A train derailment in the town of Bachhrawan, in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, killed at least 58 people and injured dozens of others on March 20.
The train operator reported that the brakes failed when he attempted to slow the train down while approaching the Bachhrawan station. The assistant station agent was able to put the train onto a loop, but it eventually jumped the tracks.
Visitors to the 138-year-old Glasgow Central Station (Gordon St., Glasgow, Scotland, G1 3SL, U.K.; phone +44 845 748 4950) can take a behind-the-scenes tour of the second-busiest train station in the UK.
The 90-minute tour (weather permitting) includes a 90-step climb and a walk across catwalks above the roof, made up of 48,000 panes of glass, plus a trip to the remains of Grahamston village, which the station was built on top of in 1879, a stop at the old steam engine boiler rooms and an exploration of the station’s catacombs.
In Switzerland, the dedicated “Kambly Train,” sponsored by the Swiss biscuit company Kambly (phone +41 34 495 0222), originators of Goldfish® crackers, takes passengers to the town of Trubschachen to visit the Kambly Experience, a museum and showroom by the station, where visitors can try 100 types of cookies.
Tuesday through Sunday, the train leaves twice a day eastbound from Bern (9:36 a.m. & 1:36 p.m.) and three times a day westbound from Lucerne (7:57 a.m., 11:57 a.m. & 2:51 p.m.).
Arguably, the best gateway for trips to continental Europe is Germany’s centrally located Frankfurt Airport (FRA) (www.frankfurt-airport.com). In addition to a vast array of long-haul and short-haul air connections, it has an attached long-distance rail station with direct routes to a wide range of cities.
Eurail now offers these.
• For a total of 28 countries, the Eurail Global Pass now includes Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Poland and Serbia.
• The new “5 in 10 days” pass allows travelers five days’ travel on Eurail in any 10-day period within the 28 countries Eurail services.
• The new Attica Pass allows six ferry crossings within one month (two trips between Italy and Greece and four ferry trips within the Greek isles) plus a rail/bus transfer from Patras to Piraeus.
The Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train, which runs between Tokyo and Shinjo¯ in Japan, introduced a footbath car in July 2014. It features two ahsiyu, or warm-water footbaths, on either side of the train so riders can soak their feet while watching the scenery.
Another car on the train offers traditional tatami mats to sit on beside low, cherrywood tables, with a bar serving locally brewed sake.
After visiting Japan 10 times, my husband, Clyde, and I gave up our annual trips in 2009 due to the continuing unfavorable rate of exchange. However, after the dollar gained in value against the yen, for six weeks in March and April of 2014 we visited the Kansai region of Honshu, the island of Miyajima and the less-frequented provinces of Shikoku and Kyushu (including Beppu) to view sakura, or cherry blossoms.
Along with sleeper-car service on rail routes from Berlin to Amsterdam, Prague, Basel and Copenhagen, the only sleeper-car-equipped train from Berlin to Paris made its last journey on Dec. 13, putting an end to an institution that predated WWII. Travelers who want to travel by train from Berlin to Paris now must change trains at Cologne.
