow Express Could Have Still Run The Class 332s Now 👍
Is it just me or did the ice doors sound sounded like a class 380 in the uk?
You probably may have got abit of refund because of that broken ac
I have never understood the provision of foot rests on trains. They don't add to comfort, must add to weight and maintenance work and always seem to hit my ankles or restrict access - altogether a waste of time IMHO.
1.clas has 2 Buttons 🤔 1 at the side and 1 under the seat!
It'll be great when Germany constructs it's high speed line to the border. I've read Paris to Frankfurt will be 2 hours 30 minutes then
i should really try this service at some point during an interrail, it is kinda just awkward for me tho as it connects 2 cities i have more direct rail connections too so i doubt i will take these any time soon. i still loved watching the video despite the ice wifi (ice 4 from switzerland)
DB wont revive the train to london, both frankfurth and colone main station are already seeing more trains than the station was designed to handle (and good luck enlarging the station since it is in the middle of the city) so they are unwilling to sacrifice an entire platform for the passport controls, as the platform could otherwise serve a lot more trains. And belgium, understandably, is not keen on letting the german trains have an enourmous stop in brussels to do the checks there, as brussels also has better uses for that capacity. Especially since you cannot buy trough tickets to other stations in the uk, making it less attractive to use the channel tunnel if you need to go to another city in the uk. So unless there is a check in system where people can have their passports checked online beforehand, skipping the need for passport checks at the station, or the UK decides to just do the checks in st. pancras. There wont be a direct gemany-london connection anytime soon.
Only wonders if the passport control difficulties are deliberate to halt the development of UK - EU train services for fear of upsetting the airline industry.
@@barrieshepherd7694The channel tunnel is Anglo-French, the access LGV line is French, the Eurostar Group is mainly a French company (55% SNCF) ... so no benefit indeed in making things esay for Eurostar (though Siemens did manage to sell them their trains). I vaguely guess the Germans (the Government, DB, Lufthansa, whatever...) are waiting for some sort of eventual copartnership in the managment of that "international" tunnel/line and the creation of a Eurostar competitor that could be Anglo-Dutch-German or German-Belgio-French... whatever as long as Germans are a big part of it and get some good income out of it... basically they only want to participate if they are too a "top player" (at least equal to the UK or even France) There are a bit more Germans than French living within a 500km distance from the Tunnel... There is the Brussels "bottleneck" but a bypass (mainly tunnel) is not unconceivable... In 8 years both Turin and Milan will be within 4 hour of Paris (through the Alps !) ... in a sense it shows where priorities are in governments...
I've never been to Europe, hopefully in 2026... I'll definitely have to try some high speed trains if I do make it, most trains in Europe would likely be faster than what we have in Australia.
What a quality train. I like the re-introduction of wood paneling on the interiors, adds some feeling of luxury to your journey. 👍
In Vendenheim took place the first and only deadly accident in the history of the TGV . A pre-opening test train went to fast into the connecting curve and derailed and killed 11 people. The HSL Est-Européen is designed for speeds up to 350km/h but operational costs are too high for that speed…
Hi. Great Video, but don't you think that the ticking noise is for the People with visual impairmant? Reduced hearing people can see the doors.
You actually part-alluded to one other reason why the London ICE services didn't happen - the stock you're on was needed to replace/reinforce unreliable existing international services (even though it was originally ordered for a London service)
Did London -> Paris -> Munich two years ago in First Class. Can agree to the praise of the Velario. Eurostar and the ICE from Stuttgart to Munich have been amazing. The TGV was fast, but their 1st class was less comfortable than 2nd class in any ICE from my experience.
Bit unusual to run a 16-car set from Frankfurt to Paris. How good!
There will be No >300mk/h lines in Germany because the benefits of time savings are too small compared to the amount of enenergy consumption due to the short distances. So the the Velaro D are only capable of 320km/h...because they use the LGV Est.
