Jon WorthHere we go again!
#CrossBorderRail Extra Day 04
Heading to Basel SBB first, then onwards to Paris via Nuits-sous-Ravières and then onto a night train to Latour du Carol
Here’s today’s intro video
https://urbanists.video/w/sTWxEETdNaCbdR2jTRsHcM
PeerTube
First trip with the new (secondhand) Birdy Green - that also has different panniers
There was a little glitch with the front brake this morning (I’d accidentally dislodged a brake pad) so I had to pedal manically to Südkreuz
The massive rucksack is getting dropped off in Nuits-sous-Ravières today 😊
SNCF!
Let's build high speed lines all over!
Also SNCF!
Let's put ridiculously long dwell times at our stations!
TGV INOUI 2239 I am taking later
Do I understand it that you cannot buy tickets online for Rodalies Catalunya? There are no sales in the app, and no sales on the Generalitat de Catalunya or the Renfe sites
And I wonder what there is in Latour de Carol-Entveitg (or La Tor de Querol-Enveig as Rodalies calls it) - because as it’s in France will there be a machine there?
Anyway as the timetable is so damned bad I have 2 hours there tomorrow morning to figure it out :-)
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 25
ICE 71
05:33 Berlin Südkreuz - Basel SBB 13:10
Deutsche Bahn
Distance: 874 km
Average speed: 115 km/h
Train type: ICE4 long version, 13 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (needs reservation)
🦽: ✅ (needs lift on platform or on board electric lift - not step free)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (ICE4 is well designed)
🧽: 😡 (wasn’t cleaned overnight inside, bit grimy outside too)
👍 DB
Got me to Basel on time. Train quiet and calm on board. Working wifi throughout the whole trip.
Next: onwards to France
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 26
TER96226
13:21 Basel SBB - Mulhouse Ville 13:46
SNCF for TER Grand Est
Distance: 34 km
Average speed: 88 km/h
Train type: BB26000 locomotive, 8 Corail carriages, driving control car
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (steep steps and you hang the bikes up)
🦽: ✅ (lift on platform)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 😡 (not a suitable design for a regional train - too narrow, too high steps)
🧽: 🤔 (ok inside, grimy outside - it’s a French regional train 🤷♂️)
I’ve also just cancelled a TGV reservation for later in my Interrail trip
Took 30 seconds… at a SNCF ticket machine. You get a receipt, and an email
The whole Interrail reservation process for TGVs is digital - QR codes. BUT they never built a web front end for it 🤦♂️ So you have to be in France at a long distance station to make it work
If you’re not you have to arse around with Trainplanet or SNCB’s suboptimal alternatives…
To recap
- If you’re on Interrail, reservations are compulsory on TGVs
- They’re €10 or €20 each, depending on how much of the contingent is used up
- You can get them online from SNCB International (yeah, B is for 🇧🇪 there!) or Trainplanet or via Interrail directly - but you pay a booking fee in addition of €2-€4
- You can get the reservations at SNCF ticket machines (and cancel them) and it works *impeccably* and digitally, but you have to be in France to do that 🤦♂️
- If you’re on Interrail, reservations are compulsory on TGVs
- They’re €10 or €20 each, depending on how much of the contingent is used up
- You can get them online from SNCB International (yeah, B is for 🇧🇪 there!) or Trainplanet or via Interrail directly - but you pay a booking fee in addition of €2-€4
- You can get the reservations at SNCF ticket machines (and cancel them) and it works *impeccably* and digitally, but you have to be in France to do that 🤦♂️
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 27
TGV 5537
14:40 Mulhouse - Dijon Ville 16:04
SNCF Voyageurs
Distance: 204 km
Average speed: 146 km/h
Train type: TGV Réseau Single Deck, 2 x 8 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (3 per train, so just 6 total)
