05-05-2025
New direct train links European capital with 3 destinations for first time
Looking to embark on a train travel adventure next winter? (Picture: Travelski Night Express)
The ski season might now firmly be over for another year – but if you're already dreaming of hitting the slopes (or enjoying a bit of Après afterwards), a new night train is set to make that easier than ever.
Forget flying: if you're looking to soak up the snow in the French Alps, the Travelski Night Express will now link Paris directly to Moutiers, Aime or Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Departing from the City of Love on Friday evening, the service will arrive on Saturday morning – and take around 8 hours.
From there, keen skiiers will be able to board their transfer to eight popular ski destinations, including Courchevel, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Tignes, Méribel, Val d'Isère, Val Thorens and Les Ménuires – all French Alps destinations which, together, make it one of the world's largest winter sports choices.
Intrigued? The service will kickstart on December 19, 2025 – just in time for Christmas and New Year's skiing trips – and run through to March 20, 2026, according to Paris Secret.
On board, there'll be 660 new couchettes (or simply, bunks) for passengers to have a little snooze on board.
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There'll be beds with a view on board (Picture: Travelski Night Express)
And as you sleep, you'll be inching closer and closer to that fresh powder – and perhaps even a post-ski beer, a chocolat chaud or some fondue.
There'll be a bar car and restaurant on board the service, run by Pegasus Trains, in case you get a pang for a midnight snack situation.
And to take the stress away from the experience, the company will be offering all-inclusive packages including travel, transfers, and accommodation, as well as ski passes and ski equipment. You'll be able to get back on the slopes in no time – and if in doubt, snow plough it out.
The service is set to revolutionise night train travel across the region. At the moment, there's no direct train to Aime-la-Plagne – instead, snow sports aficionados need to take a train from Paris to Chambéry Challes-les-Eaux, and then change again.
As for Moutiers and Bourg-St-Maurice, skiers also currently need to switch trains at Chambéry Challes-les-Eaux – making for a more challenging journey than the brand-new Travelski Night Express.
It's no secret that skiers have long been relishing the joy of the French Alps. Over on Reddit, @One-Sundae-2711 learned to ski at Les Arcs when they were little – and 'loved every second of it.'
'The Alps…the majesty of it,' they added, while @darrellsilver described it as 'so stunning you almost can't recall any other way of skiing.'
As for Méribel, @ilovepeople082 thought the slopes were 'amazing' and 'perfect for all levels.'
'The entire Trois Vallées area has such an amount of runs that it would be impossible to ski every single run in a lifetime, and you can go and never ski the same run twice.'
Elsewhere in the world of new train connections, a completely game-changing tube-style train could revolutionise European travel across 39 stations, with at least one in every country along five main routes.
Dubbed the 'tube for Europe,' the proposals for Starline envisage that replacing short-haul flights with a high-speed rail network could slice emissions by a whopping 95%, while a total of 424 major cities will be connected to ports, airports and rail.
What's more, the plans predict that there'll be an 80% reduction in short-haul flights, while the trains themselves, spanning 22,000 km (13,670.166 miles), will be 30% faster than cars and traditional rail routes.
So, how fast are we talking? The goal is for the core trains to be travelling at 100 miles per hour – or even faster – by 2040.
New £1,000,000,000 'Welsh Tube' to span 105 miles — with trains every 5 minutes
Wales' answer to London's Tube has been in the works since 2013 – and more than 10 years on, 2026 looks set to be the year it all comes together.
Costing a whopping £1,000,000,000, the project is set to span 170 kilometres (105.6 miles) worth of track, introducing 36 tram-style trains across Cardiff and the wider South Wales area.
There'll be six core lines connecting the Welsh capital to the likes of Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr, Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert – with all the stops along the way identified by a colour-coded map.
The connections are set to be introduced in stages, but the project has already introduced brand-new trains across sections of the South Wales network, improved accessibility by installing extra lifts and access-for-all bridges, installed bike hoops, and added extra passenger information screens to make it easier for commuters to find their train.
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