Trains

Uzbekistan’s first high-speed train, Afrosiyob, started up in October and runs round trip from Tashkent to Samarkand twice a week (Wed. and Sat.). It can reach 155 miles per hour and makes the 214-mile, one-way trip in two hours (versus the previous 3½ hours). A ticket in first class costs about $30 and in VIP, $40.

Buy tickets at the station or from SJSRC (Uzbekistan Railways) (phone/fax +99871 2997025 or phone +99871 2997166).

I spent three weeks in Amsterdam and the Netherlands in August ’11. If you have the pleasure of spending more than four or five days there, here are some ideas for saving money.

Amid corruption charges, the cause of the July 23 collision of two high-speed trains in Wenzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, China, remains under investigation, with speculation ranging from signal failure, design flaw or human error to, even, lightning strikes. The crash on the Beijing-Nanjing line resulted in 40 dead and hundreds injured.

Named for the famous steam train “Flying Scotsman,” a new express train service was launched between London’s Kings Cross Station and Edinburgh, Scotland, by East Coast Main Line in May.

China’s new high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai began commercial runs in July. The new bullet trains can travel 190 mph, and the average trip time is five hours 30 minutes.

Australia Rail Plus passes allow unlimited travel during a three- or six-month period, including travel on trains like The Ghan and The Sunlander.

by Rick Steves

The Furka Pass train route, which runs past the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland, was to be shut down with the opening of the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982, which made the route obsolete. Thanks to a private initiative, restored steam locomotives and reassembled original carriages from the early 1900s are traveling the route. The steam trains stopped running in 1968 and began again in 1999.

I have lived and worked in Germany for the last 28 years and have become a seasoned European traveler.