Europe's high-speed trains have speeded up


Europe's newest crop of high-speed trains are making record time.
BELGIUM/GERMANY
Intercity-Express
The trip: Brussels to Cologne in less than two hours.
Time saved: 30 minutes.
bahn.de, one way from $27.
BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
Fyra and Thalys
The trip: Brussels to Amsterdam in 1 hour and 45 minutes; Amsterdam to Paris in 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Time saved: 1 hour.
nshispeed.nl, rates TBD.
ITALY
Eurostar Italia's Red Arrow
The trip: Milan to Rome in 3.5 hours.
Time saved: 1 hour.
trenitalia.com, one way from $105.
SPAIN
AVE
The trip: Madrid to Barcelona in 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Time saved: 1 hour and 15 minutes.
renfe.es (save 60 percent by booking in Spanish on Renfe's website), one way from $72.
From the September 2009 issue of Budget Travel
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For timetables and prices for intercity train travel in other European countries, check out our earlier blog post "Affordable Europe: Save on trains"
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