The first part of the route today is Kraków Glowny 🇵🇱 to Ostrava 🇨🇿
Here's the route, thanks to Open Railway Map - line speeds shown!
Leaving Kraków north westbound on the mainline towards Katowice - renovations almost done here, but the speed is still just vMax 120 (confirmed with my GPS!) but I assume will be increased soon
West through Zabierzów
At Trzebina, branch south towards Chrzanów - this is not the route the regular EuroCity to Ostrava takes
The line is being upgraded right now, and at the moment the line speed here is not more than 50 km/h
Once we pass Czechowice-Dziedzice speeds increase again
We'll get a locomotive change I think in Zebrzydowice (Polish side) or Bohumin (Czech side) as the Newag Griffiin locomotive hauling the train is only OKed for Poland - interoperability, eh?
Then via Bohumin we'll get to Ostrava - and there the #ConnectingEurope Express stops for 4 hours
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This morning I’m one of the first new regional trains Maubeuge 🇫🇷 - Charleroi Central 🇧🇪 #CrossBorderRail
It was a bit of a #fail at the station. I needed a ticket to Erquelinnes, the first station in Belgium. But prior to today trains from Maubeuge didn’t stop there!
Ticket machine ⛔️
Ask at the ticket office. “Le train ne s’arrête pas à Erquelinnes!” I politely told the SNCF employee that yes, it did stop at Erquelinnes. I explained the situation to the SNCB train manager and he laughed, confirmed it did stop there, and I bought the ticket online!
Delays in my favour. Maybe? S-Bahn to FFM Flughafen. Get a late running ICE to Köln Messe/Deutz there. Then try to blag my way onto a Thalys Köln Hbf to Bruxelles? It’s a long shot but it might work…
ICE 612 Frankfurt Flughafen to Köln Messe/Deutz.
This is why accurate live running data in apps matters. Were this not running 10 min late I’d not have caught it… but live data allowed me to plan a connection that’d otherwise not work
Already on the 2nd train of the day: TGV Montbard - Paris. All being well I’ll be in Denmark tonight… but that feels a long way off just now! #EGPCongress#crossborderrail
Across Paris RER Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord, walk to Gare de l’Est (faster than changing into a Métro to Est) and it’s onto the TGV to Mannheim. So far so good, but I banked on this bit working 🙂 #EGPCongress#CrossBorderRail
Franco-German train service. Very French prices! And no, it’s too early (and expensive) for #beerontrains 😉
Jeez. It could take until 2025 until TGVs are approved for the line.
And the whole effing point of Stuttgart21 - of which this line is a part - was to create a Paris-München high speed corridor!
Really, how can everyone mess up *so badly*?
And to those going “yeah but there are few TGVs anyway” true, but so it goes on and on. International services are the lowest priority - even when *they were the stated rationale for building the line*