RAIL TRANSPORT

1.1 BACKGROUND OF RAIL TRANSPORT

Holloway describes the first package tours on excursion trains as having been in operation by These enabled people to travel to the seaside and helped to make seaside resorts popular destinations for pleasure travellers. Another development for which the railways have been noted was that of providing hotel accommodation to meet the needs of the early rail market.

Rail services in the UK consisted of the following.

Intercity These long-distance router were easy to run commercially. Indeed they were therefore more attractive under privatization

Regional Passenger routes outside the main conurbations including ‘branch’ lines. These mainly existed for social or political reasons in the UK and many have now closed as they were unprofitable.

Urban Passenger routes serving the major urban conurbations and providing links with their dormitory towns and commuter belt.

Private and tourist railways These existed purely as tourist attractions or holidays in their own right. Examples include the popular privately owned locomotives, especially steam locomotives.

Luxury trains Those, such as the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, operating at the top end of the market.

1.2 THE INTERNATIONAL RAIL SCENE

For the UK market Rail travel in general is suited to international journey travel times of around 3 hours. The advantages of city-centre-to-city-centre trains, capable of speeds up to 225 kph, are also significant in addition to which there are no parking problems or congested motorways for tourists travelling by train.

It often pays for overseas tourists coming to the UK to purchase rail tickets in their home country for the following reasons:

-Some products, available overseas, are not for sale in the UK. -Tourists need not queue for tickets during their holiday time. -Holiday budgeting is easier when tickets are purchased in advance.

Rail travel in Europe

1. High-speed rail services Long distance high-speed rail services are those which compete most effectively with other transport modes for custom. Advances in high-speed train technology during the past two decades have contributed to a growth in the passenger traffic on long distance, inter-city routes.

Examples of high-speed services Include the Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) in France, the Alta Velocidad (AVE) in Spain and the German Inter-City Express (ICE) as well as the Pendolino tilting trains in Italy. These trains offer airline style service, improved punctuality and travelling speeds of kilometres per hour.

2. Inter-railing Inter-rail passes entitle the holder to unlimited rail travel on the national rail network of the countries or zones purchased. These passes are available to any person who is normally resident in Europe or who has lived in Europe for six months prior to the trip. They are also available in two forms, those for travelers aged less than 26 years old and those for travelers of 26 years and above.

3. The Channel Tunnel A significant development in terms of European rail travel has been the Channel Tunnel which has been in operation since 1994, providing alternative modes of travel between the UK and the Continent Europe. The Channel Tunnel has forced rationalization in the Cross-Channel Ferry industry.

The service of the channel tunnel Eurotunnel owns and operates the physical infrastructure whilst Eurostar offers rail connections via the tunnel and ‘Le Shuttle’ provides a vehicle-carrying rail service operation.

4. LUXURY TRAINS Throughout the world there are a number of luxury trains offering exceptionally high quality travel. The most notable example of a luxury train is the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Other examples include The Royal Scotsman and the The Blue Train.

1.3 RELATIONSHIPS WITH AIRLINES

Current examples of such cooperation include American Airlines and the French railway. The two companies signed and agreement to allow air passengers to buy TGV tickets to onward destinations in France when booking their flight. This results in a cheaper overall ticket price than the sum of the two fares would be.

AIRPORT SERVICES The British Airport Authority (BAA) operates a non-stop rail service from central London to Heathrow airport. Services run every 15 minutes from 0502 to 2347 hours (from Heathrow).

This Heathrow-Paddington Express service carries over five million passengers a year. Luggage and check-in facilities for some flights are now available at Paddington station up to two hours prior to the departure time or one hour before departure for passengers with hand luggage only. Boarding cards and seat numbers can be issued and so passengers can proceed immediately to the departure gate at Heathrow.