Mastodawn

Trains have not crossed at Ruska for more than a century. Siret still has an active railway, also with passenger trains until recently, but no longer. And from memory from 2019 the infrastructure is in a poor state. The aim: establish if passenger trains would work there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxpkDdJ-CU

Jon Worth

Here's today's #CrossBorderRail music track

Es fährt ein Zug nach Nirgendwo
Christian Anders

Wrong language here, but the title is perfect for this day of the project!

Christian Anders - Es fährt ein Zug nach Nirgendwo (2010)

YouTube

#CrossBorderRail Finale Train 133 of 166
R 5625
08:15 Suceava - Gura Putnei 10:05
CFR Călători

Train type: Siemens Desiro DMU, 2 short carriages
⛽️
🚲: ✅ (somehow, there are some)
🦽: ⛔️ (theoretically step free, but doors broken)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂
🧽: ☹️ (broken windows, air conditioning leaking water, broken doors)

🎫 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

R 5625
08:15 Suceava - Gura Putnei 10:05

Distance: 65.8km
Average speed: 36km/h

14 stops:
Suceava Nord
Dărmănești
Milișăuți
Țibeni hc
Dornești
Rădăuți Gara Mică h
Rădăuți
Horodnic hc
Gălănești
Vicov Motel
Vicovu de Jos hc
Vicovu de Sus hc
Bivolăria hc
Gura Putnei

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#12/47.7933/25.9451

#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

Fascinating conversation with a Ukrainian cycle tourist here on the train from Suceava. She’s cycling from Dornești along what looks like a hellish road via Siret back to Romania.

This is a typical CFR we don’t give a **** service

Water is leaking out of the air conditioning somewhere - there’s a puddle on one of the overhead racks, and if the train shakes passengers get a shower

Staff could mop it up but don’t

Window panes are cracked. Doors broken.

I’m going to get wet. Again. 😡

Here’s today‘s intro video https://peertube.netzbegruenung.de/w/1hfrSYR8jaywp5qWb7Dmgb

Because of impending thunderstorms I might have to alter the schedule a bit though

#CrossBorderRail live stream - 7/14/2025, 4:50:54 AM

PeerTube

Aaagggh

Too rainy and muddy to cycle

Too rainy for the drone

And the only place I could walk… there are half a dozen stray dogs

Managed to get the drone up in a gap in the rain

Here’s the former rail bridge just past Gura Putnei on the former line to Ruska (today‘s Ukraine)

And in David Attenborough voice: “The CFR train is emerging from its natural habitat: among the bushes”

#CrossBorderRail Finale Train 133 of 166
R 5625
10:45 Gura Putnei - Rădăuți Gara Mică h 11:42
CFR Călători

Train type: Siemens Desiro DMU, 2 short carriages
⛽️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ⛔️
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂
🧽: ☹️

🎫 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

(Same unit I used to arrive)

I don’t have the data for this as I hadn’t intended taking it this far, but I’m going to Rădăuți to seek shelter from the rain, and once it’s passed cycle from there

The good news: despite the lousy infrastructure this branch line to Putna is used. The valley is comparatively wealthy. There’s a future for the branch line for sure

Rădăuți

Amazing market!

Admit it. Anyone loves their old brothers! 😀

Btw Frătăuții Vechi is a village. This isn’t just someone putting up a sign to their old brothers

But the fire engine of the village… that’s an old brother! Complete with German sign as well

Bucovina is… right astride the Kvass frontier

This is a sort of Kvass like drink, but has chicory in it, giving it a sort of bitter-sweet taste

More about it: https://sbn.ro/

So I amended my route a bit before ending up back at Dornești

The dual gauge track to the border is in use for both gauges

In the hour I’ve been awaiting my passenger train in Dornești (German: Kriegsdorf - war village!) two Unicom Tranzit locomotives, 4 stray dogs, and 13 rail employees have pitched up

The dogs - all male - are mostly play fighting

The railway employees - all male - are mostly chatting and smoking

And suddenly the classic CFR jingle. And an announcement in Romanian and French that the passenger train is due!

(The second jingle here https://youtu.be/seHOkfi6vsE?si=UHIeZ6CUqDixJ7ei )

Melodiile de Anunt din Garile din Romania

YouTube

I’m not normally a fan of advertising wrapping trains - especially windows - but perhaps here it helps?

Kids throwing rocks at trains is a major issue (hence so many broken windows) that maybe these stickers help hold it all together after impact?

acb 2d ago

@jon Is French the international vehicular language for foreigners in Romania?

Sam Cage 2d ago

@jon A classic Romanian scene.

Szescstopni 2d ago

@jon It should be the other way around

Charles Fulton 2d ago

@jon maybe the dogs also work for the railroad?

Wrzlbrnft 2d ago

@jon Never heard about this one. Looks interesting. 😍

@wrzlbrnft it’s… weird. I need to find another brand of it. Will try later in Suceava.

Edmund Lauterbach 3d ago

@jon Magirus Deutz, built in the 1960s. We had a few of these when I was in the Bundeswehr (very long time ago).
Popular with fire departments. Magirus started with firefighting equipment, was acquired by Humboldt-Deutz (now Iveco), and can now be found at https://www.magirusgroup.com/.

Magirus GmbH: Hersteller von Feuerwehrfahrzeugen & Brandschutztechnik

Drehleitern, Löschfahrzeuge & mehr: Mit Leidenschaft und Innovation entwickelt Magirus seit 150 Jahren erstklassige Feuerwehrfahrzeuge - Serving Heroes. Since 1864.

SaareMartha 3d ago

@jon
What wonderful tomatoes and those yellow runner beans. I hardly ever see them in the market here.

Samy 3d ago

@jon
That looks so tasty! Hope you have time to make a proper Shopska from that!

@samy ha. No. I have 35km to cycle! Once it stops raining…

Samy 3d ago

@jon
That’s a real pity!

https://mastodon.com.pl/@HaTetsu/113817052885581381
https://gruene.social/@jon/113817196488088750

波鉄 (Hatetsu)3d ago

@jon Obligatory reminder of the fun time we had in January finding out the border was two borders XD

波鉄 (Hatetsu) (@HaTetsu@mastodon.com.pl)

@jon@gruene.social Hmmm, apparently it was even a bit longer than that (also for everyone's reference): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Brodina%E2%80%93Izvoarele_Sucevei (And, well, perhaps it's more accurate to say it's a would-have-been #CrossBorderRail line)

Mastodon Poland

Apicultor 🐝3d ago

@jon Frustrating! Are the dogs usually friendly at least?

@apicultor no! Snarly and nasty. I retreated back to the station! But see the next post.

波鉄 (Hatetsu)3d ago

@jon Also that name, "gura"… It sounds exactly like the Polish word for mountain (góra), but actually means "the mouth", one of a river in these instances, it seems, but one of a person, too.

Still fun to think of Gura Humorului as "Mountain of Humour", though