Train safety

Where are you traveling? Different countries’ train systems have different luggage storage options. In Italy I use the luggage racks at end of car and try to sit where I can keep an eye on it. Travel with carry-on case only and if rack is full I can just tuck it under my legs. Not comfortable but it works.

Travel with carryon only and put your bag in the rack above you. Keep your critical items in your day bag at your feet (with a leg thru the strap). If you have a big bag, you need to put it in a luggage area at the front of the car with everybody else’s. There is no way to secure it. It will get shuffled around, others may have to move it to get theirs out, etc.

Pickpockets travel by train too, so be watchful while ON the train, too.

While I have heard of people taking luggage off trains, I've never seen it happen. I usually try and keep my backpack/bag by my feet and sit close to my luggage and check on it every so often. You can also have a cable around the hand and a pole on the luggage rack if are that nervous. I always joke that if they steal my luggage, they will have some old underwear and not so nice clothing and toiletries as I keep everything of value on me.Like I said, it could happen, but I've ridden trains from London to Paris/Belgium and long-distance in Spain and never had an incident.

I believe there were issues on First Class German ICE trains with theft, but I'm 99% sure the people were targeted as the gang stole suitcases containing expensive gold jewelry and large amounts of cash in their suitcase. Something which most RS travelers probably don't have with them.

In Italy I keep my bag under my seat or I should say between my seat and the seat behind me. If the train is a different type without space between the seats and I need to leave my bag on the racks by the door I use a light weight bike lock (cable and pad lock) thru the handle and the zipper pull and thru the rack. You will need to make sure your by the door and unlocked by the time you get to the station to jump off. If I'm in other countries I just put the bag in the rack by the door and keep my eye on the bag or on the overhead rack above my seat. (I love Italy just FYI but you got to do what you got to do). J

I am with Heather (opinion wise) as we have traveled thousand of miles on trains in Europe for 40 years and have never had a problem with luggage. On this site we have had a few posters report being pickpocketed and never for luggage being stolen. If a bag was taken, more like a mistake like luggage at US airports. The advice to cable lock your luggage to a pole or the bin in the luggage area is very poor advice. Those locks do fails -- have had two failures. The last thing you want to be doing is unlocking your bag as the train pulls out of the station.

Pickpockets and stolen luggage is frequent discussed as a common occurrence when in fact both are rare. It can happen so take some simple precautions. When we place bags on the overhead rack we will wrap one bag's strap around part of the rack so someone cannot grab it and run. Sometimes but not often we will use a short cable lock to lock together the handles on our stored bags so if one is grabbed the other goes with it.

Pickpockets do not ride trains since escape is difficult. One low risk is pickpockets will walk through a coach that is stopped in the station with people getting on and off in very tight quarters bumping into each other. One time to be extra careful especially if a regional train that is crowded and making frequent stops. Another one is the women walking through the car with a couple of kids asking for contributions or help or some distraction. Watch the kids. We have ridden the trains for many, many hours, slept a few times, used the water closet, visited the snack car, and have never had a problem. Be careful but don't worry about it.

Luggage theft happens, but it is rare. You are as likely having your suitcase stolen while somewhere in the bowels of an airport.

My strategy is to have only easily replaceable stuff in my suitcase. Clothes in other words. And then I do not worry if my suitcase spends the entire time in a luggage rack at the end of the train car where I cannot see it. Thieves actually aren't that interested in second hand clothes and dirty laundry... If you however are worried just carry a cable lock, and lock your suitcase to the rack.

Valuable stuff, and electronic gadgets always go in my back pack, and that one stays with me. And yes, on some countries thieves will target these, so you should just be observant and keep your wits about you. I take my backpack with me when I go to the dining car, but have no qualms leaving for example my laptop on the table while going to the toilet.

Don't worry to much. Europe is in general a safe place.

We've been traveling for 2 months via train and bus in Europe. The thieves know the valuable stuff is in your backpack so we keep them close. We try to keep our suitcases close but sometimes bags are further down in the car. Stealing my suitcase on a train is like losing it via an airline, nothing valuable inside. With that said, we've never had a problem.

I always joke that if they steal my luggage, they will have some old underwear and not so nice clothing and toiletries

I really wonder what other people think thieves could do with such stuff. It's Worth noting and it's kept inside a big suitcase that looks perfectly on security footage.

Suitcases that the usual underage pregnant girls that "work" on trains should pull while walking away on a crowded platform... Why running the risk when there are dozens of backpacks around with laptops, tablets and smartphones? Does anyone actually think there is a market for second-hand spandex underwear that makes more than electronic devices?

Incidentally, many Italians say they love Italy, but none of them feels the need to lock anything to the racks. One wonders why... Love-hate or safe trains?

I once asked the Man in Seat 61 what he does when traveling solo and has to leave his seat. He told me that all his valuables are in his day bag and that goes with him if he goes to the toilet or to get something to eat or drink.

