Jon WorthWelcome to #CrossBorderRail Extra Day 07
Good news today! 🎉
I’m off to Seifhennersdorf (🇩🇪🇨🇿 border) for the re-opening of the railway line - after 8 years
Here’s today’s intro
PeerTube
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 57
RE 2 (3102)
05:35 Berlin Ostbahnhof - Cottbus Hbf 06:55
DG Regio NordOst
Distance: 117 km
Average speed: 88 km/h
Train type: Taurus locomotive, 5 double deck carriages, driving trailer
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free into lower level)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (lots of multi use areas)
🧽: 🙂
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 58
RB 65 (68807)
07:04 Cottbus Hbf - Zittau 08:55
ODEG
Distance: 127 km
Average speed: 69 km/h
Train type: Siemens Desiro Classic DMU, 2 carriages
⛽️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free, there’s a little slide out ramp to bridge gap to platform)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ✅ (you can buy snacks)
🧳: 🙂 (the best designed small DMU)
🧽: 🙂 (it’s a bit worn but it’s clean)
And this train takes the Görlitz - Zittau line that crosses DE-PL-DE-PL-DE in about 20km of its route
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Zittau%E2%80%93Hagenwerder?wprov=sfti1
A particular oddity is Krzewina - in Poland, but its railway station serves the German village Ostritz - across the Neiße https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzewina_(Bogatynia)?wprov=sfti1
Okay. Air conditioning malfunction here and I just got a load of cold water dripping on my head. Now I’m awake 😉
It’s normally hard to film a rail border when you’re in a train. But today I managed. The back window wasn’t covered by a blind, so here’s Hagenwerder 🇩🇪 - Ręczyn 🇵🇱 at the bridge over the Neiße
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 59
TLX RE2 (20842)
09:02 Zittau - Neugersdorf 09:20
trilex - Die Länderbahn GmbH DLB
Distance: 22 km
Average speed: 72 km/h
Train type: Siemens Desiro Classic DMU, 2 x 2 carriages
⛽️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (v well designed)
🧽: 🙂
No train today though - it’s just the launch today
So I need to pedal swiftly 6.5km from Neugersdorf to Seifhennersdorf to get to the event at the station by 10:00
I’m both overjoyed about this (the whole town is turning up here to welcome the train!) and damned furious that it’s taken 8 years to fix this. Because of these lights at a level crossing. Oh and because the line goes to Czechia.
Here it is! The train at Seifhennersdorf 🇩🇪 - coming from Varnsdorf 🇨🇿 #CrossBorderRail
It’d not be a Bahnfest without some crank boring everyone talking about safety standards and the Eisenbahnbundesamt 😊
Karl UrbanAnd here’s New York Times about Seifhennersdorf - when I brought them here last year https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/22/world/europe/europe-trains-climate-goals.html
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train SPECIAL
TLX L7 (Sonderzug)
11:00 Seifhennersdorf - Varnsdorf - Seifhennersdorf
trilex - Die Länderbahn GmbH DLB
Distance: c. 5 km
Average speed: no idea
Train type: Siemens Desiro Classic DMU, 2 carriages
⛽️
🚲: ❓ (blocked by the free food!)
🦽: ✅ (needs a ramp - on board - at Seifhennersdorf)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅ (it’s free!)
🧳: 🙂
🧽: 🙂
Gotta cycle to get my train. But that was a blast. So happy I came here today!
Eibau. With 10 mins to spare.
Now trains via Dresden-Neustadt, Fulda and Mannheim to Saarbrücken
I managed about a minute talking to a very happy mayor of Seifhennersdorf, Karin Berndt, earlier
Not only did she work to get the train running, but she and the town administration and Trilex / Die Länderbahn put on a great event this morning
It was so good to go to this event this morning!
Final border crossings of the day. 🇩🇪 🇨🇿 🇩🇪
You can’t actually see where the border is here
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 60
TL RB61 (76550)
12:24 Eibau - Dresden Neustadt 13:52
trilex - Die Länderbahn GmbH DLB
Distance: 84 km
Average speed: 57 km/h
Train type: Siemens Desiro Classic DMU, 2 carriages
⛽️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free if station allows, on board ramp otherwise)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂
🧽: 🙂
A selection of the photos from Seifhennersdorf now on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonworth-eu/albums/72177720308553397
CC License, so can be re-used
The drone video of the train arriving has not been uploaded yet as wifi on trilex and DB trains is understandably too slow for such a big upload!
