Interrail 14-24 June 2022
In June 2022, I set off towards the mainland again after a 3-year gap caused by Covid-19. The €9 ticket referred to in this account was a spin-off from the Covid-19 pandemic in the shape of a German federal government initiative to get people using public transport again. A month's travel on all buses, trams and non-IC trains in second class cost €9. A bargain indeed, and applicable for June, July and August 2022. I’m hoping that’s the last mention of the pandemic for this trip, but time will tell. Another newcomer for this trip was the Interrail mobile pass, built into a mobile phone app which included a pan-European timetable search facility. This avoided all those scrawled entries on a pile of diary sheets and the efforts to persuade ticket inspectors not to grip your ticket more than once per day.
In June 2022, I set off towards the mainland again after a 3-year gap caused by Covid-19. The €9 ticket referred to in this account was a spin-off from the Covid-19 pandemic in the shape of a German federal government initiative to get people using public transport again. A month's travel on all buses, trams and non-IC trains in second class cost €9. A bargain indeed, and applicable for June, July and August 2022. I’m hoping that’s the last mention of the pandemic for this trip, but time will tell. Another newcomer for this trip was the Interrail mobile pass, built into a mobile phone app which included a pan-European timetable search facility. This avoided all those scrawled entries on a pile of diary sheets and the efforts to persuade ticket inspectors not to grip your ticket more than once per day.
Tuesday 14.6.22
Up at hideous o’clock for a traditional early start on 05:46 to Wolverhampton for Avanti's 06:27 to Euston. All proceeded calmly until just before Milton Keynes where my Interrail failed its first encounter with the gripper. Further developments awaited. Prior to that, breakfast had been provided in the shape of a bacon sarnie and two cups of ‘tea'. Full marks for pasteurised milk, but the tea...
Arrived at St Pancras about 08:45, to be told to come back at 09:30. Seeing the queue for 09:31 Paris this wasn’t such bad news and having rehydrated at a local Nisa shop and returned as requested, check-in took only 15 minutes followed by a 90 minute wait in the appalling sweaty confines of the Eurostar festering area. Why didn’t they build it big enough? We should be told.
All aboard in good time, then 4 minutes before departure, ‘train’s bost, all out, round to P9’. Luckily I’m in coach 1 (London end) - bet those in coach 16 loved it ...
61 late from St P, thus wrecking the day’s plan. Reasonable micro-lunch from E*, served at the posh (Brexit) end while they were still provisioning the other (foreign Johnnies) end. Thank goodness I reinvested my 10% discount in making the Interrail FC. More or less to schedule eventually, arriving at Brussel Zuid exactly an hour late. Two connections missed, nothing for it but to fester in a very warm Brussel until the green door lights lit up on ICE 317, the 16:22 to Aachen and Frankfurt. This left 2 down, contrived to be 12 late from B-Noord then ground to a halt just beyond the platform. At 16:58 it’s now piling down the high speed line apparently in rude health. My fears about my Interrail pass were allayed when the gripper scanned it and declared alles gut.
The ICE kept time the rest of the way and was 10 or so late at Aachen, putting me an overall 2h10m behind what I’d hoped (but not expected).
The decision was to do only Heinsberg today as it had been a long haul, so the (late running) 18:37 was taken. Rear unit required as the train divides at Lindern. RE at 07:22 tomorrow is required, to pick up the original plan at Rheydt. And so to Heinsberg, a pleasant little branch and not as flat and boring as I feared. Straight back on the same unit, and surprised to be asked for my passport when I presented my €9 ticket, purchased at the first ticket machine I came to after stepping on to German soil at Aachen. It’s such a bargain I’m surprised anybody bothers to try not paying. [Must have been a fully paid up jobsworth as this didn’t happen again in the remaining 10 days - but I had no reason to object, and didn’t. He was quite within his rights to ask of course, as you're required to write your name on the ticket as soon as you buy it, as with the normal Ländertickets. Fortunately I'd remembered to do this.]
Back at Aachen I felt bound to celebrate the superb Test [cricket] win, so to the Ibis Budget via Zum Alten Zollhaus and its Mühlen (Mill, but possibly Windmill implied) Kölsch, a very pleasant example of the style. The €9 ticket proved its worth with a bus up to the central bus station, which is across the road from the Ibis Budget, something I hadn’t registered before.
Up at hideous o’clock for a traditional early start on 05:46 to Wolverhampton for Avanti's 06:27 to Euston. All proceeded calmly until just before Milton Keynes where my Interrail failed its first encounter with the gripper. Further developments awaited. Prior to that, breakfast had been provided in the shape of a bacon sarnie and two cups of ‘tea'. Full marks for pasteurised milk, but the tea...
Arrived at St Pancras about 08:45, to be told to come back at 09:30. Seeing the queue for 09:31 Paris this wasn’t such bad news and having rehydrated at a local Nisa shop and returned as requested, check-in took only 15 minutes followed by a 90 minute wait in the appalling sweaty confines of the Eurostar festering area. Why didn’t they build it big enough? We should be told.
All aboard in good time, then 4 minutes before departure, ‘train’s bost, all out, round to P9’. Luckily I’m in coach 1 (London end) - bet those in coach 16 loved it ...
61 late from St P, thus wrecking the day’s plan. Reasonable micro-lunch from E*, served at the posh (Brexit) end while they were still provisioning the other (foreign Johnnies) end. Thank goodness I reinvested my 10% discount in making the Interrail FC. More or less to schedule eventually, arriving at Brussel Zuid exactly an hour late. Two connections missed, nothing for it but to fester in a very warm Brussel until the green door lights lit up on ICE 317, the 16:22 to Aachen and Frankfurt. This left 2 down, contrived to be 12 late from B-Noord then ground to a halt just beyond the platform. At 16:58 it’s now piling down the high speed line apparently in rude health. My fears about my Interrail pass were allayed when the gripper scanned it and declared alles gut.
The ICE kept time the rest of the way and was 10 or so late at Aachen, putting me an overall 2h10m behind what I’d hoped (but not expected).
The decision was to do only Heinsberg today as it had been a long haul, so the (late running) 18:37 was taken. Rear unit required as the train divides at Lindern. RE at 07:22 tomorrow is required, to pick up the original plan at Rheydt. And so to Heinsberg, a pleasant little branch and not as flat and boring as I feared. Straight back on the same unit, and surprised to be asked for my passport when I presented my €9 ticket, purchased at the first ticket machine I came to after stepping on to German soil at Aachen. It’s such a bargain I’m surprised anybody bothers to try not paying. [Must have been a fully paid up jobsworth as this didn’t happen again in the remaining 10 days - but I had no reason to object, and didn’t. He was quite within his rights to ask of course, as you're required to write your name on the ticket as soon as you buy it, as with the normal Ländertickets. Fortunately I'd remembered to do this.]
Back at Aachen I felt bound to celebrate the superb Test [cricket] win, so to the Ibis Budget via Zum Alten Zollhaus and its Mühlen (Mill, but possibly Windmill implied) Kölsch, a very pleasant example of the style. The €9 ticket proved its worth with a bus up to the central bus station, which is across the road from the Ibis Budget, something I hadn’t registered before.
Happy campers enjoying the lo-o-ong walk between the front coaches of two Eurostars via the buffer stop ends
|
152 112 approaching Aachen Hbf with a westbound freight on 14.6.22 |
Wednesday 15.6.22
Up with (before) the lark, a welcome shower, and away to the station by bus, arriving to find McDs not open and Yorma’s queue out of the door. 06:50 therefore instead of the planned 07:22 to Rheydt, allowing time to go through to Mönchengladbach before going to Dalheim. A lot of chitchat over the PA from the driver but it seemed (hopefully) only to relate to minor moleworks which we’ve now passed.
If only. OK as far as Mgb, but 08:31 Dalheim cancelled, no reason given. Quick rethink, decision to get 09:31 then man of steel to Schwerte via Mettmann - Wuppertal. 09:31 reported 10 late. Oh well, flag it then. 09:34 S-Bahn to Düsseldorf was the plan, so get that. No, it’s cancelled too. Ah but wait, 09:45 RE to Essen will do. It’ll get there before the 09:54 S-Bahn. Ah, it’s at the platform but not going until 10:00 according to the platform display. I foolishly believe this, assuming it’s waiting for crew. I’m just walking towards it at 09:45 when it ups and goes. Simultaneously the 09:31 Dalheim wanders off in the other direction... Oh well, 09:54 S-Bahn might do, changing at Düsseldorf -Bilk to minimise connection time. Delayed departure at Neuss so baled out there in case the S28 was let past. S8 promptly departs! S28 duly arrives and I get on. Leaves just 2 late. Stops. 16 late by Düsseldorf Hbf, just across the river (ish). Off we go towards my 20 minute connection at Wuppertal Vohwinkel, with dire warnings of moleworks before Erkrath-Nord. No problem, but time lost and my connection, seemingly the only train in the Ruhrgebiet on time, was missed. On arrival at Wuppertal Hbf there was supposed to be an 11:43 to Hagen. Couldn’t find it on the sheet, wasn’t on the departure display. I found it just in time and peace reigned to Hagen. There, the connection to Schwerte was ready and waiting and in the end I only lost 17 minutes. Oh, and Dalheim which probably will rankle for the rest of my natural. [Wrong, see below!]
So onwards from Schwerte (busy town, good choice of modestly priced ales at REWE and a mayo-free sarnie from Kamp.) IC 2321 rolled in several minutes early and according to the onboard displays, unsure if it was going to Friedberg or Frankfurt. Whichever (Frankfurt seemingly), it did the approved curve to Hagen-Kabel and on arrival all seemed well. IC 2320 was supposedly on time. Then the display changed - cancelled for repairs. Next IC round the curve is too late to get to Berlin so flag that, and off to Hagen for ICE to Berlin.
All goodish at Hagen, 5 minutes late and no WiFi in the ICE1. Get to Hamm, vast crowds pile on from another failure, we lurch off 10 late and get 50 metres. Declared a failure, then declared not a failure (27 mins late now and still haven’t moved). For some reason, mainly idleness, staying put seemed a good bet and so it proved. [Up to a point]. On the move 30 late. At the time of writing we’re approaching Hannover where no doubt further chaos will ensue - although perhaps many pax will leave as well as many joining. First Class is currently full and standing, not a common occurrence.