🦽: ✅ (lift on platform)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (single deck so it’s ok)
🧽: 🙂
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 28
TER891356
16:33 Dijon Ville - Nuits-sous-Ravières 17:21
SNCF for TER Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Distance: 89 km
Average speed: 112 km/h
Train type: AGC bimode 4 carriages, running only electric here
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (good layout, good racks)
🧽: 🙂 (one of the cleanest TERs I’ve ever been on - outside. Ok inside)
Also @tops asked me why these AGC trains are so bumpy
It’s because for some reason they removed the suspension dampeners from all of them
This shows where that would be mounted
My pics from the AGC I’m on right now
And I’m stopping in Nuits-sous-Ravières for just an hour (to drop off things) - so no time to go to the house or pet Josette. Who’s probably enjoying a day in the sun on top of the cat bunker…
Onwards! Towards Barcelona via Paris and Latour de Carol
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 29
TER17762
18:21 Nuits-sous-Ravières - Paris Bercy 20:25
SNCF for TER Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Distance: 225 km
Average speed: 109 km/h
Train type: Alstom (now CAF) Régiolis, 2 x 6 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (well designed space)
🦽: ✅ (step free if platform allows)
🛜: ⛔️ (train built in 2021, but 🤷♂️)
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (sensible design, good multi use space)
🧽: 🤔 (grimy outside, ok inside)
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 30
IC 3971
21:13 Paris Austerlitz - Latour de Carol-Entveitg 08:46
SNCF Voyageurs
Distance: 998 km
Average speed: 87 km/h
Train type: BB22200 locomotive and Corail couchette carriages (3 to Latour, 6 to Lourdes)
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (not sure where - but officially it’s allowed)
🦽: ❓ (not obvious how it’s possible - will try to check later)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ✅ (you can get a snack)
🧳: 🙂 (if everyone is collaborative it’s ok)
🧽: 🙂 (spotless)
This is funny
Four friends of mine are also all tonight on different night trains
So we’re musing who gets the biggest delay, and tracking it via GPS 🤓
I’m currently on time departing Les Aubrais, heading for Latour de Carol
There are 3 carriages to Latour de Carol. I’m in the 2nd class couchette - 6 beds per compartment, 4 filled tonight
This is one of the un renovated carriages. No wifi. Power only if you stand by the mirror, and 💩 goes on the tracks loo
The bed - by couchette standards - is comfortable and I can lie straight (just) - I’m 1m83 tall
There’s 1 seater (2+1 arrangement, open plan) - would be nice daytime, but the seats don’t recline much. And 1 renovated 1st class couchette with 4 beds per compartment. The other carriages have wifi too.
And to Latour there’s space for 2 bikes. And no disabled access as far as I can tell.
I can’t film a summary video here
So to close the day here’s some soothing back window view at sunset, approaching Les Aubrais
#CrossBorderRail Extra Day 04 Back Window
Good morning from the Ariège valley. Climbing steadily towards Latour de Carol. 30 mins delayed. And I managed a solid 6 hours of sleep in the train
Latour-de-Carol - Entveitg, last station in France
Pic 1 is looking towards France, including with the night train I just took waiting at the platform
Pic 2 is where the French tracks end (right), Spanish Iberian gauge tracks carry on (middle) and the Petit Train Jaune narrow gauge branches off
Spot the border
This was dumped here at the start of the pandemic, a lady who was walking there told me
The main road is open, this secondary road isn’t
I climbed over with my bike
There’s a nice old style café in Puigcerdà station. I needed a coffee after the night train!
