Rail Europe

Rail Europe is the world’s leading specialist in passes and point-to-point tickets for rail travel around Europe.
From its travel centre in Regent Street, online at www.raileurope.co.uk and via a dedicated call centre in King’s Hill, Kent; Rail Europe specialises in selling tickets for European rail travel to a UK audience. A wholly owned subsidiary of SNCF, Rail Europe distributes well known rail passes such as InterRail and Swiss Pass, and rail tickets for European services including the following:

• Eurostar and Eurostar Connections – for direct travel to Paris, Brussels, Lille and Disneyland Paris and onward travel to a comprehensive list of French destinations.
• High speed trains: the fastest way to travel around France and into Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy and further afield.
• SNCF local services – for comprehensive services throughout France.

Overnight services direct into the heart of some of Europe’s finest cities, including Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Venice, Rome, Florence, Berlin and Munich.

The Rail Europe Snowtrain

This chartered service operated between December or January and April to transport passengers directly to the ski resorts of the French Alps. The journey took place in two stages; the Eurostar on a Friday from London or [Ashford International] to Paris, followed by a transfer to an overnight sleeper service composed of 10 Vu-84 "Corail" coaches with sleeping accommodation comprising of 6 berth "couchette" compartments. The train also included a Bar/Disco coach, complete with disco lighting and DJ booth. This overnight service called at Chambéry, Albertville, Aime la Plagne and Landry, terminating at Bourg St Maurice early Saturday morning. The return service departed from Bourg St Maurice on Saturday evenings, with passengers arriving by Eurostar in London or Ashford on Sunday morning. The Rail Europe Snowtrain was suspended in 2009 due to economic uncertainty.
Skiers wanting travel by train to the French Alps during the winter can now take the Eurostar to Paris and change for high speed or overnight services to stations like Chamonix, Bourg St Maurice, Briançon, Moûtiers and Megève. Eurostar also runs Direct Ski services during the ski season, calling at Moûtiers, Bourg St Maurice and Aime-la-Plagne, stations which serve popular ski resorts including Courchevel, Les Arcs, Tignes, Méribel, Aime la Plagne and Val d'Isère.

French Motorail

'Motorail' services carry cars & motorbikes using car transporters attached to the train. Operating from May through to September, Rail Europe’s French Motorail service was aimed at travellers wishing to take their cars to the South of France and onwards with a minimum amount of driving.
The train departed from Calais several times every week during the summer months, terminating at Nice (stopping at Avignon and Frejus) and Narbonne (stopping at Brive la Gaillarde and Toulouse.) The service was cancelled in 2009 due to economic uncertainty.