200 years of rail travel: part two
1902 - 1973
The worlds great historical train journeys
Words by Gareth Clark
On 27 September 1825, the first-ever passenger rail service steamed out of a colliery in the North East of England, changing the way generations of travellers would experience the world. Two hundred years on, as more people turn their backs on flying in search of a greener, more immersive form of long-distance travel, we pick the train journeys that changed our horizons forever.
FIRST SERVICE 1902
The Ofoten Line, Norway & Sweden
Photography: www.arctictrain.com
Route: 74km (Narvik–Abisko)
There is little romance surrounding the origins of the Ofoten Line. It was built with the aim of shuffling iron ore from the mines of Kiruna in Sweden to Norway’s closest ice-free port. It then took on great importance during the Second World War, when the bloody Battle of Narvik was fought (and won by Germany) to control it. By contrast, the Arctic Train that runs the line today is a thing of wonder, offering a mainline through Scandinavia’s frozen north. Running between Narvik and Abisko in the Sami Homeland in Sweden, its longest route swaps sapphire-coloured fjords for snow-capped mountains and the boreal forests of Abisko National Park (a four-hour round-trip), where wilderness and alpine lakes twinkle in the half light.
Highlight:
An evening service from Narvik to the mountain village of Katte-rat sees you gather around a fire in anticipation of aurora sightings. arctictrain.com
FIRST SERVICE 1904
Ocean, Canada
Route: 1,346km (Montréal–Halifax)
Said to be the oldest continually operating passenger rail service in North America, the Ocean tells the story of a fledgling nation. The Intercolonial Railway, built in 1872 on condition of the Maritime provinces joining the Canadian confederation, still makes up the bulk of its route. This 23-hour service begins by tracking the St Lawrence River, passing waterfront cities and towns (Québec City, Rivière-du-Loup) that flesh out Canada’s tale in deeper detail, while heading east to Nova Scotia. The terminus at Halifax was once a processing depot for immigrants. Those with money were led straight to the Ocean to be ferried across Canada. Today, a fascinating museum at Pier 2 tells their enduring story.
Highlight:
Stop in Moncton to explore prehistoric geology, trails, islands and the world’s highest tides at the Bay of Fundy. viarail.ca
FIRST SERVICE 1906
Bohinj Railway, Slovenia
Route: 130km (Jesenice–Sežana)
Built in just six years by the Austro-Hungarian Empire as part of a longer route connecting Trieste and Prague, the Slovenian section of the Bohinj Railway is one of Europe’s most scenic lines. This is particularly true of its northernmost reaches, up among the Julian Alps, where stops include Lake Bled and the mountain villages of Triglav National Park, before you plunge beneath Mount Kobla via a 6km-long tunnel. It also tells the story of the fall of Austria-Hungary, with First World War battle sites littering the border further south. Here, you’ll cross the 36m-high Solkan bridge (the world’s largest stone arch bridge), before arriving in Nova Gorica, a remarkable town that was split in two following the end of the Second World War, as Italy claimed one half (the older Gorizia) and Yugoslavia the other.
Highlight:
A motorail service runs from Bohinjska Bistrica to Most na Soči in Slovenia, letting you drive onto a flatbed and stay in your car as you’re whisked through the mountains. potniski.sz.si
FIRST SERVICE 1907
Alishan Railway, Taiwan
Route: 86km (Chayi–Alishan)
It’s impossible not to be won over by a railway that now celebrates the same forests that it was built to help ravage under Japanese occupation. However, having been repurposed as a tourist train in the 1960s, disaster struck when a typhoon devastated much of the route in 2009. The Alishan Railway is now fully reopened, meaning passengers can once more ride its tough little Shay locomotives (diesel and steam) through 50 tunnels, 77 bridges and kilometres of pristine forest. Stops at beloved station food vendors – Fenqihu’s bento boxes are legendary – remind you that there are still communities that rely on this route. But the real stars here are the spectacular forest trails that it allows access to.
Highlight:
The Dulishan Spiral holds the world record for the longest railway spiral in the world, rising 233m across just 5km of track. afrts.forest.gov.tw
FIRST SERVICE 1908
Hejaz Railway, Jordan & Saudi Arabia
Route: Originally 1,320km (Damascus–Medina)
The Hejaz Railway was meant to modernise the Ottoman Empire, offering pilgrims easy passage from İstanbul to Medina and Mecca. Instead, it became a symbol of its downfall, prompted by
the chaos of the First World War and Arab Revolt. The route only ever went as far as Medina in Saudi Arabia, where the old train station now hosts the Hejaz Railway Museum. North of here, towards Al Ula, you can see where a section of the line was attacked by British army officer TE Lawrence. Tours can even take you to where a derailed train still lies in the sand. But it’s in Jordan where you can ride parts of the line. A twice-weekly service from Amman to Al-Jizah or Um al Jamal (Friday and Saturday) travels one of few working sections. Track also still runs through the Wadi Rum desert, where twice-weekly steam train journeys with the Jordan Heritage Revival Company re-enact the 1916 revolt against the Ottomans backdropped by the ruddy glare of the desert’s red sands.
