Mastodawn

Due to exceptional terminus of Frankfurt(Oder) of the Germany - Poland EIC trains these days, we're taking the comfortable Desiro HC regional trains for 45 minutes before reaching our 🤝🏽 finally bringing us to Warsaw.

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #CrossBorderFail

The vending machine is not able to sell tickets over the border from Frankfurt(Oder) to Rzepin. There is no other vending machine nor a ticket counter. So a national online ticket from Rzepin to Warszara it is and we will ask the conductor so sell us the international part onboard.

🤝🏽 EuroCity acquired 😍. Bonus content : a cute steam locomotive 🚂.

Next stop : 🇵🇱 Warsaw

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Wigry #Baltics

After 4 hours in the 🤝🏽 EIC, we arrived in Warsaw. Two hours of transfer here allowed me to exchange some currency and grab some food before boarding the connecting 🤝🏽 IC "Wigry" bringing me across the Lithuanian border to 🇱🇹 Mockava for the transfer towards Vilnius.

It's -20 °C outside and slowly the heating of the carriage struggles with the outside temperature ❄️.

After four more hours, my IC finally arrived in Mockava providing a transfer to the broad gauge train Vilnius for the dozen passengers onboard.

I'm joining the Pesa 630MiL unit up to my final destination of today : Kaišiadorys, a village in the outskirts of Vilnius saving me some travel time.

That was quite a stout beginning for my first travel section : Brussels - Vilnius, 30 h travel time staight without break.

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Lithuania

Arriving in Kaisiadorys, #FOSSRail day two ends. 900 km further east and five countries crossed so far, I'm prepared to get up early tomorrow morning in order to catch the Baltic express connection bringing me across Latvia to the Estonian-Russian border.

#WhatsMissing : a night train Berlin/Praha/Krakow - Warszawa - Kaunas - Riga - Tallinn 🙄.

Good night !

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Lithuania #Baltics #RailBaltica

#FOSSRail day three : Today's mission is crossing the Baltics via Riga, Valga and Tapa to Narva before leaving European ground into the eastern direction.

After a short walk out in the cold, at first a Skoda EJ 575 will bring me on my first few kilometers towards the Baltic's Express route for half an hour. The train is comfortable, snacks and drinks are provided at seat and the tables are perfectly fine for working on my laptop.

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Lithuania #Latvia #Estonia #RailBaltica

Reached my long distance transfer, the comfortable 🤝🏽 Pesa 730ML bringing me via Riga to Valga 🎉 !

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Lithuania #Latvia

Crossed the border into 🇱🇻 Latvia 🎉 !

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Latvia #Estonia

Good day Riga !

After a short stop, our LTG Link train resumed its travels now operated by in the direction of Valga at the Estonian border. The train is comfortable and much less crowded than during the Lithuanian section.

I'm exhausted of the short night, stressed from work and hungry - but my desired lunch sadly needs to wait up to Estonia.

Northbound and further northbound.

Border crossed into Estonia. The LTG Link train terminates here and passengers need to change to the Elron train on the opposite track.

Due to frozen tracks, we collected an hour of delay, my connection to Narva will therefore not be possible. After some mediation by fellow passengers, the train manager proposed me to travel over to Talinn for the next train to Narva arriving at 10:06 p.m. - quite a challenge with the border post closing at 11 p.m.

I'm exhausted but taking everything easy and relaxed, in either way, I will be able to find a hotel on Narva if the border is already closed.

#FOSSRail #CrossBorderRail #Estonia

The transfer to Narva couldn't wait. I decided to hop in the train on the opposite track in Tapa and hereby arrived in Tallinn for tonight where I could finally get some delicious food.

The day was exhausting and I'm glad I made the most difficult part of my #FOSSRail trip : Crossing western Europe and the Baltics with only two short daytime journeys left before reaching the Trans Kazakhstan Railway.

So far, day three of my journey.

#FOSSRail #Estonia

My delay had it's positive sides too : I could spend the evening and this morning in Tallinn.

Estonia's capital presented itself in winter's beauty : Snowy parks, frozen waters and the charm of the old citadel underneath the blue winter sky.

In the Baltic railway station, I had the chance to have a glance at the new Skoda multiple units whereas I now continue my journey by the Elron FLIRT towards Narva at the Russian border.

Today's and tomorrow's challenge will be traveling from Tallinn Baltic station to St. Petersburg Baltic station. I hope for a successful day four of my journey !

