@PGLux yep. I can’t do them all today. If I had the Birdy I could have, but I am taking a regular bike (to then leave in Ravières) and so have a slow series of TER trains French side. So have to leave Saint-Louis latest 15:00.
But pretty much no TGVs take bikes. So from Basel to Nuits-sous-Ravières later it’s only regional trains for me… with 4 changes between Basel and Nuits 😳
@nblr when I took that ECE a few weeks ago the train was knackered inside. Was a bit disappointed. Related: from December that’ll use a Stadler Giruno instead, and those take bikes.
This is what the bike compartment in a ICE4 looks like
Some rather thoughtless person has put a bike in a case in the aisle to the right here, when they could have made everyone’s life easier stowing it to the left
✅ Perfect ICE trip from Berlin - calm and on-time to Mannheim (even the Riedbahn didn’t let me down)
✅ Combination of Interrail and BahnBonus works to get you into DB Lounges 🙂
✅ Got some excellent news on funding for #CrossBorderRail projects this autumn
Today is going pretty well so far! 🙂
Next: ICE to Basel, then 🚲 to a bunch of borders, then onwards into France
@lewd No Lauterbourg today. I’m checking all the secondary borders at Basel today (although I’m not hopeful I’ll find anything that needs improving though)
@PGLux@jon@lewd There are some studies around but Lörrach can't decide where to built a tram which doesn't run too close to the existing Wiesentalbahn.
I'd rather prefer a tram extension from Weil to Riehen and then on to Lörrach. So services between Weil and Lörrach would be much improved.
St-Louis Grenze - St-Louis Gare (tram 11) would be highly necessary but as always local citizens are too afraid to lose parking spaces in the city center.
@kristianaas the part I am especially happy about is finally going to Ireland, and investigating the border to Northern Ireland. But there are lots of other interesting events and trips too! And for the first time in ages a NightJet in there too.
Oh, you got a different way of funding it? Sounds good!
Just wondering as I've seen you do short on location interviews with journalists: have you ever considered asking a journalistic radio/podcast maker to accompany you for a longer time (like a multi day trip, from start to finish)?
@Pepijn sort of. This autumn it is built sort of backwards. I have a bunch of events and work contracts that are paid, and I am stitching #CrossBorderRail around those, and have a little funding for some of the rail parts, especially the days in Ireland.
There are regional services here, and the occasional night train going to the Lörrach Autoreisezugterminal - but I see no real additional potential here as the line ends in Zell im Wiesental
There won’t be much - if any - drone photography today though. The proximity of the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg restricts where I can fly (although Riehen-Lörrach will work - but is there anything worth photographing?)
ICE 103
10:35 Mannheim Hbf - Basel Bad Bf 12:36
DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 249 km
Average speed: 124 km/h
Train type: ICE4 long version
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (needs reservation)
🦽: ✅ (on board lift)
🛜: ❓ (supposed to be, but so slow it’s unuseable)
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 🙂 (good racks)
🧽: 🙂
@jon It's actually an interesting station for a number of reasons: It's fully within Switzerland, but operated by Deutsche Bahn and still within the EU customs union, meaning travelers can be subject to customs checks while leaving the station, but you can switch trains coming from Germany and going back into it without leaving the EU customs union. Also it's not owned by DB, but by the German government directly.
@jon@NiklasMM Bought my first Bahncard 100 from the DB booking office there. Had to go into the Swiss post office next door half an hour before closing asking for seven thousand euros in cash. The lady said: “I’m sorry,” break for effect, “I’ll have to go to the back for that.” Walking with seven grand in an envelope even for just a few hundred metres was … weird. Coming back to the booking office, the gentleman at the counter waved me to skip the queue. I think I fixed his provision for weeks.
The argument continues. The passenger changes her story to the reduction card being from a friend. But by low the train manager is at the end of his nerves. As the passengers won’t pay they’re likely to be accompanied off the train by police at Belfort I reckon.
@jon
In our humble experience, the train connections were ok, but rather strange - we wanted to get back from Saint-Vit to Basel with our bikes and had to switch trains three (?) times, with rather long layovers each time...