Highlight:
From Al-Jizah, Jordan, you can take a bus to the entrance of Al Beidha (Little Petra) for the chance to see one of the earliest known agricultural settlements in the world. jhrc.jo
FIRST SERVICE 1908
Northern Explorer, North Island, New Zealand
Route: 681km (Auckland–Wellington)
It’s the logistics of the North Island Main Trunk line that blow your mind. Built across 23 years, using oxen and horses, the volcanic Central Plateau region proved the hardest part to navigate, as engineers wrestled with an ascent of 139m over a few kilometres. The climb up the Raurimau Spiral still whitens the knuckles as carriages squeal around the bend. Following decades of dwindling passenger numbers on the line, the Northern Explorer tourist train was launched in 2012, ushering in a new 11-hour service. From its grand open-air viewing carriages, Tongariro’s sacred cone, the cliffs of the Kāpiti coast and the pale walls of Rangitīkei Gorge are given room to shine as you inch across the island.
Highlight:
A stop in Tongariro National Park is worth it, but its viaducts are also impressive – on the edge of the park, the Makatote reaches a height of 79m. greatjourneysnz.com
FIRST SERVICE 1908
Nariz del Diablo Train, Ecuador
Route: 12.5km (Alausí–Sibambe)
Ecuador’s early 20th-century railways were once the pride of Latin America. The centrepiece of this old network was the Trans-Andean Quito-Guayaquil line, proclaimed at the time of its construction as ‘the most difficult’ in the world to build. When the first train completed its inaugural journey on this ‘railroad in the sky’ in 1908, there were parades held in its honour in Quito. One hundred years later, the restoration of Ecuador’s railways revitalised a network that had long since fallen into neglect. Sadly, though, the dissolution of the national rail operator ground its services to a halt again in 2020, when the Tren Crucero, which travels between Quito and Guayquil, last operated. However, the Nariz del Diablo tourist train has started running again, offering hope and a 12.5km taster of this route, as you embark on a steep descent from Alausí (2,340m), zigzagging down the near-vertical mountainside of the ‘Devil’s Nose’, to Sibambe (2.5 hours return). It’s only a fraction of a much longer, grander line that takes in the Avenue of Volcanoes and Cotopaxi National Park, but it’ll do for now.
Highlight:
The descent. So steep is the Devil’s Nose track that when it was first opened, some passengers were so frightened that they had to get out and continue on foot. ecuadorrail.net
FIRST SERVICE 1911
Train des Chemins de Fer de Provence, France
Route: 151km (Nice–Digne-les-Bains)
The Train des Pignes routes were originally scattered across four areas in Southern France. The name is said to have come about because its trains were so slow that you could hop off, gather pine cones (or pignes) and jump back on, although a rival claim suggests it was because pine cones were often used as fuel when coal was scarce. Today, this trundle through the citadels and bougainvillea-scented villages separating the French Riviera and the Alps is the only survivor of the quartet. A diesel service runs the full route (3.5 hours), but for a taste of the old days, a steam train (May–Oct) between Puget-Thénier and Annot lets you chug serenely up from the coast and into the Alpine foothills, where the thermal baths of Digne-les-Bains await.
Highlight:
Stop at the medieval town of Entrevaux, which is overlooked by a looming citadel built by the prolific medieval architect Vauban. cpzou.fr; traindespignes.fr
FIRST SERVICE 1912
Tren de Sóller, Mallorca, Spain
Route: 27.3km (Palma–Sóller)
This is the narrow-gauge railway that citrus built. Heading from Palma up to the north-west coast of Mallorca, this electric service rattles via the Tramuntana mountains on a route originally designed to haul oranges and olives between Sóller, its port and the island capital. The vintage carriages – all sash windows and lacquered wood – are little changed since the service was inaugurated in 1912. The journey properly shines once you enter the foothills of the UNESCO-listed Tramuntana, whose slopes lie smothered in olive groves surrounded by ancient dry-stone walls. But it’s the views from the Cinc-Ponts viaduct (38m high) over Sóller’s ‘Valley of Gold’ – so named because of its fertile soils – that remind you just how precious this historic line is.