#FOSSRail #Estonia

Braid in trains

- solidarity with

Baltic railway station challenge :

🇪🇪 Tallinn Balti jaam - 🇷🇺 Санкт-Петербург Балти́йский вокза́л /Sankt-Petersburg Baltiysky vokzal/

Quick question : I could take the direct train from Petersburg to Chelyibinsk for EUR 450 in sleeper or travel by Sapsan high-speed train to Moskva and take a sleeper from there on by sleeper for EUR 100 more ?

Direct sleeper

53.8%

Sapsan, Moskva and sleeper

46.2%

Poll ended at Feb 6 at 1:12pm.

Day four slowly comes to an end : The Elron train brought me to Narva at the Russian border. The Estonian officials were quite fast but yet strict at the border check : even my remaining 20 EUR bill was not permitted.

Walking over the snowy border bridge decorated by NATO fence and tank blockers was quite a weird feeling.

The border is closed for vehicles, officialy due to construction work at the bridge - which has never been carried out. The railway crossing also is no longer in use since the trains from Moscow to Tallinn are paused since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and obviously there is no political willing to reopen it any time soon. So for now, only pedestrians are allowed to cross the border.

#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain

It's -21 °C right now 😵‍💫.

Good morning !

The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.

At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.

Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.

I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report 🌈 !

Whereas the "Aurora" did not happen for this year, the still operate their 743У "Аврора" running from St. Petersburg to Moscow as a daytime inter-city train - in good Soviet manner featuring 1st class sleeper compartments for sure.

I'm taking this train for two hours to Bologoe-Moskolkoe where I'm going to catch my long distance sleeper to the Kazakh border - further away from scary western Russia.

Surprise to my vegan soul : The menu of the first class catering includes an entire page dedicated to plant-based food and I'm looking forwards to some dinner in a moment.

#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain

Enjoying dinner in the @diningcar service onboard of the 743У "Аврора" inter-city service on my way from Sankt Petersburg to Bologoe during my #FOSSRail trip from Brussels to Bangkok.

The three course menu includes some fresh salad with grilled vegetables, a tasty bulgur dish and some fruit pastry, served along with juice, tea, fruits and snacks.

While enjoying the tasty dinner, winter landscapes of Leningrad Oblast are passing by at -20 °C.

Stay safe, warm and take care ✊🏽🌈 !

#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain

Second sleeper train of my trip completed on day five. Now waiting for 15 minutes for my connecting train from Bologoe to Chelyibinsk. I booked a comfortable sleeper compartmznt for the 32 hours trip over two nights.

The Аврора service was definitely a luxury experience, the staff was very helpful with my spontaneous reschedule and helped me with everything despite no common language.

The railway station in Bologoe has a weird layout : The station building is located in the middle of a field of tracks, there are two main tracks where most trains depart and the other platforms are scrambled over the area. Access via a tunnel only.

I'm looking forwards for a comfy sleeper and finally some time to rest without any hurry for two days.

My sleeper arrived : I got a single СЛ compartment for the next 32 hours bringing me via Moscow to the Asian part of Russia in the Ural district, right to the Kazakh border.

The train is comfortable, food is provided (vegan again) and I will already switch my clock to Ural time adjusting my day-night rhythm 😴.

There are red Siemens Desiro and white Siemens Velaro trains outside. Chat, is this Germany ?

It's 10 p.m. local time in Chelyabinsk, my meal from @diningcar was just served : Grilled vegetables and buckwheat with mushrooms along with some beautifully packaged dark chocolate and juice.

The food served in the trains was far too much - good that it's sleeping time so that I can curl up under the comfy blanket and digest my amazing food.

The train is very suitable for working and as a bonus for tomorrow and Sunday morning, we have showers in the carriage.

Dream well and stay strong ✊🏽🌈 !

We arrived in Moscow late in the evening. I had an excellent night and slept like a baby until 11 a.m. - after a shower it's now time to grab some late breakfast in the @diningcar : fresh potato wedges with mushrooms and the mandatory black tea.

Side note : The have amazing chocolate onboard, I enjoyed already the second bar 😋.

Day six of my journey will be all trains : I woke up in the train and since my sleeper is only going to arrive tomorrow morning, I will spend the next night in my comfortable compartment as well.

Good morning ! It's 6 a.m. and after round about 32 hours, my comfortable sleeper is slowly approaching in Chelyabinsk next to the Kazakh border.

The ride was fading in time, it feels like I just boarded despite spending two days in the train 🥰.

I arrived in Chelyabinsk perfectly on time. My urge to leave the station before the cafés in the downtown open is rather limited considering the temperature.