@plonksi Yes. Today for a Saint-Louis to Nuits-sous-Ravières trip I’m changing in Mulhouse, Belfort, Besançon-Viotte and Dijon Ville. Oh for more TGVs that convey bikes!
So - as promised - a summary of what I looked at today
Former 1000mm Basel tramway - Riehen 🇨🇭 - Lörrach 🇩🇪
The tram turning loop is currently right at the border, Swiss side. Extending it along the main road into Lörrach would not be hard - but there it’d run right parallel to the railway. And it’s not obvious where else to put it! Chances this changes: low
Solid S-Bahn cross border service that runs every 30 mins. Not much more that could be done without double tracking the line. This is about as good as it can be given current infra. Chances this changes: low to medium
1000mm Basel Tramway - Weil am Rhein 🇩🇪 - Basel 🇨🇭
This tram crosses Friedlingen in Germany before terminating with a strange looking turning loop at a shopping centre at Weil am Rhein station, at the edge of the town centre. Weil is big enough to justify extending it along the main street, but chances of this are low
The rail bridge over the Rhein was dismantled in 1937, so all that’s left are some industrial railways on both sides. The bridge is also some way north of the centres of Weil and Huningue, so I can’t see a tram working here either. Actually using the industrial lines would be a start!
A real missed opportunity. The line extends well into France, but serves neither the airport (a couple of km further) nor the centre of Saint-Louis, which is the other side of the railway line from where the tram is. Fixing these faults would make a lot of sense! Chances: medium
I didn’t analyse the main rail borders today as I’ve taken them loads of times - Weil am Rhein 🇩🇪 - Basel Bad Bf 🇨🇭 and Basel St Johann 🇨🇭 - Saint-Louis 🇫🇷. I’ve also been to Grenzach 🇩🇪 - Basel Bad Bf 🇨🇭 before, and electrification is planned there.
So in Basel all I’m missing is the tram via Leymen 🇫🇷.
Until 01/07/90 (i.e. free movement of capital within 🇪🇺 and between 🇪🇺 and Third Countries, countless suitcases full with banknotes / gold would be thrown from the bridges (🇫🇷 ) down to this road (🇨🇭 )
@jon The tram, IIRC, is also technically in Switzerland through the entire journey (leaving from the Swiss sector of the terminal and not stopping in French territory).
@jon For the extension to the airport the first tracks are already laid behind the railway station, but the problem is that the need for the existing bus line via the neutral road stays, because of customs issues.
Turns out that tomorrow I'll have to fly to Basel and I'll have no choice but have to rent a car to get to my final destination because the public transports from this airport to France is just so bad.
First time I'll fly since 2018, I really don't look forward to it...
@alfajet@jon Where are you going in France? At least there are half-hourly connections operated by Distribus to Saint-Louis station with hourly (sometimes even half-hourly) connecting TER services to Mulhouse and Strasbourg.
@wrzlbrnft
I'm going to a small town in Franche Comté. I'll land around 8pm, there won't be anymore trains for me at that time, believe me, I checked. The latest train was around 5pm, lol.
And when I am lucky enough to have an early flight, the changes are usually so bad that it takes 2.5h vs 1.5h by car. Done that many times when I was student...
I usually take the eurostar / tgv to Besançon instead but tomorrow's prices are way too expensive... @jon
@jon There are plans to double track this route in the Riehen area to increase S6 dervices to a 15 minutes Takt. But decision has still to be maked if this should be in a tunnel or not.
@jon@PGLux They were cleaner and tidier before they have improved the service frequency. All the consist were the renovated (Alsace livery) corails. But after they acquired corail cars from other regions (and most of them about to be scrapped- so they are mosly worn out. Now most of the consists are mixed. Like this photo, this is old SNCF long distance interior, not the original TER 200 one.
@PGLux@jon The legroom in second class corails are a disgrace too ! I am wondering if they have added extra seats for TER services for increasing capacity. I took an Ouigo Vitesse Classique in last summer and the seatpitch felt way more spacious.
Originally, open-room 2nd-class cars on TER200 were all B11tu (88 seats).
But after some 10 years of operation, luggage-racks were removed at one end of the open-room, increasing the capacity to 92 seats, although such cars were not re-named B11 1/2tu.
