Thread by @jonworth

Welcome to #CrossBorderRail Day 10 twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

#CrossBorderRail Train 35
823 06:02 Vilnius - Kaunas 07:29
Ave speed: 71 km/h
Operator: LTG Link

Train type: Škoda Double Deck EMU
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ❓ (platform too low, no obvious lift into train)
📶: ✅
🍽: ⛔️

Vilnius station

And here are the famous posters telling Russian transit passengers about the atrocities in Ukraine. General public can’t access these platforms…

Here’s today’s route map. Vilnius-Kaunas, Kaunas-Marijampole and Suwalki-Warszawa trains. And the part in between by bike, or bus and bike

The Škoda EMU shows its Czech origin - even the seats are like ČD. Good green commitments too.

Rykantai

Karčiupis

#CrossBorderRail Train 36
683 07:38 Kaunas - Marijampole 08:35
Ave speed: 64 km/h
Operator: LTG Link

Train type: Pesa railbus
⛽️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ✅
🍽: ⛔️

Quick pics of Kaunas station. European Capital of Cu… no sorry, European Capital of Crap International Train Connections

Experience with a digital Interrail pass in Lithuania is a bit strange. The QR code scans in train crew’s handheld devices, but then they’re confused as to what to do. Meanwhile the app not showing the pass properly (requiring re-starting it) is starting to grate a little.

This might not look like much but these are I think the first tracks of what will become @RailBaltica - south of Kaunas

I’m 1 of only 2 passengers wearing a mask in this LTG Link train to Marijampole. It’s quite stuffy in here. And there are two other passengers coughing a lot… Sure, they might not have COVID but it’s infuriating nevertheless.

Hmmm. There is a wheelchair spot in the Pesa railbus. But how the hell would you get a wheelchair in here, given how high the steps are? 3 bike spots too.

This Kaunas - Marijampole line is weird. Money has poured in here for this sort of pre-Rail Baltica line. There are kilometres of sound protection walls. The track is re-laid. But it’s diesel and only a tiny railbus runs. From 1 July there’ll be a train 2x a week to Bialystok

Coffee in a sunny Marijampole. There’s a chill in the air though. Perfect for a bike ride to Poland, starting shortly.

This makes me mad. Does it please you, @AdinaValean ?

Two tracks, 1 standard gauge & 1 broad gauge. New halt. New bridge. Sound protection wall for 3 houses. Part EU funded. Cross border line 🇱🇹 🇵🇱

And NOT A SINGLE PASSENGER TRAIN, and just 2 a week from July #CrossBorderRail

At last night’s meet-up in Vilnius one guy asked “how did they spend €350m upgrading Kaunas - Suwałki?”

Now I know. They’ve done a LOT of work here. So it’s even more maddening that nothing runs! 🤬

Oh. Freedom is a gas pipeline.

Sestokai. There used to be daily passenger trains to Poland from here. And then the EU built an upgraded line and now there aren’t.

Nice passenger foot bridge with a lift. Pity there are no trains to go and take at the station it reaches…

A lonely M62 at Mockava. No passenger trains here either.

But there is a monument to the standard gauge track. And a sign about the EU funding it. So that’s ok.

Getting closer to the border

Poland 🇵🇱

No border control in sight

Puńsk. The EU is funding lots of things around here. How about a decent cross border rail service too? 😉

Damn. Too many bumpy gravel roads. A screw holding the luggage rack on worked loose and fell out. Luckily I have a spare, and tools… phew. Quick stop at the edge of a country road. Then onwards - 25km to Suwałki

Polish side. Track is old and is bolted, not welded

I’ve overcome the Suwałki (rail) gap! 💪 82km on the bike from Mariajampole. I’ll post more once I’m in the train. For now I’m resting under a tree…

Oh and it’ll be 5 hours of #fensterauf

#CrossBorderRail Train 37
TLK13103 15:21 Suwałki - Warszawa Centralna 20:20 (timetable changed, no idea why!)
Ave speed: 62 km/h
Operator: PKP InterCity

Train type: Pesa Gama 111db + coaches (electric loco replaces it at Bialystok)
⛽️ then ⚡️
🚲: ⛔️
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

Oldest rolling stock so far I think - bogie from 1965

First proper #fensterauf of #CrossBorderRail. Departing Suwałki, you can see the line to Lithuania go off to the left. Absurdly there’s not even a connecting curve for freight here.

The train runs pretty much at the line speed - 100km/h. But most level crossings have no barriers! Eeek.

Ok. So now having reflected, what do I make of the Lithuania - Poland cross border line Marijampole - Sestokai - Suwałki?

Overall: it’s a mess. Because Lithuania clearly wants it to work more than Poland does

#CrossBorderRail problems are often like this…

Lithuania has relaid the broad gauge line, and added a standard gauge line, Kaunas - Marijampole - Sestokai. It’s rebuilt stations, added sound protection walls, built road under passes. From Sestokai to the border it has laid new dual gauge track.

Poland by contrast has done… nothing as far as I can tell.

Track is in a bad way border to Suwałki, and there’s no connecting curve for freight in Suwałki (so everything must reverse).

Except the Lithuanians don’t have rolling stock for cross border passenger operations. Only Poland does…

And there then is the problem.

There’ll be a token service of 2 trains a week from July, and there are some sort of vague ideas to do a bit more sometime in the future, but nothing concrete.

But given the state of the infra, Polish side, what would even work? I’m not sure.

Also there are no signs of any prep work for Rail Baltica *anywhere* Polish side. Poland is supposed to upgrade existing lines, not build from scratch.

So Lithuania has largely delivered its side, and Poland hasn’t. That makes the investments Lithuania has made look bad value…

Some aerial shots of the track, Polish side

And close-ups Lithuanian side

And some pics from Sestokai I didn’t post earlier

Having said that Poland hasn’t done anything… Białystok station is a building site. But I assume this is just to improve the station?

This is the type of train due to be used on Bialystok - Kaunas trains from 1 July (Polregio SA133)

The next #CrossBorderRail event is Friday 0900-1100 hosted by @BoellStiftung. I’ll do my best to set up a live stream too. And the slides have just been finalised, inc. pics from today at the 🇱🇹 🇵🇱 border

Bit of #FensterAuf video on the upgraded Białystok-Warszawa line. 160km/h is possible here, but the locomotive hauling our train can only do 125km/h, so that’s what we’re doing!

It’s not a super exciting route. But it’s a nice evening.

Somewhere in the outer suburbs of Warszawa