I'll wait until 8 a.m. in the warm waiting hall and then grab some coffee in the city center before boarding my connecting train at 10:20 a.m.

You folks like railways ? Here you are : The Chelyabinsk Children's Railway is dreaming sweet dreams about peaceful times during it's winter rest covered under snow 💙💛.

For me, it's time to grab some coffee and start my day - the train across the Kazakh border is leaving in one hour.

Goodbye Russia, hello Kazakhstan !

#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #Kazakhstan

A last glance at the ice sculpture park in Chelyabinsk and ready to board my train to Petropavl in Kazakhstan.

Petropavl is an interesting railway station since it's served by inner-Russian trains following the south junction of the Trans Siberian Railway. While passengers leaving the train there are formally leaving Russia in Petukhovo, passengers traveling onwards to Omsk and further east remain in Russia as transit traffic - a new visa for foreigners is thereby not necessary.

I'm happy to finally be in the train to Kazakhstan for my part and will enjoy the next 8 hours in a comfy old Купе /Kupe/ upper berth getting gently shaken into sweet dreams.

Stay strong ✊🏽🌈 !

My train has no restaurant, what a scam 😥.

Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.

Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.

(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)

CC : @wrzlbrnft

#FOSSRail #FollowerPower #DuckDuckFedi

mpsi Feb 8

@lewd I haven't been in China for quite a long time, but it seems that https://www.12306.cn/en/index.html might work for you.

However, buying tickets at this moment might be rather tricky, as the Chinese New Year is approaching and everyone is on the move.

12306 CHINA RAILWAY

@mpsi Yeah, everything is booked up.

artemist Feb 8

@lewd Interesting route choice, have fun. I was expecting via Mongolia. a shame that they haven't resumed the regular Ürümqi–Almaty trains, I hope they do at some point. The infrastructure certainly exists given that they do freight and tourist trains.

@artemist Well, you need to change in Khorgas but technically you can do it all trains. My way back will be via Ulaanbaatar tho.

kai Feb 7

@lewd danke dass du uns mitnimmst ich liebe diesen thread 🥰 stay safe

me too! 😍

@lewd thanks for sharing. I've spent so much days and nights in Russian trains and I would love to come back one day and continue.

Eva Feb 6

@diningcar @lewd Das Geschirr könnte ein tolles Souvenir sein 👀

Maartje Feb 6

@lewd no way the russian railways are better at veganism than SNCF….

Albert 🐸Feb 6

@lewd There is a war going on and you decided to sponsor the Russian agressor. More bombs on Kyiv...
#sad #unfollow

tops Feb 6

@koevoet motes and beams, motes and beams...

@lewd

MisterMaker Feb 6

@lewd You are going super fast!

Askold Feb 6

@lewd

Bomb russian cities into ruble with all women and children (non politicaly and respectfully)

Mario Restuccia Feb 6

@lewd glad you made it! Thank for the updates and good luck on РЖД

tops Feb 6

@lewd FUERZA! Wishing you a lovely, relaxing time of it.

(LTE_)Max 🏳️‍🌈 #39c3 📞36797 Feb 6

@lewd Which nationality are you?

@max I have a European citizenship.

@lewd brrrrr

@lewd what's the bit about the 20 EUR bill? No cash allowed?

@tops Yes, the EU sanctions only permit European cash for personal use and the Estonian position on this is personal use means coins only.

tops Feb 5

@lewd 🤯

(LTE_)Max 🏳️‍🌈 #39c3 📞36797 Feb 6

@lewd @tops Yet, one can still plug a foreign card in most ATMs lol.

@max @tops No, not a single European payment card will work in Russia. The only cards still working are Russian MIR cards and Chinese UnionPay cards. Everything from western countries is strictly blocked. I had to take all my money in cash for the four days in Russia.

(LTE_)Max 🏳️‍🌈 #39c3 📞36797 Feb 6

@lewd @tops Ah, then that's distinct from SWIFT which for almost all banks and everyone not on the sanctions list still works.

tops Feb 6

@lewd so paper RUB, yes, but anything else no?

@max @tops Nope.

@lewd @max that's one way to keep hard currency out.

Krugerands?

IT'S A COIN, OK? 🤡

Martijn

Feb 5

@lewd Do you get a nicer sleeper or a more convenient arrival time by splitting it up?

@martijnk No, the direct one from Petersburg is the best connection. Taking the Sapsan would make me take the exactly same train in Moskva. Departure in Petersburg is the same for both trains. It's literally just adding Sapsan and 100 EUR.