The Man in Seat 61's dream list for re-instated train journeys

Raising a glass with Mark Smith in the Eurostar lounge. His website has long been the go-to place for information about rail travel worldwide. Photo: Richard Hammond

I recently caught up with train expert Mark Smith who runs The Main in Seat 61 website, and we got talking about the renaissance of rail and how the long term future is looking bright for overland travel in Europe, especially given the recent liberalisation of the European rail network and the resurgence of new services, such as the European Sleeper services from Brussels to Prague via Amsterdam and Berlin, and from Brussels to Venice via Cologne and Innsbruck.

However, Mark lamented that some of the great train journeys of yesteryear were no longer available. So I asked him about his favourite routes that he wished were still running and below is what he said. It's a look back at great train journeys that no longer exist, but could it also be a glimpse of the future?

The Paris-Madrid 'trainhotel'

Every night from 1980 until 2013, this little articulated sleeper train left Paris around 20:00 and arrived in Madrid around 09:00.  With an easy connection by high-speed train from London, Amsterdam, Brussels or Cologne to Paris, and onward high-speed trains from Madrid to Cordoba, Seville or Malaga this wonderful hotel-on-rails linked much of northern Europe with the Spanish capital and Southern Spain. I used to love having dinner with wine in the restaurant then returning to my compartment for a good night's sleep, with views of the walled city of Avila over breakfast next morning.  Today, you travel by high-speed train throughout, with an overnight stop necessary in Barcelona.  Ironically, high-speed trains are slower!

The Paris-Italy sleepers

Not so long ago, a fleet of sleeper trains left Paris every night, the Palatino for Rome, the Rlalto/Galilei for Venice and Florence, Stendahl for Turin and Milan and Napoli Express for Genoa, Pisa, Rome & Naples. Now there are none. Fast trains link Paris with Milan, but they take 7h and an overnight stop is now needed in Paris or Milan when travelling to central Italy.

The Newcastle-Norway-Sweden ferry

There used to be two excellent ferry companies competing across the North Sea to Norway, and DFDS's ferry extended to Gothenburg in Sweden.  Comfy en suite cabins, restaurants, bars, cinema, open deck, a 1-night crossing direct from the UK to Scandinavia. Two companies became one, then in 2008, none.  Incredibly, there are now no passenger ferries between the UK and anywhere in Denmark, Norway or Sweden. It's a long way round by train through Brussels, Hamburg and Copenhagen, especially if you live north of London - when it's just 1560 miles across the North Sea!  There seems to be no sign of any ferry resuming

The Cologne-Copenhagen sleeper

In the absence of a ferry, the Amsterdam/Cologne-Copenhagen sleeper provided a time-effective link to Scandinavia, with connections by high-speed train from London, Paris & Brussels to Cologne, and from Copenhagen to Stockholm and Gothenburg next morning. Today, the journey must be done by daytime trains, with an overnight stop in Hamburg if you're trying to get from London or Paris to Copenhagen or Stockholm. Again, fast trains are slower than a sleeper!  However, a Hamburg-Berlin sleeper has now resumed thanks to the Swedish government, so reaching Sweden is now easier.

The Hellas Express, Munich-Zagreb-Belgrade-Thessaloniki-Athens

A long-gone train, this, which I used to reach Athens in 1984, 1989 and (en route to Egypt by train and ferry) 1990.  You now need to change in Zagreb, in Belgrade and in Thessaloniki, and the Belgrade-Thessaloniki section has become summer-only with no trains at all off-season. It was an epic journey across the Balkans, with seats, couchettes and a Yugoslavian sleeping-car - no restaurant or catering car, on my first trip to Greece in '84 I got most of the way on two packets of chocolate digestives. Incredibly, it was one of two daily Munich-Athens trains, with a third international train to Greece running Venice-Belgrade-Athens. Popular with interRailers and migrant workers, it now seems as much part of ancient history as sailing to India by P&O liner. But I'd love to see it back!

Mark Smith's website is the go-to place for information on train travel worldwide: seat61.com

Rail travel in Europe is undergoing a renaissance given the recent open access liberalisation of the network. Wix Media

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This article was first published in 2020 when I chatted with Mark at the Eurostar terminal in St Pancras and has been updated on Saturday 15 February 2025 following a zoom chat I had with Mark. His initial list included lamenting the demise of the Paris-Munich/Berlin/Hamburg sleeper, which has now been restored :)