Welcome to today's thread - 2025 #CrossBorderRail Finale Day 7 - 14 June - Rzeszów - Berlin - Köln - Bruxelles

Today's new borders:
None

Borders map, inc. borders re-crossed:
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-all-the-borders_935041#12/52.3268/14.5754

Today's trains on the routes map:
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#7/51.307/13.173

A long way in a day - from Rzeszów in south eastern Poland, crossing Germany, to Bruxelles in Belgium. No new borders, but it will no doubt be an interesting day, not least to observe improvements to the rail infrastructure in southern Poland.

Here's today's #CrossBorderRail music track

Deutsche Bahn
Wise Guys

Not the greatest work of music, but it makes you laugh! And I no doubt will face some of the problems later!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXjhszy2f9w

Wise Guys - Deutsche Bahn

Unser neues Album "Läuft bei Euch" ist ab sofort bei uns im Shop: http://www.wiseguys-shop.de, auf Amazon: http://amzn.to/1MDvpCj, iTunes: http://www.umgt.de...

YouTube
And here's today's #CrossBorderRail intro video, filmed earlier in Rzeszów before boarding https://peertube.netzbegruenung.de/w/kJ34epfrogPwsqvh3xcwFk
#CrossBorderRail live stream - 6/14/2025, 3:54:33 AM

PeerTube

#CrossBorderRail Finale Train 33 of 152
EC 56
06:10 Rzeszów Główny - Berlin Gesundbrunnen 15:13
PKP IC

Train type: Siemens EU44 Taurus locomotive, 8 carriages
⚡️ (3kV dc, 15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (lift or ramp on board, not step free)
🛜: ⛔️ (installed but broken)
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 😐 (narrow doors and corridors, OK once inside)
🧽: 🙂

🎫 Interrail: 😐 (needs compulsory reservation for cross border section, costs €3 from ÖBB)

EC 56
06:10 Rzeszów Główny - Berlin Gesundbrunnen 15:13

Distance: 743.9km
Average speed: 82km/h

19 stops:
Dębica
Tarnów
Bochnia
Kraków Płaszów
Kraków Główny
Katowice
Zabrze
Gliwice
Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Opole Główne
Wrocław Główny
Legnica
Lubin
Głogów
Zielona Góra Główna
Rzepin
Frankfurt/Oder
Berlin Lichtenberg
Berlin Gesundbrunnen

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#8/51.179/18.273

Agggh, someone in the compartment is typing on their phone and with the tap-tap keyboard noise on, something I do not understand the purpose of.

Is is socially acceptable to ask the guy to set his phone to silent?

Also it's weird how irritating the tap-tap sound from a phone is, presumably because - unlike a physical keyboard where every sound is a fraction different, because it's physically generated - the sound of the phone "tap" noise is precisely identical each time.
When he got loads of notifications that then pinged very loudly, that was the moment to intervene 😀 Now all silent here, apart from light tapping on my MacBook Air physical keyboard!
Legnica - Zielona Góra - Rzepin is now the weak part of the Kraków - Berlin route. vMax just 120km/h, and infra obviously poorer quality. But given ongoing investment across Poland’s network this too will no doubt be improved soon.
🎉 I’ve not even got to Germany and DB has messed it up! German staff were delayed meaning we depart Rzepin (last Polish station) 15 mins late. And we’ve got the mess of Dobrindt’s illegal border controls to come…
Ah. No ethnic minority person in my compartment, so no passport check. Police just look. But - like in Kehl last week - the train waits in Frankfurt (Oder) while they do the illegal controls, so we accumulate more delay…

Jon 1 - 0 DB

No info whatsoever about connections in the EuroCity into Berlin

But a quick re-planning to change in Lichtenberg onto a S-Bahn rather than Gesundbrunnen onto a RE and I’ll get my connection at Hbf

Other passengers could have done likewise!

Ah

This ICE 554 Berlin - Köln had a strange timetable, and now I have - I think? - worked it out

It reverses in Hannover Hbf, and will go via Paderborn (not stopping) to Hagen

https://signal.eu.org/osm/#locs=52.524636,13.369861;52.378325,9.737835;52.342261,9.753113;51.717704,8.752653;50.942784,6.959071

What the hell for?

