Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 14 - 3 Apr - Ravières - Paris - Saarbrücken - Saarlouis - Bouzonville - Saarbrücken

[root42@chaos.social]

@jon oh. You will be in Saarbrücken today? Us too! Safe travels!

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@jon @andrew_shadura The stats page on journeys does read those trips, and people may put them in after the end of the trip, in order to have complete stats. People like those stats pages and don’t know about alternatives like @viaduct_world or https://trainlog.me which really rely on word of mouth, and there is a whole host of people who defend @traewelling and https://travelynx.de to the death, despite being difficult to use when not in real time.

I’ve had first time interrailers assume that the app is the only and best way to keep track of everything or even find train trips - and in some cases they aren’t even wrong, as a lot of the periphery isn’t covered by popular apps.

I’m not saying the Interrail app is good, but is it adequate for the job for an inexperienced traveller? Absolutely.

[andrew_shadura@mastodon.social]

@moof, sure that’s a valid use case. What I actually want, I guess, is a button to "close" or "archive" a trip. I know I went to FOSDEM in February 2025, and I don’t want that to be offered each time I travel with Interrail, but I don’t want to delete it as I like to keep archive data.

@jon @viaduct_world @traewelling

[jon@gruene.social]

@bebraw.bsky.social ah true. I have a spare tube too. I’d forgotten (this morning is weird)

[jon@gruene.social]

@root42 going to Bouzonville too?

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@jon Oh, I’m going to Culmont-Chalindrey, on the Nancy-Dijon line, from Germany. I was trying to work out a non-Parisian route, and whether it was worth me doing the Saarbrücken crossing over the Aachen-Liege-Luxembourg crossing which was my default option.

Aachen, whilst twice as long a ride, is much more convenient for my earlier plans. I might still do the Saarbrücken crossing to add it to my map though.

[root42@chaos.social]

@jon No, we will actually drive there using Cambio (shame on us). Sad fact is: It's simply cheaper and faster... Saarbrücken and #revision2026 is our destination.

[moof@cupoftea.social]

@andrew_shadura @jon @viaduct_world @traewelling Oh, yeah, that’s somewhat annoying. More annoying is when you have a 2 month flex pass you’ve used up all ten days on, and are running on a new pass a month and a half later, and it keeps offering you the old one as an “active pass” because the days haven’t run out on it.

[jon@gruene.social]

LOL

Ticket check in the #CrossBorderRail TGV to Saarbrücken, friendly SNCF train manager.

"How" - he asks me in French - "did you even get this Interrail reservation? Many passengers on this train have the wrong reservation"

For some reason today I have a SNCF one I booked with Rail Europe, and I explained that, and DB Passzuschlag to him, making it clear that this is *not easy* and SNCF not selling this for its own trains is ridiculous

But now he at least knows how to advise others!

[jon@gruene.social]

Also it is pretty funny this train manager happened to ask me about all of this, given he - by luck - found about the most experienced and knowledgeable passenger he could have found, and one fluent in the three most useful languages for this train (French, English, German)

[jon@gruene.social]

#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 44 of 110
TGV 9551
09:06 Paris Est - Saarbrücken Hbf 10:56
SNCF Voyageurs, DB Fernverkehr

Train type: Alstom TGV Euroduplex, 8 short double deck carriages, 2 power cars
️ (25kV ac, 15kV ac)
: ️
🦽: (step free, then lift down inside)
🛜: (it just about works, slowly)
️:
🧳: ️ (train is full, so it’s total chaos)
🧽: (windows covered in grime, OK inside)
Interrail: (needs compulsory reservation, costs at least €19)

[jon@gruene.social]

TGV 9551
09:06 Paris Est - Saarbrücken Hbf 10:56

Distance: 379km
Average speed: 207km/h

2 stops:
Forbach
Saarbrücken Hbf

This train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#9/49.057670/4.674683

#CrossBorderRail

[interrailinfosvenska@mastodonsweden.se]

@jon Not surprising that many people have the wrong reservations since the first advice any newcomer who asks where to buy seat reservations gets is "DEUTSCHE BAHN! SEAT ONLY!".

And it works in this case even if it doesn't work on the train.

[jon@gruene.social]

@interrailinfosvenska Sure, that people have the wrong reservation here is pretty standard. But that the train manager did not know literally how to get the right one was a bit weird. He was friendly though, and now he knows!

[gratianriter@bildung.social]

@jon that might be a crossBorderNail

[jon@gruene.social]

As there are all sorts of issues here this morning (train left Paris Est +15, speed restrictions around Champagne Ardennes TGV) I wondered "could I take a bus from Forbach to Bouzonville?"

I could either wait until 15:33 and do it with two changes, *or* it proposes me a bus from Creutzwald, which is 22km by bike from Forbach ‍️

So no. I have to hope I get to Saarbrücken fast enough, and to Saarlouis by 13:08 as planned!

[sorenhave@mastodon.nu]

@jon Credit to him for showing a genuine interest

[tho99@mendeddrum.org]

@jon well done, that cyclist

[jon@gruene.social]

So I am now finally approaching the France-Germany border at Forbach

One obvious ethnic minority passenger in my carriage

Let's see who the Bundespolizei controls

And given I am going to be in Germany about 2 hours before exiting again, and I'd bet there'll be no control Bouzonville-Niedaltdorf... this is all going to be especially ridiculous today!

[q@glauca.space]

@jon there were no controls indeed, but a large number of gendarmes at Bouzonville