Yes, and international trains are not where the European network shines. It's getting better, but it has historically been hard to even figure out how to buy a ticket involving multiple countries. Deutsche Bahn is one of the better ones. If you originate or terminate in Germany, their booking engine can figure out how to get you to a neighboring country (and they actually have these countries' timetables in their system, too). But if you want to go through Germany, say from France to Poland, good luck getting that booked, unless you split it into two tickets, each terminating in Germany.
Specific through services make it easier a few routes, such as the CityNightLine sleeper services, since there is one train and one operator for the whole route.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV Might be worth a read. While it may not be up to par to your standard, it's one of the train system the most complex and speedy in the entire world.
Oh, TGV is great in France, or if you travel on a TGV-operated train to a neighboring country. I'm just complaining about timetable engines and ticketing for international trips across Europe, when they involve more than one operator. For example if you want to buy a ticket from Paris to Copenhagen, there isn't an integrated timetable/booking system. For this, bahn.de is better than most national train companies, because their search engine at least includes other operators' timetables (though they aren't always able to actually sell you a ticket).
Specific through services make it easier a few routes, such as the CityNightLine sleeper services, since there is one train and one operator for the whole route.
reply