#CrossBorderRail – crossing every border in the EU you can cross by train

When, in a quiet moment late last year, I wondered what had come of the missing rail links Michael Cramer had proposed to fix when he was a MEP, I could not have known what I would discover. In the 6 years since Cramer started working on the issue, only one of the fifteen missing links he examined has been re-activated. Perhaps more worrisome was that at least 5 (and possibly as many as 10) of the listed routes have no prospect of reactivation in the short to medium term.

So – I started to ask myself – what could I do about this?

Cramer’s work focused on places where cross border tracks are missing. But that is not the only problem. In some places tracks exist, but they are in a poor state or there are technical problems on the other side of the border. In other places the infrastructure is fine, but passenger trains do not run. And in some places where trains do run, passengers cannot find information about those services or book tickets for them.

I have a comparatively good knowledge of these issues, but there are plenty of corners of the EU that I have never visited and seen what might or might not work with my own eyes. A type of comparative analysis is what I have long advocated the European Commission should undertake, but as the Commission is not doing this work, and Cramer’s work was narrow in scope, then I better set about doing something. Last year’s Connecting Europe Express should also have addressed some of these issues, but largely did not either.

So the idea was born to plan a huge rail and bike journey that crosses every internal border inside the European Union (and EFTA countries) that you can cross by train. And en route stop for at least long enough to organise a meeting in the political capital of each country to discuss these issues with local activists. And – pandemic permitting – do that trip in a comparatively compressed period in the summer of 2022.

This blog post explains the trip and – using Creative Commons images taken by other people – gives a taster of what’s in store!

Contents

• Route considerations
• Practicalities – the trip, ticketing and accommodation
• Practicalities – communication, meetings and fundraising
• Route summary
• North circuit
  • Day 1 – Berlin (DE)-Warszawa (PL)
  • Day 2 – Warszawa-Kaunas (LT)
  • Day 3 – Kaunas-Riga (LV)
  • Day 4 – Riga-Tallinn (EE)
  • Day 5 – Tallinn-Helsinki (FI), then onto a night train
  • Day 6 – arrival on the night train, Tornio (FI)-Umeå (SE)
  • Day 7 – Umeå-Trondheim (NO), then onto a night train
  • Day 8 – arrival on the night train, then Oslo (NO)-Stockholm(SE)
  • Day 9 – Stockholm-Bramming (DK)
  • Day 10 – Bramming-Kleve (DE)
  • Day 11 – Kleve-Bruxelles (BE)
  • Day 12 – Bruxelles-Berlin
• South West circuit
  • Day 13 – Berlin-Metz (FR)
  • Day 14 – Metz-Dinant (BE)
  • Day 15 – Dinant-Pau (FR)
  • Day 16 – Pau-Zaragoza (ES)
  • Day 17 – Zaragoza-Vigo (ES)
  • Day 18 – Vigo-Lisboa (PT)
  • Day 19 – Lisboa-Madrid (ES)
  • Day 20 – Madrid-Marseille (FR)
  • Day 21 – Marseille-Roma (IT)
  • Day 22 – Roma-Bern (CH)
  • Day 23 – Bern-Villach (AT)
  • Day 24 – Villach-Ljubljana (SI)
  • Day 25 – Ljubljana-Zagreb (HR), and onwards by night train
• South East circuit
  • Day 26 – night train from Berlin, then Breclav (CZ) to Lendava (SI)
  • Day 27 – Lendava-Szeged (HU)
  • Day 28 – Szeged-Simeria (RO)
  • Day 29 – Simeria-Calafat (RO)
  • Day 30 – Vidin-Sofia (BG)
  • Day 31 – Sofia-Sidirokastro (GR)
  • Day 32 – Sidirokastro-Alexandroupouli (GR)
  • Day 33 – Alexandroupouli – Veliko Tarnovo (BG)
  • Day 34 – Veliko Tarnovo – Bucuresti, and onwards with the night train
  • Day 35 – arrival on the night train, and Dej (RO)-Poprad (SK)
  • Day 36 – Poprad-Bratislava (SK)
  • Day 37 – Bratislava-Budapest (HU)-Passau (DE)
  • Day 38 – Passau-Berlin
• Photo Rights

Route considerations

As this is essentially a political project directed at the European Union, the focus has to be on internal borders within the European Union. Adding borders between EFTA countries – Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – and the EU was simple from a planning perspective, so those were included. Each border will be crossed at least once – sometimes the nature of a border (Germany-Poland and France-Italy for example) allowed multiple crossings to be planned. Using every single operational cross border line was likewise beyond the scope of the project – it would take days to travel every cross border line between Czechia and Germany alone!

Adding external rail borders of the EU – between Ireland and Northern Ireland for example, or Poland and Ukraine – also proved to be too complicated, and these deserve a trip of their own. The same can be said for the rail routes in the non-EU countries of the Western Balkans – covering all of the possible cross border routes here would have taken 9 days alone, and involved many bus trips. Here too a separate trip would make sense. The only political capital that could not be included was Athens – a combination of the financial crisis and the pandemic has thinned rail services in Greece so much I would have to add 2 days to the trip just to get to and from Athens.

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Practicalities – the trip, ticketing and accommodation

Many of the border crossings with poor or no longer functional rail infrastructure are hard to reach by any form of public transport, especially in a time efficient manner. That meant planning to take a folding bicycle along with me – something I have tested with success on some smaller journeys. A folding bike also avoids the headaches with some countries that still do not allow regular bicycles to be conveyed. I will take either my Birdy or Dahon bike.

