The great train journeys have returned to fashion, and for good reason. A day spent watching the Alps, the Scottish Highlands or the Malaysian rainforest pass a window, with lunch served at the table and nowhere else to be, is one of the last forms of travel that is slow by design. It asks for a different wardrobe from a flight or a beach. Linen for train journeys makes sense for reasons that are practical as much as aesthetic: long hours seated, carriages whose temperature varies, small cabins and a dining car that expects something considered.

Consider the day first. On a long rail journey one sits for hours, moves between carriages, steps down at stations into very different weather, and returns. The carriage may be warm in the afternoon sun and cool once the air conditioning catches up. Linen copes well with all of it. It breathes when the carriage is warm, it does not cling after hours in a seat, and it stays comfortable as the temperature shifts.

The routes vary, and so do their wardrobes. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, between European cities and Venice, is famous for its evening dress: black tie is commonly worn at dinner, and the guidance is worth reading before packing. The Eastern & Oriental Express, which has returned to Malaysia, travels through heat and humidity. Switzerland's Glacier Express is a daytime panorama of mountain passes, cool at altitude even in summer. Rovos Rail in southern Africa crosses hot, dry country with cool nights. Each of these, apart from the formal evenings, is natural linen territory.

For the day, a man's wardrobe can be very simple. The Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Oyster, with PP Trousers 100% Linen in Sapphire Blue, is right for a morning in the observation car and a walk on a station platform; the long sleeve guards against a cool carriage and a strong sun through the glass alike. A second shirt, the Cuba Linen Shirt in Lemon Yellow or the Laos Linen Shirt in Grey, gives the afternoon a change.

For women, the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue, loose over trousers that are easy to sit in, is the composed choice for a long day at the window, and the Amelia linen dress shirt in Pink is easy for lunch in the dining car. The Linen Ladies Set in Lemon belongs to a hot afternoon in a Malaysian or African landscape, with a scarf for the air conditioning.

The evening depends on the train. Where black tie is expected, linen gives way to evening clothes, and a dinner jacket travels in its own cover. Where the dress is smart rather than formal, as on most routes, linen carries the evening well. The Monte-Carlo Male in Oatmeal with PP Casual Linen Trousers in Black, or the Vibes Linen Shirt in Vanille with dark trousers, looks right under the warm light of a dining car. The Amelia linen dress shirt in Dubarry, with good earrings, does the same for a woman.

Space is the other constraint. Cabins are small, wardrobes smaller, and luggage is often limited to what fits in the compartment. A shirt hung on the cabin hook on the first evening has lost most of the folds of the journey by morning, and nobody in a dining car expects a sharp press.

There is also something fitting about natural cloth on a train. Rail is the least hurried form of modern travel, and among the gentlest on the land it crosses. Clothes made slowly, by hand, from a plant, belong to the same way of travelling: one that values time, landscape and craft over speed.

On the last morning, as the train slows into the final station, the bag is closed and the shirt from the first day lies folded on top. Outside, a city is waiting, louder than the carriage. It can wait a minute longer.

Read more: Linen for Long-Haul Flights  ·  The Linen Shirt for Overnight Travel  ·  How to Pack Linen Shirts for Travel