Jon Worth

Right then

The serious planning for #CrossBorderRail South East Europe has to start with *what rail borders* do I want to investigate

These are all now as pins in the map
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-south-east-europe_991708#7/43.619/20.660

The emphasis: ALL the places where lines exist between non-EU countries in SE Europe, external borders of the EU, and a couple of Croatian borders I am missing

Dark blue: must visit
Light blue: either have visited before and don't need re-checking, or are insignificant but could be added

#CrossBorderRail South East Europe - uMap

uMap lets you create maps with OpenStreetMap layers in a minute and embed them in your site.

Nov 28, 2023 at 1:17pmWeb
Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

There are 30 must-go borders:

Slavonski Šamac 🇭🇷 - Šamac 🇧🇦
Drenovci 🇭🇷 - Brčko 🇧🇦
Donja Borina 🇷🇸 - Karakaj 🇧🇦
Tovarnik 🇭🇷 - Šid 🇷🇸
Bogojevo 🇷🇸 - Erdut 🇭🇷
Apatin - Svilojevo 🇷🇸
Röszke 🇭🇺 - Horgoš 🇷🇸
Stamora Moravita 🇷🇴 - Vrsac 🇷🇸
Dragoman 🇧🇬 - Dimitrovgrad 🇷🇸
Being constructed - Kumanovo 🇲🇰 - Kriva Palanka 🇲🇰 - Gyueshovo 🇧🇬
Preševo 🇷🇸 - Tabanovce 🇲🇰
Blace 🇲🇰 - Han i Elezit 🇽🇰
Plakovo 🇷🇸 - Jarinjë 🇽🇰
Kremenica 🇲🇰 - Neos Kafkasos 🇬🇷
Gevelija 🇲🇰 - Idomeni 🇬🇷
Future Line - Lin 🇦🇱 - Radozhda 🇲🇰

Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

must-go, cont.:

Former 760mm gauge - Trebinje 🇧🇦 - Niksic 🇲🇪
Metković 🇭🇷 - Čapljina 🇧🇦
Novakovici 🇭🇷 - Jarici 🇧🇦
Loksun 🇭🇷 - Bihac 🇧🇦
Volinja 🇭🇷 - Dobrljin 🇧🇦
Rakitovec 🇸🇮 - Buzet 🇭🇷
Ilirska Bistrica 🇸🇮 - Šapjane 🇭🇷
Imeno 🇸🇮 - Kumrovec 🇭🇷
Sveti Rog ob Sotli 🇸🇮 - Ðurmanec 🇭🇷
Središce ob Dravi 🇸🇮 - Cakovec 🇭🇷
Kotoriba 🇭🇷 - Murakeresztúr 🇭🇺
Beli Manastir 🇭🇷 - Magyarbóly 🇭🇺
Jimbolia 🇷🇴 - Kikinda 🇷🇸
Tuzi 🇲🇪 - Vukpalaj-Bajze 🇦🇱

Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

And 7 go if possible:

Cenad 🇷🇴 - Apátfalva 🇭🇺
Rogatec 🇸🇮 - Hum na Sutli 🇭🇷
Baranjsko Petrovo Selo 🇭🇷 - Beremend 🇭🇺
Bijelo Polje 🇲🇪 - Kumanica 🇷🇸
Štrpci 🇧🇦 - Mramorje 🇷🇸
Štrpci 🇧🇦 - Jablanica 🇷🇸
760mm gauge Šarganska osmica - Vardište 🇧🇦 - Mokra Gora 🇷🇸

Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

So to the questions:
- are there any borders I ought to visit, and are missing?
- other than Belgrade-Bar and Sarajevo-Mostar are there extra scenic routes I should take?
- friendly activists I should meet in any of the places en route?

My next step:
- trying to find a viable timetable through all of this! Inc. buses, and trying to avoid cycling on dangerous roads!

#CrossBorderRail 2024 - it's going to happen 🙂

Show threadQuixoticgeekNov 28, 2023
@jon have you done Finland to Sweden yet ?
Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023
@quixoticgeek Yes. Tornio-Haparanda in 2022.
Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023
@quixoticgeek Pinks and oranges are places I have been. Greys are ones I am missing https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-all-the-borders_935041#5/52.818/21.425
#CrossBorderRail All The Borders - uMap

uMap lets you create maps with OpenStreetMap layers in a minute and embed them in your site.