The most cost-efficient way to do this whole trip is to use a 2 month, all zones Interrail pass – that costs €731. Some high speed trains need compulsory reservations that normally cost about €10 a time, and the handful of night trains also need reservations for couchette or sleeping car beds. All together the tickets should total no more than €1000.

The compressed nature of the trip – no more than 1 night spent in any one place – means a new hotel every night. Were friends or activists willing to put me up I will be happy to save money that way. And I am going to need a small budget for food each day.

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Practicalities – communication, meetings and fundraising

At the very minimum this trip is going to produce an enormous amount of content across social platforms – blog posts, tweets, pictures, live streams. I am open to doing even more than that – seeking some sort of media partnership for the trip for example, or penning pieces for media that has a larger reach than I do. But part of the point here is to tell the story as I see it, as it goes along, to bring my audience along for the journey.

The rationale for including at least 2 hours in each political capital (and time in some of the border towns as well) is to allow the organisation of events to discuss the issues the route highlights – how well are plans for improvements advancing? What are the main barriers to progress? What could the EU do to assist? Precisely how these events can work in the middle of a pandemic remains to be seen, but attempting the trip ought to at least mean events in outdoor venues should be possible. People joining the trip for individual legs could also make sense.

All together I think I am going to need a budget of about €3500 to make this trip a reality. First I am going to have to wait until April to know whether I can realistically go ahead (it depends on the pandemic situation), and then start a crowdfunding effort to cover the costs of the journey. There will also be ways that people can contribute in kind – by providing accommodation for example.

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Route summary

After initially calculating it would take 30 days to cross all internal borders by train, I soon concluded doing all of this in one go would not make sense. So instead the route will be split up into 3 parts – a North circuit, a South West circuit, and a South East circuit – and with a week or so back home in Berlin in between each. The complete map is available here, and the detailed itinerary here.

Currently my plan would be to complete the circuits as follows in 2022:

• • • • North circuit – 13 June – 24 June
      • South West circuit – 29 June – 12 July or 3 July – 16 July (earlier option is more probable)
      • South East circuit – 22 July – 3 August

The route looks like this:

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North circuit

Here is the North circuit in a little more detail (Tornio-Haparanda not shown)

Day 1 – Berlin (DE)-Warszawa (PL)

Departing Berlin via Cottbus (DE), the first border to be examined – by bike – is between the twin towns Guben (DE) and Gubin (PL). This is a missing service – a border with no passenger trains, with plans to run them in future. At the moment there is an active rail line that crosses the border, but it carries only freight and the plan is that passenger trains will connect Guben with Gubin and Zielona Góra (PL) from December 2022. There is also an older, more southerly bridge over the Neiße that is long abandoned, that I aim to quickly view before returning to the station.

Back on the German side I will then take the train north to Frankfurt (Oder) and from there take the EuroCity train to Warszawa. The border – across the Oder – between Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice (PL) is a border with good long distance passenger trains, but comparatively poor local trains. Despite the route to Zielona Góra for local trains being completely electrified, diesel trains run under the wires, because neither the German nor Polish railways have any cross-border EMUs that can run on the electric system on the other side (15kV ac in Germany, 3kV dc in Poland).

These Germany-Poland crossings were chosen because routes further north – towards Kostryzn and Szczecin – are currently being re-built, and the route to Świnoujście from Germany can only extend a few kilometres into Poland. Routes further south will be examined at the very end of the trip – see below.

Overnight in Warszawa.

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Day 2 – Warszawa-Kaunas (LT)

Time to meet activists in Poland in the morning, then departure to Białystok. Then it gets sketchy.

Until the start of the COVID pandemic there was one daily train from to Kaunas, via Suwałki (PL) – as explained on Seat61. However at the time of writing I have no way of knowing if this train might operate again sometime in 2022. Given this is the first part of the prestigious Rail Baltica route it strikes me that not running anything is an odd one! So in short this is either a missing service – a border with no passenger trains, with plans to run them in future or it is a border with a very limited passenger service.

In the absence of a through train I can only find trains in Poland as far as Suwałki, and from Marijampolė (LT) on the other side of the border – but there is 60km between them! If there is no train then I can see no option other than taking a bus instead here – cycling is not really viable as on the Lithuanian side there is only a main road really – not at all pleasant for 30km!

This is the only viable way to cross the border between Poland and Lithuania – it avoids Kaliningrad (Russia) to the west, and Belarus to to the east.

Train on to Kaunas, and overnight in Kaunas.

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Day 3 – Kaunas-Riga (LV)

Early train from Kaunas to Vilnius (LT), and morning meeting with activists.

The best rail infrastructure to get to Riga would route via Šiauliai (LT) and Jelgava (LV), but there is currently no passenger service on the 80km of route between the two. The solution instead is to head north east first – passenger trains still serve Turmantas (LT), and that is 30km by bike on quiet roads and tracks from Daugavpils (LT) – and there are still trains from there to Riga. So this is a missing service – a border where track exists, but there are no passenger trains. I am not aware of any plans for better cross border rail here, except Rail Baltica – that seems to be occupying all of the attention just now.

Having reached Daugavpils by bicycle I will then take the train on to Riga. Overnight in Riga.

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Day 4 – Riga-Tallinn (EE)

Morning meeting in Riga, and then the train northwards to Valga (EE). The timetables do not work here – there is a wait of more than 3 hours for the onward train to Tallinn, but it does work the whole way without having to resort to a bicycle.

This border with a very limited passenger service is the only one I could viably use for this leg of the trip. Rail Baltica will run much further to the west, but despite that western route being mentioned in Michael Cramer’s work, there is no means to route that way at present.

Overnight in Tallinn.