Approaching Hannover we were on the slow lines and went round the south side of a wagon works west of Seelze but apparently nothing rare. [This was, presumably, line 1750 on the south side of Seelze yard]. Bombshell after Hannover when someone turned up with what seemed a perfectly legitimate reservation for my Ggf Reserviert seat. As several people had already been turfed out without complaint I argued the point politely but had to give in. I had to sit on the floor all the way to Spandau along with many others. There seemed no point in even looking in steerage.
So, cheesed off in the extreme, when we rolled into Spandau I baled out with the intention of doing S9 to the airport. A few minutes research while on the S9 convinced me this would take much longer than it gained so I baled at Zoo, went for a quick nosh at McDs and got the S5 out to Mahlsdorf. More benefit from the €9 ticket as a 398 took me out to somewhere quite a way from the hotel. [But further still from S-Mahlsdorf, and at least in the right direction!]
Hotel was an old-school Étap, clean but grim. I was able to establish that tomorrow isn’t a public holiday in Berlin, so buses will start early as normal. Retired to bed at 23:00 having failed to establish where the Straußstraße bus stop for the Mahlsdorf direction is!
Up with (before) the lark, a welcome shower, and away to the station by bus, arriving to find McDs not open and Yorma’s queue out of the door. 06:50 therefore instead of the planned 07:22 to Rheydt, allowing time to go through to Mönchengladbach before going to Dalheim. A lot of chitchat over the PA from the driver but it seemed (hopefully) only to relate to minor moleworks which we’ve now passed.
If only. OK as far as Mgb, but 08:31 Dalheim cancelled, no reason given. Quick rethink, decision to get 09:31 then man of steel to Schwerte via Mettmann - Wuppertal. 09:31 reported 10 late. Oh well, flag it then. 09:34 S-Bahn to Düsseldorf was the plan, so get that. No, it’s cancelled too. Ah but wait, 09:45 RE to Essen will do. It’ll get there before the 09:54 S-Bahn. Ah, it’s at the platform but not going until 10:00 according to the platform display. I foolishly believe this, assuming it’s waiting for crew. I’m just walking towards it at 09:45 when it ups and goes. Simultaneously the 09:31 Dalheim wanders off in the other direction... Oh well, 09:54 S-Bahn might do, changing at Düsseldorf -Bilk to minimise connection time. Delayed departure at Neuss so baled out there in case the S28 was let past. S8 promptly departs! S28 duly arrives and I get on. Leaves just 2 late. Stops. 16 late by Düsseldorf Hbf, just across the river (ish). Off we go towards my 20 minute connection at Wuppertal Vohwinkel, with dire warnings of moleworks before Erkrath-Nord. No problem, but time lost and my connection, seemingly the only train in the Ruhrgebiet on time, was missed. On arrival at Wuppertal Hbf there was supposed to be an 11:43 to Hagen. Couldn’t find it on the sheet, wasn’t on the departure display. I found it just in time and peace reigned to Hagen. There, the connection to Schwerte was ready and waiting and in the end I only lost 17 minutes. Oh, and Dalheim which probably will rankle for the rest of my natural. [Wrong, see below!]
So onwards from Schwerte (busy town, good choice of modestly priced ales at REWE and a mayo-free sarnie from Kamp.) IC 2321 rolled in several minutes early and according to the onboard displays, unsure if it was going to Friedberg or Frankfurt. Whichever (Frankfurt seemingly), it did the approved curve to Hagen-Kabel and on arrival all seemed well. IC 2320 was supposedly on time. Then the display changed - cancelled for repairs. Next IC round the curve is too late to get to Berlin so flag that, and off to Hagen for ICE to Berlin.
All goodish at Hagen, 5 minutes late and no WiFi in the ICE1. Get to Hamm, vast crowds pile on from another failure, we lurch off 10 late and get 50 metres. Declared a failure, then declared not a failure (27 mins late now and still haven’t moved). For some reason, mainly idleness, staying put seemed a good bet and so it proved. [Up to a point]. On the move 30 late. At the time of writing we’re approaching Hannover where no doubt further chaos will ensue - although perhaps many pax will leave as well as many joining. First Class is currently full and standing, not a common occurrence.
Approaching Hannover we were on the slow lines and went round the south side of a wagon works west of Seelze but apparently nothing rare. [This was, presumably, line 1750 on the south side of Seelze yard]. Bombshell after Hannover when someone turned up with what seemed a perfectly legitimate reservation for my Ggf Reserviert seat. As several people had already been turfed out without complaint I argued the point politely but had to give in. I had to sit on the floor all the way to Spandau along with many others. There seemed no point in even looking in steerage.
So, cheesed off in the extreme, when we rolled into Spandau I baled out with the intention of doing S9 to the airport. A few minutes research while on the S9 convinced me this would take much longer than it gained so I baled at Zoo, went for a quick nosh at McDs and got the S5 out to Mahlsdorf. More benefit from the €9 ticket as a 398 took me out to somewhere quite a way from the hotel. [But further still from S-Mahlsdorf, and at least in the right direction!]
Hotel was an old-school Étap, clean but grim. I was able to establish that tomorrow isn’t a public holiday in Berlin, so buses will start early as normal. Retired to bed at 23:00 having failed to establish where the Straußstraße bus stop for the Mahlsdorf direction is!
We received compensation for having to sit on the floor for over an hour in the first class! In fairness, we had a carton of water each, too.
Thursday 16.6.22
Up at 05:00 and out about 05:30 in search of the elusive bus stop. The gods were in smiley mood and I found only the outbound stop, but also a friendly English speaking bod who directed me to the other one. At 05:35 in the middle of nowhere this was fortunate to say the least! The 398 duly appeared at 05:41 but that may have been the end of the smiley bit.
At Mahlsdorf there was the dreaded ‘Zug fällt aus’ (cancelled) yet again. Track problems, it appeared. The next S5 was another 20 minutes, and predictably rammed so I stood to Warschauer Straße where I baled out for the next S9 to the airport - all being well this will do the curve from the old Schönefeld S-Bahn (now BER T5) platforms to the new BER T1-2. At worst I’ll get 40 minutes to look at the fancy new (well, open at last) airport, at best I can get started on the trackbash. The form book says the former...
...but it was the latter. My watch was slow, giving me a false sense of security at BER 1-2 but after a traipse up two of the long slow escalators due to replatforming, I made 07:22 RE7 to Zossen by a few seconds, an hour before plan.
Outbound RE7 went via the diveunder to the north side of the Außenring nowithstanding leaving from P2. It did a crossover in the tunnel. Breakfast obtained from the pleasant buffet at Zossen - it looks a run down station but has hidden depths! One of those is the old school brick/cobble subway leading to the remote P5 which is the home of terminating RE7s. Back in first class, having had time to sort my pass out, and via the southern curve off the Außenring in to BER 1-2. Very satisfying.
After a Skype call home (airport WiFi very dodgy in the concourse), off to Golm on RB22 via the remaining Außenring connection westwards. Got gripped before I had my pass sorted so it was €9 ticket in the crowded steerage. Journey plan has now been set up for the rest of the day but not committed to after all yesterday’s problems. Slightly mollified yesterday by receipt of an email from Eurostar offering compensation for Tuesday’s farce. [Having now claimed it, somewhat less mollified as it was only €11.40 (£10, near enough, and, inevitably, a voucher which I’ll probably never be able to use)].
Golm was reached close to time after a quick yawn by self at the once rare ‘over the top at Golm’ section of the A-ring. Mass disembarking at Golm, partly for (presumably) more convenient bus connections to Potsdam and partly for the various joining and splitting of RB22s and RB21s at the southern end of the station. Observing the wedged state of them all I made sure my pass was up to date before my RB22 appeared.
And so to Königs Wusterhausen via BER 1-2 (again) and the south curve at the triangular junction with the Cottbus line (Bohndorf West-Süd). Just the north curve left to do now on the RE back to Berlin Hbf. Flughafen Express at 11:34. Arrived packed, normals struggling to get on while crowds came off - common sense seemingly in short supply. This one takes the scenic route via Grünau, then paralleling the S9 route for a while, Ostkreuz, Gesundbrunnen and finally wandering into Hbf low level from the north. Isn’t there a quicker way by now? Whatever, despite the very slow pace I hope to make ICE 509 at 12:33, and please smiley gods, please make it better than yesterday. Once again I’d forgotten to make my FEX journey live but the app allowed me to do so (and of course to add on the hoped-for ICE).
Even at the funereal stagger, the FEX was only a couple of minutes late so time to go to REWE for a couple of interesting looking (and at ?1 each, economical) Bavarian beers (Chiemseer and Bayreuther, both helles and very good). Security jobsworths were guarding the door for some reason and you had to queue for batch admission. On to ICE 509 then and having collared a ‘ggf. freigeben’ seat I looked it up and discovered it’s one of the ones kept for last minute reservations. You can sit in it but must give it up if a genuine Res arrives. That’s what happened yesterday (and ‘ggf reserviert’ is the same). So the mystery from Klagenfurt 2009 Is resolved with thanks to Seat 61, assisted by Google.
A peaceful ride ensued, currently on the last lap to München, a few minutes late but hopefully I’ll make the 17:25 or if not, 17:47 to Augsburg and another Ibis Budget, this time quite near the station. Not so Bratislava tomorrow, but the hotel there is right by a tram terminus near the preservation depot.
509 was on time to the second and ICE 512 17:25 Münster was cross platform so loads of time. Virtually empty in FC too, what a difference. It’s a bank holiday in these parts (basically former east/west split apparently). How different from .uk - and read on.
Off to the Ibis Budget. 20 minutes walk or so but definitely new wave, with working air con, no bunks and generally quite decent for the few extra €. Cheery Australian-reared German receptionist/concierge/whatever.
I now know why he was a bit sniffy about my proposal to visit the 1516 ‘brewpub’ by the station. He was right, but you have to try. I was the only customer (at 19:00-ish on a bank holiday) and the beer was devastatingly unexciting. Also expensive. Very pleasant chap in charge, not sure why he does it. He assured me they’re nothing to do with their namesakes in Wien. That’s to their credit, in my view. [I didn't note it at the time, but he did tell me that 1516 was the date of the introduction of the Reinheitsgebot].
