Trains and Sumptuous Railway Dining - a thing of the past? Maybe not…

Mainstream train travel has disappeared in the United States, in favor of travel by car, and now plane. By contrast, train travel in Italy, and most of Europe, has continued to expand and there's almost no corner of Italy you can't reach by train.

So why has luxurious train dining largely disappeared? Probably because long trips by train have been replaced by planes or cars, plus trains are faster, and trips are shorter. The days of luxuriating on a train are over, along with relaxed train dining.

I love the Frecciarossa 3-ish hour high speed train from Milan to Rome: free wifi and comfortable seating. 

On the Milan/Rome train there are roll-away carts with soft drinks and occasionally some panini and sandwiches on sale. And if you travel first class – for the slight increase in price, it's absolutely worth it - there are usually some complementary cookies or peanuts. 

While it's great to get a lot of work and extra reading done on the comfy Milan/Rome train trip, sometimes I’d honestly prefer to mosey up to a dining car for the full meal service that used to be years ago.