Train Travel During Covid

Europe, as you know, has many countries which all treat train travel differently.

Are those two trips the ones you are contemplating, or did you just mention them as examples?

Is your travel imminent?

I was wondering the same thing, but specifically within England. I'll be there in mid-October and am considering a day trip or 2 from London, but wondering if it's worth the risk of being in such close proximity to others during an hour+ train journey.

It is no longer mandatory to wear masks on public transport in England other than transport operated by Transport for London (Tfl) which covers the Tube, some trainlines, buses and taxis and also the Eurostar. Many passengers continue to wear masks however more and more people are ditching them as time goes on. There is no staggered seating on UK trains however you will probably find that the majority of people will maintain a distance quite willingly unless the train is particularly crowded, during rush hour for example, which shouldn't be the case with many people still working from home.

ask that guy over in seat 61, he'll know

Hello,
I just used those Cities as a example, and I am in the early stages of planning a trip. Seat61 is a website, I am looking more for a first-person recent trip report/advice. I usually plan trips with multiple train rides/Countries, but since Covid I am thinking it would be more prudent to just pick 1 Country to visit this trip. I prefer using public transportation and not renting a car. Looking to travel perhaps Feb/March or April 2022.
Cheers

Masking is still required everywhere indoors in France, including on trains and in train stations.

There's a wealth of info already here on the Forum as folks report back who have recently traveled- check out the Trip Reports section.

If one assumes covid is something we will have to live with for the next several months, then most likely tracking forms and covid testing for entering individual countries will stay in place, along with ever-changing rules. Staying in one country is much easier. It depends on your tolerance of risk, and if you're willing to continually research the changing rules for the counties you intend to visit.

Safe travels.

Masks required on train between Rome and Bologna this past week. The conductor also asked to see our vaccination cards, with vaccination documentation required. Seats were not staggered or blocked off in any way, although the train wasn’t very full. On-board toilets were open, and being cleaned often throughout the trip. The cleaning guy was practically stationed in the vestibule .

We are on a Eurocity train from Switzerland to Italy, 3.5 hours on a popular route. Everyone crossing into Italy had to show a COVID certificate, which makes me feel better. Masks are still required but lots of noses are poking out and some people just have them strapped under their chins in mock compliance. Physical distancing is a joke.

What I don't get is how anyone can stand a mask at half-mast, tickling their nose. Ugh!

We did train travel all over Switzerland, Austria and to France. We did better in First class than second class. Fewer passengers. We had two scary instances: one was an AMERICAN woman and her son in front of us on what, fortunately, was only an hour trip. This was second class. She was clearly sick with something and neither she nor her (apparent) son were wearing masks. When the conductor came around and told them to put masks on, she pulled hers up but then she had to go get a mask from her luggage for the son. When the conductor left they took them off. She was sneezing and coughing. We moved as far away as we could, nothing in another carriage was open so we just moved to the far end.

Then we were on another train, this one much longer. A woman traveling alone was clearly very sick. She kept pulling her mask off and leaving it off purportedly while drinking. Put it on again when conductor came through but then took off again when he left. After a bit I went and complained to the conductor and he came back and told her to put her mask on. Lasted about 10 minutes. Once again we moved as far away as possible but still stuck in same carriage.

All other train trips were fine, people wearing masks, complying. So no problem.

All that being said, we tested negative at the end of our trip so wear your K95 or N95, move away from non-compliant people, try first class as we found it generally more sparse, and trust your vaccine!

Wow, that last post described some concerning experiences. But as said, trust your vaccinations, and do your part to follow requirements. Not following safe practices may be the reason those sick people on the train were sick in the first place!

I was in six European countries late September and took trains in and around all. Every single one required masks. Most asked for my CDC card and a few asked for my passport. I was on over 25 trains in two weeks!

Unfortunately, there are idiots everywhere, to say it in plain language. A friend of mine had it happen at a supermarket, in line for the cash register, the lady behind her chatting with someone else: "Oh, you know, I should be in quarantine, but then, what can I do, we have to live, I have to do my grocery shopping." (And that was before everyone was vaccinated!)

Those kinds of things basically leave you with the choice of reporting the person or just silently moving away. Reporting someone seems like a nasty thing to do, but then, these people are endangering other people's lives. There is no excuse for this kind of irresponsible behavior.

Back to the OP's question: I personally would not want to travel through several countries at the moment... way too complicated. You'd have to keep track of those ever-changing rules for each one of those countries, and multiple sets of rules: for entering the country from your home country, and then from each one of those countries you have been to before... and sometimes the rules differ by state even... no thanks, not for me.

@Anna,
It has not been complicated at all to travel through multiple countries. We landed in Germany and spent significant tie in Switzerland before coming to Italy. In a week we go to France and after that the UK. Once one lands in Europe, if one has a COVID certificate/Green Pass or whatever the country calls it, you can move around easily. It has been easy to keep track of changes because they are well-covered in the news. The only change that has affected us — for the better — is that we do not have to test before we go to England, only after we arrive.

Avoid crowds, wear a mask, follow the rules, wash your hands, trust the vaccine. This is NOT a time I would go to a concert or other big public event. We stick to ourselves as much as possible.

@Laurel: I am glad that your experience has been so good, but allow me to say that you have been lucky. Any country (or part of any country) can be declared a high-risk region by any other country at any time. Coming from a region with a virus mutant, even vaccinated travelers are not exempt from quarantine. Obviously, traveling through several countries will dramatically increase your chances of hitting such a high-risk or even virus mutant region.