Initial data from a ski tour operator and a ski travel agency indicate that rail holiday bookings to the Alps are booming for the coming ski season, as Brits embrace a return to the original form of travel to the Alps, before the onset of mass market air travel.
This time though the motivations of switching to rail include the desire to drastically reduce the CO2 emissions from air travel to the mountains, ironically the very thing that is speeding climate change and threatening snow cover; alongside a desire to make your ski holiday begin as you start your journey, not after battling through crowded airports.
Ski holiday company Club Med have announced that their consumer research, polling 1,000 frequent skiers, found that those booking for ski holidays by rail are up 100% for the coming season, while booking by air are down 17%. In addition ski holiday travel agency SNO have reported a 50% jump in rail booking enquiries as they have made all their holidays possible to book by rail.
CREDIT Eurostar
The switch to train travel, primarily to lessen environmental impact, has been long advocated by bodies like Snowcarbon.co.uk which has been encouraging rail travel to ski resorts for 15 years. However this winter seems to have brough a sea change in attitudes, with a plethora of ski holiday companies promoting rail access and resorts also downplaying air access and promoting road or rail instead. One of the world’s most popular resorts, La Plagne, say they’ll no longer offer air packages when you book holidays direct with them. Other resorts including La Rosière and Morzine offer lift pass discounts to those arriving by rail.
Ironically the surge in interest in ski holidays by rail comes as Travelski Express, a rail holidays division of Europe’s largest ski resort operator, the Compagnies des Alpes, announces it won’t offer the direct charter service from London St Pancras to the French Alps this winter, although it’s continuing to offer ski holiday packages by rail.
Credit Daniel Elkan
However Eurostar, which axed their own direct service in 2020, have unveiled a rebooted Snow Train service for the first half of the coming ski season. Skiers make a quick platform change in Lille rather than going direct, but on the upside it means daytime services in both directions are possible (the previous service included an overnight but with no sleeping carriage) and its partly this new service that companies like Inghams are using to boost their rail options to the mountains.
To add to the sense of rail travel momentum, France Montagnes and Atout France, have produced a unique free map in conjunction with Snowcarbon that illustrates the entire rail route network between London and the resorts
According to SNO boss Richard Sinclair it’s not just about the environment;
“The train takes longer than flying, but it’s much more relaxed. This notion that the holiday starts when you set off, rather than on arrival, is being voiced by skiers travelling with friends. We’ve seen larger groups enquiring about ski holidays by train, because it’s such a sociable way to travel. It’s reminiscent of the groups last century, who used to party their way to alps overnight on the old Snowsports Special,” he said.
