Grab a train seat on the go with Rail Europe’s iPhone app

If you’ve been longing for your iPhone to help you ride the rails across Europe, your app may have arrived.

Rail Europe’s new free app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad helps travelers choose a route, select seats and book tickets on 35 European railways in 32 countries, including Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

The app asks whether you are already in Europe because if you are in North America, you’ll be shown fares and schedules for all European trains, including those for which paper tickets must be mailed. (Rail Europe generally does not ship paper tickets to Europe.) Booking before arriving on the Continent can often land you lower fares.

When users indicate they are in Europe, they are shown train schedules for the route requested where e-tickets are available.

Key app features include using English and accepting payment in U.S. or Canadian dollars; organizing rail travel information in an easy-to-read format with time-and-distance calculations for each leg; and using geo-location technology to suggest side trips.

When I tested it, the app works as promised, but I wished I could compare prices in euros versus dollars within the app.

Note: Smart-phone users without iPhones can still book rail travel with their phone by surfing to Rail Europe’s mobile site and using its booking engine, interactive maps and other features.

Info: Rail Europe Inc. or the iTunes store