Highlight:
Right after the route’s winter hiatus (Dec–late Feb) is the perfect time to catch the almond trees in blossom, turning the island a pinkish-white. trendesoller.com
The second coming of the sleeper train
Tom Chesshyre, author of the newly released Slow Trains Around Britain (out now), on why sleeper trains are bringing back the golden age of rail for eco-conscious travellers…
“In 1883, the most famous luxury sleeper train of all time, the Orient Express, set off on its maiden journey from Paris to İstanbul. Roll on 142 years and there is once again a growing number of sleeper trains emerging across Europe, barely a decade after they were hounded out of the continent by the rise of cheap flights and the burgeoning promise of high-speed rail.
This growth is being driven by more passengers opting to go by train rather than being cooped up on pollution-pumping low-cost flights. The journey itself is also part of the adventure. Not only do you save on a night in a hotel, but, as I found out on a European Sleeper service from Brussels to Venice this year, sliding into Italy via the beautiful Brenner Pass is its own reward.
The trains are also getting plusher. During research for my new book, I took Belmond’s Caledonian Sleeper – the UK’s oldest night train still in service – from London Euston to Aberdeen. Over the last few years, it has been revamped with new carriages and a dining car, proving that in some ways, we’re now looking to the past for how to travel better.
In Europe, there are new sleeper routes everywhere, led by Austria’s ÖBB Nightjet, which launched in 2016 and now links Vienna with the likes of Munich, Milan, Venice, Rome and Paris. Since then, we’ve seen France’s SNCF relaunch its domestic and international sleeper trains, the arrival of the European Sleeper brand, and plenty of fresh takes on luxury sleepers, with Accor’s new La Dolce Vita Orient Express launching this year and bringing us full circle.”
FIRST SERVICE 1918
Hershey Electric Railway, Cuba
Route: 14km (Camilo Cienfuegos/Hershey–Jaruco)
Chocolate mogul Milton Hershey landed in Cuba in 1916 with an eye on its sugarcane and did as all titans of industry do: he took over. He bought several mills, founded a town in his name, created a golf course (naturally) and built an electric railway to ferry his sugar to the port at Matanzas. Hershey rode the post-war boom that saw Cuba become the world’s largest sugar supplier in the world in the 1920s, setting its course for the next century. And then he sold up. His town has languished for decades, the rusting mill closed since 2002, but the railway continues to this day, albeit in truncated form, travelling between the still-occupied Camilo Cienfuegos (aka Hershey) and Jaruco, 14km to the south.
Highlight:
Jaruco is a great jumping-off point for the forested trails, limestone cliffs and caves of the Parque Escaleras de Jaruco.
FIRST SERVICE 1919
Hakone Tozan Railway, Japan
Route: 15km (Hakone-Yumoto–Gora)
While most of Japan’s early rail routes drew on British designs and trains, the country’s oldest mountain railway, deep in Kanagawa province, owes more to the call of the Alps. In 1912, its designer went on a fact-finding mission to Switzerland and found inspiration in the rising switchbacks of the Bernina Line. Today, the Hakone Tozan route consists of two sections, with the first beginning in Odawara. But it’s the 40-minute journey from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora that catches the eye, threading a picturesque wooded valley via six stations. Stops include Tonosawa, where the town’s historical ryokans offer a glimpse of life in old Japan. Try to visit during June and July, when hydrangeas bloom alongside the tracks and you could almost imagine that you’re in the Alps.
Highlight:
From Gora, transfer to the Hakone Ropeway that climbs to the crater lake of Ashi, a serene escape that has incredible views of Mount Fuji. hakonenavi.jp
FIRST SERVICE 1923
The Blue Train, South Africa
Route: 1,600km (Cape Town–Pretoria)
Formal dinners, 24-hour butlers, marble en-suites. The Blue Train has luxury in its soul, although its early incarnations were more bare-bones, shuttling between Johannesburg and Cape Town in the early 1920s. It was only when the gold and diamonds found in Kimberley created a new wealthy elite that its carriages were spruced up to convey them.
The train’s distinctive exterior was added in 1937, after which it became known as “that blue train”, later adopting the name as multiple refits upped the ante. Today, it glides the Winelands and Great Karoo between Cape Town and Pretoria in two and three days, as the expanse of the veld offers an increasingly wild counterpoint to the decadence onboard.
