Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 31 - 4 May - Rimini - Bologna - Milano - Lugano - Basel - Strasbourg

[jon@gruene.social]

IC 680
14:02 Lugano - Basel SBB 16:55

Distance: 263.9km
Average speed: 92km/h

5 stops:
Bellinzona
Arth-Goldau
Luzern
Olten
Basel SBB

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#9/46.781301/8.315225

#CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 107 of 125
TER 96234
17:21 Basel SBB - Strasbourg 18:39
SNCF for TER Fluo Grand Est

Train type: GEC Alsthom, MTE BB 26000 locomotive, 8 Corail carriages, driving control car
️ (25kV ac)
:
🦽: (lift on platform)
🛜: ️
️: ️
🧳: (narrow doors, high steps)
🧽: (it has been cleaned sometime in the past 12 months, which is progress, but still grimy)
Interrail: (accepted)

[jon@gruene.social]

TER 96234
17:21 Basel SBB - Strasbourg 18:39

Distance: 142km
Average speed: 109km/h

5 stops:
St-Louis
Mulhouse Ville
Colmar
Sélestat
Strasbourg

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#9/48.067068/7.498169

#CrossBorderRail

[k1ngdaka88@zug.network]

@jon since when does the IC Lugano - Basel pass through Winterthur? 🤪

I guess it's just a Stock Photo from you

[jon@gruene.social]

@K1ngdaKa88 I had to run in Lugano, so could not photograph it there. Sorry!

[k1ngdaka88@zug.network]

@jon thought so 🤭

[jon@gruene.social]

@K1ngdaKa88 I probably have a photo of one in Basel somewhere. That would have been a better cheat!

[jon@gruene.social]

Meanwhile in Germany Flix is criticising Italo wanting to enter the rail market

Come on

An operator offering a quality *equivalent or above* that of DB is not what Flix is offering! And Flix buying Talgo trains is not going to make its service much more pleasant anyway

So sorry, Flix - you can't whine about someone else using the rules you yourselves have used

Konkurrenz für Deutsche Bahn: Italienischer Anbieter Italo plant Markteintritt

Der italienische Anbieter Italo will ab 2028 mit 30 Hochgeschwindigkeitszügen in den deutschen Fernverkehr einsteigen. Flix kritisiert das geplante Vorhaben.

heise online (www.heise.de)

[siegeavecvue@rail.chat]

@moof @jon When I did my Iberian adventure, I could've not activated my #Interrail pass at all.

[tops@im-in.space]

@siegeavecvue @moof @jon same for me the last two return trips to Barcelona from London.

[jon@gruene.social]

@tops @siegeavecvue @moof absurd. They’re losing money in the finance round Interrail does each year.

[geeeero@mastodon.social]

@jon Yeah, a prime example of pulling-up-the-ladder-behind-you.

[interrailinfosvenska@mastodonsweden.se]

@jon

I saw somewhere else about ticket scanning in Italy but I only saved this link where Italy isn't in the list of countries where #interrail can be scanned

Mobile Pass ticket inspection

When you travel by train in Europe with Interrail, you might be asked to show your travel documents to ticket inspectors, such as ✅ Rail Pass ✅ Passport ✅ Or ID.

Interrail (www.interrail.eu)

[hypha@cafe.mycelium.locahlo.st]

@jon meanwhile westbahn never scans and only enter you in their system to reserve your seat

@tops @siegeavecvue @moof

[jon@gruene.social]

So I wanted a Cremant d‘Alsace and a German beer for the Régiolis trip.

But in Régiolis style disorganisation the Carrefour at Strasbourg was decimated. So I have French beer

[jon@gruene.social]

It exists!

[julienmarchal@social.cologne]

@jon amazing!!! How was the ride? Did it go diesel mode or did it change voltage at the border? Also, if you‘re still around the area, you’re invited any time for a coffee/beer!!

[michael@weatherby2378.social]

@jon

And the train looks nice, too! (sorry )

[tombuildsstuff@hachyderm.io]

@jon imo they shouldn’t have renamed the FrecciaArgento, it was a great way to differentiate a good train (Rossa) from a bad one (Argento)

[julesbl@mastodon.me.uk]

@Michael @jon I assumed we were talking about the platform