Growing up, I was always envious of other European countries’ high-speed, well-connected rail networks. Now that I live in Brussels – I left Ireland three years ago, living first in Rome and London – I’ve been able to travel on Thalys, the high-speed train that carries 7.5 million people a year on its routes which include Brussels to Paris in less than two hours. I’ve also taken the Eurostar, which gets you to London in the blink of an eye. I’m not sure Iarnród Éireann could ever compete with that.
But those experiences couldn’t be more different from a recent trip back to Belgium after a holiday in the Czech Republic. My boyfriend and I had decided to make the journey by train, in an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint and save some money. Flights have been extortionate recently, and, given the climate crisis, we both think it’s important to travel in a more environmentally friendly way.
So instead of booking a Ryanair flight from Prague to Charleroi, we booked a nine-hour, three-train journey back to Brussels, where we both live. (I’ve just finished working for the European Parliament.) Nine hours and three trains is certainly less convenient than a direct flight, but who doesn’t love the idea of a relaxing rail journey with no need to worry about the weight of your bags and when you can pass the time playing board games and catching up on your reading?
How naive was I?
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We began to worry that we’d made the wrong decision a few weeks ahead of our journey, when we received an email from the rail company warning us that the influx of Ukrainian refugees, and the need for increased border checks, meant we might experience some disruptions and delays. We couldn’t change our booking, so we sat tight and hoped for the best.
The first leg of our trip went smoothly. The train was overcrowded, with only fold-up corridor seats available, but it chugged through the lovely Czech countryside in no time. Once we were in Germany a small group of police boarded the train, to check all was in order and, I assume, make contact with any Ukrainians fleeing the vicious war that Vladimir Putin’s Russia has inflicted on them.
Shortly afterwards we were on the move again. Maybe this will be okay, we thought. Then reality hit: there was a problem with the train, an announcement said, and we’d all have to disembark at Schwandorf, about 90km east of Nuremberg.
After finally managing to battle our way on to the tiny replacement train that arrived 40 minutes later, passengers old and young were like sardines together, without air conditioning, during one of the worst heatwaves ever to hit the Continent. Then, we were on the move again. Thankfully, we made our next connecting train, as it too was running late. We had three hours of ignorant bliss as we made our way towards Frankfurt. Little did we know that our next and final train would be cancelled with no explanation.
Fast-forward six hours – and four additional trains – and we finally arrived in Brussels. In the end it had taken us 15 hours, seven trains and a lot of stress to get between two EU capitals.
It’s hard to understand how it can be so difficult, especially when the climate crisis means it’s so important for the EU to have a good rail system. As The Irish Times has pointed out, European countries this year had one of the hottest summers on record. Ninety-three regions in France faced water restrictions, the Netherlands declared a national water shortage and some parts of Ireland saw temperatures climb higher than those in the Canary Islands and on the Amalfi coast.
[ The Irish Times view on the European drought: clear warning signalsOpens in new window ]
There are a lot of changes the EU, national governments and individuals should be making. One is incentivising more environmentally friendly, sustainable means of travel. The German government’s decision to introduce €9 tickets for all regional and local trains this summer was a great idea – but our experience told us that, crucially, it failed first to ensure that Deutsche Bahn, its national rail company, was sufficiently staffed and prepared for the consequent spike in demand.
I know I should be more grateful that I was stuck standing on a crowded train in 30-degree heat because I was returning from my holidays rather than fleeing a war. Unfortunately, though, I’ll think twice the next time I consider crossing Europe by train.
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