With the current state of technology, traveling by land via train is the most climate-friendly way to travel, alongside cycling and sailing. The picture shows us crossing the Alps on the Bernina Express. At this point, in Brusio, the railway makes a full loop. In the pasture, you can see Swiss Rätisches Grauvieh cattle, or so I believe!
Traveling by Land with Kids – It Works!
In the summer of 2018, we traveled to Croatia by train as a family, and last summer, we took a 10-country Interrail trip across Western Europe. The first time, our children were 6 and 8 years old. Except for some mild motion sickness between Stockholm and Malmö, the trip went surprisingly well even with such young and energetic kids. Train travel was exciting for them, and along the way, we visited places that particularly delighted the children: Legoland in Billund, The Berlin Zoo, The Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. By last summer, the kids had grown older and handled train travel much more coolly, though there were still some stressful moments. The severe flooding in southern Germany forced us to change our route—instead of traveling from Berlin to Munich, we went to Prague. Also, missing our train in Girona gave even the parents some heart palpitations.
On both trips, we used night trains and sleeper cars. So far, the routes are somewhat limited, and integrating them into Interrail passes is not always straightforward. However, the night train network in Europe is growing rapidly, and for example, there are already two competing services between Stockholm and Berlin. Still, this aspect of train travel requires some advance planning.
In Finland, traveling by train is straightforward. We often go to Lapland by car train, traveling first to Rovaniemi or Kemijärvi, then driving from there to our cabin after a quick stop at the grocery store. However, car train prices are starting to reach our pain threshold, and hopefully, competition and increased capacity will improve the situation in the coming years.
Work Travel by Train Needs Improvement
Business travel to Europe by train is another story altogether. It is restricted not only by the government’s travel regulations but also by labor laws—as strange as it sounds, working while on a business trip is not automatically accepted in government organizations.
However, two springs ago, we successfully coordinated with my employer so that I could attend a one-week course in southern France by train.
Administrative challenges also affect daily commuting. For example, if you primarily work remotely from Pieksämäki, but your official workplace is in Helsinki, you technically cannot work while traveling by train between home and the office. Yet, reading documents in an office, at home, or on a train is essentially the same task.
The Future of Train Travel
Even though electric airplanes are just around the corner, developing train travel remains crucial. In Finland, I would focus on opening the rail market to genuine competition in passenger transport, improving internet connectivity on trains (for example, instead of investing in a 90-minute Helsinki–Turku train), and removing administrative barriers to work-related train travel. The big vision is a pan-European high-speed rail network, stretching from one end of the continent to the other, combined with a dense night train system.
I also shared this post on Facebook on December 12, 2024: 🔗 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10163003758462780&set=a.10152732458782780