by As our elegant high-speed train skirted the edge of Lac du Bourget, I watched the brilliant sunset behind the peaks of the Chaîne de l’Épine range. Taking the train may be better for the planet than flying, but it also offers better views.
I was on the inaugural service of the Eurostar Snow Train, which took me from London St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice, the gateway to a group of France’s largest and most famous ski resorts, including Val d’Isère, Tignes, La Rosière, La Plagne and Les Arcos.
In recent years this route has been on the verge of extinction. It has been more than 160 years since Thomas Cook organized the first snow train to the Alps. At the beginning of the 21ststreet During the 19th century, more than 30,000 British skiers traveled to the Alps each winter on the direct Eurostar service.
But the rise of low-cost airlines undermined demand and, when the pandemic hit, Eurostar canceled the route in July 2020 to focus on its “core” destinations.
A petition and lobby by French and British activists led to a new service, organized by tour operator Travelski, but when it was announced last summer that this too was to be cancelled, lovers of sustainable ski holidays despaired.
It turned out that Eurostar had been biding its time until its merger with Belgian rail operator Thalys was finalized. Shortly afterwards the new Eurostar snow train was announced, although with one important difference: instead of traveling from London directly to the Alps, passengers would be routed via Lille, changing to one of the newly acquired Thalys trains.
Although capacity has been limited to just eight weeks, between mid-December and early February, the new service has proven popular. Eurostar reported that more than half of the available tickets were sold during the first week of sale.
Tour operators such as Inghams Ski and Travelski also offer holidays that include service instead of flights, and Inghams confirmed last week that its train packages were already 84 per cent sold out.
With more than 4,000 travelers set to use the service this winter, I wanted to know if this new low-carbon option for skiers could live up to the hype.
As someone who has traveled by train to the Alps since the hedonistic days of disco transport in the 1980s, when you had to take a train to Dover, a ferry to Calais and then join the night train sleeping in spartan bunks, I was thrilled find outside.
Despite warnings that up to 35,000 passengers a day were expected to leave London St Pancras over the Christmas period, I was relieved to be able to clear security and customs in just 15 minutes.
The first surprise was that, although many excited skiers were carrying their skis and boot bags onto the train, it was simply a regular London-Lille service, filled out by couples and families mostly on their way to shop at the Christmas markets in Lille.
The encouraging thing is that there was plenty of space for everyone, despite the bulky extra luggage. Eurostar had reserved rows of seats specifically for storing skis, leaving plenty of space in the aisles.
After crossing the Medway and then diving under the English Channel, our quick arrival in Lille took me quite by surprise. At just one hour and twenty minutes, Lille is almost an hour faster than the Eurostar to Paris, and there was a frisson of panic as the skiers clumsily scrambled to unload their suitcases, before the train continued towards Brussels.
Changing trains in Lille was as easy as Eurostar promised. The train heading to the Alps left from the opposite platform, with enough time to stow the luggage in dedicated compartments. baggage for Moûtiers and Bourg St Maurice respectively, and visit the pastry shop in the station lobby for a first continental croissant.
The most significant change from the previous Travelski service is the lifting of its puritanical alcohol ban. As we made our way into the Alps, the popping of champagne corks echoed throughout our carriage as skiers celebrated our progress into the snow.
This does not mean that the new service was free of teething problems. It is clear that no one on the Eurostar has read Asterix in Britain – in which the fierce Britons refrain from fighting the Romans at four in the afternoon every day so they can have a cup of hot water – as the train ran out of tea bags within the hour.
Despite the affront to British tea-drinking habits, fellow travelers I spoke to were positive about the new service. Clare Crosby and her family set off from Newick in East Sussex and chose the train because “it’s quicker than driving, even though it’s more expensive.”
Charlotte Roberts was cradling her six-month-old son Joshua when she told me that her decision to travel by train was because “the whole trip is so much easier than flying when you have a baby.”
Other passengers were more motivated by the environmental benefits. BBC Ski Sunday’s Chemmy Alcott enthused: “It’s like any normal travel day, but without the guilt and with a lot more excitement.”
Has the future of sustainable travel been saved? Only if enough people take the service, according to Alcott: “If we can get homeless people into the seats and show that it’s popular, then hopefully they’ll put in more trains. “That’s what we really need.”
Essentials
The Eurostar snow train departs at 09:01 every Saturday morning until 4 February 2024 from London St Pancras via Lille, stopping at Chambéry, Albertville, Moûtiers (17:30), Aime-la-Plagne (18:00) and Bourg-Saint. -Mauricio (18:20). The return is during the day of the following Sunday.
Train-only tickets were available from £99 each way, but only limited availability remains for this winter. The cheapest return currently available is £365, departing on January 20.
Packages are available from Inghams, with a seven-night stay at Arc 1950, self-catering, including train travel and transfers, from £1,109 per person, based on four shared rooms, departing 3 February 2024.
