Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 07 - 4 Mar - Almere - Utrecht - Arnhem - Duisburg
New borders:
None
Borders already crossed:
Emmerich 🇩🇪 - Zevenaar 🇳🇱
Speech at RailTech Utrecht, followed by a meeting of European Rail Passengers Union. And then onwards to Germany to end the day, to be able to make a early start tomorrow towards Hungary.
Today's routes on the routes map:
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#10/51.901068/5.962185
Here’s today‘s #CrossBorderRail intro video, sorry for loud train noise behind!
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 18 of 80
RE 4925
08:24 Almere Muziekwijk - Utrecht Centraal 09:05
NS
Train type: Bombardier SLT 2400 EMU, 2x 4 short carriages
⚡️ (1.5kV dc)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ⛔️
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 😐 (not the best - poor racks, needs more space in vestibules)
🧽: 😐 (windows grimy)
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
RE 4925
08:24 Almere Muziekwijk - Utrecht Centraal 09:05
Distance: 42.4km
Average speed: 69km/h
6 stops:
Almere Poort
Naarden-Bussum
Hilversum
Hilversum Sportpark
Utrecht Overvecht
Utrecht Centraal
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#11/52.228827/5.129720
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
My workshop about #CrossChannelRail is first, at 10:10
There aren’t many people in the hall yet. And do people who care about track fastenings care about this? We‘ll see 🤔
No live stream though sadly
Quick escape from RailTech and walk into Utrecht
Utrecht Centraal is both rather uncharming and amazing. The amazing passenger/rail/bike capacity here is impressive
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 22 of 83
IC 3075
20:54 Utrecht Centraal - Arnhem Centraal 21:29
NS
Train type: Talbot VIRM EMU, 4 double deck carriages
⚡️ (1.5kV dc)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (ramp on platform)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 😐 (not the worst design, but still a mess with big bags)
🧽: ☹️ (covered in grime)
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
IC 3075
20:54 Utrecht Centraal - Arnhem Centraal 21:29
Distance: 56.7km
Average speed: 97km/h
3 stops:
Driebergen-Zeist
Ede-Wageningen
Arnhem Centraal
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#10/52.095961/5.431366
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 23 of 83
RE19 (21235)
22:45 Arnhem Centraal - Emmerich 23:05
VIAS Rail GmbH
Train type: Stadler EMU, 6 short carriages
⚡️ (1.5kV dc, 25kV ac, 15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ⛔️ (installed but broken)
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
RE19 (21235)
22:45 Arnhem Centraal - Emmerich 23:05
Distance: 30.9km
Average speed: 93km/h
3 stops:
Zevenaar
Emmerich-Elten
Emmerich
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#12/51.910073/6.077843
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 24 of 83
RE19 (20043)
23:08 Emmerich - Duisburg Hbf 00:15
VIAS Rail GmbH
Train type: Stadler EMU, 6 short carriages
⚡️ (15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂️
🧽: 😐 (end of the day, quite a lot of rubbish inside)
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
RE19 (20043)
23:08 Emmerich - Duisburg Hbf 00:15
Distance: 68.2km
Average speed: 61km/h
13 stops:
Praest
Millingen(b Rees)
Empel-Rees
Haldern(Rheinl)
Mehrhoog
Wesel Feldmark
Wesel
Voerde(Niederrhein)
Dinslaken
Oberhausen-Holten
Oberhausen-Sterkrade
Oberhausen Hbf
Duisburg Hbf
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#11/51.632411/6.555390
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
Ah, problems ahead #CrossBorderRail
What do I do?
Change in Nürnberg, get the diverted ICE via Ingolstadt and Passau instead?
Stay on, assuming they will add a Betriebshalt in Ingolstadt, and still get the ICE to Wien there?
Stay on to München and hope it all works? 🤔
Est delay: 1 hour in München. 💥go my #CrossBorderRail connections.
Let’s re-plan this then…
Depart Plattling
4 guys, plain clothes, stand by the door
That'll be police I thought
They come through the train
The control first a guy with his neck covered in tattoos (there are no ethnic minority passengers in view)
And then they control ME
(Translated here into English, but discussion was in German)
First, to make it clear, these were Polizei Bayern, NOT Bundespolizei
Police, showing his ID: "Gruß Gott!" (Bavarian hello, means Greet God! - always makes this atheist annoyed). "Identity check!"
