I’m about to set off on a 550-mile 11-hour rail journey.

I’m going by train from Sussex to London St Pancras, Eurostar to Paris then across Paris and on to Zurich.

It’s day 1 of a trip to Switzerland and Austria through the scenic Arlberg Pass.

The first leg is one I’ve made many times before: a Thameslink service to London.

The class 700 Thameslink trains are roomy but the feeling of space and security is at the expense of tray tables on many seats and areas for heavy luggage beyond the overhead racks. And this for a service which includes two London airports (Gatwick and Luton).

Twists and turns

It doesn’t concern me on this journey although there have been many other trips on Thameslink trains when I and fellow passengers have had to combine the skills of a world-class juggler with the flexibility of a circus contortionist to manage to sit down, hold a hot drink, unpack a laptop or tablet, look at a mobile, locate and provide a ticket for inspection, retrieve items from a briefcase or bag, stare out the window, listen to music or podcasts – and I have accomplished all this with the advantage of having detailed knowledge of the route, being a native speaker of English and having lived in this country all my life.

Pity the poor recent visitors to this country struggling with their luggage, trying to work out if they are on the right train and remembering to “See it, Say it and Sort it” (which is how the phrase should be in my opinion and not “Sorted”).

The journey through the gentle rolling countryside past the densely-packed streets of south-east London and on to St Pancras is uneventful and I arrive in plenty of time for the Eurostar to Paris.

Trays – tres bon

I’ve paid extra to travel in Standard Premier. What a contrast to the Thameslink service.

Plenty of luggage space, comfortable seats, a meal at your seat, tray tables (whoopee), room to leave bags under or above the seats. Is this not how all train travel should be?

The Kent countryside slides by then whoosh through the tunnel and out across the flat plains of northern France. I watch the wind turbines turning – I even manage to get a picture out the window of a turbine with the blades lined up at 120, 240 and 360 degrees.

At Gare du Nord, I stop to admire the fleet of Thalys red trains. They are sleek and modern.

I can’t help but thinking the trains look like Formula 1 racing cars lined up on a Grand Prix grid, engines roaring, ready for the off. The anthropomorphising goes further and I imagine the Thalys trains all competing with each other to attract the attention of the passengers on the concourse, shouting “over here, come aboard, I’ll whisk you away to exciting places”. They appear keen and lean.

But I snap out of it back to the here and now and find my way to the RER line across the French capital to Gare de Lyon.

I check my ticket and I’m going to be “the man in seat 51” – and I’m in “voiture 11”.

I lose concentration because I’m fascinated by the sight of Grand Slam-winning Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka on the side of my train to Zurich. “Stan the Man” – now that’s ace service.

I blame Stan but it was also the sunlight – and my very British assumption – which made me see the sign on the outside of the first carriage nearest the ticket barrier as 1 and so I carried on walking down the platform to find coach 11.

I realised my mistake after a few more carriages. The first coach was in fact 11 and not 1 so I turn back and retrace my steps.

The scenery improves across eastern France and into Switzerland on the four-hour journey on the SNCF/TGV. The countryside becomes more open, occasional long tunnels, the villages are more frequent with lovely churches.

And then exactly 10 hours and 40 minutes after my journey began, I arrive at Zurich’s main station – to the minute according to the timetables.

The station looks impressive and I’m tempted to look around but that will have to wait until the morning. For now, it’s a short walk to the hotel. It’s a muggy night and I take it slowly as I wheel my case across the street, keeping an eye out for the trams.

Here’s my summary of the journey so far.

Rail company	Journey	Duration	Class	Seat/Comfort	Luggage space	Food	Toilets	Scenery	Total
Thameslink	Sussex to London St Pancras	1 hr 17 mins	Standard	5	4	0	5	4	18
Eurostar	London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord	2 hrs 16 mins	Standard Premier	8	8	8	8	6	38
SNCF/TGV	Paris Gare de Lyon to Zurich	4 hrs 03 mins	First	7	6	6	6	7	32