So, onwards to the Riegele tap just down the road. Superb Weisse, and a pilsner-sort-of called Commerzienrat Riegele. Also very good and not what you’d expect from a biggish brewer. My (unspoken) translation as ‘cooking bitter’ couldn’t have been more wrong! The food was interesting, as were its aftereffects.
Up at 05:00 and out about 05:30 in search of the elusive bus stop. The gods were in smiley mood and I found only the outbound stop, but also a friendly English speaking bod who directed me to the other one. At 05:35 in the middle of nowhere this was fortunate to say the least! The 398 duly appeared at 05:41 but that may have been the end of the smiley bit.
At Mahlsdorf there was the dreaded ‘Zug fällt aus’ (cancelled) yet again. Track problems, it appeared. The next S5 was another 20 minutes, and predictably rammed so I stood to Warschauer Straße where I baled out for the next S9 to the airport - all being well this will do the curve from the old Schönefeld S-Bahn (now BER T5) platforms to the new BER T1-2. At worst I’ll get 40 minutes to look at the fancy new (well, open at last) airport, at best I can get started on the trackbash. The form book says the former...
...but it was the latter. My watch was slow, giving me a false sense of security at BER 1-2 but after a traipse up two of the long slow escalators due to replatforming, I made 07:22 RE7 to Zossen by a few seconds, an hour before plan.
Outbound RE7 went via the diveunder to the north side of the Außenring nowithstanding leaving from P2. It did a crossover in the tunnel. Breakfast obtained from the pleasant buffet at Zossen - it looks a run down station but has hidden depths! One of those is the old school brick/cobble subway leading to the remote P5 which is the home of terminating RE7s. Back in first class, having had time to sort my pass out, and via the southern curve off the Außenring in to BER 1-2. Very satisfying.
After a Skype call home (airport WiFi very dodgy in the concourse), off to Golm on RB22 via the remaining Außenring connection westwards. Got gripped before I had my pass sorted so it was €9 ticket in the crowded steerage. Journey plan has now been set up for the rest of the day but not committed to after all yesterday’s problems. Slightly mollified yesterday by receipt of an email from Eurostar offering compensation for Tuesday’s farce. [Having now claimed it, somewhat less mollified as it was only €11.40 (£10, near enough, and, inevitably, a voucher which I’ll probably never be able to use)].
Golm was reached close to time after a quick yawn by self at the once rare ‘over the top at Golm’ section of the A-ring. Mass disembarking at Golm, partly for (presumably) more convenient bus connections to Potsdam and partly for the various joining and splitting of RB22s and RB21s at the southern end of the station. Observing the wedged state of them all I made sure my pass was up to date before my RB22 appeared.
And so to Königs Wusterhausen via BER 1-2 (again) and the south curve at the triangular junction with the Cottbus line (Bohndorf West-Süd). Just the north curve left to do now on the RE back to Berlin Hbf. Flughafen Express at 11:34. Arrived packed, normals struggling to get on while crowds came off - common sense seemingly in short supply. This one takes the scenic route via Grünau, then paralleling the S9 route for a while, Ostkreuz, Gesundbrunnen and finally wandering into Hbf low level from the north. Isn’t there a quicker way by now? Whatever, despite the very slow pace I hope to make ICE 509 at 12:33, and please smiley gods, please make it better than yesterday. Once again I’d forgotten to make my FEX journey live but the app allowed me to do so (and of course to add on the hoped-for ICE).
Even at the funereal stagger, the FEX was only a couple of minutes late so time to go to REWE for a couple of interesting looking (and at ?1 each, economical) Bavarian beers (Chiemseer and Bayreuther, both helles and very good). Security jobsworths were guarding the door for some reason and you had to queue for batch admission. On to ICE 509 then and having collared a ‘ggf. freigeben’ seat I looked it up and discovered it’s one of the ones kept for last minute reservations. You can sit in it but must give it up if a genuine Res arrives. That’s what happened yesterday (and ‘ggf reserviert’ is the same). So the mystery from Klagenfurt 2009 Is resolved with thanks to Seat 61, assisted by Google.
A peaceful ride ensued, currently on the last lap to München, a few minutes late but hopefully I’ll make the 17:25 or if not, 17:47 to Augsburg and another Ibis Budget, this time quite near the station. Not so Bratislava tomorrow, but the hotel there is right by a tram terminus near the preservation depot.
509 was on time to the second and ICE 512 17:25 Münster was cross platform so loads of time. Virtually empty in FC too, what a difference. It’s a bank holiday in these parts (basically former east/west split apparently). How different from .uk - and read on.
Off to the Ibis Budget. 20 minutes walk or so but definitely new wave, with working air con, no bunks and generally quite decent for the few extra €. Cheery Australian-reared German receptionist/concierge/whatever.
I now know why he was a bit sniffy about my proposal to visit the 1516 ‘brewpub’ by the station. He was right, but you have to try. I was the only customer (at 19:00-ish on a bank holiday) and the beer was devastatingly unexciting. Also expensive. Very pleasant chap in charge, not sure why he does it. He assured me they’re nothing to do with their namesakes in Wien. That’s to their credit, in my view. [I didn't note it at the time, but he did tell me that 1516 was the date of the introduction of the Reinheitsgebot].
So, onwards to the Riegele tap just down the road. Superb Weisse, and a pilsner-sort-of called Commerzienrat Riegele. Also very good and not what you’d expect from a biggish brewer. My (unspoken) translation as ‘cooking bitter’ couldn’t have been more wrong! The food was interesting, as were its aftereffects.
Time was too short to stop off in Bamberg to visit some of those wonderful breweries! I had to make do with a wishful photo from the train...
Friday 17.6.22
06:00 start with aftereffects in full swing. I staggered to the station just after 06:45 (for future reference, 20 minutes is just about enough) and arrived in sufficient time to get the 07:08 RJ into München for breakfast at the station. No seats on RJX 63 so I’m in one of the last minute Res seats...
Out of München via Allach and the Nordring. It remains to be seen what EC115 has to offer next week. Once back on the main line (via north to east curve, Daglfing-Trudering), at the eastern end, it just remained to trudge to Wien. At the time of writing (13:15, between St Pölten and Wien), I’m still in the same seat though more pax have appeared. Unfortunately it’s back the same way tomorrow, all things being equal. Arrival at Wien Hbf 3 minutes late seemed a good effort - and with some track done too. I’d planned a brief stop with two spins out to Simmering and back so that I could finally establish that I’d done both the new diveunders. Last time out I’d been distracted by grippers, people standing in the way, etc., and hadn’t been sure of the layout. This time I’d elected to do the western one first so I dived into RE2568, 13:51 Marchegg, at P12. Rather warm City Shuttle stock, but it’s only 5 minutes. Before it had even reached the end of the platform the TTI arrived. She was quick with the scan luckily and I could see we went down from the west side of the layout but couldn’t see the eastern tunnel entrance. On to Simmering and back on the next but one available train as that was the one I’d put on the pass. Back at Hbf I went to see if I needed a res on the next Railjet as I’d found conflicting information some of which suggested you didn’t as far as Hegyeshalom. You don’t have to, he said, but if the train’s full you have to get off. I decided to interpret that as meaning I didn’t, since I was getting off at the first stop anyway.
Time for a call home then the S80 at 14:26 from P3. Off it went and as it headed towards the diveunder the (metaphorical) lightbulb lit just in time and I wondered if the two lines joined in the tunnel. Hurled myself into the vestibule where I could see - and of course they do. So that was it, all explained and all done. I’d realised I could possibly get back quicker from Simmering so I loaded an earlier train on to the app so that I had two to choose from. On arrival at Simmering the earlier one was at the platform so I dived on and as soon as I was on, deleted the later train and added the one I was on. The app took it calmly and I was all legal. Back at Wien Hbf revealed an EC to Budapest which should have left but was 10 minutes late. Best of all it didn’t have compulsory res. Swapped the app to that one, dived in and found it had seats. Praise be. Thing was, it was 10 late for an 8 minute connection at Hegyeshalom. I thought they might hold the connection and in fact it was only 5 late at Hegyeshalom so the Man of Steel +3 just made. And that’s how it came to be that I reached Pivovar Hops at Petržalka 2 hours ahead of plan.
After that happy comedy of errors it was good to sit quietly with a couple of svetlý ležáks, which I did, and very nice they were too. Off to the Hotel Prim by bus 80 (the first one that came along going to somewhere I recognised as being roughly on the way), and tram 4 to Zlatý Piesky, via a meal stop.
It should be the Hotel Grim, not Prim. The surly receptionist was just the start. The worst part was the comedians moving heavy objects, shouting and slamming doors for what seemed like hours. Well after midnight I was able to hear conversation from nearby rooms through paper-thin walls. Room furnishings were mega-cheap and nasty, bed impressively uncomfortable. To add to the fun one of my occasional nosebleeds descended in force during the night - not the hotel’s fault of course but requiring a lot of cleaning up. Eventually ready for getting to sleep, I was sure my neighbour(s) would snore. They did.
06:00 start with aftereffects in full swing. I staggered to the station just after 06:45 (for future reference, 20 minutes is just about enough) and arrived in sufficient time to get the 07:08 RJ into München for breakfast at the station. No seats on RJX 63 so I’m in one of the last minute Res seats...
Out of München via Allach and the Nordring. It remains to be seen what EC115 has to offer next week. Once back on the main line (via north to east curve, Daglfing-Trudering), at the eastern end, it just remained to trudge to Wien. At the time of writing (13:15, between St Pölten and Wien), I’m still in the same seat though more pax have appeared. Unfortunately it’s back the same way tomorrow, all things being equal. Arrival at Wien Hbf 3 minutes late seemed a good effort - and with some track done too. I’d planned a brief stop with two spins out to Simmering and back so that I could finally establish that I’d done both the new diveunders. Last time out I’d been distracted by grippers, people standing in the way, etc., and hadn’t been sure of the layout. This time I’d elected to do the western one first so I dived into RE2568, 13:51 Marchegg, at P12. Rather warm City Shuttle stock, but it’s only 5 minutes. Before it had even reached the end of the platform the TTI arrived. She was quick with the scan luckily and I could see we went down from the west side of the layout but couldn’t see the eastern tunnel entrance. On to Simmering and back on the next but one available train as that was the one I’d put on the pass. Back at Hbf I went to see if I needed a res on the next Railjet as I’d found conflicting information some of which suggested you didn’t as far as Hegyeshalom. You don’t have to, he said, but if the train’s full you have to get off. I decided to interpret that as meaning I didn’t, since I was getting off at the first stop anyway.
