Switzerland Joins Italy, UK and France in New Luxury Rail Push

Switzerland is moving to the forefront of Europe’s rail renaissance, aligning with partners in Italy, the United Kingdom and France to shape a new generation of high-end journeys that fuse panoramic Alpine scenery with cross-border high-speed connections.

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A New Web of Cross-Border Luxury Links

Publicly available information shows that Switzerland is deepening its rail ties with neighboring countries at the same time that demand for premium, flight-free travel is rising across Europe. Memorandums of understanding between the United Kingdom and Switzerland, along with cooperation agreements involving Channel Tunnel infrastructure, are laying groundwork for new direct links between Swiss hubs and London, with potential routings via France and Belgium.

These ambitions intersect with Italy’s state operator Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, whose FS Group has signaled plans to expand high-speed services from France toward the UK and strengthen its broader European network. Coverage of FS Group’s strategy indicates that Paris to London trains are being prepared as part of a wider push to connect Italy with key Western European capitals, creating opportunities for premium tiers and curated onboard experiences that dovetail with Switzerland’s own tourism offer.

In France, efforts to increase international capacity through the Channel Tunnel are converging with these national strategies. Operators and infrastructure managers have outlined scenarios in which future high-speed services could link London with Geneva or Zurich, providing a fast backbone that luxury tour providers and rail-cruise companies can package with iconic scenic routes in the Alps and northern Italy.

Taken together, these developments point toward an increasingly joined-up network in which Switzerland functions as both a destination and a high-quality corridor between France, Italy and the UK. For upscale travelers, the emerging picture is of multi-country rail itineraries that combine high-speed segments with slow, scenic stretches, all bookable as a single, premium journey.

Switzerland’s Iconic Scenic Trains as the Alpine Core

While new international links are still being engineered, Switzerland’s existing scenic trains are already positioned as the centerpiece of many luxury rail adventures. The Bernina Express, operated by the Rhaetian Railway, connects Chur or St Moritz with Tirano in northern Italy, crossing the Engadin Alps and traversing a UNESCO World Heritage route renowned for spiraling viaducts and high mountain passes. Its panoramic cars and leisurely timetable are tailored to sightseeing, making the service a natural anchor for high-end itineraries that continue into Italy’s lakes region.

Further west, the Glacier Express and GoldenPass Express form another premium axis within Switzerland. The GoldenPass route between Montreux and Interlaken links Lake Geneva’s vineyards with the Bernese Oberland’s peaks in specially designed panoramic trains that can shift between track gauges, while the Glacier Express connects Zermatt and St Moritz along a day-long journey that has become shorthand for luxury Alpine rail travel. Industry overviews highlight how these services increasingly offer first-class lounges, multi-course onboard dining and dedicated luggage handling.

Tour operators are building on this core by stitching together Swiss panoramic trains with Italian and French routes. Packages for 2026 marketed as “Italian Lakes and Swiss Alps by Luxury Train” already pair the Bernina Pass with stays on Lake Como and in classic Swiss resorts. As cross-border high-speed options expand, these itineraries are expected to become easier to access directly from London or Paris, reducing the need for short-haul flights at the beginning and end of a trip.

Switzerland’s focus on reliability and schedule coordination also matters for premium travel. With multiple daily departures on scenic lines and dense intercity connections, travelers can step from a future London or Paris high-speed arrival straight onto a panoramic train with minimal waiting time, a key selling point for seamless luxury journeys.

Italy’s La Dolce Vita and the French Revival of Grand Touring

Italy is emerging as another pillar of Europe’s luxury rail ecosystem. Reports on Accor’s Orient Express La Dolce Vita project describe multi-day itineraries across the Italian peninsula, with refurbished vintage-style carriages, fine dining and immersive excursions in cities such as Rome, Venice and Palermo. The service, launched on Italian tracks, is designed to evoke mid‑century glamour while tapping into contemporary interest in slow, sustainable travel.