I did in in june 2022, just reverse and with a TGV Duplex but also in first class. But because of track works we did take another route from the german border to Frankfurt that was around 30-40 minutes longer than usual.
Took the same route but going through Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken - ICE trains are the best out there imo, masterclass in design and more spacious/comfortable 🙌
5:15 whats the point of building a 300 km/h line for the short leg of Frankfurt to Mannheim if you can only travel at up to 250 km/h between Mannheim and Stuttgart + Stuttgart and Ulm and even slower from Ulm to Munich anyways?
New lines are planned based on a future timetable (Deutschlandtakt). 29 minutes travelling time between Frankfurt and Mannheim is needed to reach all connections in Mannheim. With the chosen route, it's only possible with 300kmh
I really like the ICE trains....i did this trip on a Eurail first class pass, I think I had to pay around a 20.00 reservation fee, but it was worth it. I went from Germany to Paris on a TGV and came back on the ICE
6euro
@Patrick-on2ty nah, it's more then six euros on an ICE train to Paris....its the only segment where I had to pay a reservation fee on an ICE train....the ones to Belgium and Switzerland don't need one....this was first class though
@@ringo7561 Sometimes you need it and it's 5,90 for the train to Switzerland in First class. i ride this route 3 or 4 times a year from Berlin -Bern via Basel and 20,- is a lie!
@@ringo7561 db booking app
@Patrick-on2ty I've always jumped on ICE trains both going to Switzerland to and from Germany ( about 8 times total)....I just find an empty seat in first class with my Eurail Global first class pass. I've never been asked to pay a reservation fee from the train ticket taker. I guess I've gotten lucky each time.
I only took the TGV between germany and Paris… But in tow weeks i am going to take an ice to Visit Paris again
3:37 reduced hearing? Don't you mean reduced sight?
Yes apologies, made a typo by mistake! Many thanks for letting me know 👍
im in Germany next week and will be going first class from Dortmund to Hamburg. From there to Vienna on the new OBB night train.
Enjoy, it’s a great train!
Hello Midland London, this is a very enjoyable video. Is the LGV EST Line the same route that runs between Paris - Lyon which opened in 1981 or were you on a different French high speed line? Best wishes and take care. Kind regards, Peter Skuce. St Albans. Hertfordshire.
No, the line between Paris and Lyon is the LGV Sud-Est (Southeast), which opened partially in 1981 and fully in 1983. The fastest lines in France are the LGV SEA (Tours Bordeaux, extending LGV Atlantique all the way to Bordeaux and reducing travel times to 2 hours and 3 or 4 minutes), LGV Est between Paris and Strasbourg or the German border, LGV BPL between le Mans and Rennes, LGV Rhin-Rhône that is a stretch between Alsace and Lyon's regions. Currently, there's the Bordeaux Toulouse that is being built. These lines are operated at 320kph. Other older lines are limited at 300kph.
Can I request you something please. Can you maybe do the WMR Class 730 sometime as they have ow entered passenger service on the Cross City line between Bromsgrove and Lichfield. That would be appreciated. Thanks. Great video once again Midland.
Great video as always! There’s been a big big update to the IC and ICN services by trenitalia, with new liveries, services and trainsets! I would love to see a review on this soon!
Thank you, I’ll try and arrange it when I can!
A step up for sure the LTS line used to be called the misery line for good reason To think I can remember the old slam door 302 310/12 units and remember the 357 when they came in
great video, better than superlabs travels
Superalbs is quite good too .
Hardest Train Seats Ever Sat on Not as good as original C2C Train
I want to try the etr700!
It's great to see. I would like to add that there are extra discounts on train tickets recently, friends who are interested can pay attention to it.
I searched for tickets on the TGV website for Brussels to Paris and it only gives me Eurostar. Is that right?
what camera do you use?
please don't keep dropping your voice at the end of sentences!
Thanks for sharing! I will try it out while there is a discount recently!