So this afternoon I wondered... what happened to those "Missing Links" in the European rail network Micheal Cramer used to write about when he was a MEP?
But there is no news about this one. FR and BE instead want to look at Mons-Valenciennes
Question to French and Belgian rail nerds here - which of these lines makes more sense to re-open?
Border 4
Kleve 🇩🇪 - Nijmegen 🇳🇱
This is what Cramer says
Today this is a cross border Draisine! The lines hence in part still exist. In 2018 it looked like reactivation would not work rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/kl…
This one is really close to Emmerich 🇩🇪 - Arnhem 🇳🇱 line. How strong is the case to even reactivate this one?
Border 5
Rechnitz 🇦🇹 - Szombathely 🇭🇺
This is what Cramer says (inc. a 2018 update)
Again here I struggle with this one
The line further south from Graz to Szentgotthárd connects to Szombathely, and now even has a Budapest-Ljubljana EuroCity that uses the route
Even the lines Austrian side are only branchlines
Sure it'd be nice. Is it economic?
Border 6
Selb-Plößberg 🇩🇪 - Aš 🇨🇿
This is what Cramer says (inc. a 2018 update)
🎉
This is true! This re-opened!
And there's a delightful 🇩🇪🇨🇿🇩🇪 service here
Border 7
Waldkirchen 🇩🇪 - Nové Údolí 🇨🇿
This is what Cramer says (inc. a 2018 update)
There's a bit part of the DE-CZ border here without any cross border rail
But even Passau-Freyung struggles to survive. Before closure Waldkirchen - Nové Údolí was in a bad state. Again this one looks really questionable to me...
(also that's all today - I'll resume tomorrow)
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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*