#crossborderrail

On the rails again... #Interrail #CrossBorderRail Today, @wendy@mendeddrum.org and I are going to Karlsruhe, for a relaxing side quest, and then ultimately to Weil am Rhein via Basel SBB Today’s (Approximate, I’m still not sure on the timing of the second train) Itinerary: https://moof.space/trip/2026-10-05 And, finally! An ICE! Having been denied my ICE 3 Velaro on Saturday, I’m taking two of them today. This one is an ICE 4, and there may be an ICE 3 (403) later.

I grew up on an island with three train lines. I grew further up on an island that didn’t have a rail connection to the continent til 1994, and that you have to check in as if it were a flight to go there. I now live in a country where there are only 4 trains a day in each direction that go further than the town on the other side of the border… and even the low speed train is advertised as going to Port Bou. The Cerbère stop is only really mentioned if you look very very closely. To me, being able to get on a train to Amsterdam just to get to Hannover, is now normal, but I forget how revolutionary that concept is to those who live in the less connected parts of Europe. When people on fedi talk about #CrossBorderRail, it’s in the context that this sort of thing should become normal all over the place. There are other issues for sure, the border town workers have completely different priorities. But it’s definitely part of it.

I have made it to Weil am Rhein, which, it turns out, is a stop for this train. Now I’m trying to work out if Weil am Rhein Grenze is a stop in Germany or Switzerland. The fun of #CrossBorderRail

Damn I am tired of people laughing about Deutsche Bahn. Travel in many other places in Europe and you will discover Germany is trying to do many things right with its railways. A quick blog post / rant from me: https://jonworth.eu/your-deutsche-bahn-joke-is-no-longer-fu/ #CrossBorderRail

Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Day 17 - 28 Sep - Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig - Frankfurt – Bruxelles New borders: None Borders already crossed: Horka Gbf 🇩🇪 - Wegliniec 🇵🇱 Aachen 🇩🇪 - Welkenraedt 🇧🇪 Today's routes on the routes map: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#8/49.882371/6.766070

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 45 of 49 EC 132 07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04 PKP IC 🚆: Newag Griffin locomotive now, Siemens Vectron later, carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc, 15kV ac) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (lift on board) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ✅ (at least part of the trip) 🧳: 😐 (narrow corridors, tricky with big bags) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 😐 (compulsory res, €3)

EC 132 07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04 Distance: 476.4km Avg speed: 90km/h 11 stops: Opole Glowne Wroclaw Glowny Legnica Chojnow Boleslawiec Wegliniec Hoyerswerda Ruhland Elsterwerda Riesa Leipzig Hbf 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#8/50.913424/15.295715 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 39 of 49 EC 142 11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22 ČD 🚆: Siemens Vectron locomotive, 8 carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (lift on board) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ✅ 🧳: 😐 (hellish high steps to get in) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: ❓ (ZSSK and Interrail say comp res., ČD and DB say not - mystery)

EC 142 11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22 Distance: 83.2km Avg speed: 62km/h 7 stops: Jablunkov-Navsi Trinec-Lyzbice Cesky Tesin Karvina hl.n. Bohumín Ostrava hl.n. Ostrava-Svinov 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#10/49.679477/18.499200 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 40 of 49 Os 3418 12:40 Ostrava-Svinov - Opava východ 13:12 ČD 🚆: Škoda City Elephant EMU, 3 double deck carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (step free if station allows, ramp on board if not) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ⛔️ 🧳: 🙂 (as double deck designs go it’s pretty good!) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

It’s been an amazing day of #CrossBorderRail Days like this - trying to decipher problems in peculiar corners of Europe - are so much fun

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 36 of 49 Os 8528 17:02 Čierna nad Tisou - Košice 18:49 ZSSK 🚆: Škoda Panter EMU, 4 carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (step free, or lift if platform too low) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ⛔️ 🧳: 🙂 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

Os 8528 17:02 Čierna nad Tisou - Košice 18:49 Distance: 94.5km Avg speed: 53km/h 21 stops: Cierna nad Tis. zast Biel Dobra pri Ciernej n.T. Pribenik Velky Hores Somotor Streda nad Bodrogom Borsa Slovenske Nove Mesto Cerhov Michalany Kuzmice Kalsa Slanec Ruskov Bohdanovce Vysna Mysla Nizna Mysla Krasna nad Hornadom Košice predmestie Košice 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#10/48.554630/21.675333 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU

And as I’ve been to Uzhhorod 🇺🇦 - Maťovské Vojkovce 🇸🇰 #CrossBorderRail today, that means I’m missing only 1 active border railway line now: Rybnitsa 🇲🇩 - Klymentove 🇺🇦 As that’s im the north of Transnistria it’s a bit tricky 😀

There was even a #caturday pic from today‘s #CrossBorderRail These kittens were so determinedly eating a grasshopper they were putting themselves in danger in the road in Ruská 🇸🇰 I made sure they were off the road before continuing my trip!

Just re-planned tomorrow’s #CrossBorderRail a bit Leaving Košice a bit earlier means avoiding a 5 min connection in Čadca And more time there means more time to admire one of Europe‘s most unique station buildings. It’s a kind of brutalist mountain shape. There’ll be plenty of pics tomorrow

I like Košice a lot but their Eiffel Tower is a bit weird 😀 #CrossBorderRail

Might be of interest to some of you... 🚅 #Interrail has 15% to 50% discount until 30 September. The passes are valid for 11 months. It came handy for me just now as I'll need to travel Brest-Prague-Brest this autumn but I'm not yet sure exactly when. Great opportunity for some exploring on the way. About the discount: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924726921/en/Interrail-Invites-Travelers-to-Experience-The-Interrail-Effect-with-50-Off-Passes or https://parissecret.com/en/interrail-promotion/ Detailed explanation: https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-an-interrail-pass.htm Interrail: https://www.interrail.com/en #Rail #Trains #CrossBorderRail

From Finland to Portugal by train in just 125 hours. Last week, Jon Worth, a railway activist who advocates for better cross-border train travel across Europe, completed the longest train journey in the EU – from Kemijärvi in northern Finland to Lagos in southern Portugal – in a speedy 125 hours and 31 minutes. https://mediafaro.org/article/20260917-from-finland-to-portugal-by-train-in-just-125-hours?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward #Trains #EU #LongestTrainEU #JonWorth #Rail #Travel #Europe #CrossBorderRail

Damn I’m missing having a bike with me on this bit of #CrossBorderRail I want to see Cáceres but have to rely on city buses that are so slooooow