#CrossBorderRail Extra Day 07, 9 June - Berlin - Seifhennersdorf - Varnsdorf - Saabrücken
Uploaded from Mac "Pictures/Flickr/#CrossBorderRail Extra Day 07, 9 June - Bruxelles - Gent - Terneuzen - Sint-Niklaas - Bruxelles" on JW MacBook Pro 2017 13"
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 61
ICE 1556
14:19 Dresden Neustadt - Frankfurt (Main) Hbf 18:36 (delayed to 19:10)
DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 496 km
Average speed: 116 km/h
Train type: ICE T tilting EMU, 7 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (with reservation)
🦽: ✅ (needs ramp on platform)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (overhead racks quite big, and some space between seats)
🧽: 🤔 (loads of toilets broken)
#CrossBorderRail Extra Days Train 62
RE 3 (29532)
19:25 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf - Saarbrücken Hbf 22:10
vlexx
Distance: 205 km
Average speed: 74 km/h
Train type: Alstom Lint, 2 x 2 carriages (I think— I was running for it!)
⛽️
🚲: ✅ (lots of space)
🦽: ✅ (needs some ramp - it’s for 55cm platforms and Frankfurt is 76cm)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🤔 (too few overhead racks, although those there are are quite deep)
🧽: 🙂
Getting very German here
Everyone’s arguing if a couple of bikes are allowed on in Ingelheim
Because they want to show they’re right rather than actually solving a problem, as is the German way
Just *move a bit* - there are seats in the non bike part of the carriage
I spoke to MDR in Seifhennersdorf earlier. They wrote a nice report, and included one of my drone pictures https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/bautzen/goerlitz-weisswasser-zittau/bahnfahren-varnsdorf-zug-tschechien-urlaub-100.html
And finally here’s today’s summary from a rowdy Saarbrücken https://urbanists.video/w/sJ1bFDtMabmRMrB6GmUX6y
#CrossBorderRail Extra Day 07 Summary
tops@jon glad you made it to your destination in the end
Defizit oder Eugen Brochier@jon
Seifhennersdorf rulez
Seifhennersdorf rulez
Oliver Schönrock@jon
There are plenty of pedantic people everywhere...
And yes, they are annoying
Konzertheld@jon Wonder how and when Germans acquire that behaviour. Don't see it in (very) young people.
karlnepomuk@jon I live in Eibau 20Years ago. 
Tom@jon you are living my dream.
Graeme Hilton@jon Another plain weird European border!
@jon passing through Neustadt about twenty minutes before you arrive
@tops where are you heading today?
@jon hoping to get to Brussels. I don't think I'm going to make it. Dresden to Leipzig train is cancelled.
Dee Toher@jon blocked by free food is definitely a novel issue
.Sergio Almeida.@jon Rumburk-Löbau would be a plus too!
@sergiowct Yep. Went there in mid May!
Lu de Córdoba@jon Cool! You made it!
Marek Fořt@jon beautiful 😍 thanks for covering the event
@marekfort video coming up later!
Kate 🎀@jon Oh no I missed the first train, why did I think the event is on Sunday 🤦♀️
@kate first proper train is Sunday. Today was the political bit!
@jon I see! I'm used to politicians and press and the first ride being the same train. But Germans do not do events much on Sunday, do they? 🙂
@kate this felt like the start of a party weekend in Seifhennersdorf!
Different question: is there any news about Zgorzelec-Zawidow-Bogatynia?
@jon I hope so, we plan to get on the first train on Sunday morning 👍 I used to use the train quite a lot before the line got closed, going on foot or riding a bike from Seifhennersdorf to the Czech village formerly known as Oberhennershorf (now Rumburk 2). The substitute bus was not an option, we instead used the regular bus line Varnsdorf - Seifhennersdorf - Rumburk or biked directly from Varnsdorf pivovar. In the meantime my mother-in-law moved out to Jiříkov so we now do the same in Ebersbach instead. Unfortunately there is no Czech tariff on the Zittau-Dresden line so it's quite expensive to do.