@jon Two of my favourite excuses (both in the UK) were someone pretending to be surprised when the guard told them their season ticket expired in April (it was August), and a man I saw pick a ticket up off the train floor which turned out to be valid between two stations that train wasn't going to
@jon whuaaa, is only forced to pay full fare?!
In Switzerland that would be fraudulent use and will result in a high penalty fare (more than the standard 100.- for traveling without ticket) and brought to a legal proceeding 🫣
@jon I was told the following story.
In a TGV between Paris and Lille-Flandres, a 50-year old woman showed her ticket to the train manager.
Train manager: Could you show me the reduction card?
Train manager: It is not an appropriate card to benefit of "famille nombreuse (large family)" tariff
Woman: Why?
Train manager: It is a Belgian "famille nombreuse" reduction card. It is not valid in France.
Afterwards, the woman tried to argue…
@jon
I'm sure it's not practical but this jeweled finish makes me want to populate a disco ball with retro reflectors. Maybe it's interesting to see in the dark with some focused lights on it. Maybe it's a little more interesting to focus a light on it in the dark while it spins
@jon
I worked on renovating the Weil-am-Rhein train station in 2016 after the tram had been installed.
It was one of the few projects where everything was financed and managed by entities outside of the DB. The cities of Basel and Weil-am-Rhein wanted the train station to be modern and to the level of the new tram they had built, but the DB basically said "we're not doing it". So the cities financed the project, did all of the project management and gave the finished station back to the DB.
@jon
It was a lot of fun to work on the project because everyone was actually really motivated to do the best job possible. The DB people mostly just saw us as an annoyance and did the minimum they were required (mostly validating our drawings).
The coordinators, planners, controllers were all super motivated, and the city did their best to allow the project to be as successful as possible.
I hope you enjoy our grey stairs in a grey train station, they were installed with love :)
I feel like DB Station & Service probably never got the focus and funding required internally to make a good job.
Internal politics and the prestige of DB Netz AG internally was making it difficult for things not related to the trains themselves to get the needed support.
I never worked for the DB directly, so just speculating.
@jon Double-track is planned here to increase frequency. But Riehen and possibly also Lörrach wish for a tunnel, which woul of course open only much later and would be vastly more expensive.
@jon The Basel trams have a nasty surprise: you get free travel on them with any hotel accommodation in Basel, but it does not apply past the German border. Nowhere on the ticket, nor at tram stops, does this say this. Meanwhile, immediately north of the border, the trams are swarming with German ticket inspectors reeling in their catch.
@jon@acb
I'm reminded of that bit in Norse mythology where Loki manages to avoid being beheaded by the dwarf Brok after losing a wager because, as Loki says, Brok has a right to his head but not to a single inch of his neck. Oh sure, you have a right to this side of the border and to that side of the border but the border... hmm...
Ideally, it should become as famous as Llivia 🇪🇸 was in the 🇫🇷 geography exam for the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires in the late-19th / early-20th centuries.
Travelled on a couple of ICE routes last week & was curious about 1st class carriage config on ICE703 with several 5 person "Covid compartments" & loads of advertising but no WC at one end, & only 1WC at the other end & no separate luggage racks for big cases. This is a long distance route (Hamburg-Munich) so it was weird there was no space for cases (had to sit for 3 hrs with case between my knees). Is this the new ICE normal? Must admit I was glad to be on an SBB train for return to CH!
@hengymrohebwlad ICE 703 is supposed to run with a ICE1 (BR 401) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICE_1 and so those compartments have been there from the start. But yes, for large luggage these trains are not as good as later ICEs. These trains are in the course of being renovated though... So honestly it's the old normal that is being phased out!
@hengymrohebwlad Those ICE1s actually have decent overhead racks - which is fine for medium size stuff, but no more. Hoisting stuff up there is no simple task!
@jon i often fix that bydeactivating a trip and reacrivating. But never lost today’s trip when on a train yet, maybe because i keep opening it every once in a while to see if it still works
@jon I usually turn on airplane right before ticket inspection and it does the trick. Sometimes it doesn’t though and then gotta ask the inspector to wait 5 minutes 😬
@jon Did you ever run into trouble because of the app?
So far I haven't but I wouldn't be surprised if people actually get thrown of a train because of this issue.
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