Book review: Tales from the Fast Trains

Tales from the Fast Trains: Book review & competition

ENRIES FOR THIS COMPETITION HAVE NOW CLOSED. I’LL CONTACT THE WINNERS SOON!

The growth of budget airline travel has inspired a few great travel books in recent years. Philip Norman’s Ryanland charts a fun experiment in visiting all of those obscure cities on the Ryanair routemap which you can get to for the price of a round in the pub and Tom Chesshyre, staff travel writer for the Times, has written one himself, How Low Can You Go? Europe from £1 Returns.

That same writer applies very similar thinking to a new book, Tales from the Fast Trains: Europe at 186 mph and it’s a rare and welcome delight. I can’t think of too many great books about rail travel to have been published in recent years, let alone ones with such an original and compelling premise.

Over a series of weekends Tom sets out to conquer Europe, one high speed train at a time and in the process uncovers some gems from the other side of the tracks. Tom’s quest leads him to discover the bleeding edge fashions of Antwerp and the Marxist pilgrimage site of Trier. At the more surprising end of scale you’ll find contemporary architects’ playground that is Rotterdam and a tour through the seedy back streets of the otherwise buttoned down, bankers’ haven of Frankfurt.

Along the way much wine is sloshed back, hotels of varying quality are poked around in and a fair bit of railway history – and the massive impact it had on much of Europe’s economic and social development – is made accessible.

It’s all conveyed at a leisurely pace – no rigorous ticking off of guidebook sights – with a tangible sense of ‘the adventure on your doorstep.’ Tom’s an instantly likeable virtual travel companion. He writes in an honest, unpretentious and occasionally meandering style, full of gentle wonder at the hidden treasures uncovered in some of the less likely places. He’s not above taking a city tour or ‘doing something obvious’ like popping into Dijon’s Maille Mustard shop-cum- museum.

In places it can feel a little padded though. You get the feeling that a few of the chapters might make better magazine articles and some of the smug exchanges with his girlfriend and occasional travel partner can grate a little at times, but these niggles aside, it really is a cracking narrative which should hopefully ignite light bulbs in the minds of many a traveller wanting a quick and painless weekend escape.

Tales From the Fast Trains is out now and published by Summersdale Press.

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This entry was posted Friday, 26 August, 2011 at 9:00 am
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Natalia on August 26th, 2011 at 9:19 am

Jools if you accept readers for overseas I will like to get a copy of the book, my whole I have lived in a island without trains and when I start travelling I fall in love with trains.

When I was a kid I did Barcelona-Paris in the night train and since I started travelling as a job I have done Oslo-Bergen thru the Flam railway, the Oyataimbo-Aguascalientes train to Machu Pichu, Shinkasen in Japan (Tokio-Kioto-Hiroshima-Kioto-Osaka-Kioto-Tokyo) and my favourite one by the moment the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver.

Next year I am going to be in a year round world trip I will try to use the train as much as possible, in two years I have flown 172 thousand miles so I really want to take some trains with better views

Kailos on August 26th, 2011 at 10:10 am

Very much like the idea behind this. The books I’ve read on train travel are, more often than not, grandiose, trans-national journeys of self discovery. Don’t get me wrong – I love them, but as someone often grappling with regional British rail, request-stops and crumbling stations, a lot of the romanticism is replaced with the despair of delayed and cancelled services.

But, I’m an optimist, I like fast trains and enjoy traipsing around Europe in any way I can (as you well know), so this sounds like my cup of tea.

And, while I’m here, very well done on the award Jools!

Fraser on August 27th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

The lure of this book is that it sounds like its more for a traveller than a tourist (which no traveller ever wants to admit to be) as it focuses on the journey, which from your description sounds like a modern day Grand Tour (taken in weekend chunks), which is so romantic
And I certainly love the sound of not going miles in the opposite direction to get to a sterile airplane hanger, that could be anywhere, and being thrust through the air into a culture than being gently absorbed into its midst.
So, yes Jools, I’d love to have my light bulb ignited and be magic carpeted on virtual weekend escapes around Europe until next year, when I can try some of Tom’s suggestions out for myself

Linda ~ Journey Jottings on August 27th, 2011 at 2:15 pm

This sounds good. I had great eye-opening experiences in Spain and Italy about the trains after only traveled the German high-speed rail network for several years. I am looking to see if the author reaches the same conclusions I have about all these different systems, with their strengths and weaknesses.

cliff1976 on August 28th, 2011 at 8:16 am

Trains have drastically changed my way of life, for the better. In the U.S., I was frustratingly anchored to my car, but now my life in Germany is blessedly car free due to the fact that trains so easily take me where I want to go. There’s nothing better in my mind than relaxing on a train, listening to music with my headphones, and watching the landscape out the window. I can flexibly decide to buy a ticket and in minutes, I’m on a train.

I wrote a love letter to trains here, complete with photos:

http://www.residentonearth.com/2011/03/train-me/

Jen on August 28th, 2011 at 10:51 am

Ahh… the romance of train travel. I like what you say about him not being above taking a city tour or doing something touristy – it makes a fresh change from those preaching about the “off the beaten track” that has become a travel cliché.

Good review, Jools.

Corinne @ Gourmantic on August 29th, 2011 at 10:55 am

Absolutely, see also ‘living like locals’ ! If you’re visiting a city for a weekend for the first time, then a city tour is usually a perfectly sensible thing to do, no matter how well travelled you are in general. I think his style of travel would chime in with yours too. Lots of food and drink stuff in it.

joolsstone on August 29th, 2011 at 12:34 pm

I love the idea of this!! Here in the US, airlines dominate our transportation options for long distance travel. It’s one reason why I love Europe so much – trains are fun, affordable, and provide a great alternative to airlines. Competition also brings lower prices so riding the train on a budget is a fantastic alternative. Love the leisurely, budget minded approach to this book. Sounds like a fascinating read – just right for a budget traveler!

Jeremy Branham on August 29th, 2011 at 2:29 pm

Many years ago I boarded a small regional train in Umbria. When the conductor saw that I had a 1st class railpass, he switched the overhead class sign from 2nd class to 1st class even though it was clearly a 2nd class car with old wooden seats.

joolsstone on August 29th, 2011 at 3:33 pm

Smug exchanges aside, this sounds like a book that’s right up my alley. Would love to read it and vicariously experience Tom’s journeys. Well done review, Jools!

Cathy Sweeney on August 29th, 2011 at 4:49 pm

Cheers Jeremy, yeh, we have it lucky here in that respect definitely. Here’s hoping that high speed rail in Europe does get more competitive price wise.

joolsstone on August 29th, 2011 at 11:02 pm

I love European trains (collect European HO Scale — my goal for one from every country in Europe!) I live in the U.S. and have exhausted all print resources to read about European trains. This book is a surprise discovery from Facebook! I would love to read what Tom has collected in this book and hope to repeat my own train travels through parts of Europe in 1984 (Athens-Zagreb-Salzburg-Zurich-Luzern and return to Athens)!

Regards,
Arsh