Show threadGaelan SteeleNov 28, 2023
@quixoticgeek yes: https://twitter.com/jonworth/status/1538409941303799808
Jon Worth (@jonworth) on X

#CrossBorderRail welcome to day 6 https://t.co/pXg612ALKT

X (formerly Twitter)
Show threadMikeNov 29, 2023

@jon my sons did the overnight train from Bucharest to Chisnau this year: very retro train

How about Bulgaria (not necessarily Sofia) to Thessaloniki

Show threadJon WorthNov 29, 2023
@ks_mikey Been to all internal EU borders already, inc. BG-Greece in 2022. Chisinau I will eventually do, but probably sometime later in 2024.
Show threadMikeNov 29, 2023
@jon my younger son really liked it. It was very much a 50s style train. And thru also visited Tiraspol although the border there is interesting
Show threadJon WorthNov 29, 2023
@ks_mikey My trip report from there: https://jonworth.eu/a-day-trip-to-the-last-outpost-of-the-soviet-union-tiraspol-in-transnistria/ Note it was 2019 though 🙂
A day trip to the last outpost of the Soviet Union - Tiraspol in Transnistria - Jon Worth

So you want to go to the only place in the world that still has the hammer and sickle on its flag? A largely unrecognised state? One with a statue of Lenin in front of its Parliament? And you want to do that in 2019? And you want to do[Read More...]

Jon Worth
Show threadMikeNov 29, 2023

@jon hadn’t changed really in 2022: from what I was told

The Russian soldiers at the “border” were useful in worrying my youngest enough not to try to cross the next border

Show threadnotsoloudNov 28, 2023

@jon
I like that you're going to Kumanovo. The Belgrade-Kumanovo-Thessaloniki is the only good choice for a Balkan rail spine.

Now we just need Serbia and Hungary to join the EU.....

Show threadRon PatzNov 28, 2023

@jon BTW, Jon, if you'd like to read a really nice #CrossBorderRail book, there is „Unschärfen der Liebe“ by Angelika Overrath, a novel where the narrator tells the story while travelling by train from Switzerland through SE-Europe until Istanbul. See the map on p.8 of the book preview:
https://www.orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1066698388

This was my summer vacation reading while travelling through the region (although I only managed to get there afterwards).

Show threadAlonNov 28, 2023

@jon Anything interesting between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania?

(Coming to think of it, do any of these countries even have good intra-member state rail?)

Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

@Alon Checked all those in summer 2022. So no need to go there again :-)

Kulata-Thessaloniki is in a bad state, works for freight. Ormenio-Svilengrad is not in a poor state, but no one wants to do anything with it.

RO-BG has 2 lines (at Vidin-Calafat, and Ruse-Giurgiu) and both are shockingly bad Romanian side, but I have already been to both.

Show threadnotsoloudNov 28, 2023
@jon
You could check out the possibilities of another bridge across the Danube at Turnu Magurele? It seems the more obvious Sofia-Bucharest corridor. And it's an excuse to travel the Iskar Gorge.
@Alon
Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023

@Alon Pinks and oranges are places I have been. Greys are ones I am missing https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-all-the-borders_935041#5/52.818/21.425

And Bulgaria has a slow, but generally functional rail network, yes.

#CrossBorderRail All The Borders - uMap

uMap lets you create maps with OpenStreetMap layers in a minute and embed them in your site.

Show threadAlonNov 28, 2023
@jon How long do the border controls take at the non-Schengen crossings? Is it a short testimonial stop as at the border with Denmark or Poland, or do they check everyone as at the US-Canada border?
Show threadSeppoNov 28, 2023
@jon bit of a technical question here: where dou you get your data for the lines from?
Is there a good source for GPX-imports or is it just manual clicking & drawing?
I'm currently trying to track my journey across Finland.
Show threadJon WorthNov 28, 2023
@mord0c I use this: https://signal.eu.org/osm/ That has a GEOjson export.
Railway Routing

Show threadSeppoNov 28, 2023
@jon Awesome, thanks!
Show threadAlexander KlumpNov 28, 2023
@jon I truly appreciate what you do and what you want to achieve with this kind of project. When I moved back from Bulgaria to Germany this year, I had to take a bus from Sofia to Berlin in order to avoid flying by airplane. I hope that one day there will be a sufficiently fast and convenient train to Sofia, so that I can easily visit my bulgarian friends and favourite places again. Thank you very much.