European Motorail trains

motorail nice

Just a note to anyone who might use this service, the top inch or so of my nippy norm extra high screen was scratched on the way back from nice last year, I guess its a height issue on the lower deck, If I had known about it I would have adjusted the screen back.
 
Headroom was tight when we used it...........
 

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I see they are still quoting between £600-£800 return for a car. Last time I enquired a bike was charged the same - has this changed?
 
I see they are still quoting between £600-£800 return for a car. Last time I enquired a bike was charged the same - has this changed?

I've used French, Belgian and German motorail services over the years and have taken a variety of bikes.

My Cavalcade needed the windshield lowering on French as it was too high by a long way - didn't try the others with that bike!

On all services the MRA screen on the 1150 had to be lowered to the lowest setting... and I even took it off and put it in the topbox last time to save any problems.

As for price, in my experience bikes are charged much less than cars on all routes except for the Calais routes that aren't operated by SNCF but as a charter by a UK company. This lot charge the same as cars for a single bike but a second bike goes "free" as long as it is booked at the same time.

German used to charge less for the return part of the journey if booked at the same time as an outward... but now you pay what the web/brochure says... i.e. no added discount for booking a return rather than two single trips!

Also in my experience the guys that tie the bikes down know what they are doing and need little or no advice from you how to do their job, they DO need a bit of guidance as to what will take the load on some bikes!

Never had a problem apart from when it rains the bikes on the lower deck get covered in all kinds of shit from the elements and whatever drips from the upper deck!
 
Paris to Nice

Just back from using the SNCF service from Paris to Nice. The transport of the bikes worked fine. It was approached professionally with a detailed inspection of the bikes before loading to assess any damage and we signed off their assessment. We were then encouraged to do a similar inspection at Nice to satify ourselves nothing was wrong.

The guys loading knew what they were doing. We rode the bikes onto the train - yes, headheight very limited but my GSA had screen fully extended and my buddy's RT fitted fine - you just had to keep your own head down going along the train!

The roof above to the upper deck was solid, so no scope for anything to come through, and it rained a lot but bikes were dry at Nice.

What was less successful was our trip to Nice on the overnight sleeper. It is a separate train to the bikes. Very noisy (even with the earplugs they supplied), and limited facilities on the train. We arrived in Nice at about 08.30 but had to wait until 10.30hrs to get the bikes off the train. However, the unloading area was just at the end of the station.

What have we learn't? The handling and transport of the bikes was good. Next time, we'll look at travelling separately. You could deliver the bikes to SNCF in Paris between 10.30 and 19.00hrs the day of travel. We'd take them mid afternoon then enjoy a TGV fast train (approx. 6 hours) to Nice and get overnight accommodation in Nice rather than sleeping on the train.
 
German and Austrian motorail this summer

OK - brief summary of experiences. Rode to Dusseldorf, then took the Austrian Motorail overnight to Vienna. The ride over to Dusseldorf is boring, but relatively quick as it's motorway nearly all the way. Terminal is easy to find and has a small waiting room. NO food available, so visit a local supermarket on the nearby main road. Staff were excellent, spoke English and out of six bikes on our train, four were GSs, so they are well used to them. We were given four webbing straps to attach to the bike at OUR discretion. Around front fork stanchions and rear footpeg frames were preferred locations. These straps were then attached to the bike via strong ratchets - no problem.

HEADROOM IS LIMITED. Had to drop my screen and crouch to get the Adventure through. Wear your helmet! Despite being careful, I whacked my head several times and the roof of the lower deck is full of nasty sharp things...

Train was very good - much better than the French equivalent. Had a private 2-berth couchette, with washbasin. Simple continental breakfast was provided. Overall - much cheaper than the French service and much better facilities.

On the return journey, we came back overnight with the German Motorail (DB) from Munich to Dusseldorf. No need for great detail - everything that the Austrian service was, with the addition of an even better couchette and better breakfast.

