Worldwide Trains

A sampling of the world's rails

Europe
There's Britain, France, Germany, and Switzerland. These are the major players. Britain has privatized it's rail system but is now regretting it. The other three still pour money into their rail system and it shows. France and Germany have excellent high speed trains, the TGV and ICE respectively (Train a Grande Vitesse, or "very very fast" and Inter City Express). My favorite are the most recent model of the ICE's which have a forward looking window above the driver, who sits in a sunken seat at the front. Switzerland has wonderful alpine trains that twist through valleys and over mountain passes. The tracks are just amazingly constructed to deal with the countries glacial topography.

Australia/New Zealand
In New Zealand, people complain about the american company that now runs the trains and has subsequently sold off most of it's prior grandeur. There are basically 3 lines that each run once a day, along with a night train that runs between Wellington and Auckland. The trains are narrow gage and cute like any other small rail lines, Greece comes to mind. They are also a bit more expensive than buses and much less convenient (unless you want to use the night train and avoid getting sick on the buses as they lurch back and forth on the mountain passes).

In Australia, each state runs its own rail network which exist in some kind of privatization that I couldn't quite pin down. New South Wales, not surprisingly, has the largest network and covers a fair bit of the state when you include it's campion bus network called CountryLink. Apart from NSW, only Victoria has a suitable rail network. It's inter-city trains are cute and reminiscent of the 60's and 70's if you like that sort of thing. If you plan to travel across the great wide interior, a couple specialty trains make the crossing. The price is high, and you can take your car along too, though it will be meticulously coated in fine red dust by the time it's unloaded.

Asia
China knows trains. The country moves on wheels, and those wheels run on tracks. Looking out the window, the ground is thickly littered with cups and wrappers through from the train, even in the most remote sections. Sleepers are sleepers, they do not convert, and you sit in the hallway or on the bottom bed during the day. Roaring hot, and therefore drinkable, water is found at either end of the car, and each cubicle gets a large silver thermos to use for the trip. A chinese train is a ship at sea.

Thailand has a jovial network of government run trains that are cheap, frequent, and usually the best way to go if your destination is along the route. There are three classes and, unless you're begging for your travel money, 1st and 2nd class are usually quite affordable and worth it. There are a lot of different combinations for each train, such as air-con, rapid, express, sleeper, etc. Air conditioning can be too cold at night, but is just fine during the day, if not essential. I believe express trains provide meals and tea, but this may have just been a coincidence.

North America
Even more so than trains in Europe, Amtrak is something to experience. I've never ridden Canada's Via Rail, but I hear it's much the same. Amtrak runs long trains, and its' story is sad and heart breaking. You can take the train for three days. The comfortable seat becomes uncomfortable. The bathrooms become unusable. The air becomes thick and human. It is something, and a lot easier to endure than Greyhound which is the other great american epic.