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#CrossBorderRail

25 posts9 participants0 posts today

I was wondering if anyone here has some advice regarding travelling across Europe by train. Specifically, I am planning on going from Romania to the UK mostly by train (although Eurostar is significantly more expensive than the ferry between Calais and Dover, so that bit of the route is almost certainly what I’m going to aim for). In terms of route planning, the only software I’ve found that looks like it can connect routes is G**gle Maps, but that thing’s UI is very good at hiding 6 hour layovers, and has no way to customise the route beyond specifying which mode of transport you prefer, and when you are leaving. The bit that’s even more inconvenient is that it has no indication of how much the route would cost.

So, I am turning to the international rail community on Mastodon, asking: How do you plan a route like this? Is it reasonable to try to do a trip from one end of Europe to the other without booking any hotels? And, most importantly, how do I work out how much the full journey will cost?

I think #interrail #CrossBorderRail and #eurail are some of the relevant tags, but just to be safe I’ll also tag this as #train, #railtravel, and I guess #transport.

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Currently at Lőkösháza, the #CrossBorderRail station at the Hungary side. Schengen is not in effect yet for land travel (will soon be, the CFR train conductor was very happy about that) so there are controls. Also in Curtici in 🇷🇴 there will be.

WARNING: link to video on X
x.com/ConducteurduTER/status/1

FURTHER WARNING: this is a train ordered for #CrossBorderRail operation, but now operating only in France, because Grand Est and BaWü, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland buggered up the tendering of operations - as I documented here crossborderrail.trainsforeurop

Better, I suppose, than the trains sitting idle, but damned annoying nevertheless

X (formerly Twitter)Cycy 🍉 (@ConducteurduTER) on XIl rouleeeeeeeee

Not so good: RJ75 Train from to had a 70 minute delay, so I missed the connection in Vienna and had to switch to the RJ268 from Vienna to , where I had no seat reservation anymore and the train is crowded. But I'll make it to Munich. Unfortunately 2h later than planned.

ltg.lt/naujienos/2024/siandien

Gute #CrossBorderRail-Neuigkeiten: LTG Link hat heute einen Test-Zug von Vilnius nach Daugavpils gefahren und will im Frühjahr wieder regelmäßigen Verkehr über die Grenze anbieten.

Aktuell enden die Züge seit 2020 unmittelbar vor der Grenze in Turmantas (209 Einwohner), 25 km von Daugavpils (78.000 Einwohner) entfernt.

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Also it would give me special pleasure if Turmantas 🇱🇹 - Daugavpils 🇱🇻 were re-instated #CrossBorderRail

It was one of the most ridiculous days of my project of all of the ridiculous days

20km on a bike, on dirt roads, overtaken by a bus to the last Latvian village, and then seeing people exit the bus and cross the border on foot

All it needs to fix is a few litres of diesel fuel each day. Train exists, staff exist, line exists. And 80000 people in Daugavpils get an international train!

Continued thread

And if this DOES happen, I am going to have somewhere between 6 and 8 #CrossBorderRail success stories. Given the European Parliament achieved 1 out of 15 in 6 years, my rate is pretty good 😊

Either that or I am better at finding easy things to fix than the EP was!

In fact 4 of my #CrossBorderRail priority border problems might get fixed next year

Laarwald 🇩🇪 – Coevorden-Heege 🇳🇱 (line might re-open)

Nova Gorica 🇸🇮 – Gorizia 🇮🇹 (trains might run)

Vilnius 🇱🇹 – Turmantas 🇱🇹 – Daugavpils 🇱🇻 (trains might run)

Tallinn 🇪🇪 – Valga 🇪🇪 – Rīga 🇱🇻 (Tartu-Rīga might run)

Even not impossible something happens at
Vilar Formoso 🇵🇹 – Fuentes de Oñoro 🇪🇸 (trains might run)
Strelná 🇨🇿 – Strelenka 🇸🇰 (needs regional trains)

crossborderrail.trainsforeurop

Continued thread

And NS and SNCB managed to collaborate on the current hourly service.

To then *not* collaborate on ticketing, when they’re still collaborating on operations, is precisely the ridiculous and customer unfriendly approach so common in the rail business.

And yes, working out the finances to distribute income is complex. But THAT‘S YOUR JOB, railways. You don’t go “sod you passengers, wait an hour”.

Continued thread

Like really, how do you manage to fuck this up this badly?

We‘re running a service every half an hour!

Ah no. You’ll have to wait a full hour as you have the wrong ticket 🤦‍♂️

This is meant to be a NS SNCB collaboration!

Don’t you just ❤️ the collaboration between Europe’s state owned railways!

🤦‍♂️

From December NS 🇳🇱 will run Amsterdam - Bruxelles hourly. SNCB 🇧🇪 will run Rotterdam - Bruxelles, hourly, half an hour later.

But if you miss one, you can’t take the other one, despite none of the trains being compulsory reservation!

#CrossBorderRail ticketing failure

b-europe.com/EN/Trains/EuroCit.

Replied in thread

@apicultor thanks, but I am getting off at Reggio Emilia, at something like 22.30. I will sleep in a proper bed. The ICN is simply the last-but-one train leaving MIlano and heading for Bologna for the day.

The point I am trying to make for #CrossBorderRail is that Brussels – northern Italy is barely doable in one day. Now with the Modane tunnel gone, it's even worse. There is potential for a sleeper train, leaving at 19.00 or so from Brussels and arriving to Milan at 7.00 am.