Crowd funding for #CrossBorderRail 2023 – all of Germany’s borders – is now open. The minimum €2627 to make the project happen has been achieved, but ideally I would like to raise €5171 so as I can pay myself the minimum wage for the time invested. You can donate to the project on Betterplace here!
In May 2023 there will be an innovation in German public transport: the introduction of the Deutschlandticket (also known as the 49 Euro Ticket) – a flat rate ticket that will work on all regional transport (buses, trams, metros, S-Bahn and regional trains) across the whole of the country. Unlike the predecessor 9 Euro Ticket that was piloted in 2022, this ticket is supposed to be permanent.
So why not test it, and travel to all of Germany’s borders, in a two week period in May? I plan to do this 2-15 May 2023. And while I am at it, assess where the Deutschlandticket can get you to stations on the other side of a border, and where it cannot.
And then – as in 2022 – I am going to travel to a selection of different cross border railway lines, aiming to cross at least one border each day, with the focus on lines I did not investigate in 2022 (you can find my 2022 project route map here, and a complete map of all European rail borders here – grey pins are places I have not been yet). And where trains do not run I will take to my folding bike and go and investigate the infrastructure that way. I will of course be taking the drone along as well to document what I find. Every day will start with a video of me explaining what I am going to explore, a Mastodon live thread throughout the day, and a video summary at the end of the day.
In total 30 current, former, and future cross border lines will be examined:
Day 00 | Background | Live blog (will become active on the day itself)
no borders crossed
Day 01 | Background | Live blog
(by boat) Puttgarden (DE) – Rødby (DK) – tunnel under construction
Day 02 | Background | Live blog
(by train and bike) Leer (DE) – Bad Nieuweschans (NL) – line interrupted due to damaged bridge
Day 03 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Coevorden (NL) – Emlichheim (DE) – active line with no regular passenger traffic
(by train) Gronau (DE) – Enschede (NL) – active line with passenger traffic
Day 04 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Alstätte (DE) – Broekheurne (NL) – dismantled line
(by bike) Gronau (DE) – Glane (NL) – dismantled line
(by bike) Bad Bentheim (DE) – Gronau (DE) – extension of line from Coevorden (NL)
(by bike) Gronau (DE) – Enschede (NL) – active line with passenger traffic (crossed by train on Day 03)
Day 05 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Barlo (DE) – Winterswijk (NL) – dismantled line
(by bike) Bocholt (DE) – Aalten (NL) – dismantled 750mm gauge tramway
(by bike) Borken-Burlo (DE) – Winterswijk (NL) – dismantled line
Day 06 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Aachen (DE) – Montzen (BE) – active line with no regular passenger traffic
(by bike) Aachen-Vetschau (DE) – Bocholtz (NL) – active line with no regular passenger traffic
(by bike) Avantis (DE) – Spekholzerheide (NL) – planned line
(by bike, possibly) Eynatten (BE) – Ronheide (DE) – dismantled 1000mm gauge tramway
(by bike, possibly) Kelmis (BE) – Bildchen (DE) – dismantled 1000mm gauge tramway
(by bike, possibly) Moresnet (BE) – Preuswald (DE) – dismantled line
(by bike, possibly) Raeren (BE) – Sief (DE) – dismantled 1000mm gauge tramway
Day 07 | Background | Live blog
(by train) Aachen (DE) – Welkenraedt (BE) – active line with passenger traffic
(by train) Arlon (BE) – Kleinbettingen (LU) – active line with passenger traffic
(by train) Wasserbillig (LU) – Konz (DE) – active line with passenger traffic
(by bike) Niedaltdorf (DE) – Bouzonville (FR) – active line with no regular passenger or freight traffic
Day 08 | Background | Live blog
(by train) Saarbrücken (DE) – Sarreguemines (FR) – active line with passenger traffic and a tram
(by bike) Wissembourg (FR) – Schweighofen (DE) – active line with passenger traffic
(by train) Lauterbourg (FR) – Berg (Pfalz) (DE) – active line with passenger traffic
Day 09 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Konstanz (DE) – Kreuzlingen (CH) – active line with passenger traffic
Day 10 | Background | Live blog
(by train) Simbach (Inn) (DE) – Braunau am Inn (AT) – active line with passenger traffic
(by train) Wernstein (AT) – Passau (DE) – active line with passenger traffic
(by bike) Waldkirchen (DE) – Nové Údolí (CZ) – dismantled line
Day 11 | Background | Live blog
(by train) Domazlice (CZ) – Furth im Wald (DE) – active line with passenger traffic
Day 12 | Background | Live blog
(by train) Sebnitz (DE) – Dolní Poustevna (CZ) – active line with passenger traffic
(by bike) Jiríkov-Filipov (CZ) – Ebersbach (DE) – active line with no regular passenger traffic
Day 13 | Background | Live blog
(by bike) Görlitz (DE) – Zgorzelec (PL) – active line with passenger traffic
(by bike) Wegliniec (PL) – Horka (DE) – active line with no regular passenger traffic
(by bike) Forst (Lausitz) (DE) – Zary (PL) – active line with passenger traffic
The project will encompass:
3910 km on 58 trains
158.5 km on 5 buses
24km on 1 ferry
365.1 km across 19 bike legs
I am going to more systematically organise events as I go this time – with evening discussions in Kiel, Hamburg, Oldenburg, Münster (Westfalen), Enschede, Aachen, Saarbrücken, Karlsruhe, München, Nürnberg, Bamberg, Görlitz and Berlin in planning. There will be a social event in or near Enschede. You can signup for events here. I am very happy is people would like to join me for any part of the trip – on trains, or for the bicycle legs – please use this form if you want to do that. You can find all the planned bike routes on my Komoot profile here.
Want a taster of what I am likely to find? Here’s the video summary of 2022:
The full timetable for the Germany’s borders tour 2023 can be found here, and the detailed, zoomable map of the route can be found here.
.geojson and .gpx files for all parts of the route are now available here (in case anyone wants to replicate any of this!)
And also, don’t worry… this is not all there is going to be with #CrossBorderRail for 2023. There will be other projects later in the year as well!
