Luxury, tourist and cruise train news
News about luxury, tourist and cruise trains around the world.
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Metro Report InternationalDisneyland Resort Line train replacement to create a ‘brand new look’
CHINA: New battery trains and resignalling are included in Hong Kong operator MTR Corp’s plans to create a ‘brand new look’ for the Disneyland Resort Line from 2028.
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NewsFootbath train launched to serve hot springs resort
JAPAN: Private train operator Kintetsu has modified one of its electric multiple-units to operate luxury tourist services between Nagoya and Yunoyama-Onsen, a hot springs resort in the Suzuka area of outstanding natural beauty.
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NewsSlow tourism train operator launches first service
ITALY: FS Group’s recently formed tourist train business FS Treni Turistici Italiani has launched its first service. Branded Espresso Cadore, the overnight service between Roma Termini and Calalzo-Pieve di Cadore-Cortina will run every Friday night until mid-February. On arrival, a connecting bus takes passengers to Cortina ...
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NewsLuxury cruise train to link Uzbekistan’s Silk Road cities
UZBEKISTAN: Italian luxury hospitality company Arsenale has announced plans to launch a luxury cruise train to take tourists between Toshkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva from late 2026. A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed with national railway UTY and the government’s Tourism Committee in ...
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NewsRetro-styled open-sided coaches developed for tourist trains
RUSSIA: Vagonremmash has developed a range of retro-styled open-sided coaches for use on tourist and cruise trains. They have a capacity of 80 passengers, with heated benches, power sockets and bicycle spaces. Over summer the coaches were used on the steam-hauled Ruskeala ...
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Metro Report InternationalSuspended monorail with glass floor opens in China
CHINA: The Optics Valley Skyrail suspended monorail has opened in Wuhan, with glass-floored vehicles giving passengers a view downwards as well as sideways. The 10·5 km first phase of the line, which is primarily aimed at tourists, runs from Jiufengshan in Jiufeng National Forest Park to Longquanshan. ...
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NewsPanoramic coaches added to Kyrgyz trains
KYRGYZSTAN: A second panoramic tourist coach has entered service on the 200 km route between Bishkek and Balykchy on the shore of the Ysyk-Köl lake.
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In depthComment: Trains on the tourist trail
As summer moves into autumn in the northern hemisphere, a debate is beginning over the future of tourism, catalysed in part by the searing heatwaves and wildfires that have been sweeping across much of the planet.
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NewsItalian luxury and tourist train business launched
ITALY: National operator FS Group has established FS Treni Turistici Italiani to provide luxury and tourist-focused train services. These will position rail travel ’as an integral part of the holiday, a quality component of the overall tourist experience’. FS Treni Turistici Italiani has three service areas: ...
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NewsUAE luxury cruise train service planned
UAE: Etihad Rail and Italian luxury hospitality company Arsenale have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a luxury cruise train, which would operate in UAE and potentially in Oman and across the Gulf Co-operation Council countries as the region’s rail network expands. The ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to equip La Dolce Vita luxury trains
ITALY: Arsenale Express has awarded Knorr-Bremse a contract to supply braking, climate control, door and sanitary systems for two rakes of 11 coaches which are being modernised for use on La Dolce Vita luxury ‘slow travel’ services La Dolce Vita is being developed by luxury travel ...
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NewsDream of the Desert cruise train planned for Saudi Arabia
SAUDI ARABIA: A Dream of the Desert five-star luxury cruise train service on the North South Railway from Riyadh to Al Qurayyat on the border with Jordan is planned to launch in 2025. A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed at the Saudi ...
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NewsRockies to the Red Rocks luxury train launched
USA: Luxury tourist train operator Rocky Mountaineer has launched its Rockies to the Red Rocks route, offering a two-day journey between Denver in Colorado and Moab in Utah with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs.
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NewsRocky Mountaineer announces ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ luxury train
USA: Luxury train operator Rocky Mountaineer has announced plans to launch a two-day ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ rail journey between Denver in Colorado and Moab in Utah during 2021. Passengers would stay overnight at a hotel in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The new service will be in ...
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NewsCoast-to-coast cruise train crosses Africa
INTERNATIONAL: On August 2 a passenger train set out on the return leg of a coast-to-coast trip across Africa. Departing from the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast and bound for the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean, the train had arrived in Lobito on ...
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NewsRocky Mountaineer expands dome car fleet
CANADA: The first four of 10 custom-designed double-deck dome cars which high-end tourist train operator Rocky Mountaineer has ordered from Stadler are expected to enter service shortly, operating from Vancouver to Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff during the 2019 tourist season. Rocky Mountaineer said the order placed in May ...
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NewsLVMH buys luxury train operator
INTERNATIONAL: High-end wine, fashion, cosmetics, hotel and retail group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotel, restaurant, train and cruise brands including the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, British Pullman, Royal Scotsman, Grand Hibernian, Andean Explorer, Hiram Bingham and ...
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NewsSNCF and AccorHotels to develop the Orient Express brand
FRANCE: An agreement to exploit the SNCF-owned Orient Express brand within the global luxury hospitality sector was signed by the French national railway and AccorHotels on October 4. AccorHotels plans to develop a chain of hotels under the Orient Express name, and is to acquire a 50% stake in ...
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NewsBelmond Andean Explorer launched
PERU: Hotel and cruise train operator Belmond launched what it describes as ‘South America’s first luxury sleeper train’ on May 4. Operating on the PeruRail network between Cusco and Arequipa, the Belmond Andean Explorer offers a two-night journey through ‘some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world’, its large ...
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NewsTwilight Express Mizukaze to launch next month
JAPAN: West Japan Railway is to launch the Twilight Express Mizukaze (fresh breeze) luxury cruise train in June, adopting a similar concept to JR East’s Train Suite Shiki-Shima. With five one night or two-night itineraries, the luxury 10-car train will give up to 30 passengers the opportunity to travel to ...