European Railroad Discussion > Cook's European Timetables

One of the great things about have a Eurorail pass in the past was that you did not have to decide where you were going
until the day of your travel.  The websites for the European passenger rail lines are fine but if you want to use your
pass to wonder around, they are not so good.  I believe that Cook's published their last European timetables volume
in 2012 or 2013.  Is there any substitute?  Does SCNF or DB publish a volume a couple times a year listing all of
their passenger services?  How can one obtain such a volume of timetables?  Thank you.

The staff who compiled the Cook's timetable now publish a successor publication - European Rail Timetable.  It comes out monthly and is similar to the Cook's timetable.

they have a web site at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu

Not sure about the SNCF, but the DB Kursbuck timetable is on line -

DB Kursbuck online timetable

The map at the link above is devided between north (nord) and south (sud).Click on the part of Germany you're interested in. The next map will show the part of Germany you selected on the first map. The third click will take you to a map showing a much smaller region. 

Example: Here is the region around Munchen -

Munchen area

Now click on the line numbers to see the schedules for that line.

Somewhat clunky but it gives you much more detail that Cooks ever will.

renf Wrote:
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> One of the great things about have a Eurorail pass
> in the past was that you did not have to decide
> where you were going
> until the day of your travel.  The websites for
> the European passenger rail lines are fine but if
> you want to use your
> pass to wonder around, they are not so good.  I
> believe that Cook's published their last European
> timetables volume
> in 2012 or 2013.  Is there any substitute?  Does
> SCNF or DB publish a volume a couple times a year
> listing all of
> their passenger services?  How can one obtain
> such a volume of timetables?  Thank you.

These days one would use on-line capabilities to get even more detailed information rather than referring to a published book.  I do agree that it was useful.

And, it's "Eurail", not "Eurorail".  In terms of Eurail passes, they are no longer as valuable as they used to be, as they are quite expensive and many of the premium trains require either advance reservations or charge passholders supplements.  In some cases, buying a ticket 60 days in advance on Thalys, for example, will cost less than using your pass and paying the passholder supplement.  The days of "hop on, hop off" at whim are largely over in many, if not all, countries, with Germany being an exception, unless one rides only on secondary trains and avoids high-speed or other express trains.  Finally, France a few years ago imposed a limit on the number of tickets on a given high-speed train that can be made available to passholders, meaning that even if the train has empty seats at departure, a passholder would have to pay the full walk-up fare or use a later train -- the pass essentially being useless.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> The days of "hop on, hop off" at whim are largely
> over in many, if not all, countries, with Germany
> being an exception, unless one rides only on
> secondary trains and avoids high-speed or other
> express trains. 
(SNIP) 

No reservations are needed in Switzerland on any trains except such tourist trains as the Glacier Express and Bernina Express (and there are regular trains on those routes).  You can even ride TGV and ICE trains in country without reservations, just get on.  One of the many great things about Swiss rails.

I still like to have the printed timetable in hand.  It makes it easy to go where and when I want.

I agree that these days the ability to hop on and hop off  trains is more restricted than it used to be, and that this is a "thoroughly bad thing"!  It is clearly all to do with squeezing the last penny from all passengers.

However the virtues of a comprehensive time table book remain, not only in its instant accessiblilty and ease of carrying around, but also because of the way in which one can view a service  in overall terms, and get a sense of which is the choicest way to go. Computer systems all use internal decision rules, which may not always accord with the desire or need of the traveller. i still find the (formerly Cook's) Eurpean Timetable invaluable for planning journeys, even when they are to made several weeks or months ahead.

I get the "winter" and "summer" editions and they are excellent!

As has been mentioned, after a hiatus of about 6 months, the timetable came back in April 2014.  Other than having no references to Thomas Cook, it's identical to its previous format, and it is highly useful for planning and reference....especially since all of the national rail sites have their own quirks and routing preferences....