around the world (by rail) in 80 days?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Here is my plan, which I don’t plan to actually undertake anytime soon (not that I wouldn’t want to), of traveling completely around the world by train as much as possible. Please feel free to make any corrections or better suggestions. Does anyone think this great journey could really be accomplished in 80 days?

Starting point: Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (UPT)

  1. Amtrak “Southwest Chief”
    Los Angeles UPT-Chicago Union

  2. Amtrak “Lake Shore Limited” (or would the “Three Rivers” be quicker?)
    Chicago Union-New York Penn

  3. Long Island Railroad
    New York Penn-Jamaica

  4. JFK Airtrain
    Jamaica-JFK Airport

  5. Airline service
    New York JFK, USA-London Heathrow, UK

  6. Heathrow Express
    Heathrow Airport-London Paddington

  7. London Underground
    Circle Line
    London Paddington-London Liverpool Street

  8. First Great Eastern Trains
    London Liverpool Street-Harwich International

  9. Stena Line ferry
    Harwich International, UK-Hoek van Holland, Netherlands

  10. Netherlands Railways/German Federal Railways
    Hoek van Holland, Netherlands-Berlin Zoologischer Garten, Germany
    (do they still offer this as a through service?)

  11. Berliner U-Bahn (subway), Line S7
    Zoologischer Garten-Lichtenberg station

  12. German Federal Railways/Polish Railways/Belarussian Railways(?)/Russian Railways
    Berlin Lichtenberg, Germany-Moscow Belorusskaya, Russia

  13. Moscow Metro, Circular Line
    Belorusskaya-Komsomolskaya

  14. Russian Railways, “Rossiya”
    Moscow Yaroslavskiy-Vladivostok

  15. Airline service
    Vladivostok, Russia-Niigata, Japan

  16. JR East Joetsu Line
    Niigata-Tokyo Station

  17. JR East Narita Express
    Tokyo Station-Tokyo Narita Airport

  18. Airline service
    Tokyo Narita-Los Angeles

2

My guesstimate for the proposal as listed would be that it would take about three weeks (20-25 days) - based on getting the first train/plane out (no sightseeing!).

My immediate suggested alteration would be to go from London through the Channel Tunnel to Brussels, thence Berlin.

Then if it were my plan I’d look to minimise the flights… and for the real 80 day experience eliminate them.

But get hold of the Cook books (Thomas Cook’s International & European Timetables) and start dreaming…

3

Very Cool Idea I wish I could do that

4

I chose the northerly route via Harwich and Holland because they’re at about the same latitude as Berlin. Traveling via the Chunnel and Brussels you’d have to go a ways south. But then it might be faster than the North Sea ferry, so maybe you have a point. Is that true?

I just thought of something else; you could also transfer at Albany, New York, to go east to Boston, then take the Blue Line subway to Logan Airport. Which is closer to Albany, New York or Boston?

5

… as soon as I win the lotto.

You clearly have much higher ambitions that me.

I’m still trying to find the time and money to take “The Canadian” on via rail from Vancouver to Toronto and back.

6

Well I’m no mathematician and I haven’t struck oil yet… but I’m always up for a challenge. Who wants to put a wager on this? It does kindda sound like something fun to do… if you have the money.

7

Perhaps. Is there a station near Shannon Airport (on Ireland’s west coast)?

8

Okay, let’s see.

Aer Lingus service
New York JFK, USA-Shannon Airport, Ireland

Bus service
Shannon Airport-Limerick station

Irish Railways
Limerick-Dublin Central (?)

Ferry service
Dublin, Ireland-Liverpool, UK

Central Trains
Liverpool Lime Street-Cambridge

Anglia Railways
Cambridge-Harwich International

9

[#welcome][wow][wow]Thank god for the web - some things are easy to find out!

You need 41.25 hours from London to Moscow and 149.5 hours from Moscow to Vladivostok 149.5 hours!

This trip here is made with the real schedules and a start in London today, February 18, at 10.42 GMT.

I made a check at www.bahn.de - the web site of the DBAG - German Railroad (since 1993 not longer under federalcontrol)

First: Forget latitudes - The Highspeed lines are better and Berlin is the capitalcity of Germany but not the capitalcity of the German railroadsystem - in this Cologne of Frankfurt are better.

