Lonely Planet - Amazing Train Journeys

COLOMBO TO BADULLA: p150

Contents

Foreword

About this Book

Africa & the Middle East

Johannesburg to Cape Town (South Africa)

Andimeshk to Dorud (Iran)

Bulawayo to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)

Tazara Railway (Tanzania & Zambia)

Iron Ore Train (Mauritania)

The Americas

The Sunset Limited (USA)

La Trochita (Argentina)

The Rocky Mountaineer (Canada)

Perurails Lake Titicaca Railway (Peru)

Metro-North Hudson Line (USA)

The Copper Canyon Railway (Mexico)

The California Zephyr (USA)

The Hershey Train (Cuba)

New Englands Amtrak Downeaster (USA)

The Rupert Rocket (Canada)

Lima to Huancavelica via Huancayo (Peru)

The New Mexico Rail Runner (USA)

The Serra Verde Express (Brazil)

Cruising the Pacific: the Coast Starlight (USA)

Coast to Coast on VIA Rail Canada

Asia

The Darjeeling Toy Train (India)

The Hokkaid Shinkansen (Japan)

The Eastern & Oriental Express (Thailand to
Singapore)

Hong Kongs West Rail Line (China)

The Reunification Express (Vietnam)

Mandalay to Lashio (Myanmar)

BaikalAmur Mainline (Russia)

The Bijng to Lhasa Express (China)

The Death Railway (Thailand)

Colombo to Badulla (Sri Lanka)

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (India)

The Eastern & Oriental Express (Thailand to
Singapore)

WEST COAST WILDERNESS RAILWAY: p287

THE EASTERN & ORIENTAL: p121

THE NORTHERN EXPLORER: p291

Japans Post Road Train

Trans-Mongolian Railway (Russia to China)

Bijng to Shnghi by High-Speed Rail (China)

Europe

Settle to Carlisle (UK)

The Glacier Express (Switzerland)

Bilbao to Ferrol on the FEVE (Spain)

Trans-Siberian Railway (Russia)

East Coast Main Line (UK)

Le Petit Train Jaune (France)

Belgrade-to-Bar Railway (Serbia & Montenegro)

Bernina Express (Switzerland)

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (France & Italy)

Heart of Wales Line

Munich to Venice on the Brenner Railway
(Germany to Italy)

Fort William to Mallaig by Jacobite (UK)

Nova Gorica to Jesenice (Slovenia)

Cannes to Menton (France)

Munich to Venice on the Brenner Railway
(Germany to Italy)

The Bergensbanen (Norway)

London to Fort William on the
Caledonian Sleeper (UK)

Cologne to Mannheim (Germany)

Inlandsbanan (Sweden)

Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways (Wales)

Centovalli Express (Switzerland & Italy)

Oceania

The Ghan (Australia)

South Coast Line (Australia)

The TranzAlpine (New Zealand)

West Coast Wilderness Railway (Australia)

The Northern Explorer (New Zealand)

Kuranda Scenic Railway (Australia)

Acknowledgements

London to Fort William on the
Caledonian Sleeper (UK)

IMAGE COURTESY OF BELMOND

NICK OSBORNE

IMAGE COURTESY OF KIWIRAIL

Foreword

Mark Smith THE MAN IN SEAT 61

Theres something magical about a
journey by train. Sometimes the magic
is inside on a train you have room to
move and meet people, dine in a restaurant car with
white tablecloths, sleep in a private compartment
between crisp, clean sheets with the sound of steel
wheel swishing on steel rail beneath you. Sometimes
the magic is outside, in the landscape the train
traverses an adventure, an experience, an insight
into the heart of a nation.

Ive been hooked on the magic of train travel
since the tender age of 13. I saved my pocket money
for years well, several weeks at least until I had
amassed 2.73, enough for my first solo overseas trip,
a child-rate cheap day-return from London to the Isle
of Wight. My parents had no idea where Id gone, but
when I eventually returned home were too relieved
to scold me. The fascination with train travel didnt
end there and railways became my career, first with
British Rail, and now running the train travel website
The Man in Seat 61, through which I try to share my
passion with others.

I dont think even I realised quite how magical a
train journey could be until I took a trip from London
to Verona in the luxurious 1920s-vintage cars of the
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Frankly, even though
I needed to research the trip for my website, I had
doubted that any 24-hour train ride could possibly be
worth 2000. But one year the stars aligned: a 25%
discount was offered at the end of the season, and on
discovering with horror that my girlfriend had never

visited Italy, I booked tickets. Wed only been going
out for six months. But that special train weaved its
very special magic: the name of our first-born son was
decided in our wagons-lits that night, and the next
day something happened as the train swept south
in a blizzard through the Brenner Pass. We still talk
about who said what to whom (although I remember
the important details, such as in which 1927-built
S-type sleeping-car we were staying), suffice it to say
when that train arrived in Verona we were engaged.
And here I am 13 years later with a wife, two small
kids, two small cats and one large mortgage. Powerful
magic indeed.

In this book youll find many of my own favourite
journeys some well known, some less so, some
luxurious and expensive, others true bargains. The
California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco
is perhaps the best of all the Amtrak routes across
the USA, and the fabulous Bernina Express is, in
my opinion, the best Swiss Alpine ride of all. The
spectacular railway from Belgrade to Bar through the
mountains of Montenegro, and the wonderful journey
from Mandalay to Lashio in Myanmar are two of the
most scenic train rides youve probably never heard
of, with a fare of just 20 for the former and US$6
for the latter. And naturally my favourite British train
route makes an appearance, the West Highland Line
to Mallaig. I hope this book inspires you to make
some of the journeys it features, and that you too
can discover if you dont already know just how
magical a train ride can be.

SANTIAGO URQUIJO | GETTY IMAGES

INLANDSBANAN: p256

THE GHAN: p272

THE RUPERT ROCKET: p82

MATT MUNRO | LONELY PLANET

About this Book

tom hall EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, LONELY PLANET

Here at Lonely Planet weve always
had a soft spot for trains. It may have
something to do with our history, firmly
rooted in overland travel, in following lines on maps
and seeing where they lead, and delighting in the
people and places encountered along the way. Or it
might be that, whatever the reason for departure, we
know the moment a train pulls out of a station bound
for somewhere fantastic is when the adventure truly
starts. Generations of travellers have experienced that
feeling with a Lonely Planet travel guide by their side,
whether thats in Chicagos Union Station, the Gare de
Lyon in Paris, Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
or another great train station of the world. The book
you are currently holding aims to distil that feeling
and point the way to other fabulous trips.

When we first devised Amazing Train Journeys , we
started, as we often do at Lonely Planet, by asking