Some days, 🚅, 🚂, 🚌, ⛴️, two switch failures (🇧🇪), fully booked trains with mandatory seat reservations (🇳🇱->🇩🇪), a lack of alternatives due to construction works and compatible rolling stock (🇳🇱->🇩🇪) later, #BlankSpots continues in northern 🇩🇪 Germany.
My 238th obligatory Antwerp main station appreciation post 😍 #BlankSpots
Lars at a train station so early in the morning... That means it's going to be an eventful day. 👀 #BlankSpots
The Kiel-Flensburg line provides a curiosity. Due to the construction of a new bridge across the Schlei and the poor condition of the old one, the Schlei can only be crossed on foot. The train line isndisrupted and has two terminus station on both ends of the bridge: "Rieseby Schleibrücke Süd" and "Boren-Lindaunis Schleibrücke Nord". This may be inconvenient for locals, but is randomly interesting to me. #BlankSpots
The advantage of this route is that I can change to the IC 🇩🇪 Flensburg - 🇩🇰 Fredericia, which doesn't require a seat reservation. Otherwise I would habe ended in the often crowded EuroCity Hamburg-Copenhagen. But more importantly, it is a DSB MF/IC3 also known as 'rubber nose', which is one of the most cozy train I have ever been on! #BlankSpots
Tog er fantastiske! 😍
(Trains are fantastic!) #BlankSpots
In Fredericia, I finally spot an DSB IC4 train running in the right direction. Two minutes later, I board this regional train to Odense.
The IC4 were manufactured by Ansaldo-Breda between 2005 and 2013. However, the train is considered deficient and the delivery was late. The trains are going to be replaced by the also delayed IC5. #BlankSpots
It was completely unnecessary to hunt after an IC4, since my next train was going to be an IC4 anyway. 🥴 I am surprised, though. Is it usual for the IC Fredericia-Østerport to be an IC4? Or might the temporary timetable due to construction works be the reason? I have never seen one before on this line before and it could be replaced by an electric train. #BlankSpots
I get off the IC4 at Slagelse. Unlike the regions I have just visited (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪), I have passed through 🇩🇰 Denmark many times before. To stick to #BlankSpots, I have to try some new lines like at least. I choose the Lokaltog Slagelse-Tølløse and it's a jackpot: A Lokaltog IC2, another type of 'rubber nose train'!
The trio of rubber noses would be incomplete without the IR4, the electric version of the IC2/IC4. I take the Regionaltog from Tølløse to Copenhagen H. This train is cosy as well, but the floor is a little bit filthy and smelly. #BlankSpots
Did I say a trio of rubber noses? There is a fourth rubber nose in Denmark, approaching the country from the East. Unfortunately, I can't spend any more time in 🇩🇰 Denmark, so I board an #Øresundståg towards 🇸🇪 Sweden at Copenhagen Main Station. This time, I can choose which train I take, as there is an Øresundståg queue. I opt for the second train, which is almost empty in the front coaches. #BlankSpots
Arriving in 🇸🇪 Sweden means that it's time for a bulle! At Malmö Central Station, I even find 🌱 plant-based ones. Perfect for boarding SJ's snabbtåg. #BlankSpots
I get off the Snabbtåg at Nässjö. Two trains to Jönköping follow each other within eight minutes, so I can choose between Krösatågen and Västtrafiken! #BlankSpots
Impressions of Jönköping 😍 #BlankSpots
Jönköping has an interesting bus infrastructure. A 1.5km long two-lane "bus street" runs through the city centre. It even crosses a roundabout in the middle. #BlankSpots
There are also #BlankSpots in countries I have been to many times before. I just have to look more closely. 😁 I am doing some #Streckensammeln on #Krösatågen 's diesel network.
✅ Nässjö C–Vaggeryd
✅ Nässjö C–Eksjö
✅ Nässjö C–Vetlanda
Apparently, #Krösatågen has started to apply the new red livery to existing trains. The interior appears to be unchanged (picture taken in a Y32). The new red trains are expected to be operational by 2026. #BlankSpots
Impressions of Eksjö 😍 #BlankSpots
Fråga till svenskarna: Does anyone know why Jönköpings Länstrafik has two different dates for the timetable change, only one week apart? Isn't any timetable coordination needed for that week? Is this also the case for any other län? https://www.jlt.se/nyhetsarkiv/tidtabellsskifte-augusti-2025/ #BlankSpots
My journey continues from Nässjö on another SJ Snabbtåg (not the one in the picture). 'If you are in the right carriage and seat, we have all the information we need', so there's no ticket control! This is a convenient difference compared to the platform gates and rushed ticket controls in an underpass in other countries, but it is also an act of trust. #BlankSpots
It's time for the SJ X55 Regina! As you know, I have to celebrate my favourite train. It's really cosy and comfortable to ride in. #BlankSpots
Due to track works in the Uppsala region, the Snabbtåg between Stockholm and Sundsvall (-Umeå) are deviated via Västerås this weekend. This means the journey is 100 km longer than usual!
Unfortunately, the modified timetable is not entirely realistic. Cleaning and restocking takes more than the planned 15 minutes, so we leave Stockholm 15 minutes late. #BlankSpots
The landscape changes slowly as you travel over 800 km. The #SJ Snabbtåg Regina jingle is the only thing that reminds me of home. 🔊 "Wir begrüssen Sie in der S7 nach Stadelhofen, Meilen..." Anyway, let's move on. #BlankSpots
@larstransportworld
Was the train rerouted Tillberga-Sala-Krylbo-Storvik?
@larstransportworld They prob have been thinking ahead and that working people got back last week and schools start next. Here the fall times start next week for both. It has been crowded in the morning and when people get off work to say the least this week
@larstransportworld noooo I loved the yellow 😭
@larstransportworld I wonder how many different variants oft the Itino they have?I had a Y31 with blue fabric seats.
@onterof Oh, really?! I just had the beige-red seats.
@larstransportworld That was on the Västervik/Kalmar - Linköping service, these propably don't ever serve anything else.
@onterof The former Kustpilen Itinos seem indeed to have a different interior. These trains also have a different livery (red instead of yellow). I saw a red-silver Itino in Nässjö yesterday. Maybe they were transferred to other Krösatåg lines due to the reduced services on the Västervik line.
https://www.jarnvag.net/vagnguide/y31
Vagnguide - Motorvagn Y31/Y32 - järnväg.net

