Let the madness begin!
-
It may have required a spreadsheet, but I have concocted a plan. Someone really needs to make a rail travel planning app for going off the beaten track.
Why do they feel they need to have a great big yellow warning ticker about construction work in Cologne on this Basel-bound ICE well south of Karlsruhe?
-
Why do they feel they need to have a great big yellow warning ticker about construction work in Cologne on this Basel-bound ICE well south of Karlsruhe?
Bienvenue à Bâle !
Good thing I couldn’t go to Strasbourg last night as there are no trains into Basel from there today.
-
Bienvenue à Bâle !
Good thing I couldn’t go to Strasbourg last night as there are no trains into Basel from there today.
The rule is that you have to travel via Delémont if you are going for the west of the country. Bonus twist today: due to engineering works, the trains turn left just outside Biel and head to Lyss.
-
The rule is that you have to travel via Delémont if you are going for the west of the country. Bonus twist today: due to engineering works, the trains turn left just outside Biel and head to Lyss.
Still the best seat in all of Switzerland’s trains.
-
Still the best seat in all of Switzerland’s trains.
The train turns around in Delémont. If it wouldn’t it would eventually end up in Belfort which is also where I wanted to end up last night. So let’s not talk about that.
-
The train turns around in Delémont. If it wouldn’t it would eventually end up in Belfort which is also where I wanted to end up last night. So let’s not talk about that.
I think I figured it out: If you have a paper Interrail pass and it doesn’t have a Swiss stamp yet, the SBB conductor will ask for your passport and otherwise trust their colleagues.
-
I think I figured it out: If you have a paper Interrail pass and it doesn’t have a Swiss stamp yet, the SBB conductor will ask for your passport and otherwise trust their colleagues.
All the (Belgian, Luxemburgian, and German) conductors yesterday just threw up their hands when confronted with this big A4-sized form of a ticket.
-
All the (Belgian, Luxemburgian, and German) conductors yesterday just threw up their hands when confronted with this big A4-sized form of a ticket.
The train stops in an industrial estate outside Biel for transfer to the city bus. Afterwards, the conductor is a bit surprised to still find me on the train.
-
The train stops in an industrial estate outside Biel for transfer to the city bus. Afterwards, the conductor is a bit surprised to still find me on the train.
Onwards to Bern on something modern or some classic railway to Kerzers? Rhetoric question.
-
Onwards to Bern on something modern or some classic railway to Kerzers? Rhetoric question.
They sneakily added a low-floor section to the train by cutting an old carriage in half and sticking a newly build portion with Jacobs bogie between the halves.
-
They sneakily added a low-floor section to the train by cutting an old carriage in half and sticking a newly build portion with Jacobs bogie between the halves.
Kerzers is basically a pretty signal box where the SBB and BLS lines intersect at grade. They like classic American cars here, so why not have classic American railroad features.
(Unlike in Germany, where it would still be in use, the signal box is now a museum: https://www.stellwerk-kerzers.ch)
-
Kerzers is basically a pretty signal box where the SBB and BLS lines intersect at grade. They like classic American cars here, so why not have classic American railroad features.
(Unlike in Germany, where it would still be in use, the signal box is now a museum: https://www.stellwerk-kerzers.ch)
This is all ridiculously lovely and wholesome. The Rules dictate that there must be some heinous crimes going on.
-
This is all ridiculously lovely and wholesome. The Rules dictate that there must be some heinous crimes going on.
Murten – Fribourg definitely goes on the list of railway lines that are way prettier than they have any right to be.
I suspect the whole region east of the lakes is highly underrated.
-
Murten – Fribourg definitely goes on the list of railway lines that are way prettier than they have any right to be.
I suspect the whole region east of the lakes is highly underrated.
Prochain arrêt: Cheese!
-
Prochain arrêt: Cheese!
We all went down to Montreux
on the Lake Geneva shoreline. -
We all went down to Montreux
on the Lake Geneva shoreline.Have a bit of culture, as suggested by @grauzone.
They also renamed a section of the Grand Rue in memory of Funky Claude, which is nice.
-
Have a bit of culture, as suggested by @grauzone.
They also renamed a section of the Grand Rue in memory of Funky Claude, which is nice.
I had hoped that a Sunday evening train up into the mountains would be nicely quiet. Instead it is full of tired, cranky toddlers.
-
I had hoped that a Sunday evening train up into the mountains would be nicely quiet. Instead it is full of tired, cranky toddlers.
This climb out of the Rhône valley never gets old.
-
This climb out of the Rhône valley never gets old.
It’s not too shabby further up either!
-
It’s not too shabby further up either!
“Fall down there and be dead for a while!”