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Day 5 – Tallinn-Helsinki (FI), then onto a night train

Morning meeting with activists in Tallinn, and a lunchtime ferry to Helsinki. Afternoon or evening meeting with activists in Helsinki.

There is no land border here, although there is the vague idea to tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn so as to connect Finland to Rail Baltica, something I will examine in discussions in both cities. The only way to do this part of the trip on land would be to route via Russia – and that requires a visa, so was not considered.

Departure late evening from Helsinki on the night train northwards.

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Day 6 – arrival on the night train, Tornio (FI)-Umeå (SE)

The night train arrives at Tornio Itäinen on the Finnish side, and Swedish trains depart from Haparanda (SE). It is about 5km to cycle between the stations, passing the world’s most northerly IKEA.

The opportunity to run genuine through trains Finland-Sweden is very limited, as Finland uses 1520mm broad gauge and Sweden 1435mm standard gauge, but plans are afoot to at least make sure the trains start and end at the same station in 2023 – and tracks do run across the border already. On the Swedish side trains have only recently been extended again from Boden to Haparanda, so things are progressing here. This is a missing service because track exists, but there are no passenger trains, and there are plans to run them in future.

Train via Boden to Umeå. The timetables here are sadly lousy – there is not time to get the early train from Haparanda, and trains south from Boden connect badly with the train from Haparanda. There is work to do!

Overnight in Umeå.

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Day 7 – Umeå-Trondheim (NO), then onto a night train

The train heads south first, and then after changing at Sundsvall (SE) heads north west via Östersund (SE) to the border at Storlien (SE), where there is a further change of train. The route on the Swedish side is electrified, but Norwegian side is only diesel at the moment – but with works ongoing to electrify the line from Trondheim to the border. So this is a border with passenger service, with the opportunity for service improvements in future. Between Storlien and Trondheim the route passes through Hell – and that’s a must on a cross-border railway route!

After a couple of hours in Trondheim, it will be time for the night train southwards towards the Norwegian capital.

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Day 8 – arrival on the night train, then Oslo (NO)-Stockholm(SE)

Morning or lunchtime meeting with activists in Oslo.

The situation regarding cross border rail from Oslo is surprisingly poor. Not only were all cross border trains suspended for 15 months during the COVID pandemic (now finally running again!) but the routes to Göteborg (SE, via Halden) and Stockholm (SE, via Karlstad) are both slow and have irregular services. It is indeed faster to take a bus than a train from Oslo to Göteborg, while planes still have a good market share on the route to Stockholm. While Norway’s rail investments focus on commuter lines around Oslo, and Sweden’s on speeding up Stockholm to Göteborg and Malmö, the international routes from Oslo are not improved.

Due to the need to get to Stockholm I hence chose the border that way (at Charlottenberg) to cross – is a border with poor long distance passenger trains, and poor local trains.

Overnight in Stockholm.

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Day 9 – Stockholm-Bramming (DK)

Morning meeting with activists in Stockholm.

Then, after a series of regional trains and night trains it will finally be time to be back on a premium daytime service – a lunchtime X2000 from Stockholm to København (DK). The Malmö (SE) to København Øresund bridge is an example of a border with good long distance passenger trains, and excellent local trains. It is also the only viable way to cross from Sweden to Denmark, and a few good examples ought to be examined anyway!

Late afternoon meeting with activists in København.

And then last but not least an InterCity train from København across the Storebælt to Bramming, and overnight there.

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Day 10 – Bramming-Kleve (DE)

There are 2 main railway routes from Denmark to Germany – via Padborg (DK) and Flensburg (DE), or via the Fehmarn ferry. The latter is currently being rebuilt, so is not an option, and Padborg is well known. So hence the choice to cross the border here at the least known of the three borders – Tønder (DK) – Niebüll (DE) in western Jylland. All the lines in the area might only be diesel, but this is a border with good local trains. Schleswig-Holstein wants to electrify the line south of Niebüll, so there are prospects of some improvements here too.

Via Hamburg (DE) it’s on to Leer (DE) and onto the bike to inspect some broken infrastructure with cross border relevance – trains from Groningen (NL) have not been able to reach the mainline network in Germany at Leer because the Friesenbrücke was destroyed by a ship in 2015. The new bridge will only be in service in 2024 – an interruption lasting 9 years! This used to be a border with good local trains, but for the moment it is a missing link.

Back on the rail network at Papenburg (DE), the trip continues south and via Dusiburg (DE) and Krefeld (DE) to Kleve (DE).

Overnight in Kleve.

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Day 11 – Kleve-Bruxelles (BE)

There are a whole bunch of potential cross border lines between Netherlands and Germany to investigate, but for passenger potential and because of the politics of it, Kleve to Nijmegen (NL) is the most interesting. Campaigners and communities on the German side are open to reactivating the cross border route, but there is opposition Dutch side – especially in the town Groesbeek that fears trains rumbling through the town centre. And in the meantime there is a Draisine hire on the old line. At the moment this is a missing link, and was cited in Cramer’s work. The plan is to cycle the missing part of the rail route, and then take the train from Nijmegen.

The first stop is Den Haag, for a lunchtime meeting with activists, and from there it’s onwards to a further problematic border – between Weert (NL) and Hamont (BE). Here tracks exist, but trains do not run at the moment, so once again I will hop on the bike here. And – you guessed it – Netherlands is opposed to re-opening the line and Belgium is in favour, as the Dutch are opposed to the whole Iron Rhine line reactivation, preferring that freight from Antwerpen (BE) to Germany stays routed via Aachen instead. This of course then ignores the passenger potential at Weert-Hamont, and that the line Belgian side has recently been electrified. At the moment it is a missing link – because although tracks exist, electrification and possibly other upgrades would be needed to make cross border passenger services viable here.