R3 Latour-de-Carol - Barcelona is a really poor line. It’s single track with few passing places, and due to speed restrictions the trains can’t keep to timetable on some sections. So everything gets delayed while we wait for passing trains… Torelló
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 31
R 3
10:33 Puigcerdà - Barcelona-Sants 13:45
Rodalies Catalunya
Distance: 158 km
Average speed: 49 km/h
Train type: CAF Commuter EMU, 2 x 3 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free in one section)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (lots of space)
🧽: 🤔 (graffiti outside)
The good news: I found what I was looking for - carriages from the old Spain-France night trains, Talgo
The bad news: it’s all been vandalised, probably beyond repair. And many of the Talgo cars here aren’t for night but for day trains
Barcelona has built loads of bike lanes since I was last here. But a load of them are in the middle of roads - as shown. It’s odd having cars whizzing past you on both sides! Av del Parallel
Right. That’s all for today. My keynote about #CrossBorderRail coming up at 09:30 tomorrow at European Passengers Federation’s conference. I’ll be streaming it on my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@JonWorth
tops@jon "una hora menos en Canarias" (and UK &c)
Effective tool of Satan@jon If that leaves less space for cars, then it's okey. Certainly better than painting sidewalks and calling them "bike lanes"
patrislav ♾️ #RIPNatenom@dalek_fan @jon and it eliminates conflict with pedestrians as well. Air quality and noise is probably shitty though - until they ban combustion engines eventually.
Moof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NL@dalek_fan @jon the traffic calming under the previous mayorship has been radical, but well thought out IMO. In the case of the this road, we’ve swapped cycle lanes on the sides of the road to this combined middle one. I think we have lost one lane of car traffic though, and a lot of turning options have been reduced or redirected due to other local calming measures.
@dalek_fan sure it’s better than no lane. It’s just a little hard to use!
@jon have a cycle down Consell de Cent street. It’s about 4/5ths finished and you can definitely see the change the traffic calming has made. I just walked up it and was genuinely impressed
Bernie@jon interesting, on the one hand makes total sense - no dooring accidents, no interactions with the busses (usually there is a constant bus-overtakes-bike-overtakes-bus situation), but I would feel a bit unsafe as well if cars are so close on my one side and other bikers on my other side…
KarlE@Berniebln2022 @jon I guess the reason is much simpler: re-purpose one former car lane without creating issues with car parking access, bus stops etc. so easiest to implement.
I would feel uncomfortable primarily because I'm "locked in" in that lane and can't tell when I can next escape from it. So it only makes sense for "bike highways" to span bigger distances but isn't a replacement for a bike lane which allows access anywhere along the route.
@Berniebln2022 Right. You’ve got the very fastest cars next to you too…
Alistair Davidson@jon yikes, no popping into the shops you're passing then
billheywood@jon
Why have they only put those rubber barriers? That’s not going to keep anyone safe
Why have they only put those rubber barriers? That’s not going to keep anyone safe
@jon it’s a lovely lovely station. Just… too local. That being said I didn’t realise there were trains from as far as Valencia
Maartje@jon 🥺😢 i had a dream to once take those…
phnx, abandoned account
maha@jon I took the night train to Lissabon from Hendaia in 2018. A very good experience!
@maha now cancelled. But the carriages used for that are now in Toledo, not Barcelona.
Jim Hughes@jon near Sants station? Think they've been there for a while
@jimh coordinates: 41.4443957, 2.1968368
@jon ah, that's not where I was thinking of, makes more sense though. I was thinking I might have seen something like those on the run into Sants from the west, maybe around L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, but this was years ago
@jimh oh it’s possible there are more! But I’d seen these ones from a train window and went to check.
Justified Ancient of Moomin@jon what a waste!
FyraFlop34@jon I was reading the Midnight Train newsletter a few weeks back, and they talked about carriages from an unnamed Spanish company, of short length. The newsletter then goes on to explain how these carriages do not fit their design philosophy, and finally, their price is too steep. I wonder if Talgo considered selling these carriages, given their state?
@FyraFlop34 Midnight meant Talgo. I don’t know what the price was of course.
@jon I found it interesting that Talgo apparently owns a few of these carriages, not Renfe. And that they're willing to sell those... Probably not the ones in Barcelona though.
@FyraFlop34 there are apparently more in Toledo
Siège avec vue@jon Oh how sad. The #Trenhotel would be sitting in #Limoges when I arrived on the late train from #Austerlitz on Thursdays back in the days of weekly commuting. I used to peer into the @diningcar and wonder if I could board unnoticed. Seeing your Estació de França photos makes me wish I had; there were tablecloths and everything.
@siegeavecvue i once took it. It was indeed excellent!