Pullmans in Germany.

In introducing the summer time-table for 1928, the German railways state, that the working of the railways of the land has at last reached the same degree of organisation as in pre-war days. The condition of track, locomotives and other rolling-stock is now again normal, and to meet the need of the traveller it is the policy of the German lines to put into traffic many new trains running at high speed. At present Germany's fastest trains are the Berlin-Hamburg expresses, which are booked for an average speed of 53.5 miles an hour. Then come the Berlin-Holland express, the Cologne-Berlin express, and the Berlin-Frankfort express, all of which have average speeds of a fraction over 48 miles per hour.

An innovation in German travel this year is the introduction of Pullman cars for the first time in the history of railway working in that country. The most important Pullman to be tried out is a new train named the “Rheingold Express,” a daily train in each direction between Hook of Holland and Basle, on the German Swiss frontier, running by way of the picturesque Rhine Valley. This train gives a twenty-four hour running between Liverpool Street station, London, and Lucerne, 12 1/2 hours being occupied on the Hook of Holland-Lucerne section. The coaches employed in the “Rheingold Express” are managed and staffed by the Mitropa Company, of Berlin. They are 77 feet in length overall, and are actually the largest passenger vehicles employed in Germany.