Time for a call home then the S80 at 14:26 from P3. Off it went and as it headed towards the diveunder the (metaphorical) lightbulb lit just in time and I wondered if the two lines joined in the tunnel. Hurled myself into the vestibule where I could see - and of course they do. So that was it, all explained and all done. I’d realised I could possibly get back quicker from Simmering so I loaded an earlier train on to the app so that I had two to choose from. On arrival at Simmering the earlier one was at the platform so I dived on and as soon as I was on, deleted the later train and added the one I was on. The app took it calmly and I was all legal. Back at Wien Hbf revealed an EC to Budapest which should have left but was 10 minutes late. Best of all it didn’t have compulsory res. Swapped the app to that one, dived in and found it had seats. Praise be. Thing was, it was 10 late for an 8 minute connection at Hegyeshalom. I thought they might hold the connection and in fact it was only 5 late at Hegyeshalom so the Man of Steel +3 just made. And that’s how it came to be that I reached Pivovar Hops at Petržalka 2 hours ahead of plan.
After that happy comedy of errors it was good to sit quietly with a couple of svetlý ležáks, which I did, and very nice they were too. Off to the Hotel Prim by bus 80 (the first one that came along going to somewhere I recognised as being roughly on the way), and tram 4 to Zlatý Piesky, via a meal stop.
It should be the Hotel Grim, not Prim. The surly receptionist was just the start. The worst part was the comedians moving heavy objects, shouting and slamming doors for what seemed like hours. Well after midnight I was able to hear conversation from nearby rooms through paper-thin walls. Room furnishings were mega-cheap and nasty, bed impressively uncomfortable. To add to the fun one of my occasional nosebleeds descended in force during the night - not the hotel’s fault of course but requiring a lot of cleaning up. Eventually ready for getting to sleep, I was sure my neighbour(s) would snore. They did.
The exterior of the 'Pivovar Hops' brewpub near Bratislava Petržalka. The clue's in the name, I guess. That shaded verandah was extremely welcome!
-Saturday 18.6.22
Waking finally at 04:45 with the first tram, I tried to ignore it but gave up and went for an early start.
Things improved for a while. Tram at 05:44 to Mariánská, walk over to Kollárovo námestie and while waiting for an 80, discover the 06:32 Railjet to Wien Hbf. Arrived at Petržalka at 06:29. Piece of cake. All FC was ggf. Reserviert... On the way, I discovered the train went through to Zurich via Salzburg so decided to stay on and changed my ticket. After Meidling all seats taken, and mine had changed to reserved from Linz. Gah. Plenty of others unreserved but all occupied of course. Well, at worst it’s only an hour from Linz to Salzburg.
After St Pölten I decided to see if any unreserved seats had become free. Quite a lot had, so that removed my potential problem. On to Linz and Salzburg in peace. At Salzburg a minor farce occurred when BRB turned up with (at least) a 12-car set of which only the front 4 were accessible and even those only by two doors. Reason unknown, but a walk through to the front yielded a seat in FC. At the time of writing I can see the whole train’s come with us but it’s unclear how much of it now contains passengers. It’s also a good half hour late due to various stretches of SLW. Not a huge problem but it would be better if we didn’t lose more than a few more minutes. Just arriving at München Ost with fingers crossed.
Prompt station stop at München Ost but half an hour late just the same. Scooted, via Yorma’s for refreshments, through the hordes of happy campers to P31 where the plan was to scout EC 192 for unreserved seats and get a later RE if none. There was one - in fact several - in a posh SBB unit with hideous duckbill noses. Success so far - due in Lindau-Reutin at 14:50 as against the planned 17:45.
Had to go wrong. Nearing Lindau-Reutin PA comes on '15:04 Stuttgart’ from P21 today’ On arrival I dutifully beetle over to P21. There’s a train there. The platform display says '15:04 Stuttgart’. I dive in. On board display just says the time. Nice comfortable seat in the FC, air con fearsome - what’s not to like. 15:04 passed and I’m anxious, look down the coach. Next display says ‘München Hbf’. Thanks for that, folks. Next train over the avoider [Lindau 'avoiding line' from Lindau-Reutin to Abzw. Lindau-Aeschach, a.k.a. Aeschacher Kurve] is 16:04. An hour of my very hard earned 3 hours is lost. Miffed, I retire to the bothy outside for a mayo free cheese roll and an Augustiner Lagerbier Hell. Well, it’s not a patch on the Edelstoff I had earlier but it will take away the taste of the girders I’ve been chewing, and there’s a seat in the shade. Talk about schoolboy errors. I’ve only ever done this once before in Germany that I can remember, so not too bad for 30 years, I suppose.
Success the second time round, with the Lindau avoider done. The air-conditioning in this set is matching the DB work-to-rule - never work over 30°. Word from home is that it’s raining. If only. Meanwhile, on to Ulm, now facing the right way after reversal at Friedrichstadt.
The Ibis Budget was a very welcome improvement on the Hotel Prim. Nothing to add, m’lud. After a hasty wash and brush-up I made my way out to the end of line 1 at Söflingen where (obviously) the brew pub was shut. This at 18-something on a Saturday. Oh well, round to a pub round the corner which dispenses Berg beers, which I’d never heard of. A very nice Weizen and a half-hectare schnitzel on a skip of chips restored equanimity. Back on the tram, then a video call home, a shower and early bed completed a very long day.
Waking finally at 04:45 with the first tram, I tried to ignore it but gave up and went for an early start.
Things improved for a while. Tram at 05:44 to Mariánská, walk over to Kollárovo námestie and while waiting for an 80, discover the 06:32 Railjet to Wien Hbf. Arrived at Petržalka at 06:29. Piece of cake. All FC was ggf. Reserviert... On the way, I discovered the train went through to Zurich via Salzburg so decided to stay on and changed my ticket. After Meidling all seats taken, and mine had changed to reserved from Linz. Gah. Plenty of others unreserved but all occupied of course. Well, at worst it’s only an hour from Linz to Salzburg.
After St Pölten I decided to see if any unreserved seats had become free. Quite a lot had, so that removed my potential problem. On to Linz and Salzburg in peace. At Salzburg a minor farce occurred when BRB turned up with (at least) a 12-car set of which only the front 4 were accessible and even those only by two doors. Reason unknown, but a walk through to the front yielded a seat in FC. At the time of writing I can see the whole train’s come with us but it’s unclear how much of it now contains passengers. It’s also a good half hour late due to various stretches of SLW. Not a huge problem but it would be better if we didn’t lose more than a few more minutes. Just arriving at München Ost with fingers crossed.
Prompt station stop at München Ost but half an hour late just the same. Scooted, via Yorma’s for refreshments, through the hordes of happy campers to P31 where the plan was to scout EC 192 for unreserved seats and get a later RE if none. There was one - in fact several - in a posh SBB unit with hideous duckbill noses. Success so far - due in Lindau-Reutin at 14:50 as against the planned 17:45.
Had to go wrong. Nearing Lindau-Reutin PA comes on '15:04 Stuttgart’ from P21 today’ On arrival I dutifully beetle over to P21. There’s a train there. The platform display says '15:04 Stuttgart’. I dive in. On board display just says the time. Nice comfortable seat in the FC, air con fearsome - what’s not to like. 15:04 passed and I’m anxious, look down the coach. Next display says ‘München Hbf’. Thanks for that, folks. Next train over the avoider [Lindau 'avoiding line' from Lindau-Reutin to Abzw. Lindau-Aeschach, a.k.a. Aeschacher Kurve] is 16:04. An hour of my very hard earned 3 hours is lost. Miffed, I retire to the bothy outside for a mayo free cheese roll and an Augustiner Lagerbier Hell. Well, it’s not a patch on the Edelstoff I had earlier but it will take away the taste of the girders I’ve been chewing, and there’s a seat in the shade. Talk about schoolboy errors. I’ve only ever done this once before in Germany that I can remember, so not too bad for 30 years, I suppose.
Success the second time round, with the Lindau avoider done. The air-conditioning in this set is matching the DB work-to-rule - never work over 30°. Word from home is that it’s raining. If only. Meanwhile, on to Ulm, now facing the right way after reversal at Friedrichstadt.
The Ibis Budget was a very welcome improvement on the Hotel Prim. Nothing to add, m’lud. After a hasty wash and brush-up I made my way out to the end of line 1 at Söflingen where (obviously) the brew pub was shut. This at 18-something on a Saturday. Oh well, round to a pub round the corner which dispenses Berg beers, which I’d never heard of. A very nice Weizen and a half-hectare schnitzel on a skip of chips restored equanimity. Back on the tram, then a video call home, a shower and early bed completed a very long day.
Big Brother is watching you. As every quizzer knows, Ulm Cathedral is currently (June 2022) the world's tallest church, at 161.5m.
The result is that it can be glimpsed even in the city centre - here, from the junction of Olgastraße and Neutorstraße.
The result is that it can be glimpsed even in the city centre - here, from the junction of Olgastraße and Neutorstraße.
Sunday 19.6.22
Horrendous early start again, for 05:30 Ulm - Lindau-Reutin as far as Friedrichshafen. Having realised last night that I hadn’t got the OpenStreetMap file for Baden-Württemberg I managed to remember to download it on the hotel WiFi and install it while on the train. The +5 at Friedrichshafen was looking a bit tight here and there but did make in the end. The Basel IRE was a tilting kart in a fancy B-W livery. You can put lipstick on a pig... but to be fair they’re much better than when they were new, and the air-con’s fearsome! On arrival at Radolfzell, a little wander around the town, which, of course, was shut although pleasant to look at just the same (better than rammed with visitors, being lakeside as it is). Breakfast next from the station caff, it being the only open show in town. Mayonnaise. I whiled away the rest of my hour’s wait sitting by the lake working my way through the mayo (and the orange juice, much preferable). Had a discussion with two sparrows about the crumbs, and watched two of the locals go for a swim in the lake. And that was it. Back to the station for HzL’s Biberbahn working to Mengen. This needs to be done from/to Radolfzell (first northbound, last southbound working) as the terminal platform at Stockach has been retained and the Biberbahn services go from the other one (P2 originally, presumably).