Černousy - Zawidów is still freight-only border crossing. Most public-oriented info went out during the previous Interreg programme. The testing run of Trilex train in 2019 and the international bus line Zittau - Bogatynia - Frýdlant - Świeradów-Zdrój that started in 2020 are outcomes of this programme. The bus allows people from the Frýdlant area to catch a train to Görlitz in Zittau and in the future also access to the line on Polish side that will be able to be used to get to Zgorzelec. Also there is a bus from Zgorzelec to Liberec industrial zone and back, but that's not usable for ordinary travellers.
https://programme2014-20.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Home/.../Documents/Cooperating-on-cross-border-passenger-transport-for-better-connections-to-TEN-T-(T2)/Plannings-for-Railway-connection-of-Liberec-Region---Goerlit.pdf
Since then, the problem is not much visible, however politicians are still active. The line has recently been accepted as TEN-T line, it is considered for electrification, however any realizations are not possible until the high-speed line CZ-PL gets solved - it is still not known whether it should go through Hradec Králové or through Liberec (the former seems to be preferred now).
https://twitter.com/makupka/status/1599745921117433858
https://zdopravy.cz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/364-8_pavel-paidar-projekty-proste-elektrizace.pdf
The contract between the carrier and Liberec Region contains a possibility of a future line to Görlitz. No timeframe given though.
https://zdopravy.cz/provoz-na-jizerskohorske-zeleznici-uhajily-bez-souteze-ceske-drahy-kraj-zaplati-23477-kc-za-kilometr-150227/
Other than that, I haven't heard of any new progress there recently.
Černousy - Zawidów is still freight-only border crossing. Most public-oriented info went out during the previous Interreg programme. The testing run of Trilex train in 2019 and the international bus line Zittau - Bogatynia - Frýdlant - Świeradów-Zdrój that started in 2020 are outcomes of this programme. The bus allows people from the Frýdlant area to catch a train to Görlitz in Zittau and in the future also access to the line on Polish side that will be able to be used to get to Zgorzelec. Also there is a bus from Zgorzelec to Liberec industrial zone and back, but that's not usable for ordinary travellers.
https://programme2014-20.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Home/.../Documents/Cooperating-on-cross-border-passenger-transport-for-better-connections-to-TEN-T-(T2)/Plannings-for-Railway-connection-of-Liberec-Region---Goerlit.pdf
Since then, the problem is not much visible, however politicians are still active. The line has recently been accepted as TEN-T line, it is considered for electrification, however any realizations are not possible until the high-speed line CZ-PL gets solved - it is still not known whether it should go through Hradec Králové or through Liberec (the former seems to be preferred now).
https://twitter.com/makupka/status/1599745921117433858
https://zdopravy.cz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/364-8_pavel-paidar-projekty-proste-elektrizace.pdf
The contract between the carrier and Liberec Region contains a possibility of a future line to Görlitz. No timeframe given though.
https://zdopravy.cz/provoz-na-jizerskohorske-zeleznici-uhajily-bez-souteze-ceske-drahy-kraj-zaplati-23477-kc-za-kilometr-150227/
Other than that, I haven't heard of any new progress there recently.
@jon And I've only now noticed you asked for Bogatynia too 🙂
The line from Zgorzelec to Bogatynia should get revitalized in the future. However these plans do not include the branch to Zawidów. It is not a cross-border line (barring the little section north of Hirschfelde) and is regularly used by freight trains. The line will participate in the Kolej+ programme of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe that aims to introduce or improve a railway connection to local mayor city for towns with 10k inhabitants or more.
https://bogatynia.pl/aktualnosci/pociag-wroci-do-bogatyni/
http://www.hipermiasto.com/komunikacja/wybieram-kolej-program-kolej-plus-na-dolnym-slasku-mamy-odpowiedzi-na-pytania/
It is (mostly) a different wallet than the other railways getting revitalized in the region (Jelenia Góra - Mysłakowice - Karpacz and Gryfów Śląski - Mirsk - Świeradów-Zdrój) which are owned and paid directly by the voivodeship (DSDiK).
https://zdopravy.cz/polaci-zacinaji-s-obnovou-dvou-lokalek-u-ceskych-hranic-112710/
The line from Zgorzelec to Bogatynia should get revitalized in the future. However these plans do not include the branch to Zawidów. It is not a cross-border line (barring the little section north of Hirschfelde) and is regularly used by freight trains. The line will participate in the Kolej+ programme of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe that aims to introduce or improve a railway connection to local mayor city for towns with 10k inhabitants or more.
https://bogatynia.pl/aktualnosci/pociag-wroci-do-bogatyni/
http://www.hipermiasto.com/komunikacja/wybieram-kolej-program-kolej-plus-na-dolnym-slasku-mamy-odpowiedzi-na-pytania/
It is (mostly) a different wallet than the other railways getting revitalized in the region (Jelenia Góra - Mysłakowice - Karpacz and Gryfów Śląski - Mirsk - Świeradów-Zdrój) which are owned and paid directly by the voivodeship (DSDiK).
https://zdopravy.cz/polaci-zacinaji-s-obnovou-dvou-lokalek-u-ceskych-hranic-112710/
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