Revamp for moribund rail links in eastern Europe

Eastern Europe's railways are to get an overhaul as the region, boosted by new entrants to the European Union, moves towards greater economic convergence and cultural cooperation, the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent has reported.

Aging railway infrastructure in much of eastern and south-eastern Europe leaves ancient carriages, still emblazoned with the insignia of train companies used in the now-defunct Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, running along the tracks.

Many are forced to operate excruciatingly slowly in order to spare the decrepit tracks.

But privatisation is pushing ahead in Poland, where the first private passenger train will be launched this autumn, in a departure from exclusively state-owned railway monopolies throughout the post-war period.

Russia, too, is talking of privatising the whole of its already relatively efficient rail network.

But until the links between the countries of south-eastern Europe, in particular, are improved, air travel seems far and away the safest option for arriving in the region, particularly for UK tourists who have the channel hurdle to overcome before they even think about inter-railing across the continent.