Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 32 - 5 May - Strasbourg - Rumelange - Kirchberg - Wiltz - Libramont - Bruxelles

[jon@gruene.social]

TER 30302
07:53 Strasbourg - Metz Ville 09:21

Distance: 154.2km
Average speed: 105km/h

5 stops:
Brumath
Saverne
Réding
Morhange
Metz Ville

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#10/48.848451/6.954346

#CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

SNCF Connect, it can *always* be worse than you imagine. I am on Interrail today but wondered how much Metz - Bettembourg costs. SNCF Connect can’t tell me, TER Grand Est site can. SNCF is the operator. ‍️ #CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

Trainline can’t sell it either ‍️ #CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

PEOPLE DO YOUR JOBS

THERE’S A SOLID RAIL SERVICE

MAKE IT EASY TO GET TICKETS!

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[jon@gruene.social]

Also public transport is free in Luxembourg

So all you need is to sell a ticket to the fictitious station at the border (Bettembourg Grenze or some such)

[klara_tag@leipzig.town]

@jon

It was so funny standing at a station in Luxembourg trying to get a ticket at a machine - but there where only tickets for first class. Then suddenly service personal appeared telling us that we don't need tickets. I was shocked by both: I don't need to pay and you offer support by humans?

[erpu@eupolicy.social]

@jon It's good we're working on trying to get that fixed then

[jon@gruene.social]

Something’s wrong. The TER is crawling along.

Rather than tell us what’s wrong (which would be handy!) we’re being warned to not open the doors.

Priorities!

[stefanlindbohm@mastodon.social]

@jon AFAIK the only way for third parties to sell any TER is through SNCF. So whatever they have is what third parties (who are connected to SNCF Connect API’s) will sell.

[jon@gruene.social]

@stefanlindbohm is there a API for Grand Est TERs?

[stefanlindbohm@mastodon.social]

@jon I doubt it. All goes through Connect from what I know.

(For third parties - obviously there are integrations used between the involved parties. But those might potentially be infeasible technically for a reseller to use.)

[jon@gruene.social]

@stefanlindbohm but how does a SNCF ticket office sell it? There must be data on those trains in SNCF systems?

[stefanlindbohm@mastodon.social]

@jon It might be sharing of the tariff data and SNCF issuing tickets for it independently? No third party can do that.

@jeanbaptistemarie Maybe you know if there are API’s resellers can use to connect directly to the régions? Or is it all through Connect/PAO?

[jon@gruene.social]

@stefanlindbohm @jeanbaptistemarie or is there a Grenze station in Connect data but their search is just too crap to find which Grenze that Bettembourg is beyond?

[smveerman@zug.network]

@jon oh, Bastogne! The station building of Bastogne Sud still has a waiting room open for passengers (that now are waiting for the bus).

[jon@gruene.social]

Shit show of a railway. The TER to Luxembourg didn’t wait 1 min for the incoming TER from Strasbourg.

[jon@gruene.social]

Thanks for funding this, EU!

Could you maybe also tell SNCF how to organise an effing timetable?

[stefanlindbohm@mastodon.social]

@jon Oh right, that might be why Connect fails to create a ticket. It might be looking for a tariff for Bettembourg frontier > Bettembourg, finding none and thus failing to create a price. While the région is using an inventory system (the one that creates tickets) that knows to just skip that segment.

We don’t integrate directly with SNCF Connect, but if it is possible to select border points in the API it might be possible as a reseller to get a ticket that way.

@jeanbaptistemarie

[jon@gruene.social]

So the plan now: blag my way onto a TGV (with Interrail), get to Thionville and bike from there to Rumelange

[sobex@social.sciences.re]

@jon Already spray painted ?