Me: "Could I ask, why are you controlling?"
P: "This is a train to Austria!"
M: "Yes, we are LEAVING Germany!"
P: "Yes, but it is still a border!"
M: "But sorry, I am leaving. Why are you checking?"
P: "But we are checking for illegal migration! As the Bavarian police law allows us!"
M: "So is this a border control then?"
P, stumbles a bit, realises what I am trying: "It is, errr, an identity control"
M: "OK, that was the right answer." and I hand him my ID.
His colleague: "We are allowed to control"
M: "Yes, I know, and this is not your fault - this is decided by Berlin and to some extent München, it's not your decision."
P colleague: "But why is this a problem?"
M: "Look, I work on railway policy, and my background is in EU politics, and I see this over and over. In the EU I find this annoying."
P: "But the controls are only temporary, so they are legally compliant"
M: "Yes, temporary for six months, renewed every six months. How many times do we have to renew before they are permanent?"
He realised he was not going to win this, and it was all impeccably civil.
P: "But why are these controls actually limiting your freedom of movement?"
M: "Well, to give you your due you are doing this in a moving train. That is not the case at every German border!"
P looks confused.
M: "At Kehl for example, they stop and delay every train for 15 minutes - that is a limit on freedom of movement."
P nodded.
Anyway, it makes me hopping mad this sort of thing is happening. WHY THE HELL DO WE NEED 4 DUDES GOING THROUGH ICE TRAINS DOING THIS? 🤬
But at least they knew the law, and were friendly and polite, and I wished them a nice day.
Reminded by @Sobex of a #Schengen argument I had with the Budespolizei in Puttgarden
I wrote a blog post about it here:
https://jonworth.eu/non-schengen-compliant-border-control-at-puttgarden-21st-january-2013-1244/
And that was 2013! 😳
I have been arguing with border guards for more than 13 years. FFS
Today I'm at least as angry at myself as a blogger (who was not adequately prepared) as I am about yet another breach of EU law and Schengen. My ICE train had just left the ferry, heading into Germany at Puttgarden at 1244, and was stationary at the station when
And the one that started this whole #Schengen arguing with police on trains thing was in 2012, in St Jean de Maurienne https://jonworth.eu/non-schengen-compliant-border-control-between-st-jean-de-maurienne-and-modane-9th-october-2012-1240/
And there are quite a few blog posts! https://jonworth.eu/tag/schengen/
Four French police boarded the front carriage of the 0749 Paris Gare de Lyon – Milano Garibaldi TGV at St Jean de Maurienne on 9th October. The train was running with a delay of around 55 minutes, hence departing from St Jean at around 1230. At 1240 the four police entered
Oooof
ICE comes to an abrupt stop in Amstetten
Police called
They found what looked like a package of drugs in a toilet! 🤯 I saw police removing it
Anyway, as the doors were open I hopped off, and onto a Wien-bound InterCity!
The lady who found the package was sat near me. We chatted.
“Shall I jump out and take the IC?” I mused
“They’ll think you’re the suspect!” she laughed in reply 😀
I also presume the lost package of drugs didn’t have a SNCF luggage label on them? 🤔
N’oubliez rien!
As @SarahAS2 reminds me, I got questioned by Bavarian police earlier
Did they miss the drugs in the toilet? 🤔
Would have been very funny if they had!
It’s amusing these tiny Jenbacher railbuses still serve Wien Hbf
The best railbuses ever built though
The obvious question: if you can make a song out of the SNCF jingle, has anyone done the same with MÁV jingles?
Meanwhile in France there’s a problem with invasive passengers travelling without reservations. And SNCF employees think liberalisation is to blame!
Ces derniers jours sur la ligne de TGV Paris Nantes, les travailleurs de la SNCF ont eu la mauvaise surprise de voir apparaître des cafards dans le wagon bar où ils travaillent. Malgré les alertes des travailleurs, le train est pourtant parti sans aucun traitement du problème.
