Moof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NL

On the rails… no, hang on. Zug fällt aus! #CrossBorderRail

We start this morning with the news that our 10:52 EuroCity Express 396 to Copenhagen is not running. Quite apart from the general annoyance of a cancelled train, this is particularly gutting as I wanted to tick off riding this version of the Talgo 230 back in December 2025, after the #ICEAgeChallenge, and it got cancelled with less than 2 hours’ notice whilst I was in Copenhagen.

There are plans later today to end up in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck via a couple of the pretty regional lines in Schleswig-Holstein. Our current plan is to grab the 12:52 ECE 1174 to Schleswig, which probably won’t be a Talgo 230, and continue our route from there. If that doesn’t run, we have backup plans.

Our (updated) itinerary for today: https://s.moof.space/trip20260204

On the upside… it’s snowing! I haven’t seen actual snow in years. Possibly not since before the pandemic.

On the downside… It’s snowing… let’s see what that does to the trains…

Feb 4 at 9:13amWeb
Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

So, we took a look inside the next ECE, which was a single 3-car Danish rubbernose, and as @partim suspected, it was full to the gills, and standing room only.

@darkphoenix works from the train, and so this is not plausible.

We’ve planned an alternative using the RE7 up to Rendsburg, where we can still catch our original route. I have updated the itinerary at https://s.moof.space/trip20260204

That being said, we have come across another snag, not train related, that may further delay us. So we’ll see if that’s the final route.

UK, NL Trip February 2026

4492 km in 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇧🇪 🇳🇱

Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

@partim @darkphoenix And as I thought, due to #ADHD-related reasons, we missed that second train. We’ve now delayed the whole thing by an hour. I’ve updated the itinerary yet again at https://s.moof.space/trip20260204

This is a little painful. I’d timed that RB84 to go past the Großer Plöner See, a large lake that we take a train through and past an island, round about sunset. As it is… we probably won’t make it much past Kiel before the sun sets.

At least I’ll get to see the big train loop at Rendsburg during the light of day. Twice ;)

I hope we don’t have any further snags today.

UK, NL Trip February 2026

4492 km in 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇧🇪 🇳🇱

Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

@darkphoenix On the rails again… (Finally!)

We’re finally on an RE7 that will split at Neumünster and head onwards towards Flensburg. We’re taking it as far as Rendsburg, where we will transfer onto a train that goes to Kiel. We will finally grab a train to Lübeck, and if the Gods of Deutsche Bahn are done being fickle at us, touch wood, we will arrive at about half six.

Itinerary is at: https://s.moof.space/trip20260204

Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

@darkphoenix I last caught this type of Twindexx (BR 445) on this same track, when I came down from Denmark back in December, the last time a DSB Talgo 230 got cancelled on me.

It’s an interesting beast. This type of carriage was originally produced to be loco-hauled. However, in the case of this class they were made to be self-propelled, and in a larger technical space on the interface between cars has the electric engines that drive this train.

Bombardier/Alstom announced last year that they would no longer be producing any more Twindexxes, and the factory that produced them has been retooled to make military vehicles.

Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

@darkphoenix And we made it to Rendsburg, and then Kiel, finally on our last train for the day.

Rendsburg is an interesting station, or rather the route south of it is. It’s not far from the Kiel Canal, a massive shipping canal that carries container ships and other large ships between the Baltic and North seas. As such, the bridge over the canal is very tall, so tall they call it the Rendsburg High Bridge, tall enough that there isn’t a sensible way to go from ground level to bridge level using a straight incline.

So they built a loop around the town. This loop is 4.5km long in track and raises the track 42 metres. And it’s fun to look out the window and see the opposite side of the loop, or the bridge in the background, as well as other trains on the opposite track negotiating the loop with you.

The YouTube channel “What on ear this this?” has a video explaining the somewhat amusing history of how this came to be: https://youtu.be/t4yH-yghLHs

We did the loop twice - amazing

Rendsburg Hochbrücke: Germany’s Crazy Engineering Flex

YouTube
Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4

@darkphoenix The train we took to Kiel, and from Kiel, are interesting in their own right, BR 526s, a type of two-car Stadler FLIRT that can run on electrified and unelectrified lines, something that is common in this corner of Germany. It has a battery pack that is charged when the pantographs are up, and can power the train for a sufficient amount of time to get to any of the edges of the network in Schleswig-Holstein. Some of the stations have also been adapted to provide power top-ups.

These trains were very welcome when they were announced and started running, as the diesel trains they replaced were old and pokey and generally unappealing. They had a lot of teething issues the first year, especially over winter, which meant Stadler had to pay the state substantial compensation due to reliability issues meaning they had to cancel a lot of trains and keep the diesel fleet going for longer.

Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4
@darkphoenix …and we made it to Lübeck Hbf, where we are having a well-deserved flomp at the hotel, before investigating supper options.
Show threadash Feb 4
@moof can I just never get up again?
Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4
@darkphoenix But then you won’t get to see the pretty tomorrow
Show threadastrid 🍥 🏳️‍⚧️Feb 4
@moof i hope it's not the wrong type of snow
Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4
@aroma Ditto… though I gather that Germany are both more prepared to deal with snow and also are more used to dealing with the repercussions of having to deal with snow.
Show threadMartin HoffmannFeb 4
@moof The Danes claim that 1174 will be a single IC3. With the train before cancelled, it might get a wee bit busy. Might be worthwhile to consider RE options?
Show threadMoof! 🔜 #JetLagTheGame NLFeb 4
@partim We are still considering the RE, but thanks for the heads up!