Rail aficionado Gregory Hill names the world's best train journeys

New Zealand musician and author Gregory Hill says a train is the only way to travel, so he took a 78-day, 31,000km rail trip to the other side to the world.

“In the Auckland of my childhood, a journey to the western terminus of Waitakere was a treat,” Wellington author Gregory Hill says. “The train consisted of pre-war timber carriages with open platforms, pulled by an English Electric diesel.”

This experience piqued the former professional French horn player’s interest in railway travel.

In his new book The Antipodean Express he details his journey from his home in New Zealand to the exact opposite side of the world, almost entirely by rail.

“It took 78 days and 31,000km of train travel,” he says.

He says the appeal of long distance train travel is enduring. “At night it’s special to be tucked up in bed in the dark with your reading lamp on, rocking about while the world roars past invisibly outside.”

Musician, author and rail travel aficionado Gregory Hill.

Here, he shares his most memorable train journeys around the world:

Thai high

My favourite train in Southeast Asia is the SP38, the 6pm from Hat Yai to Bangkok Hua Lamphong. My wife and I were stuck in a dirty sleeper cabin for 17 hours so we trekked through several carriages of what seemed like a Thai village on rails to the pale-green enamel-and-filth dining car with grubby tables next to open windows. We ended up with trays of palatable Thai curry which we ate in the company of security men nodding their heads to loud Thai pop.

Food stalls on the platform at Hat Yai Railway Station, Thailand.

Siberian stunner

The best budget railway trip I've been on is the Circum-Baikal line from Slyudyanka to Port Baikal in Siberia. It was 95km over a whole day with plenty of stops to admire a backdrop of infinite blue lake and epic white mountains. Baikal Lake is the world's deepest lake at 1.7km. The railway, an engineering marvel, follows the steep shore closely.

The Circum-Baikal railway in Siberia.

Railway feast

The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz in Switzerland might be the world's slowest express, covering 290km in seven hours. It's snowy alpine scenery on steroids, with huge windows to appreciate it all. We did it in early April, cutting through thick drifts of snow. Highlights include the narrow rapid Upper Rhine, the tall stone Landwasser viaduct and veal fricassee with knopfli for lunch.

The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz in Switzerland.

High line

The Z22 train from Lhasa to Beijing is a favourite. It was 40 hours over 3750km and as we left Lhasa behind mountain scenery took over and the whole place got a dusting of light snow. Later we checked out the modern, sunlit dining car, which we entered through a forest of vegetables in pots. Deciphering the menu with Google Translate provided us with beautiful spicy chicken, braised brisket and rice, and the usual insipid Tibetan barley beer.

Tibetan landscape views as seen from a sleeper train.

GREGORY HILL’S HIGHS AND LOWS

Mood killer

My wife and I took a pricey sleeper train from Munich to Rome for our honeymoon. There was a thoughtfully provided chamber-pot in its own little cupboard. Slightly less thoughtfully, the pot was still full from the previous occupant.

Mighty mountain

Standing at the Tibetan side of Mount Everest was bucket-list stuff. The summit was 24km away, the North Face rearing 4km above us. We hadn’t seen the mountain all day until the clouds stirred and suddenly we were confronted by this enormous peak, stage-lit by the setting sun.

Originally published as Rail aficionado Gregory Hill names the world's best train journeys