Since the dawn of time, the romance of railways has seduced poets, spellbound novelists, and dealt directors the perfect hand for capturing fleeting friendships, illicit affairs, and all manner of crimes and capers. A ticket is not just a permit to ride, it’s permission to trespass on the intimacies of other people’s lives. Trains bring us up close and personal—both inside and outside the carriage. On board, passengers chat politics in Finnish dining cars, clamber into couchettes above strangers on the Trans-Siberian, and share samosas on India’s many raucous mail trains. Outside, the world flashes by, a slideshow of rivers growing into oceans, deserts rising into mountains and cities sprawling then receding into darkness as the train thunders on through the night.
As climate change takes hold and travelers look for slower, more conscious ways to move through the world, trains are returning with renewed vigor. Sleeper trains are seeing a resurgence and the golden oldies are busier than ever. From regular commuter rides to glamorous tourist trains, a number of services have garnered iconic status for the scenery, their role through history, or perhaps their place in popular culture. Türkiye’s Doğu Express, once a migration train carrying agricultural workers and the military, is now wildly popular with young Turks who traverse the 800-mile route in winter, decorating the compartments with fairy lights and spreading out picnic blankets covered with baklava, börek, and cold cuts. From the glass-dome cars of the Rocky Mountaineer, passengers watch as Canada’s teal-green lakes shimmer like mirrors, snow-capped peaks looming overhead. The Eastern & Oriental Express, a Belmond train, is back after a hiatus, winding through Malaysia’s tropical rainforests, while Japan’s Seven Stars Kyushu grants reservations via a lottery system, so sought-after is the opulent train. Think Americans don’t ride Amtrak? Think again, as the California Zephyr, the longest route in America crosses through seven states, carving up Colorado’s canyons, then passing into Utah where the sun ignites mesas into flaming towers of rock. Sit back and listen to the clack of the Darjeeling toy train as it chugs up the Himalayan foothills, or let the swaying carriage of the Rovos Rail lull you to deep sleep as it takes you deeper into places wild and distant… —Monisha Rajesh