So, the verdict? Absolutely great. If you have several weeks to get to Austria or further east, then don't bother using them and enjoy the trip over. If, like us, you're really limited for time, it's a great service and MUCH better than the French ones we have used.

Recommended
 
Motorail - looking to use it in June 09. They quoted £589 return Calais to Narbonne. Thats for bike and two people. However the bloke said that its the same price for 2 bikes and 4 people as I would be taking a car space and a compartment that takes 4.
Was also look at the Portsmouth to Santandar Rtn in June it was £550 for Bike and 2 of us.

Pay your money and take your choice.
 
Motorail - looking to use it in June 09. They quoted £589 return Calais to Narbonne. Thats for bike and two people. However the bloke said that its the same price for 2 bikes and 4 people as I would be taking a car space and a compartment that takes 4.
Was also look at the Portsmouth to Santandar Rtn in June it was £550 for Bike and 2 of us.

Pay your money and take your choice.

dont do portsmouth to spain, 36hrs on that boat will kill ya. plymouth santander is the better option nice ride to plymouth and overnite to spain. go to your room get changed, go for a walk on deck, meal in one of the restaurants and then a skin full of ale in the bar. nice bunk with on sweet. why try and sleep on a train with a shared toilet. this is suposed to be the first day of your holiday.
And it certainly beats the 1000 mile ride on french motorways squaring off your tyres, arse and sense of humour.
I've done barcelona to leeds in a day on my GSA only pausing for a ferry at calias and belive me I was not a pretty sight for a few days.
 
Thanks for the tip on Ports-Sant 36 hrs thats quite long. Motorail is looking best option for me will go in June looks like July 17th onwards is pretty booked up with the start of Kids holidays.
 
I personally think that with auto train the less people you have the cheaper it works out (against just driving your car normally, where the costs will be the same whether you have 1 or 5 people). Last May I put my car on the train from Paris to Bordeaux to break up a solo journey into Spain and Portugal. Using mappy I worked out that, as I was travelling by myself, it only cost me approx €50 more to use the auto train to Bordeaux and back. Ok I admit that things certain things were distorted - I travelled first class, petrol was much more expensive then and I was travelling off peak. It doesn't get away from the fact that if you have more people you have to pay for the extra train tickets so it becomes less cost effective, but it's still an excellent way to travel.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the advice, I think motorail is best option for me. Now I can enjoy the trip with my family member.
 
I did the Autozug from Munich to Berlin last October. It was way cheap (120 Euros for bike & people, booked a week in advance). And it's an excellent experience. You go load up your bike around 8 pm, go have two more pints at a pub nearby, and then you get to sleep on the train for 8 hours. Buy the cheapest option you can, the train is pretty empty and the train guard gave us a six-bed section to ourselves.
But yeah, be careful with height, there wasn't much head room with my Dakar. Apparently, they're instructed to put the bike on the side stand. But the bloke who tied mine up agreed that the centre stand is a much better idea, and did so.
 
Dutch motorail gone bust

Are you aware that the Dutch motorail went bust last week.
we were booked to go to Slovenia in june and have paid £800. we had booked through Rail savers.
 
Are you aware that the Dutch motorail went bust last week.
we were booked to go to Slovenia in june and have paid £800. we had booked through Rail savers.

Very aware unfortunately (various threads on here about it). Was booked on Den Bosch to Livorno train on 15th May. Also booked through Railsavers.com. Waiting for news on refunds. At the moment it looks like it's gonna have to be claimed back from CC company.
 
we also booked through railsavers, boat from harwich to hooke, autoslaap from Koper to Den bosch and tunnel from Calis, boat crossing has remained as is but have had to extend holls by a couple of days and alter tunnel date for return, due to having to ride back, all in all its turned out ok for us, but i feel sorry for the folks stranded or now are unable to go.
 
Looks like the OBB Motorail from Dusseldorf to Vienna is closing middle of December.
May be others as well.
I was thinking of the Dusseldorf Livarno train but it no longer runs.
 


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