Early in his career, David Hasselhoff cruised around in a talkative Pontiac Trans Am and a pickup truck equipped with lifeguard gear. Now 70, the actor and singer of “Knight Rider” and “Baywatch” fame is settling into a new role (and mode of transportation) as a pitch guy for Trainline.com, a booking platform for European rail travel.
“It’s the only way to go, and that’s from the Hoff to you,” Hasselhoff said in a recent phone interview from his home in Los Angeles.
Hasselhoff has been helping spread the word about the London company’s Chief Conductor contest, which runs through April 27. The winner will receive a $5,000 stipend, a two-night stay in a luxury hotel, $2,500 in Trainline vouchers and signed swag from Hasselhoff’s famous TV shows. He will also suggest train itineraries for which he can personally vouch.
“David is a beloved household name in the U.K. and across Europe, as well as in the United States. After all, who doesn’t know the Hoff?” Mike Hyde, Trainline’s chief data officer, said by email. “This international appeal, along with his extensive background traveling across Europe, made the decision to partner an easy one.”
We spoke with Hasselhoff about his passion for trains, a race from Amsterdam to London, and his taste for Wiener schnitzel. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What is your earliest and fondest train memory?
A: Going to Kitzbühel [in Austria] for the cover of the German magazine Bunte. I met this woman [on the train], and the only thing in German that I understood was Wiener schnitzel, so I ordered Wiener schnitzel, and it was really good. I really got hooked on train travel because of the whistle and the steam and the bahnhofs, the train stations. It was incredible. Very romantic and very cool.
Q: What happened to the mystery girl?
A: No comment.
Q: Did you have any train experiences as a child?
A: I was born in Maryland and grew up in Florida, Georgia and Chicago. I experienced train travel, but nothing like Europe. Train travel has taken over the Hoff, and it all started with that romantic trip for Bunte.
Q: What is your train travel style?
A: Don’t bring a book. Bring lots of chargers, lots of converters. Take a lot of photographs. It’s best to look out the window and take your ear buds with you and listen to David Hasselhoff’s concert. [Self-deprecating chuckle.] I listen to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
Q: Do you recommend traveling by day or night?
A: I took a London night train to Glasgow. The beds were small but cool. It was fun. I listened to the [train attendant] running up and down the train and putting out fires. I asked her, “How long have you done this?” And she said for 20 years. “My God, for 20 years, that’s fantastic! And you still love it?” She said, “I still absolutely love it,” and I can see why. Conductors come by and they take your tickets and knock on your door and serve you food.
[Without a prompt, Hasselhoff launches into a story about his wife, Hayley Roberts, and a race to London.]
My wife has traveled by train, because she’s from Wales. She said: “I bet you I will beat you from Amsterdam to London. I’m taking the train.” And I said: “It’s five hours. You’re crazy.” She beat me. It took me two hours to wait for the airplane and then two hours in traffic, and then they lost my luggage. She was already at the hotel in London, three hours before me. The train was quicker and much more relaxed, and they don’t lose your luggage.
Q: Europe has been pushing trains as an eco-friendly alternative to air travel. Are trains a viable substitute for planes?
A: You go on an airplane and — whoosh — suddenly you’re there. You don’t get a chance to experience the love of Wiener schnitzel, the love of the person you are with. You don’t have the chance to have the romance, to look out the window and really see the culture and the scenery. I was in Munich and I went by bicycle, and a man said, “Oh, you are here to see the culture of Munich?” And I said, “Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve seen it.” And it’s the same way when I’m on a train. I get to see the culture of each little city, each little village, each place where people live.
Q: Are you going to read the contestants’ 150-word essay submissions or help in the selection process?
A: No, all I do is sign some merchandise and do some interviews about my train travel and be a partner in Trainline.
Q: Which itineraries will you suggest?
A: I would definitely go from St. Moritz to Zurich. Go through Austria and Switzerland and Glasgow and the [Scottish] Highlands. Go London to Paris.
Q: Which seasons are best for a European train trip?
A: If you’re a skier, go to the Dolomites. I went to Kitzbühel in the summer, and it was like, “Wow.” Edinburgh has the best theater in August. It’s called the Fringe festival. It is something that everybody goes to from all over Europe and all over the world.
correction
A previous version of this story misstated the month of the annual Fringe festival in Edinburgh. It is in August. This article has been corrected.