Biberbahn’s a pleasant run though rolling country with a fair amount of interaction with lineside foliage, and with local traffic as the guard sees the train across various level crossings with the aid of a red and white flag. Not all of them, and I couldn’t immediately see the difference. Some interesting looking freight sources en route though, and the track seemed in good shape at least in the northern reaches.
Nearly an hour to wait at Mengen, an old-school station with a huge goods shed, and a Czech style arrangement where you wander across the track through a gate to reach P2. Oddly, the gate’s on P2...
The RE to Donaueschingen turned up 5 minutes late but the connection at Immendingen was late too, so that didn’t matter. The Rabbit on the Donaueschingen train (218 429) left on lots of power with an impressive scream from the turbocharger. Life in the old dogs yet.
On to Karlsruhe on a hauled (electric) RE with a zillion other €9 ticket holders. But I did have a seat with working air con which was a significant bonus. The horrendous smell from opposite was not, and my FFP2 mask was no defence. 11 more stops at the time of writing and it’s getting very full... I can’t imagine many aren’t going to Karlsruhe.
Most of them were! A few less than I thought, because I’d forgotten Offenburg, but those who left there were mostly replaced at the last few stops.
I was impressed by the new tram tunnels and their very spacious stations. Very hard to imagine Manchester doing anything on that scale, second city link or not. [Nothing against my one time home, just, with Sheffield, the nearest in the UK to the Karlsruhe style] After the purchase of desperately needed water I did a ‘quick’ spin round which took about 40 minutes. Hbf Vorplatz - Yorckstr - one stop before Tullastr. - Hbf Vorplatz. There then followed an absolute ordeal on the totally wedged 16:28 to Bruchsal. Just frightful in the intense heat which is currently existing. Next move was 17:35 to Bretten via the short curve (goes from P6 bay, adjacent to P1 like at Wolverhampton).
A long fester in godforsaken Bretten (I know it’s OK really but the station area’s godforsaken and it’s far too hot to walk into town). Eventually the 19:15 to Heidelberg Hbf which went through assorted tunnels so presumably did the long curve. On arrival at Heidelberg I had 15 minutes to visit the nearby (fortunately) McDs for a belated lunch (yes, 20:00, no food since 08:00). Heidelberg Hbf was chaotic, very crowded and with no lifts. Having staggered down to the appointed platform 2 I received the glad tidings that today the Frankfurt train went from P9. Joy. Heavy rucksack, two long flights of stairs, over 30° and near the end of a long day. Just the job with 3 minutes until train time.
I did make the train, off at Neu-Edingen/Friedrichsfeld. Now to find the bus to the Ibis Budget. No sign of it or its stop, so easier to walk. OpenStreetMap at the ready I set out and reached a point where OSM seemed to want me to jump off a flyover. This seemed to have some practical disadvantages so I elected to continue over the flyover then take two lefts to bring me on to the lower level road. It took about 10 minutes and as I approached the bridge I could see the flight of steps I was meant to use, not visible from the far side at the higher level unfortunately. OSM, equally unfortunately, pointed me in the opposite direction. Onwards then via another fanciful detour from OSM and two bus stops both of which confirmed the bus service (as did a passing bus) until I arrived, extremely hot and so dishevelled that when I was booked in, the kindly receptionist brought me a glass of water. A shower soon rectified the situation. During the day my phone’s battery seemed to have fried due to me not allowing it enough ventilation while it was charging and I was very concerned that it wouldn’t survive the week. A short test while I called home gave me some room for hope and I retired for the night.
Horrendous early start again, for 05:30 Ulm - Lindau-Reutin as far as Friedrichshafen. Having realised last night that I hadn’t got the OpenStreetMap file for Baden-Württemberg I managed to remember to download it on the hotel WiFi and install it while on the train. The +5 at Friedrichshafen was looking a bit tight here and there but did make in the end. The Basel IRE was a tilting kart in a fancy B-W livery. You can put lipstick on a pig... but to be fair they’re much better than when they were new, and the air-con’s fearsome! On arrival at Radolfzell, a little wander around the town, which, of course, was shut although pleasant to look at just the same (better than rammed with visitors, being lakeside as it is). Breakfast next from the station caff, it being the only open show in town. Mayonnaise. I whiled away the rest of my hour’s wait sitting by the lake working my way through the mayo (and the orange juice, much preferable). Had a discussion with two sparrows about the crumbs, and watched two of the locals go for a swim in the lake. And that was it. Back to the station for HzL’s Biberbahn working to Mengen. This needs to be done from/to Radolfzell (first northbound, last southbound working) as the terminal platform at Stockach has been retained and the Biberbahn services go from the other one (P2 originally, presumably).
Biberbahn’s a pleasant run though rolling country with a fair amount of interaction with lineside foliage, and with local traffic as the guard sees the train across various level crossings with the aid of a red and white flag. Not all of them, and I couldn’t immediately see the difference. Some interesting looking freight sources en route though, and the track seemed in good shape at least in the northern reaches.
Nearly an hour to wait at Mengen, an old-school station with a huge goods shed, and a Czech style arrangement where you wander across the track through a gate to reach P2. Oddly, the gate’s on P2...
The RE to Donaueschingen turned up 5 minutes late but the connection at Immendingen was late too, so that didn’t matter. The Rabbit on the Donaueschingen train (218 429) left on lots of power with an impressive scream from the turbocharger. Life in the old dogs yet.
On to Karlsruhe on a hauled (electric) RE with a zillion other €9 ticket holders. But I did have a seat with working air con which was a significant bonus. The horrendous smell from opposite was not, and my FFP2 mask was no defence. 11 more stops at the time of writing and it’s getting very full... I can’t imagine many aren’t going to Karlsruhe.
Most of them were! A few less than I thought, because I’d forgotten Offenburg, but those who left there were mostly replaced at the last few stops.
I was impressed by the new tram tunnels and their very spacious stations. Very hard to imagine Manchester doing anything on that scale, second city link or not. [Nothing against my one time home, just, with Sheffield, the nearest in the UK to the Karlsruhe style] After the purchase of desperately needed water I did a ‘quick’ spin round which took about 40 minutes. Hbf Vorplatz - Yorckstr - one stop before Tullastr. - Hbf Vorplatz. There then followed an absolute ordeal on the totally wedged 16:28 to Bruchsal. Just frightful in the intense heat which is currently existing. Next move was 17:35 to Bretten via the short curve (goes from P6 bay, adjacent to P1 like at Wolverhampton).
A long fester in godforsaken Bretten (I know it’s OK really but the station area’s godforsaken and it’s far too hot to walk into town). Eventually the 19:15 to Heidelberg Hbf which went through assorted tunnels so presumably did the long curve. On arrival at Heidelberg I had 15 minutes to visit the nearby (fortunately) McDs for a belated lunch (yes, 20:00, no food since 08:00). Heidelberg Hbf was chaotic, very crowded and with no lifts. Having staggered down to the appointed platform 2 I received the glad tidings that today the Frankfurt train went from P9. Joy. Heavy rucksack, two long flights of stairs, over 30° and near the end of a long day. Just the job with 3 minutes until train time.
I did make the train, off at Neu-Edingen/Friedrichsfeld. Now to find the bus to the Ibis Budget. No sign of it or its stop, so easier to walk. OpenStreetMap at the ready I set out and reached a point where OSM seemed to want me to jump off a flyover. This seemed to have some practical disadvantages so I elected to continue over the flyover then take two lefts to bring me on to the lower level road. It took about 10 minutes and as I approached the bridge I could see the flight of steps I was meant to use, not visible from the far side at the higher level unfortunately. OSM, equally unfortunately, pointed me in the opposite direction. Onwards then via another fanciful detour from OSM and two bus stops both of which confirmed the bus service (as did a passing bus) until I arrived, extremely hot and so dishevelled that when I was booked in, the kindly receptionist brought me a glass of water. A shower soon rectified the situation. During the day my phone’s battery seemed to have fried due to me not allowing it enough ventilation while it was charging and I was very concerned that it wouldn’t survive the week. A short test while I called home gave me some room for hope and I retired for the night.
It's easy to see where tourists are expected in Radolfzell. |
Stockach station, viewed from the train to Mengen. The track in the foreground is the one normally used by the daily Radolfzell-Stockach service. The semi-circle? Reflection from my watch is the culprit. |
Monday 20.6.22
Early doors as usual, deciding to walk back to the station rather than miss the bus. It only took 10 minutes or so via the steps so I ended up an hour early. Great stuff (I thought).
Off to Frankfurt, thence to Mainz via the formerly freight section from Abzw. Kostheim, west of Hochheim, to Mainz Kaiserbrücke Ost. On arrival at Mainz Hbf it was raining, with 2 hours to wait for EC115 which might (or might not) do the connection between the Augsburg line and the München Nordring. It appeared to be on time. I took a spin over to Wiesbaden to use up a bit of time, and returned to find EC115 39 minutes late. It had been reported by DB Navigator as ‘extremely high demand first class seats only’. I opted to get ICE 515 to Augsburg so that I’d ‘only’ have to sit on the floor from Augsburg to München Ost or Rosenheim depending on which way it went. Provided 115 was still 40 minutes late, which seemed certain, this might have worked. More fool me - it was a stupid idea and by the time I got to Frankfurt Flughafen the train in front of 515 had failed and 515 was 40 minutes late too. This was the last straw and I decided to bin München and the Nordring and go somewhere quiet.