Highlight:
Look out for an extension that takes guests from Pretoria to Kruger National Park for sightings of the ‘Big 5’. bluetrain.co.za
FIRST SERVICE 1923
The Alaska Railroad, USA
Photography: Justin Low
Route: 760km (Seward–Fairbanks)
When President Warren Harding drove a 14-carat spike into the ground at Nenana in 1923 to mark the completion of the Alaska Railroad, it was a fitting end to a route that links up the goldfields which drew settlers to Alaska by the thousands. Trains now service different parts of the line, although only two, the Aurora Winter (Anchorage–Fairbanks) and Hurricane Turn (Anchorage–Hurricane), do so outside of summer. The former is the wilder of the two, traversing huge stretches of ink-black backcountry south of Hurricane Gulch on a 12-hour overnight service. Both stop in Talkeetna, where dogsledding and snowshoeing let you see this land in a different way. The Denali Star covers a similar route to the Aurora in summer (May–mid-Sep), when the wilderness turns lush and the landscape is almost unrecognisable, while the Coastal Classic and Glacier Discovery both head south of Anchorage, beneath the stern peaks of the Chugach Range.
Highlight:
In winter, views of Denali (6,190m), the tallest mountain in North America, are at their clearest. Watch it soar above the Susitna River south of Talkeetna. alaskarailroad.com
The rise of the epic rail tour
Dave Riley, CEO of Great Rail Journeys, on how the shape of rail tours is being driven by travellers, and why train travel is far more than simply getting from A to B…
“Over the course of the last two to three years, we’ve really seen an uptick in people being interested in, and much more open-minded about, this type of travel. With the journey being so immersive, the feeling that you’re part of your surroundings makes it very appealing. It’s so different to looking out of the window of a plane.
I think of rail as the kind of journey that is part of the adventure and the experience. People see it often as a mode of transport, but it’s so much more than that: the social interaction, the views from the windows, the engagement with your surroundings.
If I ever talk to people about the greatest rail journeys of their lives, they’ve always got a story to tell, you know, and sometimes it will be the commuter journey from Dewsbury to Halifax; other times it will be the California Zephyr, going coast to coast in the US. But they always tell it with a smile on their face. You don’t get that if you ask about commuting via Manchester airport.
For travellers, we’re seeing a lot of change around their desire to experience different types of food or immerse themselves in local cuisine. If you take the SJourney train in Vietnam, for example, it’s all about the blend of culture and cuisine and landscape.
For me, I love the Jungfrau Express in Switzerland. It’s such a feat of engineering – the way the tunnels were built to the top of the Jungfrau. It’s got viewing platforms throughout the journey, so you can look through the windows and see the glacier. It’s just such a magical experience.”
FIRST SERVICE 1929
The Ghan, Australia
Route: 2,975km (Darwin–Adelaide)
This iconic train owes everything to the cameleers who cut a path across the searing heart of Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, shuffling goods and people thousands of kilometres. Known as the Ghans, it was they who facilitated the building of the railroads across Australia that eventually stole their jobs.
Today, The Ghan’s two-, three- and four-day itineraries take in the Red Centre, West MacDonnell Ranges and the towering cliffs of Nitmiluk in style, with the recent addition of aurora-watching suites a real plus. But all this was only made possible by the sweat of the Ghans.
Highlight:
Stop in the opal-mining settlement of Coober Pedy to see a town built underground to avoid the searing heat. journeybeyondrail.com.au
FIRST SERVICE 1936
Doğu Express, Türkiye
Route: 1,310km (Ankara–Kars)
With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, the new Republic of Türkiye set about modernising, expanding its rail network in a bid to match the West. Its crowning achievement was its longest route, which stretched 2,000km – from İstanbul to Kars – at its peak. Today, it goes from Ankara to Kars, but the route is no less epic – or popular. Driven by a demand fuelled by the exploits of travel vloggers, the Doğu Express sleeper service used to be sold out far in advance, so a ‘tourist’ version was added in 2019 to relieve the burden. This 26-hour route has far more stops, letting you pause to soak up the steep-sided glory of the Karanlık Canyon or the tombs and madrasas of Erzurum in peace, before cruising through the Alpine-esque greenery of Anatolia’s remotest provinces once more.
Highlight:
The ruins of medieval Ani, 42km from Kars, date back 1,600 years and occupy an incredibly lush and barren setting on the Armenian border. ebilet.tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr
FIRST SERVICE 1936
Reunification Express, Vietnam
Route: 1,726km (Ho Chi Minh City–Hanoi)
The Reunification Express is not one train, but the name given to any service that runs Vietnam’s North-South railway. This route was first built by the French in 1936, only to be slowly dismantled. It was broken up as north and south Vietnam were divided, then it was bombed by the US. Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, however, the 1,726km of track were rebuilt in barely a year.
