A ‘golden age’ of luxury train travel

“You wait years for the arrival of a super new luxury train and then along come two. Or three. Oh very well, let’s make that four,” said Adrian Bridge in The Telegraph. In the next two years, a “dazzling array” of swanky trains is set to launch, ushering in a new “golden age” of rail travel.

In July 2025, Belmond’s new sleeper train, the Britannic Explorer, will be offering a series of itineraries departing from London to locations across the UK including the Lake District, Cornwall, and Wales. Also launching next year is La Dolce Vita Orient Express, which has announced multi-day routes in Venice and the Italian Riviera, Rome and Sicily, and through the Tuscan countryside. And in autumn 2026, the Norient Express is set to “open up the dramatic landscapes of Norway’s lakes, mountains and, for those pining for them, the fjords”.

These new rail journeys tap into an “idealised” view of train travel from “glittering, glamorous soirees in the piano bar” to “impeccable, unflappable service”, all set against a “stunning backdrop” of ever-changing scenery.

“Nostalgia is certainly a factor in the appeal,” said J.D. Shadel in Condé Nast Traveler. But while it’s “tempting to view these plush train carriages as a kind of Gilded Age cosplay” and “reliving the past”, the resurgence of rail travel is just as much about “finding novel ways to be present”.

The new generation of sleeper trains transforms the most “stressful” part of getting from A to B into a “pleasurable” experience. Instead of trying to go between places as quickly as possible, the surge in luxury rail routes prioritises “slow travel”; the trains typically travel at around 50mph so guests can enjoy the journey and soak up the views along the way.

Many of the latest wave of rail routes to be announced will transport people to “bucket list” destinations not previously accessible by premium trains. For example, La Dolce Vita will take guests to hard-to-reach locations like the “ancient stone-carved architecture in the cliffy city of Matera in Basilicata”, southern Italy.

And it’s not just luxury rail travel that’s seen an uptick recently. New data from Eurostat reveals that rail travel in the EU “reached a new peak” in 2023, reported Euronews. Last year passengers across the bloc travelled a total of 266 billion miles by rail – the highest number since data collection began in 2004.

An eco-conscious desire to travel more sustainably, coupled with the “burgeoning network of sleeper services”, is driving this demand, said Ben Clatworthy in National Geographic. With new routes currently under way in an array of locations from Portugal to Budapest, it’s clear that rail travel in Europe is “having a bit of a moment”.