Trainline, Europe’s leading official rail and coach retailer, has held a two-day immersive event in New York City to promote rail travel in the UK and Europe to American visitors and tourists.
The exhibition, based in the Vanderbilt Hall at the world-famous Grand Central terminus in the heart of New York, reached over 200,000 New Yorkers and aimed to inspire them to head to the UK and Europe this summer, and to use rail to explore more of the country sustainably during their holiday.
Trainline data shows demand for rail from US-based visitors has soared post-Covid, with a 108% increase in Americans downloading the Trainline app year-on-year. The top UK rail journeys chosen by US tourists include London-Edinburgh, London-Oxford, London-Bath and London-Paris.
To inspire dreams of a vacation in Europe, the immersive event offered New Yorkers the chance to recreate their own coronation selfie moments in London, sip an espresso in a Rome piazza, and dance the can-can in Paris – with a mock-up train linking the three tourist landmarks.
Bestselling cookbook author, US TV host and chef Katie Lee Biegel also hosted an event exploring the culinary highlights of Europe and shared her memorable personal experiences of travelling Europe by train, including her husband’s proposal aboard the Orient Express.
Trainline CEO Jody Ford said: “European train travel is surging in popularity unlike any time in recent memory, with over one million Americans using Trainline in 2022 alone. There’s no better time than now to go big with our first U.S. event, introducing consumers to the joys of UK and European rail travel in a unique way, at the most recognizable train station in the world. We’re excited to bring a taste of Europe to New York, showing how easy and affordable it is to travel by rail.”
A video of highlights from the event on 6th and 7th June is available here.
Image credit: Trainline