Railway Routing

So, assessments...

#CrossBorderRail Finale Train 34 of 152
S5
15:34 Berlin Lichtenberg - Berlin Hbf 15:54
DB S-Bahn Berlin

Train type: Adtranz, DWA 481/482 EMU, 4x 2 carriages
⚡️ (750V dc third rail)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔
🧳: 🙂 (lots of multi use spaces)️
🧽: 🙂 (clean by S-Bahn standards!)

🎫 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

S5
15:34 Berlin Lichtenberg - Berlin Hbf 15:54

Distance: 9.9km
Average speed: 30km/h

9 stops:
Berlin Nöldnerplatz
Berlin Ostkreuz (S)
Berlin Warschauer Straße
Berlin Ostbahnhof (S)
Berlin Jannowitzbrücke
Berlin Alexanderplatz (S)
Berlin Hackescher Markt
Berlin Friedrichstraße (S)
Berlin Hbf (S-Bahn)

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#13/52.5138/13.4333

#CrossBorderRail 2025 Finale

The final big #CrossBorderRail tour - to the eastern borders of the EU, and missing intra-EU borders. In June-July 2025. Each day of the project is a Layer in the map - these should be displayed by default, or if not click the three layered diamonds icon "Open browser" to the left side of the map. The icons are all for borders, roughly coloured to differentiate the borders. A cross through a track means NO TRAINS CAN RUN. A cross through trains but not track means TRAINS CAN RUN BUT NO PASSENGER TRAINS. And TRAIN AND TRACK (no crosses) means there is a passenger service.

uMap

#CrossBorderRail Finale Train 35 of 152
ICE 554
16:08 Berlin Hbf - Köln Hbf 21:14
DB Fernverkehr

Train type: AEG, ABB, Henschel, Krauss, Krupp, Siemens ICE 1, 2 power cars and 9 carriages
⚡️ (15kV ac)
🚲: ⛔️ (thanks @f09fa681 for pointing out the error!)
🦽: ✅ (lift on platform)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (well designed)️
🧽: 🙂

🎫 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

ICE 554
16:08 Berlin Hbf - Köln Hbf 21:14

Distance: 571.6km (routing via Paderborn due to engineering works)
Average speed: 112km/h

6 stops:
Berlin Hbf
Berlin-Spandau
Hannover Hbf
Hagen Hbf
Wuppertal Hbf
Köln Hbf

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#8/51.779/10.197

#CrossBorderRail 2025 Finale

The final big #CrossBorderRail tour - to the eastern borders of the EU, and missing intra-EU borders. In June-July 2025. Each day of the project is a Layer in the map - these should be displayed by default, or if not click the three layered diamonds icon "Open browser" to the left side of the map. The icons are all for borders, roughly coloured to differentiate the borders. A cross through a track means NO TRAINS CAN RUN. A cross through trains but not track means TRAINS CAN RUN BUT NO PASSENGER TRAINS. And TRAIN AND TRACK (no crosses) means there is a passenger service.

uMap

Pfff...

ICE is 33 mins late currently, and I have 30 mins to connect in Köln with the last ICE to Bruxelles

And another ICE that is meant to connect with that Bruxelles train is 13 mins late, and has a 9 min connecting time

There must be enough of us on these two trains to hold it a few minutes...?

I am told DB now uses a data model to calculate this, not allowing train managers to ask for trains to be held. But as I am on Interrail I assume there's no data I even need the connection...

@jon I've taken to making my seat reservation on that route via DB even though the ticket is an interrail pass, specifically so that my 'need' shows up in DB's data.

Side benefits are that it is cheaper and the DB app gives me progress reports etc.

@steely_glint @jon I thought you were required to use that special interrail reservation?

@poupou @jon I don't and no one seems to care. Hopefully I'm not doing it wrong.

For Eurostar I have to use interrail or SNCB, but the ICE's seem to work fine with a db seat only booking.

@steely_glint You're correct. You can reserve however you like, no need to use the Interrail reservation system. Rail Europe might be the cheapest for Eurostar reservations meanwhile, check them too. @poupou
@jon @steely_glint thank you and good to know!