The person in the row before me is studying an Interrail paper map.

Welcome to the family, mate!

Arriva is doing shenanigans. First train is for Kerkrade, second for Aachen which just arrived. There aren’t any signals in between and the platform displays can’t deal with it either.

But hey: the train to Aachen is indeed going.

Welcome to Germany: The train from Aachen to Köln is kaputt and cancelled. There’s another one half an hour later, but this route is quite busy on a good day.

Luckily I noticed it early enough and could switch to the train to Düsseldorf in Herzogenrath. So I’ll be back on the Venlo route once we arrive at Mönchengladbach.

Of course the man in a suit with the big tablet in front of him started an angry zoom call the just won’t end.

Buy that effing company already. It’s just money.

Decision time for the next leg to Frankfurt Airport. I need the 12:27 ICE from there. However, the 12:21 also goes there but will be a lot less busy. In theory that should be fine. It doesn’t do the dip into Köln Hbf so should be quicker. However, because of issues on the high speed line, it has three extra stops where, if things go wrong, it could be overtaken.

I think I’ll risk it anyways. Should be more pleasant. And if I loose another hour, so be it.

That’s better. Got an unreserved proper window seat. Backwards for now, but we will turn around in Köln, so that’s on purpose.

I’m not keen on four hours “nonstop” to Basel, but one has to suffer for one’s … art?

Woah! Into Köln Hbf without any stop, turned around, departed on time, and got out without any stop.

That never happens!

Made good time to Mannheim but then had to wait for the cross-platform exchange with the train from Berlin which was behind us. And then they let it go first! Which I suppose makes sense given that it goes straight at full speed to Stuttgart while we have to turn off the high speed line to get to Karlsruhe.

But still.

Boo!

You don’t pay attention for one second and Freiburg is painted with ETCS stop markers.

Are they doing both ETCS and LZB here? Surely not?

I hope those guys are just out and about to enjoy the sun.

Be ironic if SBB now fell apart completely.

I might have had a stange too many, but I am very happy with my choice. What a lovely little town Brunnen is.

Also, I think this is Rigi up there.

At checkout, the lady asked if I am continuing to Italy on foot. we agreed that I really should but that the train is also nice.

Off to the bahnhof!

Decided to take the time and travel the scenic route across San Gottardo. It is one of the great mountain railways of this world and taking the base tunnel feels heretic.

Obligatory picture of the church of Wassen.

These new copper trains* are nice. But doing this run in a first class EW II with its lounge chairs as the first carriage behind an Re 4/4 II and a driver who feels offended by running a couple minutes late is where it’s at.

* Officially they are called Traverso, in case you want to look them up.

In Bellinzona, there’s a connection to a Eurocity directly to Venice.

Ha!

Instead, I am changing in Giubiasco to this TILO train because, to do this properly, I also have to go over Monte Ceneri which got its own, lesser known base tunnel.

The jingle of Swiss railway is a simple tritone. But: it is different for each of the three main languages (SBB doesn’t operate where Rumantsch is spoken). The abbreviation for each language is taken as notes, with E flat standing in for S because its German name is Es which is also how you pronounce the letter s.

So, the tritone is E♭ B B for German SBB, C F F for French CFF, and F F E♭for Italian FFS.

There is a version replacing the last note with its cord, which is used for announcing major stops.

In my day,* if you wanted to go to Milano and avoid the Cisalpino (what is now again the Eurocity) with its extortionist prices and risk of being “completto,” you had to walk through customs in Chiasso to get to a rake of cramped piano ribassato carriages pulled by a Caimano, stopping at a million places all starting with a C and getting later and later in the process.

Now there is this shiny new Flirt running as an hourly regional express from Locarno via Lugano, Como, and Monza to Milan.

Some things are getting better.

* „Opa erzählt vom Krieg.“

At Casalbuttano we are waiting for an oncoming train. Weirdly, we are scheduled a stop from 13:55 to 13:56 and them from 13:59 to 14:00. Single track only on either side.

Not sure how this is supposed to work?

I am changing trains in Olmeneta, to go back north to Brescia (told you this is silly). There’s nothing here, just a forgotten railway station baking in the July sun.

The trains are timetabled so that I could have changed in Cremona in stop further down the line and an actual town. But where’s the fun in that?