Get on the TGV to find a guy sound asleep in my seat. When this happens on a TGV it’s annoying as you don’t know which other seats are reserved - there are no signs.
But as today there’s only one stop - Paris Gare de Lyon - I can safely sit myself at a free 4 seats.
And yes it’s deluxe today - I’m in 1st class.
And @eco_amandine asked for a pic of the Buffon statue in Montbard. Voila!
TGV doing its thing. Only this train, and my second one today Paris - Köln, will hit 300km/h. I’m pretty sure none of the other 64 trains I’ll take will exceed 200km/h. But speed isn’t everything 🙂
Tip: want a GPS speed reading on a train? Go to the join between carriages. Your phone is more likely to get a GPS signal there.
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Bike 2 of 35 Paris Gare de Lyon - Paris Gare du Nord Distance: 4.9km Est. duration: 0:30 This bike route, mapped on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1483120439
Ah. Eurostar (ex Thalys). Dude stands on platform checking tickets. While passengers queue because everyone stowing luggage in the vestibule is slowing everything down. You’d better employ that guy as bag stacker than ticket scan dude. #CrossBorderRail
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Train 2 of 66
EST 9423
09:55 Paris Gare du Nord - Köln Hbf 13:15 (arrived +6)
Eurostar
Train type: Alstom Eurostar PBKA, 8 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️
🦽: ✅ (needs lift on platform)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: ☹️ (awful - it’s like real life Tetris trying to fit the bags in)
🧽: 🙂
EST 9423
09:55 Paris Gare du Nord - Köln Hbf 13:15
Distance: 535.9km
Average speed: 161km/h
4 stops:
Bruxelles Midi
Liège-Guillemins
Aachen Hbf
Köln Hbf
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-south-east-europe-v9-draft_1053482#8/49.929/4.652
This Eurostar PBKA train is full. The air conditioning is good enough to keep the temperature ok, but CO2 PPM is between 1000 and 1200. It’s circulating and cooling the same air. I can’t know if the air is adequately filtered, so the FFP2 mask is on tight.
Rolling into Bruxelles. My old neighbourhood up there on the hill. But no getting off here today - onwards towards Köln
The design of this Eurostar (ex Thalys) is really stupid. I’m luckily in first class today, but there’s no toilet between carriages 21 and 22 - because they put a massive catering section there. But that catering serves *only one carriage*. That means any large luggage goes between carriages 22 and 23… blocking the entrance to the only toilet. Oh and I’m in carriage 22 so don’t even get a coffee for my €34 Interrail supplement…
My Eurostar crawled through Leuven
How late are we I wondered?
DB Navigator has no live data for Eurostar, and thinks it’s operated by SNCF Voyages Deutschland (what?) but it does know it ends in Dũsseldorf
Eurostar’s app has no live running at all as far as I can tell
SNCB’s app can tell me it’s 3 min late (optimistic!) but thinks the end station is Essen! 🤦♂️
And can it really be that Eurostar has no live running data in its app? (iOS) Or am I just too stupid to find it? Or does it show only if you bought the ticket direct from them and not a third party? 🤔
Ah. @maartje pointed me towards “Live Information” on Eurostar’s site. It has the right destination… but we left Liège +6 and that’s not shown. So live isn’t live. 🤦♂️
And once the Eurostar gets to Germany you get live info from Deutsche Bahn
Don’t you just ❤️ the collaboration between Europe’s incumbent state owned railway companies, eh?
It’s a pretty important point: if as a rail firm you provide enough accurate digital information you’ll reduce how often passengers ask staff what’s going on
And given pretty much every railway has a *staff shortage* it’s worth getting this right!
(And sure other railways have poor data quality, but at least they *try*. I’m not sure Eurostar is even trying here)
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Train 3 of 66
ICE 928
14:09 Köln Hbf - Hamburg Hbf 17:52 (departing +27, arrived +50)
DB Fernverkehr
Train type: AEG, ABB, Henschel, Krauss-Maffei ICE 1, 12 carriages (1 carriage broken)
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️
🦽: ✅ (needs lift on platform, there is a passenger in a wheelchair on board)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (it’s a ICE - always good)
🧽: 🙂
ICE 928
14:09 Köln Hbf - Hamburg Hbf 17:52
Distance: 441.6km
Average speed: 119km/h
4 stops:
Solingen Hbf
Münster(Westf)Hbf
Hamburg-Harburg
Hamburg Hbf
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-south-east-europe-v9-draft_1053482#8/52.266/8.492
Back in Germany
👎 My ICE left Köln +27
👍 Super friendly train manager informing everyone what’s happening
👍 Bordbistro for a 🍺 later
👍 Nice airy ICE1 train
Also I’ve crossed two borders already, both of which I’ve crossed many times before. I’ve got nothing really to suggest for the Lille 🇫🇷 - Bruxelles 🇧🇪 HSL, but Aachen 🇩🇪 - Welkenraedt 🇧🇪 is worsening and needs a better timetable. Explained here: https://crossborderrail.trainsforeurope.eu/borders/poor-service/aachen-welkenraedt/
I’m in one of those Deutsche Bahn negative cycles today
ICE arrived Köln +15 due to a track fault. It waited longer than necessary as another ICE (to Amsterdam) was blocking the Hohenzollernbrücke. The train was planned to be diverted via Solingen, but then mud on the tracks meant one track rather than two was available, compounded by the extra traffic due to the diversion… so now we’re +50
Ah thanks SJ
The reason I booked an Interrail reservation seat tomorrow is because I’m travelling on Interrail. Does anyone do that *by accident*?