Overnight in Bruxelles.

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Day 12 – Bruxelles-Berlin

Morning meeting with activists, and hopefully some politicians as well in the EU Quarter.

Then a lunchtime train to Eupen (BE) and back on the bike for the cross border section of an old rail route via Raeren (BE) and Walheim (DE) to Stolberg (DE) – it’s the green line on this map. Part of the route is now the Vennbahn cycle route. On the German side there are plans to extend trains beyond Stolberg, but not as far as the border to Belgium, and even those plans were put in question by flood damage to the existing line in Stolberg in summer 2021. At the moment this is a missing link, although its proximity to the only functional passenger line between Welkenraedt (BE) and Aachen (DE) means the chances of reactivation must surely be slim.

Onwards with a local train from Stolberg to Köln (DE), and then a high speed ICE Sprinter train home to Berlin, and the end of the North circuit!

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South West circuit

Here is the South West circuit in a little more detail

Day 13 – Berlin-Metz (FR)

This day starts with a connection from Berlin to Freiburg (DE) in south western Germany.

From Freiburg it is a short train ride to Breisach, the point on the German side that has been the end of the railway since the end of World War II. On the other side of the Rhein here is Volgelsheim – where a station and tracks still exist, but the section as far as Colmar is for freight only. This is a missing link that Cramer investigated in his work. The news is generally not good here though – even the bus that currently crosses the border is in danger of being cut. On the German side there is more determination to re-activate the rail line.

From here my aim is to hop onto my bike and cycle south along the Rhein and investigate the Mülheim (Baden) (DE)-Mulhouse (FR) cross border route. Here there are 7 local trains a day each way, making it a border with reasonable local trains. However a ticketing problem kicks in here – it is possible to book through tickets to the final station on the German side (Neuenburg (Baden)) but not all the way to Mulhouse. I also suspect the trains here are diesel, despite the line being electrified throughout – this is because at the moment operators on each side of the border do not have bi-voltage EMUs that can work on both the French 25kV and German 15kV electrification systems. From 2024 at least this problem should be solved!

These two borders adequately highlight the problems at the border between France and Germany – issues similar to these are repeated at a number of the other border crossings.

Next up it’s one of the very best cross border routes anywhere in Europe – from Weil am Rhein (DE) to Basel Badischer Bahnhof (CH, although actually owned by the German state!) and onwards to Basel SBB. This border has excellent long distance trains, and excellent local trains. And I even have a couple of hours to meet activists here, even though it is not a capital city!

I then head out of Basel the other way – from Basel SBB towards St Louis (FR). This is a border with good long distance train connections, and excellent local trains.

Then trains northbound via Strasbourg (FR) to Metz (FR), and an overnight stay there.

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Day 14 – Metz-Dinant (BE)

After a quick train ride from Metz to Thionville (FR), it will be time to hop on the bike here once more – there is a railway line alongside the Moselle river between Thionville and Perl (DE), but currently it is only used for freight – this is a missing service. My route will be slightly different – along the other side of the Moselle and into Luxembourg at Schengen (it’s a must-visit on this trip – because open borders in Europe help facilitate cross border rail transport and I ought to go to the place where the Treaty was agreed!), and then from there it’s a short hop over the river and onto the train once more.

From Perl I will head northwards to Trier (DE), and from there head west to Luxembourg (LU), crossing the border at Wasserbillig (LU). Due to the hilly terrain here the railway lines are comparatively slow, but this is a border with good local trains. Also as public transport is now free in Luxembourg – it will be interesting to see how this has worked out.

After a stop in Luxembourg to meet activists, it’s time to get a further train – and head to Belgium via Athus (BE). This is the less known route into Belgium (the more famous one is further north, via Arlon), but is a border with good local trains. Likewise on the Belgian side the line that runs roughly parallel to the border with France is somewhat forgotten – it has no direct trains from Brussels. But it will take me to Dinant, where I will stop for the night.

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Day 15 – Dinant-Pau (FR)

This one starts with a bicycle trip along the route of the cross border railway line that used to run from Dinant to Givet (FR), but was closed in the 1980s. This missing link was investigated by Michael Cramer, and is the subject of a recent agreement between the French and Belgian transport ministers, promising to re-open the line – although they do not set a timeframe for doing so. The other line the ministers mention – Mons (BE) – Valenciennes (FR) – is less interesting as it is for freight only, and so that is why Dinant-Givet was chosen for this trip.

From Givet it’s onto a local train to Charleville-Mézières (FR), and then a TGV to Paris (FR) and an afternoon meeting with activists. Then it’s time for one of the longest and fastest legs of the trip – the TGV from Montparnasse to Pau (FR) in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Night in Pau.

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Day 16 – Pau-Zaragoza (ES)

Cross border rail between France and Spain is in a sorry state, and examining any of the 4 open and 1 closed crossing could have been interesting. But I can’t see and do everything. So Hendaye (FR)-Irún (ES) will have to do with the detailed examination in this blog post, and instead I will cross into Spain along the route where trains have not run since 1970 – on the Pau to Canfranc route. Trains have run as far as Bedous (FR) since 2016, but the Bedous-Canfranc section is still out of action – there is a bus here. The extraordinary station building at Canfranc (shown, more on Wikipedia here) is I suspect the main reason for attention given to this line than any clear business rationale. This is a missing link that Cramer also investigated.

Part of the problem is also on the Spanish side – the broad gauge line there to Zaragoza via Huesca (ES) is slow and only 2 trains a day run as far as Canfranc.

Overnight in Zaragoza.

