Take To The Ice With Rail Europe

European high-speed train Thalys is inviting hockey fans eager to take in next spring’s International Ice Hockey Federation’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Paris and Cologne to travel to and from the cities in a manner it says will be comfortable, cultural and – perhaps most importantly – quick.

Thalys, offered by Rail Europe and which reaches cities in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland, has been named an official sponsor of the tournament, which will see around 16 teams competing in 64 games from May 5-21.

The Canadian team will initially be competing in Paris. If the team advances to the semi-finals and the final, it will play in Cologne.

Thalys has five daily trains between the cities, with those trains reaching 300 kmh, and Lina Wang, its sales manager for overseas, told an Oct. 14 Toronto gathering the service is “very convenient,” travelling from city centre to city centre and showcasing “beautiful scenery” en route. “It provides you with a unique experience,” she said, adding both its first and second-class service offer free WiFi.

One-way first class tickets start at $119. One-way second-class tickets start from $75.

The train completes the journey in 3 hours and 14 minutes, which Thalys officials say makes it faster than air travel, given those travelling by air have to arrive at airports well before the start of their journey, and those airports are often far from downtown areas.

“We expect that the trains will be full of hockey supporters,” said Melanie Albaric, marketing manager for Rail Europe.

Albaric added that those who travel by air in Europe may “easily” spend 50 euros for a cab ride downtown, whereas train passengers disembark downtown and have cabs, buses and subways at hand.

Train stations frequently have art exhibits and are becoming popular gathering places, Rail Europe adds.

Train tickets for travel during the upcoming tournament can be booked now through https://www.raileurope.ca/index.html .

Seen here are Albaric; Wang; Rares Dumitru, Rail Europe’s regional director for Canada;and Antje Splettstoesser of the German National Tourist Office’s Canadian office.