Thinking about this logically
EITHER
I knew what I was doing when booking (I’d guess: >90% of people) so reaction to message: what? I know
OR
I was deliberately fraudulent when booking (I’d guess <10% of people) so reaction: 🤷♂️ I knew I broke the rules at the start anyway
OR
I booked an Interrail seat in error - which is a function so hard to even find - you’d struggle to do it unintentionally. So would you understand this message?
So why send it?
Peculiar situation developing in this ICE
Woman I’d estimate mid 50s starts engaging a man I’d estimate mid 40s in conversation. She’s clearly interested in him, she’s very insistent, but clearly did not know him before. Within minutes he’d mentioned a divorce and his current wife to put her off a bit. She’s still persisting and batting her eyelids at him 😂
And they’re talking very loudly in an open carriage. You can’t not hear.
But it’s so peinlich I’ve had to put on headphones to blend the conversation out.
The woman isn’t threatening (a man being so insistent towards a woman would likely scare the woman) but it’s bizarre.
Were I the one on the receiving end of this I’d have long found an urgent work task or call as a distraction 🙂
Meanwhile I’m reading the VCD Köln that @akrumeich gave me over a coffee in Köln earlier. It has this gem - that public transport operator KVB was giving passengers impacted by delays some peanuts. I sort of see the good will gesture. Sort of!
We’re finally approaching Hamburg Harburg. 50 mins late. Delays mounted. But credit to the staff of ICE 928 - impeccable communication and a cheery train crew. Always welcome!
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Train 4 of 66
RE 8 (11430)
19:06 Hamburg Hbf - Lübeck-Travemünde Skandinavienkai 20:20 (departing +19)
DB Regio AG Nord
Train type: Stadler EMU, 2 x 4 double deck carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free if platform allows)
🛜: ✅ (limited data allocation)
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (as double deck designs go it’s good - it’s Stadler so it would be!)
🧽: 🙂
RE 8 (11430)
18:06 Hamburg Hbf - Lübeck-Travemünde Skandinavienkai 19:20
Distance: 80.4km
Average speed: 65km/h
7 stops:
Bad Oldesloe
Reinfeld(Holst)
Lübeck-Moisling
Lübeck Hbf
Lübeck-Dänischburg Ikea
Lübeck-Kücknitz
Lübeck-Travem. Skandinavienkai
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-south-east-europe-v9-draft_1053482#10/53.7507/10.4301
And on this train there are two young women, speaking Arabic to each other, and lewdly flirting with a guy sat opposite them in German.
At this rate I’m actually grateful to be somewhere from tomorrow where I *don’t* speak the language!
Enough of passengers flirting in German damn it! 🙂
Also this ferry I’m taking (Lübeck-Malmö) is meant to be mostly truckers. And tomorrow night’s ferry Stockholm-Turku is meant to be less a party boat than the one to Helsinki. Fingers crossed!
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Bike 3 of 35
Lübeck-Travemünde Skandinavienkai - Ferry Terminal
Distance: 2.9km
Est. duration: 0:15
This bike route, mapped on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1481373595
Straight onto the ferry FTW!
#CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 Ferry 1 of 3
22:00 Travemünde - Malmö 07:30
Finnlines
Distance: 228km
Average speed: 24km/h
Ferry type: M/S Finnswan, Fincantieri (Italy), 45923 tonnes
⛽️
🚲: ✅ (and it’s amazing - get given a vest and cycle on)
🦽: ✅ (I presume so, on in a shuttle bus)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (it can even take 🚛)
🧽: 😐 (it’s a bit old and worn, but I don’t care. It’s great)
We’ve even got a massive drone landing spot on the roof! 🙂 #CrossBorderRail
Also I still don’t quite know how it works for foot passengers. I cycled from Skandinavienkai station - as the Finnlines website stated there’s no footpath to the boat. But rather than fold my bike, they let me just cycle onto the ship - which was perfect. Thanks @patrick for suggesting I try that. #CrossBorderRail
