Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 14 - 3 Apr - Ravières - Paris - Saarbrücken - Saarlouis - Bouzonville - Saarbrücken
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@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.
@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!
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And pop
goes the bike tire - nail straight through it #CrossBorderRail@jon that might be a crossBorderNail
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TGV 9551
09:06 Paris Est - Saarbrücken Hbf 10:56Distance: 379km
Average speed: 207km/h2 stops:
Forbach
Saarbrücken HbfThis train, mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-2026-spring-tour_1361108#9/49.057670/4.674683
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!
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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 Credit to him for showing a genuine interest
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And pop
goes the bike tire - nail straight through it #CrossBorderRail@jon well done, that cyclist
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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!
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!
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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!
@jon there were no controls indeed, but a large number of gendarmes at Bouzonville
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@jon there were no controls indeed, but a large number of gendarmes at Bouzonville
@q WHY? Germans rioting at the Easter market?
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And pop
goes the bike tire - nail straight through it #CrossBorderRail@jon oh no. that happened to me too these days. but lucky, there was a nice dry place to fix it
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@jon oh no. that happened to me too these days. but lucky, there was a nice dry place to fix it
@rakulle Let's see what I can manage in Saarbrücken shortly
it happens. It just didn't happen in a while! -
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 hey, if somebody manages to get the right reservation for a train where nobody can get it, they must be knowledgeable
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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!
Oh here we go. Bundespolizei getting on at Forbach, carriage next to mine
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@q WHY? Germans rioting at the Easter market?
@jon genuinely no idea
meanwhile the interior minister turned up with but one BPol
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SNCF train manager comes to check tickets. I’m travelling with Interrail, it’ll take a second I tell him. “Is there a problem?” he asks me
We chat, and I explain the disappearing button. Just in case others he controls have the same issue
@jon reminds me of the time I had to explain to London Overground ticket offices how to sell me a Platform ticket because the button was hidden 3 menus deep.
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Oh here we go. Bundespolizei getting on at Forbach, carriage next to mine
The ethnic minority person got a long stare. But no control. No one controlled.
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The ethnic minority person got a long stare. But no control. No one controlled.
@jon It's the small victories?
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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!
@jon And when you search how to go from Forbach to Bouzonville on the Fluo Grand Est website... It tells you to go through Germany
(I am kind of amazed it has German train timetables to be honest!)
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The ethnic minority person got a long stare. But no control. No one controlled.
@jon what do they get paid for if they just wander down a train and have a bit of a look? I'm surprised the bosses don't have a quota of IDs checked per train.
I mean, racial profiling is evil and counterproductive, but at least it's _activity_…
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The ethnic minority person got a long stare. But no control. No one controlled.
There it goes!
The train to Dillingen
from Bouzonville 
That runs 1 day a year - on Good Friday
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There it goes!
The train to Dillingen
from Bouzonville That runs 1 day a year - on Good Friday
A few pics from the station #CrossBorderRail
