Northern weather and northern trains at Uelzen. We're being held in a siding outside the station. Flixtrain overtakes us for the second time already, just behind a fast ICE. This adds another 10 minutes to our delay.
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Which got me thinking. If the government really scraps the new high speed line project Hannover—Hamburg, the stations on the existing line need to be upgraded. In our case, we've been held outside the station for overtaking even though we had a scheduled stop. The reason for this is that there are only three platforms, one of which is blocked by the Metronom. With two fast platform tracks per direction, trains could be overtaken while they stop, which would improve capacity.
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Crossing river Elbe and shortly after arriving at a very wet and grey Hamburg Hbf with a delay of 33 minutes. Could be worse for crossing Germany.
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Mandatory picture of McDonald's Hbf while getting a little snack.
Our empty train from Basel is still here, blocking valuable platform capacity, when I'm back at platform level about 10 minutes later.
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Nostalgic rolling stock on the RE to Kiel, which is arriving 25 minutes late but departs on time. I expected something modern, but I'm not even mad. 😁
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Bloody dismal weather. 😬
How good to sit in a warm train with a big cup of tea.
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Brrr...
Plus: Level crossing failure, another +15 minutes. Also, we're losing 1-2 minutes with every stop. Maybe bad adhesion due to the drizzle?
Anyway, it's getting tight towards the end...
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16:45 and it's pitch black. The only good thing with this is: Tomorrow is the earliest sunset. Afterwards it's getting better again, at least in the evenings.
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16:54, arrival at Kiel Hbf. +20 delay on this train, +57 on the whole trip. Shouldn't have been much more, ferry boarding is until 17:15. So no time at all to explore this interesting looking station with a nordic touch when it comes to shops.
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It's a 10 minute walk along the waterfront to the Stena Line terminal. My vessel for tonight, the Stena Germanica, comes into view long before the modern terminal building. Check-in on the first floor did not take more than a minute. Afterwards it's quite a walk on the long gangway onto the ship. Very quick and convenient rail-ship connection. That's how it should be.
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The ship seems to be rather quiet tonight. I'm booked in a bunk bed outside cabin, the flex ticket was EUR 186 – which is way cheaper than comparable accommodation on the Zürich–Hamburg or Hamburg–Stockholm sleeper.
More exploration later, first I'll lay down for a few minutes. 😴
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Stena Germanica is a bit older than the other Stena ferries I have been on this year. And it has kind of a strange layout, probably due to its extension. Nevertheless it's a decent standard ferry with restaurants, bars, and an alcohol and perfume shop.
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It's indeed a quiet evening. I'm too late for the Christmas buffet at one of the restaurants, but I managed to grab some classic ferry food in the Bistro. I'm however passing on the beer, as there probably will be enough of it in the coming days. Back to my cabin for a hopefully quiet night. See you tomorrow!
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Morning from the Stena Germanica. I slept like a baby in the comfortable bed as we sailed through thick fog. Very eerie mood when we passed the Storebæltsbroen. Only the bottom of the pillars were clearly visible, the deck was hidden in the fog. Sorry for the lousy pictures.
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A real bed, a big shower with good water pressure and a breakfast buffet: Take this, night trains!
However I miss the Coffee bar, which exists on other Stena ferries.
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Spot on time at 09:15 we arrive in Göteborg. Unlike on other ferries, you're allowed to stay in the cabin until arrival. And, also unlike on other ferries, the gangway for foot passengers opens only minutes after arrival. A short gangway leads to the terminal building.
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The customs dog shortly sniffs my bag, then I'm allowed to enter Sweden. 🇸🇪
A long footbridge leads over the port access roads to a backroad, from where it's only a short walk to the tram stop Chapmans Torg. All in all, it's not even 5 minutes from the ship to the tram stop.
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The tram lines 3 and 9 (every ten minutes each) take you to Göteborg main station in 15-20 mins. A ticket is SEK 35 and can be paid contactless in the tram.
I'm not riding all the way to Centralstationen, as I'm staying here for tonight. Instead, I'm off to the nearest Espresso House for the first Kanelbulle and some work.
