The Man in Seat 61

Details of the new service are at www.seat61.com/trains-and-r....

I have yet to work out why MAV isn't showing the 05:50 departure!

I hereby declare Belgrade reconnected to the rest of Europe from today! MAV is selling through tickets Budapest-Belgrade from €26. (Photo courtesy of @hvondelen.bsky.social)

Timetable 2026: Seems the Munich/Budapest/Prague-Krakow-Warsaw sleeper train will have separate portions for Warsaw and for Krakow & Przemysl. Theoretically good - but a significant downside is that Prague-Warsaw gets the sleeping-car, Prague-Krakow becomes couchettes-only.

With HS2 road closures still blocking the 2-mile direct route, it turns out the shortest way to agility with Pip is using the Great Central Railway…

Not really. You'd need the sleeper to arrive at 04:30 to be a safe connection! ;0)

Provisional timings for the 2026 Warsaw-Vilnius service now at www.seat61.com/trains-and-r...
Doubled to 2 per day, accelerated by an hour.
Krakow departure 06:14 instead of 03:58.
Berlin-Vilnius will be possible in a day, 6 days a week - if you don't mind an 05:51 start!

It’s too far to go in a mere bus!

Are (Budapest-) Subotica-Belgrade fast trains FINALLY about to start passenger service after so many false starts? www.blic.rs/biznis/privr...

Nothing showing yet on w3.srbvoz.rs/redvoznje but I live in hope...

Also, passes now cover Iryo in Spain, passholder reservations are now bookable online with the Interrail/Eurail reservation service.

Good news for younger or older parents using Interrail or Eurail passes!
As of 1 October, children under 12 qualify for a FREE pass when accompanying an over-18 using a Youth, Adult OR Senior pass - until now it only applied with an Adult pass. www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a...

Iryo, the Spanish open-access operator, has simplified its classes/fares - like Renfe, it conflates the two!
One of the downsides is a €10 fee for a suitcase or backpack in Inicial Superior, there was no fee previously. I have updated the Iryo page, www.seat61.com/trains-and-r...

Caledonian Sleeper train to link Scotland with Birmingham The new service will start in January linking Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William to the West Midlands.

Breaking: Caledonian Sleeper's highland sleeper to Inverness, Aberdeen & Ft William will call at Birmingham International from 15 January onwards, picking up northbound at 22:42, setting down southbound at 06:20. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More about the sleeper: www.seat61.com/sleeper-to-s...

That’s been there for a while. Unfortunately not for Sofia-Istanbul!

Booking for French trains for Christmas & New Year opens tomorrow, for German trains it opens 15 October.

It's now official: Due to the French government withdrawing support & SNCF unsupportive, the Paris-Vienna & Paris-Berlin Nightjet sleeper trains will be discontinued from mid-December. presse-oebb.at/news-oebb-be...
The Brussels-Vienna Nightjet will continue, 3 times per week.

In one direction only??

Protests outside of Paris Est this evening - with news of the Nightjets to Vienna and Berlin potentially being axed due to reduced funding from SNCF, it would seem the community’s come together to send them a message… @seatsixtyone.bsky.social

Trains de nuit Paris-Berlin et Paris-Vienne : pourquoi ils sont menacés dès décembre 2025 Les trains de nuit Paris–Berlin et Paris–Vienne pourraient disparaître dès décembre 2025. Quelles menaces et quelles solutions pour les sauver ?

Breaking: Paris-Vienna, Paris-Berlin (and therefore possibly Brussels-Vienna) Nightjet sleeper trains under threat. www.hourrail.voyage/en/blog/trai...

Welcome to Inspiration Discover the past, present and future of railways on our incredible exhibition train, Inspiration, touring Britain from 27 June 2025

The #Railway200 exhibition train ‘Inspiration’ is on tour across Britain and it’s free. Check the locations & book your visit 👇🏻

I’m booked to see it in - *checks notes* - Glasgow. Well why not?

railway200.co.uk/inspiration/...

Book a 3-bed sleeper for 3 people - more comfy beds, and you get a washbasin.

Yes. See ‘classes’ at www.seat61.com/train-travel...

All in a day’s work for a Eurostar train manager…

Sicily? I mean any ICN.

Check periodically. Sleepers to Sicily open when they open, sometimes weeks not months.

Have added some new seat maps to www.seat61.com/european-tra...

Yes, the discussion played out yesterday on Twitter.

Booking not open yet. Remember the annual timetable change!

Suggested workaround: Call Stena Line on 03443 350 027 to book a SailRail ticket, Stena Line can sell SailRail tickets from London and major UK cities to Dublin and can send tickets by post to any UK address.

On the contrary, it costs less per train to run 10 trains than one. Because overheads and other fixed (or almost-fixed) costs are spread over multiple trains not one.

SailRail | Transport for Wales Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

Sale of SailRail tickets from British rail stations to Dublin have been suspended by Transport for Wales (who manage it for all train operators), possibly until December, due to ferry timing shenanigans while repairs to Holyhead's deepwater berths continue: tfw.wales/ways-to-trav...