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Day 17 – Zaragoza-Vigo (ES)

One of only two days in the entire trip without a border crossing, and here as on Day 32 it is because trains are so irregular there is no other option. Routes across Spain, avoiding Madrid, are not the easiest either. But there is one daily Barcelona (ES)-Vigo Alvia train that goes via Zaragoza (where I would board it), and then via Pamplona, Leon and Ourense (pictured) to Vigo. 11 hours 33 minutes on this train.

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Day 18 – Vigo-Lisboa (PT)

This was a tough call. The border from Salamanca (ES) to Vilar Formoso (PT) has had no passenger service for some years, but is complex to cross without needing to use buses. So instead I will cross into Portugal at Valença on recently upgraded infrastructure – the line from Porto to the Portugal-Spain border has been electrified, and is electrified on the Spanish side. But – surprise surprise – diesel trains run the cross border service, and only twice a day, because operators on either side of the border do not have EMUs suitable for local traffic that are compatible with the electrification system on the other side. So this is a border with poor local trains. There is also an information problem here, as there is no website that contains the timetable data of all Spanish and all Portuguese trains.

From Porto (PT), onwards south to Lisboa and time for a meeting with activists there. And for the hell of it I might just take a quick hop to Cascais!

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Day 19 – Lisboa-Madrid (ES)

This one is so painful it had to be included. As I wrote in this piece for The New Statesman, Lisboa-Madrid is one of the most flown cross border flight routes, but the train connection is a catastrophe. At least before COVID there used to be a night train, but since then the trip takes all day, and involves changes in Entrocamento (PT), Badajoz (ES) and Merida (ES). The trip from Entroncamento to Badajoz involves 3 hours spent on a single carriage railbus that dates from the 1950s. At the moment this is a border with very poor local trains.

Night in Madrid.

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Day 20 – Madrid-Marseille (FR)

After a morning meeting with activists, this is another day that’s going to leave me shaking my head.

There is a high speed line the whole way from Madrid to Perpignan (FR), and then a slow speed section as far as Nîmes (FR) and then a further high speed section to Marseille. But the problem comes – as ever – on the cross border section. Throughout the year there are just 2 trains a day each way on the Figueras (ES) via the Le Perthus tunnel to Perpignan section (1 Barcelona-Lyon, 1 Barcelona-Paris). In summer 2 more services are added – a Madrid-Marseille (that I will take), and a second Barcelona-Paris. This is scandalous – it is a border with excellent infrastructure but a poor long distance train service. And the line is only just over a decade old!

Night in Marseille.

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Day 21 – Marseille-Roma (IT)

Having just battled with the borders to/from Spain, the border crossings from France to Italy are little better! And that is even though the infrastructure on two of the four of the crossings is comparatively good. A quirk of the borders, and the timetables, means my route means I can cover three of the four border crossings in just one morning.

After an early start on the regional train from Marseille to Nice (FR), the first two border crossings are actually non-EU – the train traverses Monaco in a tunnel between Nice and Menton (FR). Then crosses between Nice and Ventimiglia (IT) there is the first crossing into Italy. This is the route the cross border long distance Thello service Marseille-Milano(IT) used to take, before the service was abolished – leaving this as a border with no long distance services at all, but with good local services.

From Ventimiglia it is onto a regional train northbound to Cuneo (IT) that nevertheless enters France, passing through Breil-sur-Roya (FR) (there is a line to Nice here too) and Tende (FR), before re-entering Italy and arriving at Cuneo. The line is scenic but slow and through mountainous terrain. The borders here have limited local services.

From Cuneo it is on via Fossano (IT), Savona (IT) and Genova (IT) to Roma (IT) and falling into bed after a day of 7 trains and 3 border crossings!

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Day 22 – Roma-Bern (CH)

After a morning meeting activists in Roma, it’s onto a lunchtime high speed train to Milano, on the line that killed an airline. It might not be a cross border railway, but the mainline the length of Italy is seriously good, and I am happy to be able to include it in my route.

From Milano cross border lines to Switzerland have improved in the last two decades with the opening of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel (2007) and Gotthard Base Tunnel (2017). As Bern, rather than Zürich (CH), is my destination, I will route via Lötschberg – and this has the additional advantage of meandering along the edge of Lago Maggiore north of Milano! The border north of Domodossola is border with excellent long distance services, and good local services.

Night in Bern.

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Day 23 – Bern-Villach (AT)

After a morning meeting with activists in Bern, it’s time to head eastwards – through Zürich to St Gallen (CH) and St Margrethen (CH) to Lustenau (AT) – the only cross border line directly between Switzerland and Austria. This is a border with reasonable long distance connections (Zürich-München trains cross here) and excellent local services. After a quick bike tour to have a look at the narrow gauge Dienstbahn der Internationalen Rheinregulierung and then back into Switzerland by bike, it’s time for a quick trip south to Buchs (CH), and then two border crossings in quick succession – the RailJet train traverses Liechtenstein between Buchs and Feldkirch (AT), but does not stop there! Indeed Liechtensteiners voted against improving the rail service in a referendum! These then then borders transited by long distance trains, and with a limited local service.

The route then continues through Vorarlberg to Innsbruck (AT) and Wörgl (AT). The fastest route would be to go via Salzburg (across the corner of Germany!) but instead I will take the scenic slow train from Wörgl via Kitzbühel (AT) (Salzburg – Tiroler Bahn). After all I can allow myself some routes I have never taken before, surely? In Schwarzach there is a connection southbound over the Tauernbahn to Villach (AT). Somehow I end up going to Villach rather often!

Night in Villach.