Dalheim and one Hagen Kabel curve were still outstanding, and a search for accommodation was started. It ended up with a plan to stay in Aachen to be reasonably near Dalheim and try for the two tomorrow. I made my way out to Friedberg with a view to IC 2228 to Siegen and an RE to Aachen via Köln. It all went swimmingly with the FC almost empty on IC2228, until grinding to a halt at Lang Gäns, to be informed there was an OHLE problem and we would be delayed. After a few minutes we moved over the wrong line and forward to Großen Linden where we sat for 45 minutes or so. Apparently a tree was too close the OHLE. There were numerous announcements and a kindly young lady sitting nearby translated each one for me. When eventually on the move we seemed to be diverted to the west side of a small yard before Wetzlar [on reflection, probably 3703 approaching the Gießen avoider, although on my last trip around that curve I thought we stayed on the east side of the yard before crossing to 3703 at the junction]. Well, woo hoo. The long and the short was that we were an hour late at Siegen, give or take, connecting neatly with the Aachen RE an hour later than the one I’d intended. Basically, all just another happy day with DB.
Just for a bit of gloss, the toilet is defektiv on the RE. Just another tiny addition to the number of failures which have occurred over the last few days, from incorrect platform displays via broken escalators, to horrendous unpunctuality, intolerable overcrowding which can’t just be blamed on the €9 ticket since that’s not valid on IC or ICE, and frequent cancellations. All very disappointing. Tomorrow’s the last full day in Germany and there’s little to inspire optimism!
On arrival in Aachen, on time just to show me they could do it, off to the Hotel am Marschiertor to be on the safe side. When I got to my room (very close-up view of the Marschiertor from one of the three windows), I paused to call home and rearrange my rucksack after a week of converting clean clothes to laundry. Having done that I was so weary that I abandoned plans for a pub meal and collapsed into bed.
Early doors as usual, deciding to walk back to the station rather than miss the bus. It only took 10 minutes or so via the steps so I ended up an hour early. Great stuff (I thought).
Off to Frankfurt, thence to Mainz via the formerly freight section from Abzw. Kostheim, west of Hochheim, to Mainz Kaiserbrücke Ost. On arrival at Mainz Hbf it was raining, with 2 hours to wait for EC115 which might (or might not) do the connection between the Augsburg line and the München Nordring. It appeared to be on time. I took a spin over to Wiesbaden to use up a bit of time, and returned to find EC115 39 minutes late. It had been reported by DB Navigator as ‘extremely high demand first class seats only’. I opted to get ICE 515 to Augsburg so that I’d ‘only’ have to sit on the floor from Augsburg to München Ost or Rosenheim depending on which way it went. Provided 115 was still 40 minutes late, which seemed certain, this might have worked. More fool me - it was a stupid idea and by the time I got to Frankfurt Flughafen the train in front of 515 had failed and 515 was 40 minutes late too. This was the last straw and I decided to bin München and the Nordring and go somewhere quiet.
Dalheim and one Hagen Kabel curve were still outstanding, and a search for accommodation was started. It ended up with a plan to stay in Aachen to be reasonably near Dalheim and try for the two tomorrow. I made my way out to Friedberg with a view to IC 2228 to Siegen and an RE to Aachen via Köln. It all went swimmingly with the FC almost empty on IC2228, until grinding to a halt at Lang Gäns, to be informed there was an OHLE problem and we would be delayed. After a few minutes we moved over the wrong line and forward to Großen Linden where we sat for 45 minutes or so. Apparently a tree was too close the OHLE. There were numerous announcements and a kindly young lady sitting nearby translated each one for me. When eventually on the move we seemed to be diverted to the west side of a small yard before Wetzlar [on reflection, probably 3703 approaching the Gießen avoider, although on my last trip around that curve I thought we stayed on the east side of the yard before crossing to 3703 at the junction]. Well, woo hoo. The long and the short was that we were an hour late at Siegen, give or take, connecting neatly with the Aachen RE an hour later than the one I’d intended. Basically, all just another happy day with DB.
Just for a bit of gloss, the toilet is defektiv on the RE. Just another tiny addition to the number of failures which have occurred over the last few days, from incorrect platform displays via broken escalators, to horrendous unpunctuality, intolerable overcrowding which can’t just be blamed on the €9 ticket since that’s not valid on IC or ICE, and frequent cancellations. All very disappointing. Tomorrow’s the last full day in Germany and there’s little to inspire optimism!
On arrival in Aachen, on time just to show me they could do it, off to the Hotel am Marschiertor to be on the safe side. When I got to my room (very close-up view of the Marschiertor from one of the three windows), I paused to call home and rearrange my rucksack after a week of converting clean clothes to laundry. Having done that I was so weary that I abandoned plans for a pub meal and collapsed into bed.
Tuesday 21.6.22
A reasonable night’s sleep considering it was 28° in the room and too noisy to leave the windows open. I discovered why I was reeling around last night too, when I realised that part of the floor actually did have a pronounced slope. Down to breakfast at 07:15 which was excellent, fresh fruit and all. A very good €5 worth! I set off for the station much cheered by this, the sunny morning and the temporarily lower temperature.
07:22 Dortmund was an 8-car National Express e-Kart with doors locked in the rear unit and bilingual signs directing you to the front one. A couple of minutes late at Lindern, it was delayed by a signal check and ended up about 5 late at Rheydt Hbf, where par for the morning seemed to be about 10 late.
The Dalheim branch kart passed through on its way to Mönchengladbach only a couple of minutes late and returned behind a 10 late RB to Aachen. After its trip to Dalheim, with a thankful gricer on board, and a very smart turnround thereat, return was again a couple of minutes late. The branch is quite an anachronism in 2022, with its semaphore signalling and consequently all boxes still manned, though not so the stations. It’s straight, flat and boring for quite a way after the junction, though finishing in a more rolling and wooded area which looked good on a sunny morning. Since the buffer stop end was second class, my €9 ticket had another airing.
Back at Mönchengladbach, the RE to Hamm (Hagen in my case) was showing as on time but turned up about 8 late, which it reduced slightly on the way to Hagen where I decamped without ever finding out if Eurobahn accepted Interrail. My guess remains for the moment that they do. The next short hop was an RB to Witten Hbf for a 2h 30 minute fester waiting for an IC34, hopefully doing the west to south curve at Hagen Kabel.
Witten seemed to have no licensed premises within walking distance for a heavily laden septuagenarian. Accordingly a change of plan was made and an S-Bahn taken to Dortmund Hbf to await IC2323 there. Do-Hbf is in the throes of rebuilding and has lost its eccentric bar on the north side but lunch was eventually obtained from Kamp’s and Yorma’s (Dortmund Crown Export, fairly bland but did the job) and taken while watching the world go by outside the station. Back at the station there were notices about IC2323 which I didn’t understand. Amazingly there was a DB carebear to hand without a queue and he explained that it was 5 minutes late and wasn’t going to Frankfurt. Neither of these was a concern and such is the state of DB in general and the IC34 service in particular that I would have been more surprised if it had been going to Frankfurt.
Off to Letmathe then, via the required Hagen Vorhalle-Kabel curve and with enough GPS signal to try recording the route.
Track done for the day, it was time to set off to Paderborn, starting with a repeat visit to the curve from Kabel to the Schwerte line on IC2228. This was taken to Hamm (fantastic booking hall despite all the WW2 bombing) where the Eurobahn service to Paderborn service was awaited.
When I went up to P4a I found to my horror there were at the least 500, perhaps nearer 1000, secondary school/college students waiting. It got a lot worse when Eurobahn turned up with a single 4-car EMU. Least said of the boarding process the better - suffice it to say that the guard, bless ‘er, was manning the door of the FC so you went in without a FC ticket at your peril. I had one, so I did. The condition of the rest of the train were appalling and some (other) elderly folk with huge luggage and one or two other deserving cases were admitted to FC, and rightly so. Once under way a handful alighted at each stop but at Soest another hundred plus were waiting along with a large off-duty DB bod who ably assisted the guard with her duties as far as Lippstadt. It turned out in the end that the vast majority of the kids were going to Paderborn, where the train virtually emptied.
I departed to the Hotel Süd which, like me, has seen better days. The lady manning reception, owner possibly, was super helpful with my assorted questions but thought the overcrowded train was down to the €9 ticket. Hard to believe, surely those kids travel to and from Hamm each day. I retired to my room (shag pile carpet, peeling laminate, curtains narrower than the windows, random wooden furnishings, etc.), disappointed with a country that treats its young people like cattle. As if ours doesn’t sometimes...
A reasonable night’s sleep considering it was 28° in the room and too noisy to leave the windows open. I discovered why I was reeling around last night too, when I realised that part of the floor actually did have a pronounced slope. Down to breakfast at 07:15 which was excellent, fresh fruit and all. A very good €5 worth! I set off for the station much cheered by this, the sunny morning and the temporarily lower temperature.
07:22 Dortmund was an 8-car National Express e-Kart with doors locked in the rear unit and bilingual signs directing you to the front one. A couple of minutes late at Lindern, it was delayed by a signal check and ended up about 5 late at Rheydt Hbf, where par for the morning seemed to be about 10 late.
The Dalheim branch kart passed through on its way to Mönchengladbach only a couple of minutes late and returned behind a 10 late RB to Aachen. After its trip to Dalheim, with a thankful gricer on board, and a very smart turnround thereat, return was again a couple of minutes late. The branch is quite an anachronism in 2022, with its semaphore signalling and consequently all boxes still manned, though not so the stations. It’s straight, flat and boring for quite a way after the junction, though finishing in a more rolling and wooded area which looked good on a sunny morning. Since the buffer stop end was second class, my €9 ticket had another airing.
Back at Mönchengladbach, the RE to Hamm (Hagen in my case) was showing as on time but turned up about 8 late, which it reduced slightly on the way to Hagen where I decamped without ever finding out if Eurobahn accepted Interrail. My guess remains for the moment that they do. The next short hop was an RB to Witten Hbf for a 2h 30 minute fester waiting for an IC34, hopefully doing the west to south curve at Hagen Kabel.
Witten seemed to have no licensed premises within walking distance for a heavily laden septuagenarian. Accordingly a change of plan was made and an S-Bahn taken to Dortmund Hbf to await IC2323 there. Do-Hbf is in the throes of rebuilding and has lost its eccentric bar on the north side but lunch was eventually obtained from Kamp’s and Yorma’s (Dortmund Crown Export, fairly bland but did the job) and taken while watching the world go by outside the station. Back at the station there were notices about IC2323 which I didn’t understand. Amazingly there was a DB carebear to hand without a queue and he explained that it was 5 minutes late and wasn’t going to Frankfurt. Neither of these was a concern and such is the state of DB in general and the IC34 service in particular that I would have been more surprised if it had been going to Frankfurt.