Right then, the assessments, finally!
Now everything is re-mapped and re-planned...
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 26 of 86
ICE 1221
10:39 Nürnberg Hbf - Amstetten (via Ingolstadt) 14:55
DB Fernverkehr, ÖBB
Train type: Siemens, Alstom ICE T tilting EMU, 2x 7 carriages
⚡️ (15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (needs lift on platform)
🛜: ✅ (slow, but it worked)
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂
🧽: 🙂 (it looked knackered, but it was clean)️
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
Top score!
ICE 1221
10:39 Nürnberg Hbf - Amstetten (via Ingolstadt) 14:55
Distance: 448.5km
Average speed: 105km/h
7 stops:
Ingolstadt Hbf
Regensburg Hbf
Plattling
Passau Hbf
Wels Hbf
Linz Hbf
Amstetten (unplanned stop - police called to confiscate a suspicious package, presumed to be drugs)
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#8/48.755074/12.979565
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 27 of 86
IC 647
15:06 Amstetten - Wien Hbf 16:03
ÖBB
Train type: Stadler EMU, 6 double deck carriages
⚡️ (15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅ (vending machine and coffee)
🧳: 🙂 (as good as a double deck design can be)
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
Another top score! These Austrians are doing something right 🙂
IC 647
15:06 Amstetten - Wien Hbf 16:03
Distance: 124.9km
Average speed: 131km/h
4 stops:
St. Pölten
Tullnerfeld
Wien Meidling
Wien Hbf
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#10/48.207852/15.629860
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 28 of 86
EC 149
16:42 Wien Hbf - Budapest-Kelenföld 19:04
MÁV, ÖBB
Train type: Siemens Taurus locomotive, 6 carriages
⚡️ (15kV ac, 25kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (lift on platform in Austria, use of on board lift in Hungary)
🛜: ⛔ (not in my carriage)️
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 😐 (narrow corridors, but OK once in)️
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
EC 149
16:42 Wien Hbf - Budapest-Kelenföld 19:04
Distance: 246.4km
Average speed: 104km/h
5 stops:
Hegyeshalom
Mosonmagyarovar
Györ
Tatabanya
Budapest-Kelenföld
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#9/47.817187/17.748560
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 29 of 86
R 3511
19:16 Budapest-Kelenföld - Köbanya-Kispest 19:31
MÁV
Train type: Stadler EMU, 4 short single deck carriages
⚡️ (25kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free if station allows, otherwise an on board lift)
🛜: ❓ (didn't check)
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂️
🧽: 🙂️
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
R 3511
19:16 Budapest-Kelenföld - Köbanya-Kispest 19:31
Distance: 11.4km
Average speed: 46km/h
2 stops:
Ferencváros
Köbanya-Kispest
This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#13/47.471001/19.084810
Tours in Spring 2026. 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.
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 30 of 86
IC 718
20:06 Köbanya-Kispest - Szeged 22:16
MÁV
Train type: Siemens Taurus locomotive, 6 carriages
⚡️ (25kV ac)
🚲: ✅ (loads of bike spaces)
🦽: ✅ (lift on board in one carriage)
🛜: ⛔ (not where I am sat)️
🍽️: ✅
🧳: ☹️ (super high steps, narrow doors - hellish)️
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
@orangerkater No beer :-/
BUT I am doing a similar trip 23 April, might have time in Wien that day (depends if Orbán has opened his Chinese financed railway line to Serbia by then, or not)
@reben.bsky.social @jon #JustBayernThings
Hier der relevante Passus aus Schleswig-Holstein. Wir haben so ein explizites Verbot des Racial Profiling drin, beschlossen durch Schwarz-Gelb-Grün 2021
Jon Worth
Daniel
Quixoticgeek
Hubert Figuière
Rémi Cardona
Michael 🐸
Indra Kupferschmid 💙💛
~n
Maartje
pglux.bsky.social
Martin Seeger
Sarah Wilson
notsoloud
210561 ✨ [Q]
Riley S. Faelan
orangerkater
Ben R
Benedikt Neuzweig