Jaunted

Trains

Continental Choo-Choo

February 7, 2006 at 2:17 PM | 0 Comments

Is there anything Richard Branson can't sell?

Virgin Railways is set to unload 160 obsolete coaches from the UK to Bosnia--they're clearly preparing for a tourist influx after that New York Times article--in the coming year. Virgin is replacing them on the London-Glasgow route with Pendolino trains--the same ones that are giving the Czechs such problems--and is selling the old trains to avoid the cost of recycling them.

The Bosnian rail network was destroyed during the war and is just now getting back on its feet. Their number of international routes went from 104 to six after the war. Most importantly, the trains are likely to keep their red seat covers and red paint jobs, Virgin's trademark.

The upshot to all is that now even Bosnia offers a higher quality rail service than Amtrak. Anyone want to buy an Acela?

[Image via Night Owl City/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Keeping the Railways on Track [Jaunted]
·   Bright Bosnian Future [Jaunted]
·   A Balkan adventure beckons for Britain's railways [The Guardian]