Off to Letmathe then, via the required Hagen Vorhalle-Kabel curve and with enough GPS signal to try recording the route.
Track done for the day, it was time to set off to Paderborn, starting with a repeat visit to the curve from Kabel to the Schwerte line on IC2228. This was taken to Hamm (fantastic booking hall despite all the WW2 bombing) where the Eurobahn service to Paderborn service was awaited.
When I went up to P4a I found to my horror there were at the least 500, perhaps nearer 1000, secondary school/college students waiting. It got a lot worse when Eurobahn turned up with a single 4-car EMU. Least said of the boarding process the better - suffice it to say that the guard, bless ‘er, was manning the door of the FC so you went in without a FC ticket at your peril. I had one, so I did. The condition of the rest of the train were appalling and some (other) elderly folk with huge luggage and one or two other deserving cases were admitted to FC, and rightly so. Once under way a handful alighted at each stop but at Soest another hundred plus were waiting along with a large off-duty DB bod who ably assisted the guard with her duties as far as Lippstadt. It turned out in the end that the vast majority of the kids were going to Paderborn, where the train virtually emptied.
I departed to the Hotel Süd which, like me, has seen better days. The lady manning reception, owner possibly, was super helpful with my assorted questions but thought the overcrowded train was down to the €9 ticket. Hard to believe, surely those kids travel to and from Hamm each day. I retired to my room (shag pile carpet, peeling laminate, curtains narrower than the windows, random wooden furnishings, etc.), disappointed with a country that treats its young people like cattle. As if ours doesn’t sometimes...
Another freight at Aachen Hbf, this one heading towards Köln on 21.6.22 and hauled by a class 185. |
It seems I'm not the only customer who's a little disappointed by DB's performance (Rheydt Hbf, 21.6.22, and no, it wasn't me) |
Cosmetically restored Hasp. Hutte 0-4-0T No. 1 (Henschel 27119, 1949) at Witten Hbf |
Wednesday 22.6.22
A reasonable night’s sleep despite everything, and off to the station for 07:13 from P5 to Bielefeld. The platform display said just that but with the addendum that the incoming train from Bielefeld would arrive at P3 today. Seeing a NordWest unit doing just that, I decided that 2 and 2 probably made 3 not 5, went to check the big display in the subway, and confirmed that it was so. Paderborn Station is having a complete rebuild and niceties like announcements are at a premium.
Away to Bielefeld in a pleasantly uncrowded 3-car Eurobahn DMU. Delight at finding bacon & egg McMuffins available for the first time this trip was tempered by the sight of hundreds more kids waiting for a 4-car Eurobahn unit to ... you guessed it, Hamm. Questions need to be asked about this.
For my part, on to Bünde(Westf.) on another DMU to get IC240 to Bad Bentheim, to do, or not as it turned out [I’d got the dates wrong, another first], the curves into Osnabrück as per EGTRE. Very old-school - locos were changed at Bad Bentheim from DB 101 014 to NS 1744. Two Bentheimer Eisenbahn Vossloh diesel locos (mini-58 shape with flat one-piece windscreen) were noted, one stabled and one with a freight.
My final German passenger branch (again, and never say never) to Neuenhaus was enlivened by the conductor pointing my FFP2 mask out to another passenger as a shining example of correct practice. The ride down the branch is pleasant, if rather level, and it seems to be quite a prosperous area. There are some sidings en route and a large depot south of Nordhorn, where the DMUs and Vosslohs are presumably maintained. Nordhorn seems to be the main source of passenger traffic.
Across the road from the smart station at Neuenhaus is a drinks warehouse and as a short walk along the street hadn’t turned up a pub, the warehouse got a celebratory visit. I came away with Th. König Zwickel Kellerbier, a 5.3% amber ale from Duisburg. Very nice too.
Also at Neuenhaus I’d eyed up the shiny track disappearing beyond the station and assumed it went to some freight traffic source. I was greatly surprised when one of the Vosslohs came through at a brisk pace with a long container train. I really should keep up to date. [In fact, it continues across the Dutch border to Coevorden – do your homework, EG].
Back to Bad Bentheim, this time the trip being enlivened by a ticking off from the conductor because I’d forgotten to put my mask back on! At BB there was an apparently westbound German IC at the platform. Guard said yes, it’s going to Hengelo, hop in, so I did (it turned out to be IC148). The small gain in time got me straight on to a Zutphen train at Hengelo, and a near-instant change at Zutphen to an Amsterdam via Breda service with a +2 to Antwerpen Centraal at Breda. That made too, with the overall result of arriving in Antwerp 2 hours earlier than planned. I’d had the idea for some reason that there was one train missing from the clock face service to Neuenhaus - not the case, so I’d got back to Bad Bentheim an hour early.
The extra time allowed for an early night preceded by a tram ride down to Melkmarkt for visits to Pater’s Vaetje (meal accompanied by tourist price Du Bocq Deugniet, which was excellent) and Elfdegebod, far more welcoming than last time, for a draught house blonde from a mystery local brewer (they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, tell me his name). Far too good to be de Koninck.
Overnight was at the excellent Citybox Antwerp, a concept hotel and a very good one.
A reasonable night’s sleep despite everything, and off to the station for 07:13 from P5 to Bielefeld. The platform display said just that but with the addendum that the incoming train from Bielefeld would arrive at P3 today. Seeing a NordWest unit doing just that, I decided that 2 and 2 probably made 3 not 5, went to check the big display in the subway, and confirmed that it was so. Paderborn Station is having a complete rebuild and niceties like announcements are at a premium.
Away to Bielefeld in a pleasantly uncrowded 3-car Eurobahn DMU. Delight at finding bacon & egg McMuffins available for the first time this trip was tempered by the sight of hundreds more kids waiting for a 4-car Eurobahn unit to ... you guessed it, Hamm. Questions need to be asked about this.
For my part, on to Bünde(Westf.) on another DMU to get IC240 to Bad Bentheim, to do, or not as it turned out [I’d got the dates wrong, another first], the curves into Osnabrück as per EGTRE. Very old-school - locos were changed at Bad Bentheim from DB 101 014 to NS 1744. Two Bentheimer Eisenbahn Vossloh diesel locos (mini-58 shape with flat one-piece windscreen) were noted, one stabled and one with a freight.
My final German passenger branch (again, and never say never) to Neuenhaus was enlivened by the conductor pointing my FFP2 mask out to another passenger as a shining example of correct practice. The ride down the branch is pleasant, if rather level, and it seems to be quite a prosperous area. There are some sidings en route and a large depot south of Nordhorn, where the DMUs and Vosslohs are presumably maintained. Nordhorn seems to be the main source of passenger traffic.
Across the road from the smart station at Neuenhaus is a drinks warehouse and as a short walk along the street hadn’t turned up a pub, the warehouse got a celebratory visit. I came away with Th. König Zwickel Kellerbier, a 5.3% amber ale from Duisburg. Very nice too.
Also at Neuenhaus I’d eyed up the shiny track disappearing beyond the station and assumed it went to some freight traffic source. I was greatly surprised when one of the Vosslohs came through at a brisk pace with a long container train. I really should keep up to date. [In fact, it continues across the Dutch border to Coevorden – do your homework, EG].
Back to Bad Bentheim, this time the trip being enlivened by a ticking off from the conductor because I’d forgotten to put my mask back on! At BB there was an apparently westbound German IC at the platform. Guard said yes, it’s going to Hengelo, hop in, so I did (it turned out to be IC148). The small gain in time got me straight on to a Zutphen train at Hengelo, and a near-instant change at Zutphen to an Amsterdam via Breda service with a +2 to Antwerpen Centraal at Breda. That made too, with the overall result of arriving in Antwerp 2 hours earlier than planned. I’d had the idea for some reason that there was one train missing from the clock face service to Neuenhaus - not the case, so I’d got back to Bad Bentheim an hour early.
The extra time allowed for an early night preceded by a tram ride down to Melkmarkt for visits to Pater’s Vaetje (meal accompanied by tourist price Du Bocq Deugniet, which was excellent) and Elfdegebod, far more welcoming than last time, for a draught house blonde from a mystery local brewer (they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, tell me his name). Far too good to be de Koninck.
Overnight was at the excellent Citybox Antwerp, a concept hotel and a very good one.
NS 1744 has coupled up to IC 240 at Bad Bentheim to take it forward to Amsterdam on 22.6.22. |
One of Bentheimer Eisenbahn's DMUs stands at Neuenhaus, the current limit of passenger operation, on 22.6.22 |
Thursday 23.6.22
Checked in at 07:05 for tomorrow’s BA flight - no problems yet but hey, a minute’s a long time in today’s public transport, let alone a day. Then to the station by tram for the 07:44 IC/ICD to Rotterdam via Breda and the two curves.
I travelled in almost solitary state in FC to Rotterdam, one of the few others being chucked out by the gripper en route. A different story thereafter, with 09:05 IC to Groningen very busy at the time of writing. It might well thin out, I suppose.
It did, and never reached German levels of unpunctuality, either, arriving on the dot. I was disappointed to find Groningen station in the midst of a monstrous rebuild involving the replacement of those nice old glazed wrought iron canopies with the usual concrete and grey steel. I had had visions of the Eemshaven train being crammed with bucket and spade crowds on their way to Borken via the ferry. It wasn’t. Some local patronage along the way but not much more than a handful on the new bit from Roodeschool to Eemshaven, and the same coming back. Eemshaven itself seemed to consist of car parks/marshalling areas for the ferries (a Holland-Norway line one was at a terminal), wind power generators, oil storage tanks and the like. The branch itself runs through flat agricultural (mainly arable) areas which had prevailed since yesterday.
Back at Groningen, a booked 5 minute connection became 8 due to an early arrival so 14:18 to Zwolle was easy, with a 25 minute break there before going on to Rotterdam. Shock, horror, Dutch train arrives 5 minutes late, but that didn’t matter. When the Rotterdam train arrived it had only three single deck coaches which didn’t seem to match with this morning’s 8 double deckers. The platform staff seemed to agree but we set off with FC almost full. At Utrecht there was a repeat of this morning’s process in that a lot got off the train but a lot more got on. Result: the final foreign train of my 10-day trek was full and standing in first class. At least I had a seat, so not a great problem other than the air con not coping. I was surprised at this happening though, as NS, Arriva and Blauwnet (Keolis) had done so well up until now.
