Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 05 - 20 Feb - Genève - Coppet - Divonne - Crassier - Nyon - Paris

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@jon It’s interesting that the only named competition here is Trenitalia, when there is also competition from DB, Eurostar, and checks notes Renfe who also run refurbished and life-prolonged 1980s-1990s era TGVs

[jsl@hachyderm.io]

@jon It's only an extension de vie if it happens in the Alstom region of France. Otherwise it's just sparkly Nutzungsdauerverlängerung.

[smveerman@zug.network]

@moof @jon For France it is a revolution this taking only 7 weeks. An average overhaul of a Thalys trainset seems to be taking 7 months 🫠

[hector@mapstodon.space]

@moof @jon But DB is under cooperation, right? And Eurostar is partially owned by SNCF.

[cycling_on_rails@mastodon.social]

@jon Yes but nobody else is refurbishing that many *TGVs by Alstom*. Checkmate!

[remi@urbanists.social]

@bovine3dom @jon SNCF is **also** downsizing the fleet of old-school locomotives. Classes 26000 and a slew of nez cassés are being scrapped. Only 22200 are, for some reason, spared from the crusher (possibly because some are TVM capable?)

[ilmari@social.treehouse.systems]

@jon my french is a bit rusty, do they need to refurbish their because of a need for croissants?

[bovine3dom@masto.ai]

@remi c'est unique au monde, nous sommes les seuls à pouvoir le faire

@jon

[jon@gruene.social]

#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Bike 4 of 14
Coppet - Divonne - Crassier - Nyon

Distance: 16.7km
Est. duration: 1:15

This bike route, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#13/46.199875/6.146772

Not a good start. Broke the Birdy travel cover and had to repair a brake cable…

[jon@gruene.social]

@smveerman @moof Haaaa.

[grajjarg@norden.social]

@jon Ach verflixt: so etwas ist immer ärgerlich unterwegs. Pannenfreie Weiterfahrt!

[jon@gruene.social]

First time I’ve had a vineyard block the route of a former #CrossBorderRail line I think

[dubiousblur@social.treehouse.systems]

@jon okay that one’s never coming back

[hans_zelf@mas.to]

@jon And NS in The Netherlands
https://nieuws.ns.nl/ns-investeert-opnieuw-in-het-moderniseren-van-dubbeldekkers/

[stefanlindbohm@mastodon.social]

@cycling_on_rails @jon They’re the only state-owned French railway in the world that does it!

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@jon I think someone told someone else to “stop whining about that rail connection” and that dyslexic someone else decided to double down and commit to the bit

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@bovine3dom @jon You know, some old TGVs doing the Paris-Tolouse run would be awesome.

[bovine3dom@masto.ai]

@moof isn't that what already happens?

it's one of the lines that i am going to cut once appointed imperial ruler sncf voyageurs

Oliver Blanthorn (@bovine3dom@masto.ai)

Attached: 1 image @pglux.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy @jon@gruene.social https://kepler.gl/demo/map?mapUrl=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/jn4vntnpies84hiqhudu8/keplergl_z7wbkd9.json?rlkey=bmi0g2gqsmjg53e2dfezdft3g&dl=0 freshly made just for you :) if the sncf would like to use this my consulting fees are very reasonable. what's the opposite of "mates' rates"? "danger money"? 30% discount for new entrants like trenitalia

Mastodon (masto.ai)

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@bovine3dom Last I did the Toulouse-Paris run (May 2025) was on old IC Coradias, though admittedly I was looking to stop at smaller towns there, such as Brive-la-Gaillard.

That being said, I apparently did a Tolouse-Narbonne on a TGV in August 2019, on the Tolouse-Lyon run which only does high speed for about 40 mins from Nîmes

[thias@mastodon.social]

@jon there was an article a few years back comparing the French Sybic locomotives to the Swiss Re 460, one was being refreshed with new electronics to improve efficiency, the other scrapped. Guess which one was scrapped.
I would claim the most impressive refurbishing was the BLS Jumbo B carriages.