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Day 24 – Villach-Ljubljana (SI)

What’s not to like about Villach in terms of international rail? There are regular trains to Italy, Germany and Slovenia from here, and even though Slovenia to Croatia. But for the sake of this project I am not going to take the route through the Karawanks Tunnel to Ljubljana – the fastest way.

I will instead first go towards Italy, via Tarvisio (IT) – this is a border with reasonable local services and good long distance services (Austria-Venezia services cross here). Udine (IT) for Gorizia (IT). Here there is a missing service to Nova Gorica (SI), and this would be the cross border route investigated by Michael Cramer that would be easiest to fix. There is hope the rail service will work again by the time Gorizia-Nova Gorica are European Capital of Culture in 2025. But I will hop on my bike and cycle along the border for a short distance (there is a handy path along part of it), before boarding my next train at Nova Gorica – the Italy-Slovenia border crosses the square in front of the station.

From there it is a local train to Sezana (SI) and then on to Ljubljana, and an evening meeting with activists. Night in Ljubljana.

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Day 25 – Ljubljana-Zagreb (HR), and onwards by night train

I wanted to cross from Slovenia into Croatia (that is also leaving the Schengen area) at one of the less-used border crossings, and discovered the Metlika (SI)-Bubnjarci (SI) crossing. Railway infrastructure exists here, but services have been stopped – ostensibly due to the COVID pandemic. So currently this is a missing service. But the cross border area is interesting, not least as a connection between the larger centres on both sides – Novo Mesto (SI) and Karlovac (HR) might make sense. The diverging strategies of the respective railway companies deserve a look as well – with massive investments in rolling stock (also for the line to Metlika) on the Slovenian side, and nothing equivalent on the Croatian side. There is also no website for timetable information for railways on both sides of the border (Croatian regional trains are not listed on the Deutsche Bahn site).

From Karlovac it’s onwards to Zagreb for a late afternoon meeting with activists, and then onto the summer-only night train to München (DE). This crosses at Dobova (SI) – a border with a reasonable local service and a poor long distance service – and at Jesenice (SI) to Faak am See (AT), a border with a renovated new tunnel but a poor long distance service and no local service. Then from München it’s back to Berlin on the high speed ICE.

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South East circuit

Here is the South circuit in a little more detail

Day 26 – night train from Berlin, then Breclav (CZ) to Lendava (SI)

This circuit starts on the night train towards Austria, and the DE-PL and PL-CZ borders it crosses I will cross at other points in this trip, so it is only the border at Breclav (CZ) to Austria that is of particular importance here – but it is a good one, with excellent long distance and local cross border services, and is even due to be improved over the next decade. After a morning meeting with activists in Wien I will head south to Graz, enjoying the Semmeringbahn out of the window. From Graz I will then take a regional train via Spielfeld (AT) to Bad Radkersburg (AT) and complete the rest of the day’s travels by bike.

Until the end of World War II, Bad Radkersburg was connected to Gornja Radgona (SI) with a railway bridge, and that has never been rebuilt. It is a missing link, but not one that Michael Cramer examined (it is actually thanks to a comment on my blog post about Cramer’s work that I discovered this one!) – track exists on the Slovenian side, but there is no passenger service between Gornja Radgona and Ljutomer.

However rather than take a train for the next part, I will continue by bike (it’s more direct!) and cross first into Hungary (at a point where there is no railway), and then head south back into Slovenia, exploring the Redícs-Lendava (SI) missing link that Cramer examined.

Overnight in Lendava.

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Day 27 – Lendava-Szeged (HU)

At the time of Cramer’s research, a minimal passenger train service had been re-introduced from Maribor (SI) to Lendava, but routing through Čakovec (HR), as the Lendava branch is orphaned from the rest of the Slovenian railway network. However this service has ceased to run since December 2021 – so the first check is why that is the case – it is a missing service at the moment. And is if that is not enough, the few trains that run from Mursko Središće (HR) onwards to Čakovec don’t connect with anything, so there will be a bit more cycling here too before finally picking up the first train of the day in Čakovec – crossing back out of Schengen between Lendava and Mursko Središće.

But here too a cross border peculiarity crops up – due to how borders in this region do not correspond neatly with where the railways are!

The best route from Pragersko (SI) on the mainline between Ljubljana to Maribor to Nagykanizsa (HU) routes right through Čakovec (HR) – that is a border with missing service, but I cannot get close enough to cross it. Instead of improving that route to Hungary, the Slovenes instead electrified and renovated the much longer route further north via Hodoš (SI) instead – thanks Nico Huurman for the comment about this! Meanwhile the Croatians do not really care about the route through Čakovec either, instead favouring the one further south through Koprivnica (HR) to Gyékényes (HU) instead! This is a border I will use – it has a very limited long distance service. It is also a Schengen external border.

It is that latter route that I am then taking – by train within Croatia from Čakovec to Varaždin (HR), then to Koprivnica, then to Gyékényes. Then onwards in Hungary via Dombovar (HU), Baja (HU) and Kiskunfelegyhaza (HU) to Szeged. On the Hungarian side two further problems present themselves – the only rail bridge over the Danube south of Budapest (HU) is at Baja, and it has rather few trains! And the Hungarian railway network radiates out from the capital – regional lines do exist, but services on them are slow and irregular. If any of the trains here are delayed or do not run, I will always have the backup of routing via Budapest – longer but faster.

Overnight in Szeged.

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Day 28 – Szeged-Simeria (RO)

The infrastructure around Szeged is confusing – the focus seems to be on the recently introduced tram-train, meaning local services from the “other” Szeged station – Újszeged on the other side of the river from the main station – are rather run down. Ideally I will take the train to the border to Romania at Nagylak (HU), but can cycle this leg as well if necessary. The joint village Nagylak-Naglac (RO) divided by the border is fascinating on the map – at the moment it is a missing link in the railway network, but not one Cramer investigated. The distance between the tracks on each side is about 3km – I will cross the border here (and leave Schengen once more!) by bike.

