Episode 2: Why and Where

Take a passion for train travel and another for creating online services and smash them together, so that would be travellers can use their mobile phones; and their PCs, laptops, tablets and TVs to discover how to take new journeys by train.

It seems ludicrous now, but when I had this lightbulb moment I didn’t anticipate that over a 30 month period that I’d be embarking on six trips, which ultimately encompassed travelling more than 40,000 kilometres to 148 locations across Europe by train; most of which I’d end up visiting more than once.
I had a notion that because I’d already travelled on three previous InterRail adventures, I’d be able to fill in the gaps in my knowledge with some online research - et voila, I could present myself as an expert.
Instead what I was about to discover, that once you create a travel service, you can’t stop taking journeys; and as I write this my next two itineraries have already been prepped.

Which is fine by me as I’m still excited by train travel and not just by the prospect of seeing fantastic views on my journeys, but also by the prospect of experiencing great design; and being propelled across the earth at more than 250 km/h, is something that is never going to fail to thrill me.
If I was to inspire people to take the train, I’d need to be able to show them the fabulous experiences that await them, which is no great hardship for yours truly.
I’d also be able keep pace with innovations, both in terms of advances in technology and the fact that train services in Europe are also constantly evolving
The goal being to pass on what I’d learned, to prevent others from repeating my errors or replicating my moments of bewilderment, the first of which occurred on day one.

Setting off from the Swedish capitall

Why were my European train travel adventures commencing in Stockholm and not my hometown of London?

Well another assumption, to be overturned on subsequent trips, was that I thought there was little I still needed to learn about taking a Eurostar.
Also including London on a Europe by train itinerary, inevitably involves a return journey through the Channel Tunnel, so I was also naively speculating that making any repeat journeys on my wanderings would be a waste of my time and money.
So this first of six itineraries was to be a north to south adventure from Stockholm to Madrid, though I wouldn’t be travelling in a straight line.

If I’d had more than 10 days of travel to play with on this first trip, I could have travelled north from London to Stockholm by train via Nykobing and Linkoping and returned south via Goteborg and Padborg, which with hindsight seems a weak justification for spending the bulk of day one on a plane; the shame of it!
Though in my defence the future intention isn’t for ShowMeTheJourney to be solely dedicated to train travel, in time the plan is to show when the bus and (perhaps) plane can be logical alternatives to taking a train, both in Europe and ultimately beyond.

It also isn’t possible to travel from London to Stockholm in 24 hours by train, the days of the Holland-Scandinavia Express connecting with ferries across the North Sea are a distant memory
Copenhagen/Kobenhavn is the furthest point north that can be reached in a single day from London by train; and making that journey can be a tad ambitious.
I am not apt to wallowing in nostalgia for a mystical golden-age of European train travel, thanks to European daytime trains being faster than ever before, the time spent travelling has never been shorter.
And for those averse to making what are, more often than not, straightforward connections between trains, it’s still possible to see the best of Europe by taking direct trains.

Though a somewhat regrettable consequence of the dawn of the age of the high speed train, has been a reduction in the number of long distance direct trains, which used to snake their way across the continent.
The gain of being able to direct super-fast trains from London to Amsterdam, Lyon and Marseille has been offset by the removal of the trains to far-flung destinations across Europe, which once met the ferries crossing the English Channel and The North Sea.
As these trains made their way to and from the likes of Calais, Ostende and The Hook Of Holland to Austria, Italy and Scandinavia etc, they made calls in cities such as Bruxelles, Koln, Lille and Rotterdam; and they are a loss that has never been replaced.

A London to Stockholm journey now involves taking a minimum of five trains, plus an overnight stay on route.
Hence the first of more than 320 train journeys being a trip on the Arlanda Express. One of the efficient, but comparatively expensive, express rail links which connect many European airports to city centres.
On the future article list is a hopefully highly useful guide to these airport rail connections, so that people can at least know how to avoid how to avoid travelling to and from plane by car
But until then, some broad advice is that these ‘special’ airport trains often have much cheaper alternatives, which often aren’t much slower.
So try and resist being enticed into taking the likes of the Gatwick Express, The Leonardo Express and the Flytoget.
Though by the time I landed at Arlanda, its Express was the only option for the train journey to Stockholm.

Not the most scintillating of beginnings to my adventures, but I could be confident that the best was yet to come!