Coronavirus: Should we book our 2021 American rail journey now?

Simon Calder answers your questions on planning next year’s holiday and the best routes to avoid quarantine restrictions

Dreaming of a trip across America is an excellent antidote to the current travel woes (Getty/iStock)

Q We’re aiming to get through the winter by planning some trips for 2021. One of them is a great American railroad adventure. Would we be foolish to start booking now?

Michael J

A Dreaming of future travels is an excellent antidote to what looks like a long and difficult winter. Crossing the US by train is a tremendous experience. But let me try to manage your expectations.

First, I agree that it’s highly unlikely that the ban on travel between the UK and US will continue long into 2021. But just as domestic airlines in America are stepping up their services, the main inter-city rail operator, Amtrak, is cutting down. From the start of October 2020, many of the long-distance services currently running daily will be reduced in frequency to three days a week.

The organisation – which is heavily subsidised by the US taxpayer – has seen passenger numbers fall by 80 per cent this year. The company is making these deep cuts as a result of the dramatic decline in demand. The basic plan is for “hubbing” at Chicago; the magnificent Union Station is the junction between the east coast links with Boston, New York and Washington DC and the lines to New Orleans, Texas and the west coast. Arrivals and departures will be scheduled for Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

That sounds somewhat restrictive – and, if demand comes back briskly, operating only 43 per cent of the previous capacity could see trains filling up fast, which might make you yearn to book the 50-hour trip scheduled from Chicago to San Francisco (actually Emeryville, on the east side of the Bay) for 1 May 2021 right now.

But in your position I would not commit just yet. Optimistically, there could be many more services to choose from by next year; pessimistically, with the amount of funding for Amtrak next year not yet settled, there could be yet more cuts.

What route should we take from Calais to Germany?

Q Leaving Calais for Germany, would you take the Belgium or Netherlands route?

Alan A

A Without knowing your final destination, it is difficult to choose the optimum route – but I shall recommend the key routes based on practicality and aesthetics.

Your question reflects the new reality for car drivers and their passengers between the UK and Germany seeking to avoid the need to quarantine. If they use the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone and do not stop and “mingle” with anyone inside the territory of France, Belgium or the Netherlands, they need not self-isolate for 14 days on return to Britain. (The same does not apply for ferry users, because you are deemed to have mingled while on the car deck moored in Calais.)

For southern Germany, including the Black Forest, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich, the quick-and-easy solution is to take the A26 motorway southeast from Calais to Reims, then join the A4 east and stay with it all the way to Saint-Avold; bear left on to the A320 to avoid Alsace and instead make for the German city of Saarbrucken. It’s a long drive – 325 miles – so allow five hours.

You can make a pit-stop here and then embark through French territory once more, making for Strasbourg but crossing the Rhine once more into the “safety” of Germany.  

For anywhere in the central portion of Germany, there is a much easier journey: turn east out of Calais on to the A16, which crosses swiftly into Belgium and becomes the E40 European superhighway – sweeping across to Aachen in Germany. Sadly you cannot stop to explore the great cities of Bruges, Ghent, Brussels and Liege without triggering quarantine. This is only 215 miles and should take a lot less than four hours. You are well set for Cologne and Frankfurt.

Finally, for the Ruhr, Berlin and anywhere further north, branch off at Bruges and make your way past Antwerp to Eindhoven and across the Netherlands to Essen – a 250-mile, four-hour journey.

Of course you can always take one journey outbound, another returning.

Should I avoid Folkestone and Dover for my road trip?

Q Whatever happens with the quarantine rules, I plan to drive through France to the Alps in early January. But with the warning about enormous lorry queues in Kent, should I avoid Folkestone and Dover in favour of ferry crossings from Newhaven or Portsmouth? Or will they be stuffed with “Kent exile” trucks too?

Bill S

A Many people have inferred from the government’s “reasonable worst-case scenario” that the main roads and motorways of Kent could be gridlocked from the start of 2021. This, of course, is when the transition period ends and “proper” Brexit begins. But along with joyful celebrations from the millions who voted to leave the European Union, the change will be marked by the resumption of full customs checks. This will happen whether or not a deal is struck, because the UK is leaving the single market and customs union. There will be huge implications for the haulage industry, which for decades has enjoyed free movement between Britain and continental Europe.

But that does not necessarily mean that the relatively small number of private motorists who will seek to travel to France and beyond early in the new year will get stuck behind a wall of trucks. One reason lorry parks and checks at the Kent border are being instituted is to avoid Dover and Folkestone coming to a halt because of the sheer number of trucks awaiting customs clearance.

I predict you will be able to head along the M20 to either Folkestone for the Eurotunnel or Dover for the ferry to Calais or Dunkerque without any big problems. And, because there will be frequent departures to France, if you are stuck for an hour or two you can still expect to leave the UK fairly smoothly.

I am not so confident about Newhaven and Portsmouth. I like the sailing opportunities from both ports because they are longer and smoother, with quieter ports. But if the planning for the last no-deal Brexit is anything to go by, the UK government may spend millions to charter ferries for “essentials” that cannot afford to be stuck in lorry parks for days on end.

It is also possible that some ferry links may be axed completely because of the slump in bookings. So I urge you not to book anything until the picture is clearer. I am confident that there will be no problem booking a Channel crossing even on the day of travel, because private leisure travel is likely to dry up even more than it is at the moment.

Will I be able to travel from Scotland to visit Poland?

Q I live in Scotland and am unsure regards the new advice and impact on travel. I was wanting to go to Poland in two weeks for three days. It is not essential travel but I reckon that the Scottish government is only suggesting people stay at home. Basically, can I go if I want to?

Chris M

A Yes, at present. When the first minister set out the latest Scottish government view on the coronavirus pandemic, her call to “think of the October break as an opportunity to further limit social interaction” was nothing stronger than a request. “Given that this is a global pandemic, please do not book travel overseas for the October break if it is not essential,” said Nicola Sturgeon.

This is advice that, at present, you are free to ignore. Indeed, even at the height of the crisis in April and May, there was never anything to stop British travellers heading abroad – apart from travel restrictions at their destination.

You can argue that by leaving a high-infection location such as Scotland, and travelling to a place with much lower rates, such as Poland, you are actually helping out: removing yourself as a candidate for infection, and locating yourself somewhere where you are less likely to contract Covid-19 than in Scotland.

However, in order to get there and back you will be flying on a plane with up to 180 total strangers from different households, which injects extra risk into the trip. My view is that there is a good chance you will be able to travel, but if you haven’t yet booked I would wait a week. If rates here continue to rise, Poland might introduce a quarantine for visitors from the UK.

Note also that Ms Sturgeon made it clear that a “circuit breaker”, timed to coincide with the October school break, was under consideration. This could include Scotland imposing blanket quarantine on all arrivals, including from low-risk Poland.

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