Out to the airport on the 33 bus from outside the impressive Rotterdam Centraal, now complete and not the building site I saw last time I was there. Ibis Budget was extortionately expensive, with a small and unattractive (but air conditioned) room. Very convenient though, with a 3-minute walk to the terminal. I went across to make enquiries and heeded the warnings I was given, setting the alarm for 04:40 on the basis I’d be at check-in (opens at 5) before it got too horrendous.
Checked in at 07:05 for tomorrow’s BA flight - no problems yet but hey, a minute’s a long time in today’s public transport, let alone a day. Then to the station by tram for the 07:44 IC/ICD to Rotterdam via Breda and the two curves.
I travelled in almost solitary state in FC to Rotterdam, one of the few others being chucked out by the gripper en route. A different story thereafter, with 09:05 IC to Groningen very busy at the time of writing. It might well thin out, I suppose.
It did, and never reached German levels of unpunctuality, either, arriving on the dot. I was disappointed to find Groningen station in the midst of a monstrous rebuild involving the replacement of those nice old glazed wrought iron canopies with the usual concrete and grey steel. I had had visions of the Eemshaven train being crammed with bucket and spade crowds on their way to Borken via the ferry. It wasn’t. Some local patronage along the way but not much more than a handful on the new bit from Roodeschool to Eemshaven, and the same coming back. Eemshaven itself seemed to consist of car parks/marshalling areas for the ferries (a Holland-Norway line one was at a terminal), wind power generators, oil storage tanks and the like. The branch itself runs through flat agricultural (mainly arable) areas which had prevailed since yesterday.
Back at Groningen, a booked 5 minute connection became 8 due to an early arrival so 14:18 to Zwolle was easy, with a 25 minute break there before going on to Rotterdam. Shock, horror, Dutch train arrives 5 minutes late, but that didn’t matter. When the Rotterdam train arrived it had only three single deck coaches which didn’t seem to match with this morning’s 8 double deckers. The platform staff seemed to agree but we set off with FC almost full. At Utrecht there was a repeat of this morning’s process in that a lot got off the train but a lot more got on. Result: the final foreign train of my 10-day trek was full and standing in first class. At least I had a seat, so not a great problem other than the air con not coping. I was surprised at this happening though, as NS, Arriva and Blauwnet (Keolis) had done so well up until now.
Out to the airport on the 33 bus from outside the impressive Rotterdam Centraal, now complete and not the building site I saw last time I was there. Ibis Budget was extortionately expensive, with a small and unattractive (but air conditioned) room. Very convenient though, with a 3-minute walk to the terminal. I went across to make enquiries and heeded the warnings I was given, setting the alarm for 04:40 on the basis I’d be at check-in (opens at 5) before it got too horrendous.
The concourse at Antwerpen Centraal on 23.6.22. I couldn't bring myself to photograph the trainshed. Enough said. |
I got to the end of the line. An Arriva DMU stands at Eemshaven, with the Holland-Norway Line ferry just visible in the background immediately left of the train, 23.6.22. |
Well, very nearly the end... |
Friday 24.6.22
Arrived at the terminal about 05:25 to see that overnight, a lengthy awning had been put up and contained a huge queue. Had a little mutter until I got close enough to read that it was three separate queues rather than the usual airport trained-rat system. The very long one was, thankfully, not for a UK-bound flight and there was just a short one for BA 4450. We were admitted after a few minutes’ wait. Most of humanity seemed to be waiting to check in, but the door restrictions were keeping things under control and it was just possible to make your way through to the BA desk which was, inevitably, on the far side of most of humanity. Check-in was very quick, security ditto at least by comparison with media horror stories, and the whole process was, in the end, pretty painless and took less than half an hour.
Steerage breakfast on BA consisted of a small pot of orange juice (OK-ish) and an even smaller flapjack (excellent). The flight itself is so short (40 minutes) that there was barely time for the aircraft to be in level flight. We were a few minutes late at London City, mostly due to being kept on the aircraft to wait for an adjacent aircraft to move off its stand so that we didn’t get blown over by its exhaust! That was what we were told, anyway. Quick immigration through the electronic gates and off to collect the rucksack which by some miracle was just coming round the end of the conveyor as I approached. At Rotterdam I had been relieved not to be sent off to the ‘difficult baggage’ desk, because both of the occasions my rucksack’s been lost in transit have involved just that.
There were no, and I do mean no, TfL staff to be found at the Docklands station. Deeply unimpressive for a station serving an international airport, small though it is. I’d hoped to get my railcard and Oyster card linked up but ‘twas not to be. I decided to take the financial hit and set off to Euston in ‘rush hour’ anyway. DLR and Northern Line (to/from Bank) were both astoundingly quiet and when I touched out at Euston my Oyster had only a very modest charge on it. Thorough checks were made on it by a helpful and knowledgeable TfL staff member there, and he confirmed that my railcard had in fact already been linked, though I’d quite forgotten.
Finally to the 08:43 to Edinburgh, the only train on the whole display to show as ‘Delayed’. This was a disrupted ‘working’ day between two RMT national strike days. It was indeed delayed, due to crewing issues, and had no on-board catering. The train conductor (who said he wasn’t rostered for that train but was a replacement resulting from the general chaos) was, like his colleague last week, unable to scan my Interrail – however he was more knowledgeable and said he knew what it was, so no problem. On arrival at Wolverhampton, 45 minutes late due to more crewing issues at Birmingham, the train was delayed again for removal of a disruptive passenger. The station barriers wouldn’t scan my Interrail either... Time for Great British Railways or whatever that silly new name is, to stop paying lip service to Interrail and actually make it easier for our valued foreign visitors (as well as people like me on their journeys, permitted in the Interrail agreements, from and to their UK homes).
I retired to the Great Western for a restorative lunch, finishing my train journey on a Transport for Wales 6-car 158 with empty seats. There were no West Midlands trains to Telford, again due to post-/pre-strike issues, which I thought was a bit of a cop-out on WMT’s part, not least because there was a WMT unit in P6 at Wolverhampton, with its engines running. Finally home on an Arriva bus after yet more delay, at least one bus in the roster seemingly having failed. Well, it wouldn’t be Arriva Telford without that happening.
And so ended what may prove to be my final trackbashing trip. At the moment I have no further plans for mainland visits other than to sites or events of interest (although I do try to bear in mind ‘never say never’) so this may be the last of my rambling and frequently grumpy accounts [September 2022 update - it's not. I've just been to Belgium for a 'site or event of interest', in fact both]. Thank you for reading this, and any others you may have sampled.
Arrived at the terminal about 05:25 to see that overnight, a lengthy awning had been put up and contained a huge queue. Had a little mutter until I got close enough to read that it was three separate queues rather than the usual airport trained-rat system. The very long one was, thankfully, not for a UK-bound flight and there was just a short one for BA 4450. We were admitted after a few minutes’ wait. Most of humanity seemed to be waiting to check in, but the door restrictions were keeping things under control and it was just possible to make your way through to the BA desk which was, inevitably, on the far side of most of humanity. Check-in was very quick, security ditto at least by comparison with media horror stories, and the whole process was, in the end, pretty painless and took less than half an hour.
Steerage breakfast on BA consisted of a small pot of orange juice (OK-ish) and an even smaller flapjack (excellent). The flight itself is so short (40 minutes) that there was barely time for the aircraft to be in level flight. We were a few minutes late at London City, mostly due to being kept on the aircraft to wait for an adjacent aircraft to move off its stand so that we didn’t get blown over by its exhaust! That was what we were told, anyway. Quick immigration through the electronic gates and off to collect the rucksack which by some miracle was just coming round the end of the conveyor as I approached. At Rotterdam I had been relieved not to be sent off to the ‘difficult baggage’ desk, because both of the occasions my rucksack’s been lost in transit have involved just that.
There were no, and I do mean no, TfL staff to be found at the Docklands station. Deeply unimpressive for a station serving an international airport, small though it is. I’d hoped to get my railcard and Oyster card linked up but ‘twas not to be. I decided to take the financial hit and set off to Euston in ‘rush hour’ anyway. DLR and Northern Line (to/from Bank) were both astoundingly quiet and when I touched out at Euston my Oyster had only a very modest charge on it. Thorough checks were made on it by a helpful and knowledgeable TfL staff member there, and he confirmed that my railcard had in fact already been linked, though I’d quite forgotten.
Finally to the 08:43 to Edinburgh, the only train on the whole display to show as ‘Delayed’. This was a disrupted ‘working’ day between two RMT national strike days. It was indeed delayed, due to crewing issues, and had no on-board catering. The train conductor (who said he wasn’t rostered for that train but was a replacement resulting from the general chaos) was, like his colleague last week, unable to scan my Interrail – however he was more knowledgeable and said he knew what it was, so no problem. On arrival at Wolverhampton, 45 minutes late due to more crewing issues at Birmingham, the train was delayed again for removal of a disruptive passenger. The station barriers wouldn’t scan my Interrail either... Time for Great British Railways or whatever that silly new name is, to stop paying lip service to Interrail and actually make it easier for our valued foreign visitors (as well as people like me on their journeys, permitted in the Interrail agreements, from and to their UK homes).
I retired to the Great Western for a restorative lunch, finishing my train journey on a Transport for Wales 6-car 158 with empty seats. There were no West Midlands trains to Telford, again due to post-/pre-strike issues, which I thought was a bit of a cop-out on WMT’s part, not least because there was a WMT unit in P6 at Wolverhampton, with its engines running. Finally home on an Arriva bus after yet more delay, at least one bus in the roster seemingly having failed. Well, it wouldn’t be Arriva Telford without that happening.
And so ended what may prove to be my final trackbashing trip. At the moment I have no further plans for mainland visits other than to sites or events of interest (although I do try to bear in mind ‘never say never’) so this may be the last of my rambling and frequently grumpy accounts [September 2022 update - it's not. I've just been to Belgium for a 'site or event of interest', in fact both]. Thank you for reading this, and any others you may have sampled.