That's what I do.

I also do this between stops so that I am in my seat with my eyes on my luggage when the doors open. Should I return to my seat to find something missing, I would alert the conductor immediately. They could search before the train arrives in the next station.

As for pickpockets--moneybelt, phone on a tether, wallet on a different tether.

Luggage usually goes above me at my seat but on some trains the overhead rack isn't big enough. Then I prefer to have it in a luggage rack where I can see it.

I've traveled by train as a solo women many times. I know stuff happens, but I have never witnessed anything and take the simple precautions many have mentioned. I keep an eye on my suitcase when it's in the luggage spot at the end of the car while in stations, and take any valuables with me if leaving my seat.

I try to sit where I can see the luggage rack at the end of the car if I’m putting a bigger case there.
If my case fits between the seats in the V shaped opening, I put it there where I can see it.
I always keep my documents and valuables in my small bag that is always worn across. my chest.
It never leaves me.
A couple of years ago when taking the train from Paris to Amsterdam, the official checking tickets on the platform told me to get up and stand near the exit at each stop to make sure my bag wasn’t taken by a stranger!
That train also had armed guards and sniffer dogs patrolling the aisles the whole time ……

If you plan to take trains a lot, it is a good idea to pack light.

Just beware of someone like me! A few years ago we reached our final destination in Paris. In my haste to get off the train, I got separated from hubby and accidentally took someone else's black bag. Hubby and the other traveler were chasing me through the crowd at Paris Nord to switch the bags back. Oops! I now mark my anonymous looking black bag with orange ribbons. Point is, honest mistakes happen too, not just actual theft.

My last train trip I rode in 1st class from Vienna to Budapest and really loved having space for my big suitcase, right next to me in the compartment so I didn't worry about it in the racks by the doors. I took my purse and smaller tote bag with important things in it with me to the toilet. Other trips I have had no issues with my big suitcase near the door, just kept an eye on it.

As a solo traveler, I usually book a seat as near to the luggage racks as I can. I keep an eye on my bag during stops and while people are boarding. I either have the train app up or I've noted how many stops there are so I'm aware of what is going on.

Since I've started back traveling I'm also booking 1st or business class if it's not too much more just to have fewer people in the car and maybe less chance at a random person getting on. The business/1st cars also have a line of single seats down one side so I can limit my exposure to others.

I also don't have expensive-looking luggage. It's true my latest bag was overpriced but it looks pretty ordinary so I don't feel it's going to attract the attention of someone surfing for a designer bag.

I now mark my anonymous looking black bag with orange ribbons.

And that is why I don't buy black bags. :)

I'm with the other solo travelers - I keep my more expensive stuff in my personal bag, and keep an eye on my suitcase. Keep in mind that on crowded trains, you might get separated from your luggage but as others have pointed it, it is generally safe and you should have no problems.

If you are really concerned, upgrade your ticket to first class, which is less crowded, has more room and is monitored by conductors more frequently.

Conductors do not "monitor" cars as meaning that they look for security problems and for sure they don't check tickets more frequently in first. There aren't many free riders in first class and they know it.

They are supposed to seat in the car closest to the engine between ticket checks and when they are not in service. Most times it's a first class car, so if you want to have a 50% chance to seat with conductors, pick one of the 2 first class cars close to the engines.

I'm not blaming the OP, but the Subject, "Train safety" conjures up a lawless world of terror on public transportation. It is perfectly true that outdoor stores used to sell expandable soft steel nets for backpackers to wrap around their backpacks in a Hostel's common storage room. And pickpocketing does happen. But theft of entire suitcases is not a common event. It looms large for someone to whom it happens (more 1-star Flames than 4-star Satisfactory reviews for ... anything.)

I write this partly because of a recent pickpocket comment in another thread here. It seemed to me that one poster created a false equivalence between pickpocketing in Europe and physical street-crime perception in the USA. It was OT, and "political", so I let it go. But I would prefer that the OP change the Subject to "Luggage security on rail trips".

I used to often ride local trains in the Brussels-Brugge corridor. Because some of them are double-decker commuter cars (at 110% of capacity!), with laughable bus-sized luggage racks over the seats, I sometimes stood in the (big, where a bicyclist would stand) vestibule at door level. But it didn't make sense to me to leave a bag completely beyond my field of vision, out of sight, down (or up) a staircase, and right beside the exit door to the platform. I didn't regard that as in terror of crime. But, more like the people in my suburb who ought to take the key-fob out of their Chevy Suburban before they go to bed!

Don't chain your luggage items to the rack, it's very impolite if people have to move things around to create space.

I wouldn't deny that luggage theft ever happens, a colleague of mine at work had his and his wife's suitcases stolen on a train between London and Devon once. But that's the only time I've personally heard of it in my whole life.