Allt om dieselmotorvagnen Y31 som används av Krösatågen, Västtrafik och Värmlandstrafik. Bilder, fakta och historia.

@larstransportworld And it's completely insane if you try to drive a car there 🫣
@larstransportworld apparently it’s the Bible belt of Sweden.
@acb Oh, that's an interesting, but very unexpected fact 🤔
@larstransportworld
@acb Oh yes, they are very religious. The 19th century Christian revival was very successful in Småland (and Västerbotten). https://mastodon.nu/@violanders/114728405030163776
Anders Norén (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Jönköping ain't called Little Jerusalem for nothing. When I lived in Värnamo, some 60 kilometres south of Jönköping, I had an 800 metre walk between my flat and my office. During the walk I passed four churches. The most prominently placed church in the town is _not_ the Lutheran one.

Mastodon.nu
@larstransportworld why this rubber nose? Is it functionally or just a design thing?

@mcnknopp It's so it looks like a worm.

Oh, and to easily connect multiple ones. The window inside the rubber is actually an entire driver unit. It swivels out of the way to create a corridor: https://mastodon.online/@Pepijn/110745124929906800

@larstransportworld

Pepijn (@[email protected])

Attached: 2 images Some photos for passenger #train enthusiasts :-) The #danish IC3 and electric IR4 trains have an design where multiple units can be connected into one fully walkable tube worm. For this the entire front of a train, including driver controls, can swivel into a wall. Like many components the front is a fully modular unit. Here's a unit that was in a fire. Before and after photo. Rest of the train took a bit more work but it was also fully restored :-) Yellow structure is a transport frame.

Mastodon
@mcnknopp @larstransportworld They couple two units: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAyUhApptis and pull the control units aside so there is a connection between carriages. The rubber noses create a nice seal.
Two Danish Nose type trains couple at Kristianstad Central.

YouTube
@owiecc @larstransportworld thanks! Here is a view from the inside. Really amazing
https://youtu.be/3IGNCHMyGqY?feature=shared
Denmark DSB Øresundståg ET IR4 / X31K (Fourth Gen IC3) Coupling Cab View

YouTube
@larstransportworld Here's some fun photos from the swivel-out driver panel: https://mastodon.online/@Pepijn/110745124929906800
Pepijn (@[email protected])

Attached: 2 images Some photos for passenger #train enthusiasts :-) The #danish IC3 and electric IR4 trains have an design where multiple units can be connected into one fully walkable tube worm. For this the entire front of a train, including driver controls, can swivel into a wall. Like many components the front is a fully modular unit. Here's a unit that was in a fire. Before and after photo. Rest of the train took a bit more work but it was also fully restored :-) Yellow structure is a transport frame.

Mastodon
@larstransportworld Those are interesting overhead posts, are they common in Denmark?
@geeeero Do you mean the rusty optics? Yes, I have seen only these ones. However, usually, there is not such a "horizontal offset".
@larstransportworld Both, I think the colour is nice, and that "horizontal offset" seemed quite peculiar!
@larstransportworld I really want to make a trip like that. As a Dane, that's the only type of Flexliner that I haven't been on. I grew up with LINTs instead
@larstransportworld no, it's very rare for IC4 to operate IC lines in my experience. I was on that line 2 days ago on an IR4

@larstransportworld Any audio recording of the frankly scary sound of the poor engines when it accelerates? It sounds as if the poor engine is close to giving its last breath.

Edit: Ah, I found one I recorded myself. The interesting bit starts at 0:20

@tml Thanks, I hadn't really noticed the sounds. Perhaps they can't be heard equally well in all carriages?

@larstransportworld The IC3s are so nice. (If one ignores that they have diesel engines.)

After "enjoying" the old DB IC carriages hired by DSB between København and Hamburg for some years, it was a relief in June to use the RE to Flensburg and then an IC3 to Kolding (and then an electric rubber-nose to København.) So much nicer, especially in 1st class.

@tml Indeed. Unfortunately, the electrical IR4 have less space due to the 2+2 seating in first class, bur otherwise they are awesome as well!
@larstransportworld It will be sad to see them go soon.
@larstransportworld and when I remember right this bridge is part of the first Werner - Beinhart! animation movie.

@larstransportworld The New Bridge should have been ready for two years now, it won’t be ready until 2027. (but well deconstruction of the old Bridge was delayed By years as well …)

https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindaunisbrücke (german)

Lindaunisbrücke – Wikipedia

@larstransportworld This reminds me that on every vacation on Usedom, my parents tell me the story of how you used to have to get off the train in Wolgast and carry your luggage over the bridge before the new Peenebrücke was built and connected to the mainland's rail network in 2000.