Today’s live text updates
Aaaand… there’s a Drielandentrein parked up at Maastricht. But the knackered old SNCB EMU will run it seems!
So 14:08, 15:08 and 16:08 Drielandentrein are ALL cancelled. So I found three others going to Maastricht and now we’re in a taxi
Slightly excessive
8 security personnel to get one poor homeless guy to leave a bench on the platform at Liège Guillemins!
1) this is an ex-Thalys Eurostar Paris-Köln, I’m going to Liège. So new foot and mouth restrictions to go to the UK don’t apply. But I’m sorry, I can’t put “ex-Thalys Eurostar” in every post!
2) I’ve taken it too damned much. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced their boarding cock ups when trains are delayed
And because Eurostar is more obsessed about checking tickets than it is about ontime running, rather that let passengers walk along the 400m platform to board quickly once the train arrives, they’re holding them in the hall instead, and let them through once every arriving passenger is out.
Shitshow of a company.
Ah
I’m getting treated to that legendary Eurostar premium service!
Train Paris Nord to Liège is +20, delay of incoming train
Where am I told this?
Eurostar app ❌
Email ❌
Push notification ❌
SNCF Connect app ❌
DB Navigator ❌
Screen in station ✅
So WHY NOT SHARE THE DATA? 😡
Meeting with the Reschenbahn campaigners 🇦🇹🇨🇭🇮🇹 https://reschenbahn.com/ now sorted - 2nd July during #CrossBorderRail
A meeting with activists in Košice 🇸🇰 is also in planning
Here’s the map of the project (layers show the dates) https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2025-finale_1163738#6/49.512/19.752
If I’m passing where you’re based and you’ve got something interesting to tell me or show me, let me know!
Experimenting with Mapy CZ / Mapy COM this morning, at the suggestion of @marekfort @kupfers
This looks like the map solution I need
OK, it's not open source, but it heavily relies on OpenStreetMap, the way maps render is excellent, the web interface is excellent and the iOS app very solid
Not only can this replace Komoot, but probably the last uses I had for Google Maps as well
First test: home to a friend’s place in a neighbouring village
There are two routes: a longer flat route along the canal, and a shorter hilly route on a road with cars
cycle.travel gives me the canal
The other two the hilly road
First win for cycle.travel
Journalism 🤷♂️
It’s a OUIGO train with a max speed of 160km/h, not a TGV that normally does 300km/h
And the story has been up and not corrected for at least three hours
Based on suggestions from a bunch of people, 3 apps are to be assessed more closely
cycle.travel
Ride with GPS
Organic Maps
IMPORTANT
- works anywhere in the EU, and Moldova and edge of Ukraine
IDEALLY
- community driven and/or open source
And sorry, solutions only in a web browser are unlikely good enough. An app based solution for saved routes strikes me as important.
And why am I leaving Komoot behind? As @osma documented, the founders sold out to big money enshittifiers 😭
Ok, I need an alternative to Komoot for #CrossBorderRail 🚲🗺️ this summer
@spacehobo suggested cycle.travel that looks good, but on two shorter trips I’ll evaluate this and other options
NEEDS
- route planning and saving on a computer and easily on an iPhone
- ability to share routes with others with a link, and export routes as GEOjson or equiv file
- turn by turn navigation (I have an old iPhone on a handlebar mount)
FFS people.
1) Yes, I don’t entirely trust Google Maps either. I never trust it for bikes or trains. But oddly I’m borrowing a friend’s car this weekend and it’s ok for a quick car route search
2) I know what public transport is like here, because I live here
3) Yes this is bad in many countries, but in Germany it’d be a little better than this probably
It’s market day in Chablis today
Leaving from here now you can get there faster walking than by public transport! It’s about 40km
And there is even a Schienenersatzverkehr song
The whole niche of strange rail songs 😀
I’m not especially convinced by Lutz. But given the circumstances under which he has to operate, can anyone really do this better? 🤔
https://mastodon.online/@bahnoev/114363970621453952
Via @dapenntja we have a new entry this morning: a cross over between techno and thrash metal in a dining car. So bad it’s good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFlhlZbeKgE
https://gruene.social/@jon/114359540836379231
So the #CrossBorderRail playlist is ready!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJmD42AOWiYePFWb7pOG8T8GBq5ykjXVj
Each song corresponds to a day of the project this summer, although which song matches which day may be less obvious
And musically it’s... eclectic! 😀
So who's going to bring along a sound system for when we ride this during #CrossBorderRail at Oberpullendorf? 🤔
Text updates are auto-generated from Mastodon – follow me on Mastodon @jon@gruene.social
Some updates will also be occasionally be posted on Bluesky – follow me @jonworth.eu
Today’s introduction and summary videos
All the #CrossBorderRail daily videos are on my Peertube channel
Today’s photos
Today’s background
A day of transition from north east Europe to central Europe! The daily InterCity train to Warszawa arrives too late to connect with the night train from there to Budapest, so it’s instead a coach for the cross border section, and then after a few hours in Warszawa onto the night train across 4 countries to Budapest.
Borders examined on this day:
Zebrzydowice 🇵🇱 – Bohumín 🇨🇿
Distance covered:
1407.9km
Transport modes:
🚆 1
🚌 1
Today’s route
The full zoomable and scrollable map, including today’s route, is on uMap here.