Today, its 158 stations, 1,334 bridges and 27 tunnels are a study in slowing down, as you chug river-cut gorges, rice paddies and imperial cities. For a plusher version, try breaking up the journey by joining Anantara’s Vietage service, gliding the coastal tracks between Da Nang (gateway to the historic riverport town of Hoi An) and Nha Trang, with gourmet dining, afternoon teas and cocktails on call.
Highlight:
Stop at Dong Hoi to visit the caverns of Hang Son Doong, the world’s largest cave. 12go.asia; thevietagetrain.com
FIRST SERVICE 1938
The Jungle Train, Malaysia
Route: 526km (Gemas–Tumpat)
For now, this train still chugs Malaysia’s East Coast Line across the fringes of some of the world’s oldest rainforest. But by 2027, a faster electric route may make this 16-hour line redundant. If so, it will be a shame. The British started building this route in 1885 to transport rubber. It took decades to finish, but even today, it connects up remote settlements that few travellers would visit otherwise.
Highlight:
Kuala Lipis is a jumping-off point for jungle treks into Kenong Rimba State Park – a far less busy alternative to Taman Negara. online.ktmb.com.my
FIRST SERVICE 1943
Death Railway, Thailand
Route: Approximately 80km (Nong Pla Duk Junction–Nam Tok)
The ‘Death Railway’ didn’t get its name lightly. In 1942, the occupying Japanese forces in South-East Asia needed a new railway supply line, so a 420km route between Bangkok and Yangon was mooted. What was estimated to take six years was done in 16 months, but at a horrific cost.
Of the 60,000 POWs forced to work on the line, an estimated 13,000 died along with 90,000 civilians. The route barely lasted two years before much of it, including the famous bridge over the River Kwai, was destroyed by Allied raids. Since then, parts of the track have been subsumed into the Thai rail network, with its official start point beginning at Nong Pla Duk Junction. From there, take the train to Nam Tok, making time for a stop in Kanchanaburi to visit the harrowing Death Railway Museum. Thereafter, you’ll cross the rebuilt Kwai bridge, where you can still see the shrapnel marks in its base, bringing a dark period of history into stark focus.
Highlight:
Hire a songthaew at Nam Tok to take you to the ruins of Hellfire Pass, an infamous railway cutting on which many labourers died. Little remains, but it is home to a memorial and interpretive walks. 12go.asia
FIRST SERVICE 1948
Tren a las Nubes, Argentina
Route: 434km round-trip (Salta–San Antonio de los Cobres)
It’s often a matter of time before utilitarianism gives way to escapism. What began as a marvel of engineering, built to ferry goods over the Andes to Chile, now features a tourist train that makes the 15-hour round-trip from Salta to Antonio de Cobres. En route, you’ll cruise high-altitude plateaus, craggy gorges and salt flats. Then, at Antonio, you can hop on a one-hour train to cross La Polvorilla Viaduct, one of the world’s highest railway bridges, before heading back with a sense of awe for how any of this was built.
Highlight:
Keep an eye out for the multi-coloured rocks of the Quebrada del Toro as you traverse the gorge’s gaping maw. trensaltatiamar.com
FIRST SERVICE 1973
Bernina Express, Switzerland & Italy
Route: 144km (Chur/St Moritz–Tirano)
The Bernina Express crosses two of Europe’s most historic stretches of track: the Albula (1903) and Bernina (1910) lines. Together, they have been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, thanks not just to panoramic views of snow-blasted Alpine summits and creaking glaciers, but for the sheer ingenuity they took to create. From the stone arches of the 65m-high Landwasser Viaduct to the Brusio Spiral, a 360-degree rising loop created as an elegant solution to avoid having to dig switchback tunnels, this route is one of the great feats of European engineering.
At the highest point (Ospizio Bernina station), you’ll find yourself rising to a dizzying 2,253m, climbing higher than any non-cogwheel train in Switzerland, before spiralling down to just 441m at Tirano, Italy, where palm trees sprout on the coast. Having traversed 55 tunnels and 196 bridges in four hours, it’s like riding Europe’s most beautiful rollercoaster.
Highlight:
The Montebello curve, just before Morteratsch station, is a 180-degree loop that offers spectacular views of the Bernina massif and one of the largest glaciers in the Eastern Alps. tickets.rhb.ch