Once on the Romanian side, it’s onwards by local train to Arad (RO), an important railway junction more normally reached from the main Lököshaza (HU)-Curtici (RO) border crossing used by mainline trains from Budapest. From Arad I take one further train eastwards and stop overnight in Simeria.

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Day 29 – Simeria-Calafat (RO)

The reason for choosing Simeria for the overnight stop is it allows me to route onto the line via Petroșani (RO) and Târgu Jiu (RO) to Craiova (RO) – thanks Helmut Uttenthaler for the inspiration here. From Craiova there is no option but to take the horribly slow diesel train to Calafat – the Romanian side of one of only two bridges over the Danube along the Romania-Bulgaria border. Vidin (BG) is the town on the Bulgarian side. The bridge only replaced ferries here in 2013, and it is a combined rail and road bridge. But there is a catch – only 1 train a day crosses it each way each day! This is a border with the most minimal cross border service imaginable. It is not as if the situation for road traffic is much better – 6 Euro toll to cross this bridge in one of the poorest corners of Europe! Because my arrival time does not correspond with the daily train across the bridge I am going to cycle instead – it is possible! – but at the moment I do not know if it makes more sense to stay on the Romanian or Bulgarian side overnight.

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Day 30 – Vidin-Sofia (BG)

Were I to depart Vidin insanely early, I could get through Bulgaria to Greece all on the same day, but given the thin timetables on this section, I have decided a little more caution would be in order! At least the lines on the Bulgarian side are electrified, and so I will take regional trains via Mezdra (BG) to Sofia, arriving in the early afternoon in time for a meeting with activists. No border crossings today!

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Day 31 – Sofia-Sidirokastro (GR)

I travelled this way in 2014 when there was still a direct train each day from Sofia to Thessaloniki (GR), but those trains no longer run – and indeed the service on all lines in Greece other than the main Thessaloniki (GR)-Athens (GR) route is indeed incredibly limited these days. Also the cross border route here looks quite hellish – I cannot cycle on the motorway, and country lanes route up and across steep hills. So I think I am going to have to take a taxi here, from Kulata (BG) – the last station Bulgarian side – to Sidirokastro. This is a border with a missing service – lines exist here, but services do not run.

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Day 32 – Sidirokastro-Alexandroupouli (GR)

Train services in Greece are now so infrequent that there is only 1 connection a day from Thessaloniki via Sidirokastro (where I will board) via Drama (GR) to Alexandroupouli. This means that Athens to Alexandroupouli in a day is impossible, and this is the reason why I am having to skip a trip to Athens altogether – it would add 2 days to my trip, or involve some absurd dash from Kulata to Thessaloniki to make it possible in 1 day – just too much of a mess. If timetables improve in Greece I might reconsider this one nearer to departure, but it looks like I will make a slow trip through northern Greece instead. Overnight in Alexandroupouli.

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Day 33 – Alexandroupouli – Veliko Tarnovo (BG)

The day starts on the only train of the day between Alexandroupouli and Ormenio (GR). Passenger trains have not crossed to Svilengrad (BG) here for a decade – a missing service – and this is an interesting border – as trains also depart from Svilengrad towards Edirne (TR). The 15km across the border here looks possible on local roads, so I reckon this one ought to work on a bicycle.

From Svilengrad it’s onwards via Dimitrovgrad and Stara Zagora to Veliko Tarnovo, one of the most scenic towns in Bulgaria, and the rail route to reach it through the mountains is a joy as well. It is possible that staying in Gorna Oryahovitsa, the railway junction just north of Veliko Tarnovo, might make more sense – but this will be decided later. The part of this route from Svilengrad through to Ruse (see Day 34) is where the legendary Bucuresti (RO) – Istanbul (TR) train used to pass, sadly suspended due to the COVID pandemic.

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Day 34 – Veliko Tarnovo – Bucuresti, and onwards with the night train

The way back into Romania is at Ruse – the only other Danube bridge between the two countries. Here too the tracks are electrified on the Bulgarian side, and diesel on the Romanian side, and the train to Bucuresti has to even take a diversion on a longer route than a decade ago because a bridge on the regular route is damaged. The European Commissioner for Transport is from Romania but there are problems like this in her own back yard… But at least there are a few trains here – there are limited local services, and long distance services might resume after the COVID pandemic.

After a meeting with activists in Bucuresti, it will be time to head north on the night train.

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Day 35 – arrival on the night train, and Dej (RO)-Poprad (SK)

The night train will set me down early at Dej Calatori (RO), but the connections via Cluj Napoca (RO) and Oradea (RO) are very tight (so I have a backup plan to split my journey at Miskolc (HU) rather than Poprad (SK) if I have to). Whatever happens I will cross from Romania to Hungary at Biharkeresztes – a border with poor infrastructure, but a reasonable local and a reasonable international service. This is also a crossing back into Schengen. Then from Hungary to Slovakia the crossing is at Hidasnémeti – a border where there are 7 long distance services a day. This recently improved route – Košice’s proximity to the border helps! – has a good international service. The baseline plan is to spend the night in Poprad, but with Miskolc as fallback in case something goes wrong.

