Rail Europe suspends Snow Train for this winter

Rail Europe has announced that it will not be running the Snow Train over the coming ski season. According to the company's website, "the current economic climate and poor exchange rates along with an increase in our operating costs, has meant that the service would not be financially viable."

Here are some of the alternative options to get you to the French Alps by rail:

Either you can travel on the Eurostar Direct Ski train, which runs weekly services by day or overnight from London St Pancras or Ashford International stations direct to 3 stations in the French Alps (Moûtiers, Aime-La-Plagne and Bourg St Maurice), which provide access to several ski areas, including Courchevel, La Plagne, Tignes, Meribel, and Les Arcs. Eurostar has recently announced it has reduced the price of this train, see: Eurostar reduces ski train tickets to £149rtn.

Or, for a more flexible option you can take a Eurostar to Paris, then a connecting French day or overnight service to the heart of the mountains. Many day services are high speed and connect with regional services to the Alps. Overnight services have flat-bed couchette accommodation or reclining seats (the much cheaper, but much less comfortable option).

For more information on trains from Paris that connect to ski areas see RailEurope's guide to Eurostar and Connecting European Ski Trains.

For more advice on booking train tickets to the slopes, see seat61.com.

A guide to 'Taking the train to the slopes' (including info on how to get to over 30 ski areas in Europe) is included in Clean Breaks - 500 new ways to see the world, co-written by greentraveller's founder Richard Hammond, published by Rough Guides (Aug 2009).