on europe ❖ Tracks Across Europe Rail Europe’s group department smoothes the way for tour planners looking to glamorize standard itineraries By Randy Mink High-speed TGV trains connect Paris to over 200 French cities. Enchanting landscapes along the Cote d’Azur in Southern France enthrall passengers on the TGV duplex, which travels at speeds approaching 200 mph. 88 June 2014 LeisureGroupTravel.com treaking across the countryside like champion marathoners, sultants, two managers and support staff. France’s high-speed trains give you a sort of floating sensa- All you need to set the wheels in motion is a group of 10 or more. Stion. It’s like riding a jet of air as your plush carriage On a one-to-one basis, Rail Europe’s group consultants deal with whooshes by vineyards, olive groves and velvety green fields. Cows travel agents, schools, alumni associations, incentive groups, per- at pasture, rustic stone farmsteads and mountainsides lush with wild- formers and just close-knit groups of family and friends, not to men- flowers, along with villages punctuated by church steeples and the tion major tour operators like Tauck, Insight, Trafalgar and such river occasional castle ruin, keep you glued to the window. The ride is re- cruise companies as Uniworld and Viking, according to Fred Spag- laxing and eye-opening at the same time—just how you imagine Eu- nuolo, Rail Europe’s director of groups. The group office is not an im- ropean train travel should be. personal call center. Adding a high-speed rail segment to a group tour of Europe— “We offer highly personalized service to our clients,” Spagnuolo whether it’s a TGV train from Paris to Nice, an AVE run from Madrid commented. “Because of the nature of group travel, our clients will to Seville or Eurostar service via the Channel Tunnel—breaks up the work with one of our highly experienced group consultants who will days of bus travel and adds a bragging-rights feature that clients will handle their group request from start to finish. We believe in building appreciate. Smooth, quiet and ever-so-efficient, this kind of travel is strong relationships with our clients; in this way we can better serve simply not available in the United States. Forget slowdowns, inter- them and anticipate their needs.” minable delays and that swaying, clickety-clack over the tracks. In The staff in Rail Europe’s group department have worked for tour Europe, you cover the miles in style and really MOVE—right around operators or have experience with itinerary planning, said Spagn- 186 mph on most high-speed routes. Frequent departures, from city uolo, who once worked for Globus. “This allows us to have a unique center to city center, make it easy to plug a rail trip into an itinerary. perspective when arranging rail transportation as we understand the Planners who enhance their Europe tours with a ride or two on the logistics of touring and importance of scheduling within a day’s itin- rails start by contacting the group department at the White Plains, erary.” New York office of Rail Europe, which represents more than 35 Eu- Rail Europe not only can book a block of seats for your tour group ropean railroads with almost 300,000 miles of rail lines. Owned by the (at a discount, of course), but even help charter an entire train. It was French National Railroads (SNCF) and Swiss Federal Railways on a full charter, in fact, where I caught up with Spagnuolo a few (SBB), Rail Europe, Inc. is the largest North American distributor of weeks ago. He and I were two of 743 passengers hopping from Lon- European rail products, offering point-to-point tickets and a variety don’s St. Pancras International station to Paris’ Gare du Nord on a of rail passes. Assisting more than 200,000 travelers a year, the Eurostar departure reserved exclusively by EF, the Switzerland- group office consists of 13 personnel, including seven sales con- based educational tour company, for a contingent of middle school Rail Europe LeisureGroupTravel.com June 2014 89 on europe ❖ ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: See Randy Mink’s report on his Paris-Barcelona journey aboard the new high-speed train at http://tinyurl.com/m7lg87h. Eurostar passengers traveling Standard Premier enjoy first-class amenities. Fairy-tale scenery awaits train travelers near Landeck, Austria. ©Österreich Werbung/Asche Eurostar International students from Mexico. We chatted about groups during the two-hour- meal and second-class customers have access to snacks in the bar and-15-minute trip, which included about 20 minutes barreling car (as do all passengers). through the Channel Tunnel, nicknamed the Chunnel. Eurostar business and first-class cars feature three seats across, High-speed trains, connecting the large population centers, have with a pull-down table or seats facing each other (called Clubs 2s the most sex appeal, but other types of service provide just as much and Club 4s) with a table in between. As on most other European in the way of comfort and scenery. Perhaps your group’s experience trains, high-speed and otherwise, expect comfortable chairs with will be an eye-popper like that offered by the Glacier Express or an- head, arm and foot rests. Being free to walk around—or just know- other classic rail journey in the Swiss Alps. ing that you can—is another highlight of train travel. You’re less con- “Today’s travelers are looking for authentic experiences, and rail fined to your seat than would be the case on a bus or plane. It all travel certainly answers that call,” Spagnuolo observed. “This allows seems so civilized. our clients to travel like the locals and embrace the culture around Eurostar International, owned by British, French and Belgian rail- them….Traveling by train in Europe is a highlight of the trip, not just way companies, plans to have a fleet of 14 refurbished e300 trains a mode of transportation.” and 10 brand new e320s ready by 2015. Moreover, it will introduce Besides booking train tickets, Rail Europe’s group department of- London-Amsterdam service in 2016, with two e320s daily making fers other travel services, which comes as a surprise to some tour the four-hour trip with stops in Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam and planners. Schipol Airport. Now the tunnel trains connect London with just “They say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could that,’” Spagnuolo re- Paris, Brussels (two hours) and Lille, France (one hour and 20 min- marked. “It’s our job to educate them about what we can do for them.” utes). Traveling at speeds up to 200 mph, the new e320s will have Among those extra services are booking museum passes, metro a capacity of 900 passengers (compared to the current 750). The cards and hop-on, hop-off city bus tours. Luggage handling, onboard London-Paris jaunt will be trimmed to two hours, Brussels to 1.5 catering, and airport or hotel transfers by coach or mini-van also can hours. (Until Eurostar began service in 1994, the London-Paris trip, be arranged. with a ferry link, took more than nine hours.) Though train seats do not open for sale until a few months before The tunnel linking Great Britain with continental Europe is actu- departure, tour operators seeking to block space should request it ally three interconnected tunnels—one rail track for each direction from Rail Europe as soon as they know their exact travel dates, (northbound and southbound) and one service tunnel. Its length is 31 Spagnuolo said. Their information immediately is loaded into the sys- miles, of which 23 are underwater. The average depth is 150 feet tem and will be ready and waiting once the seats open for sale. Eu- under the seabed. You’re usually halfway through the tunnel before rostar seats become available 160 days prior; for other trains it’s 60 you know it. to 90 days. Since payment is not required until 35 days prior to de- Whether traveling underwater or through majestic mountain parture, there is no risk in reserving space far in advance, Spagnuolo passes, clients booked on European trains can expect a carefree, said. magic-carpet ride and the latest innovations in rail transportation. On our recent Eurostar journey everyone got a sack lunch, and All aboard for the Old World! students were split up between cars in three classes of service— For help with arranging train travel in Europe, call Rail Europe’s Business Premier (premium first class), Standard Premier (first) and group department at 800-462-2577, email [email protected] or Standard Class (second). Normally, however, a warm, three-course submit a group request using the website, www.raileurope.com/group- meal is served in business, while first-class passengers get a cold travel/group-travel.html. LGT 90 June 2014 LeisureGroupTravel.com.