Furthest you can go from the UK with just two trains?

[TheSmiths82]

It occurred to me that when (hopefully) I go away it I will only be catching two trains to get from London to Barcelona. I won't count the Metro in Paris when exchanging stations. The distance is 700 miles or so, although would have expected to be much further I think it is by rail

So if you can only catch two trains, what is the furthest you can actually get to? This is purely out of interest but I am guessing it will be some where in Eastern Europe.

 

[StephenHunter]

Pre-Covid, it was Moscow via a Paris Nord to Est walk, then the RZD sleeper train that ran once a week. Today it's Vienna via the Nightjet from Paris-Est.

 

[DanielB]

Calculating as the crow flies, Vienna is unbeatable indeed. But taking the actual distance covered by the train I'd suspect it will be Prague (changing to European Sleeper in Brussels.

 

[Iskra]

Syracuse (Sicily). London-Paris, Paris-Milan, Milan-Syracuse on the sleeper.

Is Eurostar counting as one of the trains here or not?

 

[Krokodil]

Pre-Covid, it was Moscow via a Paris Nord to Est walk, then the RZD sleeper train that ran once a week.

With a third train you'd be in Vladivostok. Can't get any further than that!

 

[popeter45]

With a third train you'd be in Vladivostok. Can't get any further than that!

or even Pyongyang!
4 trains would make it down to Hong Kong

 

[Krokodil]

or even Pyongyang!

Are there direct passenger trains from Russia to NK now? I thought that they were just running from China (if they're running at all)

 

[WessexEclectic]

Are there direct passenger trains from Russia to NK now? I thought that they were just running from China (if they're running at all)

Has the weekly sleeping car via Tumangang stopped? - not that it would be at all easy to book...

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Are there direct passenger trains from Russia to NK now?

They were stopped in early 2020 because of the pandemic. However, there are plans to begin running trains again.

Russian officials inspect North Korean railway in push to resume rail service | NK News

Russian Far East officials traveled to North Korea aboard the first passenger train to visit the country in years last week, local authorities have revealed, inspecting local infrastructure as part of plans to resume regular rail service between the two countries. The officials inspected some 20...

www.nknews.org

Russian Far East officials traveled to North Korea aboard the first passenger train to visit the country in years last week, local authorities have revealed, inspecting local infrastructure as part of plans to resume regular rail service between the two countries.

The officials inspected some 20 miles (30 km) of railway between Khasan Station in Russia and Tumangang Station in the DPRK as part of the trial run, according to a press release from the Primorsky Krai Tourism Agency.

Russia’s Federal Customs Service announced on Thursday that the train carrying 41 travelers had entered the DPRK, but it did not reveal at the time that Far East officials were on board to inspect the route.

Arseny Krepsky, head of the Primorsky Krai Tourism Agency, reportedly noted that his delegation found the rail link in working condition, according to Monday’s press release, highlighting “a prospect of launching a direct train service from Vladivostok to Tumangan or directly to Rason.”

Another train tour is scheduled to follow the same route on June 28, the agency stated, adding that regular rail service from Vladivostok, Ussuriysk or Khasan in Russia to Tumangang or Rason in North Korea is still in the works.

 

[30907]

Syracuse (Sicily). London-Paris, Paris-Milan, Milan-Syracuse on the sleeper.

Is Eurostar counting as one of the trains here or not?

I would count it as a train
And there's no Paris-Milan for a few months more....

 

[Tester]

Syracuse (Sicily). London-Paris, Paris-Milan, Milan-Syracuse on the sleeper.

Is Eurostar counting as one of the trains here or not?

I'm reading it as two trains, not two changes - but Palermo (by the same train) beats Siracusa on distance.

 

[Iskra]

I would count it as a train
And there's no Paris-Milan for a few months more....

Well it’s vague as to whether ‘from the UK’ includes that leg or not.

I'm reading it as two trains, not two changes - but Palermo (by the same train) beats Siracusa on distance.

Not as the crow flies, it doesn’t. Syracuse is definitely ‘further from the UK.’

A poorly defined question, is going to get an inconsistent set of answers.

 

[StephenHunter]

Do crows fly over the sea?

 

[Iskra]

Do crows fly over the sea?

African, or European?

Apparently some crows migrate, so they must do.

Anyway, trains…

 

[Teebs]

If you're not allowed to change stations I'd have thought it must be London-Lille-Marseille.

Edit: Of course, forgot sleeper trains from Brussels/Amsterdam. Or even day trains from there.

 

[30907]

Well it’s vague as to whether ‘from the UK’ includes that leg or not.

The OP's example is London to Barcelona which IMO is clear enough.

 

[ricohallo]

If you take the ferry from Newcastle to IJmuiden (not a train), technically you could get from Amsterdam to Vienna by Nightjet and then take the UZ through car to Kiev.

 

[Struner]

If you take the ferry from Newcastle to IJmuiden (not a train), technically you could get from Amsterdam to Vienna by Nightjet and then take the UZ through car to Kiev.

bus transfers Newcastle-North Shields & IJmuiden-Amsterdam though

 

[etr221]

With a third train you'd be in Vladivostok. Can't get any further than that!

Are there still through trains/coaches to Beijing? I seem to recall a discussion somewhere as to whether there were passenger links to Vietnam (so Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City), or across Laos to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Obviously requiring more trains... And staying within Russia, to Nakhoda or Khasan is futher from Moscow.

 

[ricohallo]

bus transfers Newcastle-North Shields & IJmuiden-Amsterdam though

Yeah, buses not trains

 

[TheSmiths82]

Thanks for the replies, my two train limit did include the Eurostar, so the question could also be "what is the furthest you can go from using one train from any of the Eurostar destinations". I will allow transfers within a city, e.g Gare Du Nord to Gare De Lyon.

 

[30907]

Thanks for the replies, my two train limit did include the Eurostar, so the question could also be "what is the furthest you can go from using one train from any of the Eurostar destinations". I will allow transfers within a city, e.g Gare Du Nord to Gare De Lyon.

I think that has been adequately answered for the present service pattern.
If ES ran to Avignon/Marseille again you could add Madrid (with an overnight stop), but that's about it.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I think that has been adequately answered for the present service pattern.
If ES ran to Avignon/Marseille again you could add Madrid (with an overnight stop), but that's about it.

That was certainly the furthest I have ever managed to go from Manchester with just two trains. One train to London then the other to Marseille, I miss that service although the return service was a faff having a tight turn around to get across Paris.

 

[popeter45]

Istanbul also if you include the rare orient expresses that go that far?
also would the train of theseus count as one train? (e.g. many portions added/removed thru the trip without any making the entire trip themselves?)

 

[renegademaster]

They were stopped in early 2020 because of the pandemic. However, there are plans to begin running trains again.

Russian officials inspect North Korean railway in push to resume rail service | NK News

Russian Far East officials traveled to North Korea aboard the first passenger train to visit the country in years last week, local authorities have revealed, inspecting local infrastructure as part of plans to resume regular rail service between the two countries. The officials inspected some 20...

www.nknews.org

Another train tour is scheduled to follow the same route on June 28, the agency stated, adding that regular rail service from Vladivostok, Ussuriysk or Khasan in Russia to Tumangang or Rason in North Korea is still in the works.

Branch Line Society can really get some good track sometimes