Autumn 2021. In theory we could travel to other continents, but destinations we had in mind such as Japan or the United Kingdom were impossible to plan ahead. Instead we organised a rail trip to Eastern Europe, travelling to Berlin, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, Bratislava, Poprad, Vienna, Linz and Salzburg. By travelling to Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Austria, we explore an area which was in the (not too distant) past bonded together by the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and by Austria-Hungary.

To travel from Prague to Bratislava, we chose RegioJet and their business class product. Sampling RegioJet is particularly relevant as European Sleeper is joining forces with RegioJet to operate a night train service between Ostend, Brussels, Berlin and Prague.
RegioJet uses Eurofima coaches bought from the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB. Some of these have Swiss SBB-CFF-FFS heritage as wall.
The Eurofima coach, or European Standard Coach (French: Voiture Standard Européenne), is a passenger car designed for use on international railway routes in Europe. It was commissioned by the European Company for the Financing of Railroad Rolling Stock (French: Société européenne pour le financement de matériel ferroviaire) (Eurofima).
It is or was used by ÖBB, SBB, Deutsche Bahn (DB), Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) in Italy, SNCF in France and by NMBS / SNCB in Belgium. In Belgium we call them I6!
Overall production was 10 prototypes, followed by 500 coaches ordered in 1973 and delivered in 1977.



Products
RegioJet has several classes or products.
- Business. Comes with free drinks, a closed coupé and roommates who you expect to behave.
- Relax. Open version of business.
- Standard. Which standard.
- Kids compartment in standard.
- Standard-ASTRA. Standard but with own screens and entertainment.
- Low-cost. Very basic.
- Their sleeper cars.
The ASTRA coaches were especially made by ASTRA in Romania for RegioJet. The ASTRA coaches are actually French Corail coaches SNCF uses, made under license in Romania.

Business
So we chose business. The compartment has four comfortable seats with power outlets. The seats recline. Obviously there’s a tablet for eating or computing.
There’s ample leg room and space between the seats. So no, we weren’t alone but our roommates did behave. As a matter of fact, it was us who made the most noice and moved about most. Sorry for the disturbance.
A stewardess came regularly to hear if we wanted something. Water, Sekt, juices, tea and coffee were included in the price. Food not, but the stewardess takes your order and brings your food.
The prices are low, especially for cake.





Outside the bubble
Outside our ‘business bubble’ life on board wasn’t as pleasant. Our train departed Prague with four out five toilets out of service. It also seemed the air conditioning wasn’t working in the low-cost coach.
But besides those inconveniences, the ride was smooth and uneventful.

