Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 18 - 14 Apr - Budapest - Praha - Ústí nad Labem - Heidenau - Dresden - Berlin

[jon@gruene.social]

So it rained. And now there’s no rail replacement bus ‍️

[jon@gruene.social]

#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Bus 7 of 11
SEV 10174
15:50 Ústí nad Labem hl. n. - Dresden Hbf 17:20
DB Fernverkehr

Bus type: MAN Lion’s Coach 2 axle

: ️ (but hold is big - would they let you put in a bike?)
🦽: ️
🛜: ️
️: ️
🧳: (big hold)
🧽:

[jon@gruene.social]

There’s method in this The motorway crosses the border more or less where the future tunnel will! #CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

Ah. That worked well. Lots to see #CrossBorderRail

[jon@gruene.social]

So the SEV bus got controlled by the Bundespolizei

I could SEE the road, not a single car was checked

In German I asked the policeman: “Why are you controlling buses not cars?”

[jon@gruene.social]

“We can control more people in one go this way!”

Me: “Hang on. Shouldn’t you treat everyone equally and do this based on risk?”

“But we have lots of people of lots of nationalities on a bus!”

[jon@gruene.social]

Me: “So you’re basically doing this to fill a stupid quota set by the interior ministry?”

Him: “What else can we do? We don’t have enough people to control everything!”

[jon@gruene.social]

The guy was friendly, young guy. I can’t blame him. And another passenger joined in, likewise considering the controls stupid.

And on went the bus.

[jon@gruene.social]

There is *not even the pretence that this makes sense*

🤬🤬🤬

[jens@social.finkhaeuser.de]

@jon That's IMHO better than them stomping around all self-important and pretending they're doing it for YOU.

[partim@social.tchncs.de]

@jon I don’t think you need to convince the police officers that this is all performative bullshit.

[jon@gruene.social]

@jens yes. It was honest! But hopeless.

[jon@gruene.social]

@partim but they all too often are hostile if you ask them questions (as I always do). This guy was fair and honest!

[ajinkyapdahale@mstdn.social]

@jon no eu/interrail? It's bus but it's DB...

[jon@gruene.social]

#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 69 of 115
S 1
16:59 Dresden Hbf - Heidenau-Großsedlitz 17:18
DB Regio AG Südost

Train type: LEW Hennigsdorf 143 locomotive, 4 double deck carriages, driving control car
️ (15kV ac)
:
🦽: (step free into lower level)
🛜: ️
️: ️
🧳: (good for a double deck design)
🧽:
Interrail: (accepted)

[jon@gruene.social]

S 1
16:59 Dresden Hbf - Heidenau-Großsedlitz 17:18

Distance: 14.7km
Average speed: 46km/h

8 stops:
Dresden-Strehlen
Dresden-Reick
Dresden-Dobritz
Dresden-Niedersedlitz
Dresden-Zschachwitz
Heidenau
Heidenau Süd
Heidenau-Großsedlitz

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#13/51.000342/13.813465

[jon@gruene.social]

And the Dresden S-Bahn (that isn’t really a S-Bahn) has 1st Class

Which no one uses

Except me with a 1st Class Interrail

[markustippner@zug.network]

@jon In S-Bahnen gibts keine 1. Klasse. De facto kann man sich auch mit DeutschlandTicket einfach hinchillen.

[knud@mastodon.social]

@MarkusTippner @jon

Im Rhein-Neckar-Bereich gibt es 1. Klasse. Sogar mit Tür abgeteilt.

Nutze den 3x im Jahr, wenn ich mit ner 1. Klasse Fernverkehrskarte nach Hause komme. Manchmal habe ich dann ein Faltrad dabei, da ist das ganz praktisch, weil viel Platz.

[stingraz@sueden.social]

@jon Had similar experiences with the pointless "1st class" in Stuttgart S-Bahn trains (a compartment behind the cab at one end -- no different from the rest of the train except for seat moquette). The only times I used it was with a first class long-distance ticket with "+City" option, or with the included 1st-class local network pass when staying at the InterCityHotel (when that was still a thing). Never paid for it expressly, and have never seen anyone else on these seats in several years.