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After a day of remote work, it was more than time for a bit of railways - Göteborgs spårvägar, to be exact. And no visit to Göteborg is complete without riding the retro M31 trams. 😊
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Zürich 🤝 Göteborg
- Blue and white trams
- Retro trams with low floor extension
- Consequent use of line colours
- Weird tram interior colour
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On the other hand, this is sadly still light years away in Zürich: Göteborg is replacing the ticket machines in the tram by simple card readers where you can buy a ticket by just tapping your contactless payment card.
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Besides the M31, you'll encounter the unloved AnsaldoBreda M32 and the new Bombardier/Vossloh-Kiepe Flexity M33 on the network, both articulated low floor trams. I couldn't recognize any pattern in rolling stock usage, every tram type seems to be used on every line?!
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The oldest M29 high floor tramcars also still seem to be in service. But I only saw two of them and sadly didn't manage to get a ride on one of them.
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I also didn't miss a stroll through Göteborg's city center at night.
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And with this Christmas mood photo of an M33 I say Good Night from Göteborg.
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After some more work this morning, it was finally time to hit the rails again. But before, there's something I discovered on Openrailwaymap which I wanted to see.
Oh, and today was the day I finally realised that the M31 trams have an asymmetric front design! 🤯
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Uh-oh, what's that?! Another M29 consist with a wonderful rollsign! But no time for a ride today. Instead, I'm gonna take the 3 to Brunnsparken.
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Brunnsparken is the main tram hub in the centre, most lines pass here. While I wait for my tram, there's another chance to take pictures of most of Göteborg's tram types in commercial service.
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My line 9 service to Angered is worked by a Flexity M33. The travel time indications on the passenger information screen already shows that this isn't your standard tram line.
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The map shows that the line is completely separated from other traffic all the way out to Angered and has only three intermediate stops, one of which is in a longer tunnel. On the first few kilometres, the line runs parallel to the railway main line. After the flat junctions at Gamlestaden, there is even a short section of gauntlet track across an old bridge.
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While Göteborg's trams are already more like a Stadtbahn (urban light rail) in the city centre, outside here it looks even like a proper railway line. There are normal tracks and signals, the line speed is 60 km/h and it runs across forests and grassland.
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Nästa: Svamptingsplatsen
...
oh, no, wait, Hjällbo. But the principle is the same as at home in Zürich: As the station in the following tunnel has an island platform and the trams only have doors on one side, the tracks have to switch sides.
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The line ends in a huge turning loop at Angered Centrum. This is a proper transport hub with a huge bus terminal in the middle of the loop, one track with two platforms for each of the three tram lines, a ticket office and the mandatory Pressbyrån.
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Only a tram tunnel is a good tunnel. 😁
Short stop at Sotrås on the way back to get some pictures of trams leaving the tunnel. The railway-like infrastructure with the old, short trams definitely looks weird.
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And, you guessed it, I also had to have a look at this underground stop. 🤓
With the low hanging ceiling above the platform and the bare rock it doesn't look too welcoming. It could do with a bit of a refreshment – VBZ would surely give some advice on it.
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There was sadly no time to take the escalator to the surface, I had to return to the railway station. Quick photo of an M31 arriving at the underground station and then back to the city centre.
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Another M29 greeted me in front of the railway station. But, as I already said, sadly no time left for a ride.
I love the coloured rollsigns, they remind me of Zürich's Mirage and T2000 trams. And a rollsign with good typography is so much more beautiful and readable than a modern LED screen.
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The beautiful Göteborg Centralstation is always a treat, but it's even better with Christmas decorations.
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A wide range of Swedish trains are waiting at the platforms, but I have to look for a dark green Vy Stadler "Flirt", which I finally find at platform 4. Another Flirt, a red MTRX one, is just arriving.
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My first time in a long distance Vy-Flirt. The seats are good, but otherwise, the interior looks a bit spartan for a 3.5 hrs trip. No platform doors, no carpet, some compartments without a table, standard white plastic ceiling. Far away from the comfort of a Bm 73.
But there is a lot of luggage space and a coffee machine! 😊☕️
Are the Bergen Flirts the same or is there a series with InterCity standard interior?
#OperationOslo