These Italian experiences naturally align with Swiss panoramic routes at the border. Travelers can already cross between Tirano and Milan by regional train after completing the Bernina Express, but in the near future, more integrated products are expected to bundle La Dolce Vita journeys with Alpine segments and pre- or post-stays in Swiss resorts. Such combinations would allow guests to move in one continuous arc from London or Paris to the Alps and on to Rome or Sicily without resorting to air travel.

France, meanwhile, is seeing its own revival of grand touring by rail. The reimagined Orient Express brand anchored in Paris is slated to operate long-distance luxury services across Central and Eastern Europe, while French night-train initiatives and heritage-style rail cruises are returning historic routes to the map. For luxury travelers, France provides both the cultural gateway to continental Europe and a destination in its own right, with trains traversing vineyards, chateaux country and Mediterranean coastlines.

As these French and Italian products mature, Switzerland’s position between them becomes strategically significant. The country’s east-west and north-south arteries can support itineraries that begin on a French luxury train from Paris, continue across the Alps via Swiss panoramic services, and finish on an Italian rail cruise that explores the south, all marketed as a single, multi-week rail odyssey.

UK–Swiss Frameworks and the Race to Reach London by Rail

On the northern edge of this network, the United Kingdom is working to secure a stronger role in the luxury rail landscape by nurturing new international connections. A memorandum of understanding signed in May 2025 between the UK and Switzerland outlines cooperation in the passenger rail sector, including exploration of direct services between the two countries. Government communications describe the deal as a step toward faster, greener travel that could eventually allow passengers to board in Switzerland and arrive in London without changing trains.

At the same time, Channel Tunnel stakeholders are actively courting additional high-speed operators. Agreements between London St Pancras Highspeed and tunnel owner Getlink focus on boosting capacity and shortening journey times on cross-Channel services, with publicly reported plans mentioning future routes to Germany and Switzerland among the possibilities. This environment could benefit Swiss, French and Italian operators looking to extend their reach to the UK.

Italy’s FS Group and its Trenitalia France subsidiary form a key part of that picture. The company has announced a joint venture with investment partners aimed at launching a new high-speed service between Paris and London by 2029, positioning itself as a competitor to the existing cross-Channel operator. As those plans advance, the same high-speed rolling stock could in time be scheduled to or from Swiss and Italian destinations, with premium carriages, business-class style services and curated onboard menus designed to appeal to luxury travelers.

For the UK market, the impact could be significant. Instead of flying to Zurich or Milan to begin a rail-based holiday, British travelers may eventually board a high-speed train at St Pancras and connect, with one or two seamless changes, to Alpine panoramas and Italian grand touring services, all within a unified ecosystem of rail products.

From Rail Renaissance to Curated Continental Journeys

Travel trend reports from airlines, tourism boards and rail operators consistently point to a broader “rail renaissance” in Europe, driven by environmental concerns, airport congestion and a renewed appetite for experiential travel. Luxury and premium rail offerings are at the sharp end of this shift, giving travelers a way to turn the journey itself into the main attraction rather than a mere transfer between cities.

In this context, Switzerland’s move to align more closely with Italy, France and the UK is less a single project than a series of connected developments. High-speed tenders for new rolling stock, cross-border cooperation agreements, revived heritage brands and new scenic itineraries are all pieces of the same puzzle, gradually closing the gaps between national networks.

For travelers planning the next few years, the practical outcome is a growing menu of possible routes. A London-based guest might soon combine a high-speed run to Paris with a French luxury sleeper, connect into Switzerland’s GoldenPass or Glacier Express, and then continue across the Bernina Pass into Italy for a La Dolce Vita rail cruise, all under a coherent, premium umbrella. Each segment draws on the strengths of a different national system, but together they form a continuous, low‑carbon journey across the continent.

As new timetables, trainsets and cross-border agreements come into force toward the end of this decade, Switzerland’s role as a unifying hub for Europe’s most scenic and luxurious rail adventures looks set to grow, offering travelers an increasingly rich array of ways to see the continent from the comfort of a first-class carriage.