Resources
More on trains
- Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
- The return of a Brussels – Luxembourg – Strasbourg – Basel train?.
- 33 European railway companies call for massive investment in rail travel.
- Trans Europ Express 2.0 advocates a renewed extensive European train network.
- SWITZERLAND | GoldenPass Montreux – Gstaad – Interlaken without changing at Zweisimmen thanks to dual-gauge trains.
- International Railway Union working on facilitating night trains, but very aware of the many challenges.
- RIDE & DINE | Orient Dining Express by Stoomtrein Maldegem-Eeklo.
- Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Prague RegioJet / European Sleeper night train service delayed.
- EUROPEAN UNION | The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the European Transport Corridors.
- European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
- Trenitalia Frecciarossa high speed train between Florence and Venice in Business Executive class.
- Orient Express La Dolce Vita: luxury train travel in Italy from 2023.
- ITALY | Turin hosts 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
- By Red Arrow to Milan.
- Future Benelux ICNG trains complete test rides for Belgium.
- PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
- Trenitalia aspires to run trains from Milan to Brussels and Amsterdam.
- Green light for ‘Green Speed’ Eurostar and Thalys merger.
- ‘Green Speed’: Train operators Thalys and Eurostar to become one.
- GREEN SPEED | 2024 Eurostar – Thalys merger marks the end of Thalys brand.
- ‘Disney Express’ by Thalys to Disneyland Paris / Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy.
- REVIEW | Thalys Lounge at Brussels South/Midi station.
- Antwerp – Brussels – Paris in Thalys Comfort 1.
- Travelling in Thalys Premium.
- TGV Inoui Brussels to Lyon in Corona times.
- SNCF inOui (ex-TGV) Marseille to Lille.
- Eurostar ex-Thalys trains will keep ‘ruby’ red livery after 2024 merger.
- On board a TGV Atlantique from Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean.
- Travelling on TGV to Avignon.
- Paris – Geneva – Lausanne with TGV Lyria first class on an Alstom TGV Duplex.
- Eurostar post-Brexit.
- London – Lille – Brussels in Eurostar’s refurbished e300 / Class 373 / TMST.
- EUROCITY EC-8 | Zürich to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
- Brussels – London with Eurostar in Standard Premier.
- SJ EuroNight announces 2022 night train service from Stockholm to Hamburg, no Malmö – Brussels for now.
- NIGHT TRAINS TO BERLIN | Stronger European Sleeper effectively takes over Moonlight Express.
- Malmö – Brussels night train to become Malmö – Brussels – Paris?.
- Ostende-Vienne Orient Experience plans tourist season night trains from Brussels and Antwerp to Salzburg, Innsbruck and Milan.
- GreenCityTrip: chartered night trains from Breda in the Netherlands to Venice, Prague, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Verona and Innsbruck.
- GreenCityTrip launches new destinations for its chartered night trains: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Bologna, Firenze, Bolzano, Como, Salzburg, Linz.
- Moonlight Express to offer night train services between Brussels, Liège and Berlin from April 2022.
- The couchette and sleeping cars for the Ostend – Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Prague European Sleeper by RegioJet.
- ‘Hotel on rails’ Midnight Trains to link Paris to Edinburgh, Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Porto.
- The couchette and sleeping cars for the Brussels – Liège – Berlin Moonlight Express.
- Moonlight Express to include bar / restaurant coaches and sustainable quality food on Brussels – Liège – Berlin night train.
- 2021, European Year of Rail.
- ‘Green Speed’: Train operators Thalys and Eurostar to become one.
- European Sleeper to launch night train services from the Netherlands and Belgium in April 2022.
- Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
- NIGHTJET | Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB and Swiss Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS present 2024 Austro-Swiss night train plans for Europe.
- Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
- Reliving the era of the great railway journeys, travelling overnight on Nightjet.
- How we plan a big rail trip.
- Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
- Malmö – Cologne – Brussels Night train.
- BOOK REVIEW | ‘Night Trains, The Rise and Fall of the Sleeper’ by Andrew Martin.
- To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
- Night trains in Europe.
- Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
- Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.
- A passengers train from Antwerp in Belgium to Shanghai in China?.
- Venice Simplon-Orient-Express comes to Brussels in June 2021 and April 2022.
- 2013 Scotland Rail Trip.
- 2016 America Rail Adventure.
- 2017 Eastern Europe, Balkan and Greece Rail Trip.
- 2018 Poland Trip.
- 2018 Rail Tour of France, Italy and Switzerland.
- 2020 Saxony, Bavaria and Tyrol Getaway.
2021 Rail Tour of Imperial Europe
- POTSDAM 2021 | Schloss Sanssouci.
- 1945 Potsdam Conference’s Cecilienhof Palace.
- Potsdam 2021.
- REVIEW | InterContinental Berlin.
- BERLIN 2021 | Pergamon, ‘Das Panorama’.
- BERLIN 2021 | Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace.
- BERLIN 2021 | The Bundestag in the Reichstag.
- Berlin 2021.
- By train from Berlin to Gdansk via Szczecin.
- Stopover in Szczecin.
- REVIEW | Restauracja Ritz in Gdańsk.
- REVIEW | Holiday Inn Gdansk.
- GDAŃSK | Museum of the Second World War.
- GDAŃSK | European Solidarity Centre or Europejskie Centrum Solidarności.
- A walk through Gdańsk.
- Gdańsk 2021.
- POLAND | PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
- Wrocław Museum of Architecture.
- The Dwarfs of Wrocław.
- Wrocław.
- Poland 2021.
- By train from Wroclaw to Karlovy Vary.
- Karlovy Vary.
- REVIEW | Hotel Imperial Karlovy Vary.
- Czechia’s Great Spa Town of Europe Františkovy Lázně.
- CZECHIA | Pilsen Historical Underground Tunnels.
- CZECHIA | Pilsner Urquell Brewery Tour.
- CZECHIA | Pilsen.
- CZECHIA 2021 | Cheb and its castle.
- Hotel room for one.
- By train from Karlovy Vary to Prague via Pilsen.
- Czechia 2021.
Wow! Looks cozy, and sushi looks delicious! Thank’s for share, Timothy.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Elvira
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You’re welcome, Elvira.
Have a great day.
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You as well, Timothy,
Thank’s.
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