LETS ENTER THE TRAIN:

Leaving London Waterloo Int. at 10:42 GMT with EST 9124 EUROSTAR HIGHSPEEDTRAIN
Arrives at Bruxelles-Midi EST at 14:05 GMT+1
Bruxelles-Midi EST 18.02.04 ab 14:05
Leaving Bruxelles-Midi at 14:28 GMT+1 with THA 9433 THALYS (the red/grey TGV HIGHSPEED trains to Belgium, Netherland and Germany)
Arrives at Cologne Hbf at 16:49 GMT+1
Leaving Cologne Hbf at 18:18 with D249 nighttrain with sleeper train
Arrives at Brest Central (Border to Russia) at 15:01 GMT+2 (I´m not shure +2 or +3) tomorrow
Leaving Brest Central at 16:25 with D22AJ sleeper train - It´s possible that this is the train from cologne rerailed with new trucks for the wider russian railroads
Arrives at Moskva Belorusskaja at 06:57

Then you will have some hours in moscow - not bad because you must go to another station.

Leaving Moskva Iaroslavskaja at 16:36 with D 26NJ sleeper train
Arrives at Novosibirsk(RUS) at 15:19 in 4 days
Leaving Novosibirsk(RUS) at 15:40 with D 8IJ only with 1.class sleepingcars
Arrives at Vladivostok at 22:05 in 8 (yep I wrote EIGHT) days from now!

When you see the schedules, there is also another train with two trainchanges - for

10

I think you should try the Chunnel. It is afterall a unique experience. Boston is closer to Europe than Kenndy. The “T” Blue Line will get you to the airport station where there is a connecting bus ot the different ariline terminals. Best leave the Lake Shore Limited at Back Bay Station, not South Station, ditto any train from NY or Washington, ride the Orange Line downtown to what used Scolley Square but now I think is Government Center, and then catch the Blue Line to the airport. Dave Klepper

11

This may result in some back-tracking, but what about the trans-Australian? If the idea is to maximize the rail portion, I would think you would want to include this. Or as part or a polar circumnavigation use the new connection from Darwin to the south coast and then run up the rails from southern Chile up through Central America and Mexico to the northernmost point in Canada. You would rack up the frequent-flyer miles trying it this way[:)]

12

E.M.Frimbo could’ve planned the itinerary in a few minutes.
On a napkin.
Over dinner.

His advice would have been to ride something, anything now.

13

In that case…

Amtrak “Lake Shore Limited”
Chicago Union-Boston Back Bay
(Don’t you have to actually transfer to a different train at Albany now? I read something like that at a RR union site recently.)

Boston MBTA Orange Line
Back Bay-State

Boston MBTA Blue Line
State-Airport

Aer Lingus service (doesn’t Delta or some other airline also fly this route?)
Boston Logan, USA-Shannon Airport, Ireland

Bus service
Shannon Airport-Limerick

Irish Railways
Limerick-Dublin Central (?)

Ferry service
Dublin, Ireland-Liverpool, UK

Virgin Trains
Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston

London Underground Victoria Line
Euston-Waterloo International
(Sometime in the next decade, it would be Kings Cross St. Pancras, since a new high-speed line is being built out of St. Pancras station for more direct, faster access to the Chunnel. It will also allow for better connections from northern England and Scotland.)

Eurostar
London Waterloo International, UK-Brussels Midi, Belgium

Later on, I believe you can also travel direct from Moscow through Mongolia and thence into China (requiring another gauge change) and Korea, where you can catch many ferries into Japan. (For ultimate rail mileage, you’d want to go to Pusan, at the very bottom of the Korean peninsula, then take a ferry to Fukuoka, Japan, from which you can ride a single train to Tokyo.) But I chose the Moscow-Vladivostok train because I don’t know if there are any single trains from Moscow into China, or even Ulanbatar, Mongolia.
I’d go with the through Vladivostok train so that way I could at least have a night in Moscow. Novosibirsk doesn’t sound like a place you’d want to spend much time.

14

Definitely have to take the Chunnel - it is, after all, via rail.

An ambitious project. Would be interesting to know how much it would cost. Even with varying airfares, etc, it should be possible to come up with a working figure.

15

The Eurostar trains from London to Bruxelles use the Eurotunnel under the channel!

I think we all made one answer: In 80 days around the word - as much as possible by train is absolute possible !!!
And you will need not much more than 20 days.

4 to 5 days: LA to the Eastcoast New York or Boston and flight to Ireland (Shannon)
2 days: trains in Ireland, ferry to the UK and trains to London.
2 days: trains from London to Bruxelles - Cologne - Brest to Moscow.
6 days: trains from Moscow to Vladivostok.
2 days: plane to Japan
2 days Japan by rail (highspeed)
1 day: flight to LA

Check this out: 20 days and I think some parts are possible faster!!!

And the pure travel, exept eating, will cost not much more than 2.000 $ - Most expensive part are the two long distance flights. Travel by rail isn´t so expensive as many think about!