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Day 36 – Poprad-Bratislava (SK)

This day starts and ends in Slovakia, but routes into Poland, Czechia and Austria along the way! There are only two cross border lines between Slovakia and Poland, and despite it being a Trans European Network corridor, the one from Poprad to Muszyna (PL) only has 2 trains a day at weekends in the summertime! That is an insanely minimal cross border service! A local train from Muszyna will take me to Tarnow (PL) from where I can take a EuroCity service via Kraków (PL) to Bohumín (CZ). This is a border with good local services and good long distance services. At Breclav (CZ) I will change trains, and route via Kuty (SK) to Bratislava. This border has very good long distance services, and poor local services. If I have the energy I can take a quick hop across the border to Marchegg (AT) at the very end of the day.

Night in Bratislava.

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Day 37 – Bratislava-Budapest (HU)-Passau (DE)

The day will start with a meeting with activists, and then a quick hop on the bike across the Danube and into Austria to Wolfsthal (AT) – from here to Bratislava Petržalka is a missing link between Wien and Bratislava. It is one that Cramer investigated, but one with little prospect of improvement soon – as two other lines between the Austrian and Slovakian capitals have been attracting the investment.

It’s then back to Bratislava main station, and onto the EuroCity train to Budapest-Nyugati (HU), entering Hungary at Szob (HU), a border with good long distance and poor local services. The line hugs the edge of the Danube here, making it a very scenic trip, and passes Visegrád and Göd (appropriate after Hell on Day 7, sorry about the umlaut!).

After an afternoon meeting with activists it’s a short hop on the bike to Keleti station to take the EuroCity train to Wien that enters Austria at Hegyeshalom (HU) – the border crossings here have excellent local and long distance connections, and are improving all the time. This rather tiring day will end by heading a couple of hours further west, and crossing into Germany at Passau (DE), a border with good local and long distance connections.

Night in Passau.

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Day 38 – Passau-Berlin

I hope I have saved the best for last!

The day starts on a local train to Plattling (DE) then a further local train to Bayerische Eisenstein (DE) at the border to Czechia. Small border crossings like this between these two countries have good local train connections. The border also runs through the station, which is quite neat. From there it is on via Klatovy (CZ) to Praha, and an early afternoon meeting with activists.

While the simple route back to Germany on the EuroCity and its dining car along the Elbe is appealing, I think that would be too easy. So I will take regional trains via Turnov (CZ), Liberec (CZ), Zittau (DE) and Cottbus (DE) – and the route takes me CZ-PL (once), PL-DE (3 times) and DE-PL (twice) – so that’s 7 border crossings in 1 day! All of these border crossings have good local train connections, but no long distance traffic.

And then if I manage all of that I will be home in Berlin!

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That then is about all for now… This blog post will be amended and updated as my plans evolve!

Photo Rights

Stefan Ulrich Fischer
former Raeren station
July 1, 2018
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Rob Dammers
Kleve Bahnhof NWB Lint VT 648 421 Düsseldorf Hbf
July 18, 2020
CC BY 2.0

m66roepers
Friesenbrücke en ligfiets
June 25, 1997
CC BY 2.0

Karl Baron
Öresundsbron
October 17, 2010
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Phil Richards
11.09.19 Oslo Sentral Rc6 1414
September 11, 2019
CC BY-SA 2.0

Guillaume Baviere
2018-07-31
July 31, 2018
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Niko Hörkkö
Railroad bridge over Tornionjoki
June 27, 2016
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Anita
Valga Train Station
July 4, 2015
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out0fwave
TALLINK
June 15, 2010
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A.Davey
Riga Terminal
September 8, 2017
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Phil Richards
07.05.18 Suwałki SA133-019 and SA133-011
May 7, 2018
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Will Bakker
Sarcasm?
August 2, 2009
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berlinistanbulexpress
Bahnhof Guben
May 25, 2014
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Bahnhof Volgelsheim
Patrick Kerber
4th May 2008
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masia vilalta
L’estació de Canfranc
August 13, 2009
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Albert Koch
S-Bahn to Vienna waiting for departure
July 28, 2018
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Givet Station
Photo from Twitter from Matt Perret
Used with permission
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Uroš Novina
Pond at Griblje
July 27, 2018
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Patrick Müller
Nova Gorica
April 24, 2018
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Kecko
ÖBB Station Schaan-Vaduz
February 13, 2015
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Pjedro22
Four in a row – Milano Centrale [IT]
September 26, 2019
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thierry llansades
Écomusée du haut-pays et des transports, Breil sur Roya
August 24, 2016
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Deensel
Atocha Madrid
September 17, 2017
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nigelmenzies
Roundhouse, Entrocamento
February 24, 2018
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Nelso Silva
CP 2607
April 26, 2021
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Mario Sánchez Prada
Ourense
June 22, 2019
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Manolo Gómez
Schengen
April 16, 2017
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Romantik Hotel im Park
Altstadt von Bad Radkersburg
March 12, 2018
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damian entwistle
Ruse – Danube barge (2)
October 7, 2018
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Mohamed Nanabhay
Szeged, Hungary
August 26, 2008
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Daniel Enchev
The three churches
November 7, 2020
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gibasianka
muszyna
July 6, 2009
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Hungarian Snow
downtown miskolc
October 19, 2009
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Wolfgang Stief
At the border
June 24, 2008
Public domain

Maarten Sepp
brug Vidin-Calafat
May 19, 2017
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Phil Richards
21.04.10 Kulata 61004
April 21, 2010
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Sludge G
Мездра БДЖ страница. Mezdra station, Bulgaria Jan 1995
February 21, 2009
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Dimitris Siskopoulos
Trains
October 11, 2009
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All other photos taken by Jon Worth, can be re-used under the same terms as the content on this blog.

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The post #CrossBorderRail – crossing every border in the EU you can cross by train appeared first on Jon Worth Euroblog.

Source: https://jonworth.eu/crossborderrail/