If you’re boarding a Rail Europe train this month, whether it’s a sleeper train between major cities, a high-speed TGV, or a Channel crossing on Eurostar, take note that 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of modern railway travel.
The wheels started rolling on September 27, 1825, the day that steam-powered Locomotion No. 1 travelled 26 miles in England between the towns of Shildon, Darlington, and Stockton, pulled by an engine designed by George Stephenson, a giant of the Industrial Revolution and the so-called “Father of Railways.” It was literally a day that changed the world, and the event is being celebrated in England this year as Railway200.
While the anniversary is well worth commemorating, Björn Bender, CEO of Rail Europe, is looking towards the future, as rail travel throughout the European continent is literally moving faster and becoming more integrated. A time when high-speed rail is booming and night trains have made a dramatic comeback, which I’ve written about in my new book, National Geographic’s 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime (which will be published on October 7, 2025)
High-Speed Rail To Double By 2030
Start with Bender’s outlook for increased high-speed rail travel throughout Europe.
“The vision is ambitious,” Bender said in an email interview. “The European Commission wants to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and triple it by 2050. Major projects like Rail Baltica and the Brenner Base Tunnel are well underway.”
Yet he admits that challenges remain, including different technical requirements, high investment costs, and the inherent complexity of operating across multiple countries.
“Our job is to make those issues invisible to the traveler, so they see one platform, one booking flow, and one consistent experience,” Bender said. “Imagine traveling from Berlin to Vienna in less than six hours,” he said, which is a distance of 422 miles. Those trips are coming, he insisted, and promised that they would be easier to arrange than they are today.
More Night Trains Connecting Major European Cities
Then there’s the surprising comeback of sleeper trains, which almost disappeared a decade ago, the victim of cheap flights. The latter are falling out of favor because of their excessive carbon footprints.
“Night trains are benefiting from three converging trends,” Bender says. “A shift toward climate-friendly travel, the convenience of downtown-to-downtown journeys, and much-improved onboard comfort.”
Train operators are bringing new and better-designed equipment online. The latest generation of carriages can include private mini-suites, quieter cabins, and better showers, all of which have transformed the night train experience.
“Operators and governments are bringing back routes that had disappeared, from France’s revival of national night train routes to ÖBB’s expanding Nightjet network,” Bender said, “while new players like European Sleeper are adding fresh connections. A Vienna–Paris Nightjet trip, for instance, can save around a ton of CO₂ for two passengers compared with flying, and you arrive right in the city center instead of 25 miles away. We expect to see more overnight services and a more regular timetable on existing ones in the next few years.”
The market is also changing, as Rail Europe eyes younger travelers who may not be familiar with rail travel.
“We’re watching younger generations—especially Millennials and Gen Z—choose rail not just for the environmental benefits, but because the journey is part of the story,” Bender said. “It’s reading a book while the landscape changes outside your window, meeting fellow travelers over dinner in the dining car, or waking up as the train rolls into a new city. A high-speed journey from Paris to Milan—an experience travelers can’t yet find in the U.S.—takes just over six hours, produces roughly 85% less CO₂ than flying, and drops you right in the center of town.”
European trains are currently the envy of the world, but where might European rail transportation be a decade from now?
“I see a continent operating its railways as one integrated system—both physically and digitally—leaving behind the patchwork of national networks that exists today,” Bender says. “Imagine a tighter web of high-speed lines connected by reliable night trains, more Paris–Berlin-style fast corridors, stronger north–south links, and overnight services that make 500- to 750-mile journeys effortless.”
In practical terms, Bender says that could mean traveling from Amsterdam to Barcelona, a distance of 768 miles, in about eight hours without a single change, and with a carbon footprint that would be about one-sixth of a flight. The aim is to create an experience for travelers that makes them feel like one network, with seamless tap-to-ride access across multiple countries, transparent prices, and real-time support. In other words, you don’t need to worry about whether the Dutch, the French, or the Spanish are operating your train.
“That’s the promise we’re working toward,” Bender says. “A Europe where rail is the natural first choice for almost any journey.”