For at least one season post 2002 the German operator (whichever it then was) ran through several times daily to ZR Centrum and the next loop at Spicak. No idea if it stopped at ZR-Alzebetin CD though.
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Trivia: shortest train journey crossing a national border (both within the UK and abroad)?
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cadder toad
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Singapore (Woodlands KTM station) to Johore (Malaysia) are quite close. The causeway crossing between them is under one mile.
Cross City
Member
I'm struggling to see what you mean here? Basel Bad is in Switzerland not Germany.
As the exile mentioned, Basel Badischer Bahnhof is a very special case. It is, indeed, located within Switzerland, but is a German exclave, established in a treaty between the former kingdom of Baden and Switzerland. It is not the only German railway exclave in Switzerland - a further example is the fact that the DB is joint owner of Schaffhausen Hauptbahnhof in Switzerland, again established by an international treaty.
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There would have been no need since it’s only the other end on the same platforms as the German station and, post Schengen, shares the same entrance. They were running through when I first did the line but as I was going on to Plzen I changed at the main station anyway.
A short 3 minute trip across the border from České Velenice (Czechia) to Gmünd (Austria) can be made with ease.
But not so during the cold war although the crossing was open.
This Mark Baker blog is [to me at least] fascinating.
A Town Still Divided by the Cold War | Mark Baker | Travel Writer in Prague
markbakerprague.com
Extract:
Like many cross border places, even now, some things are easier to get on one side of the border than on the other!
Here's the Ceske Venice to Gmund train arriving in Gmund I photographed in 1971 behind a class 556 2-10-0. Impressive motive power for such a short journey!
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Ceske Velenice not Venice!
Cross City
Member
From what I can gather the land it sits on isn't an exclave?
The station and line might be German owned and run but it's not actually German.
James James
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Basel Bad is on Swiss territory. The stations and the tracks may belong to DB, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still Switzerland, subject to Swiss law (plus the provisions of the treaty, which includes some stuff about it partly being German customs territory which still doesn't make it German territory - just like "Basel" airport is on French territory but parts of it, plus the road to Switzerland, are treated as Swiss customs territory).
The title of the treaty that you refer to even contains "Weiterführung der badischen Eisenbahnen über schweizerisches Gebiet" i.e. "continuation of the railways of baden on Swiss territory".
The ownership of the land on which Basel Badischer Bahnhof stands and the connecting railways together with telegraphs etc was placed for perpetuity following a state treaty in 1852 in the hands of the state of Baden - and its successors. This agreement has been mostly unproblematic - except during the Nazi rule in Germany when it became a thorn in the eye of both states - for different reasons.
One major annoyance for the Germans was that the Swiss postal service owned the post boxes on the station - and undesirables (in the eyes of the Gestapo) could quite legally travel on a German train to Basel Badischer Bahnhof without leaving Germany and post uncensored material or the products of espionage to foreign destinations.
The Germans reacted to this by installing border checks on the lines leading to Basel and had trains diverted away. When the Swiss authorities became alarmed by the huge trade deficit that Nazi Germany was building up with Switzerland there was a plan to buy the Badischer Bahnhof, its land and rail links in order to reduce the deficit. The plan was never realised.
One major annoyance for the Germans was that the Swiss postal service owned the post boxes on the station - and undesirables (in the eyes of the Gestapo) could quite legally travel on a German train to Basel Badischer Bahnhof without leaving Germany and post uncensored material or the products of espionage to foreign destinations.
The Germans reacted to this by installing border checks on the lines leading to Basel and had trains diverted away. When the Swiss authorities became alarmed by the huge trade deficit that Nazi Germany was building up with Switzerland there was a plan to buy the Badischer Bahnhof, its land and rail links in order to reduce the deficit. The plan was never realised.
Fair enough - it’s a long time since I’d read up about it. My only actual experience of weirdness at Basel was at the Hbf - being turfed off the night train from Calais in the French bit to walk through passport control and tge reboard the train which had meanwhile pulled forward into the Swiss bit of the same platform.
James James
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Back to topic:
- Camedo (CH) to Ribellasca (IT): around 1km.
- Konstanz (DE) to Kreuzlingen OR Kreuzlingen Hafen (both CH): 1.2km.
- Lustenau (AT) to St. Margrethen (CH): 1.8km (would've been less until Lustenau Markt was closed).
- Buchs (CH) to Schaan-Vaduz (LI) seems to be 2.6km.
- Campocologno (CH) to Tirano (IT): 3km.
- Waldhut (DE) to Koblenz (CH): 3.3km.
If you're willing to count trams: there are probably some very short journeys possible around Geneva and Basel?
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Vatican city to S. Pietro looks to be around 600m, but it might be difficult to get on a train running that way.
- Camedo (CH) to Ribellasca (IT): around 1km.
- Konstanz (DE) to Kreuzlingen OR Kreuzlingen Hafen (both CH): 1.2km.
- Lustenau (AT) to St. Margrethen (CH): 1.8km (would've been less until Lustenau Markt was closed).
- Buchs (CH) to Schaan-Vaduz (LI) seems to be 2.6km.
- Campocologno (CH) to Tirano (IT): 3km.
- Waldhut (DE) to Koblenz (CH): 3.3km.
If you're willing to count trams: there are probably some very short journeys possible around Geneva and Basel?
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Vatican city to S. Pietro looks to be around 600m, but it might be difficult to get on a train running that way.
D6130
Established Member
Special trains only Roma SP to Città Vaticano and vice-versa....and only once in a blue moon!
The Pelican
Member
I am not aware of any international funiculars, but there are several international cable cars in Europe-the Austrian cable car up the Zugspitze in Germany, the Vallée Blanche on Mont Blanc from 1958, and the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing from near Zermatt in Switzerland to Italy, which opened in 2023. Although all of these lines are short in total distance, many of the distances between stops are not particularly short, often at least a mile.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
Does the Austrian cable car cross the border? When I went from the German side, there was a "welcome to Austria" sign which I passed on foot before seeing the other cable car, I think.
And Google maps has both sides' cable cars remaining in their respective countries.
As we've 'migrated' (pun intended) to international cables, I put forward for consideration the "Limite Zero" zip line between Sanlúcar de Guadiana in Spain and Alcoutim in Portugal; this crosses the River Guadiana, the border here. This has a quoted length of 720 metres and is, or was for a long time, the only international zip line in the world. Due to the time zone change it takes minus 59 minutes to traverse it. As there is no nearby bridge, it also has the novelty of having to get a ferry back to the starting point.
Yes, I have done it.
Yes, I have done it.
Well they ARE full of energy from dubious drinks!
Sir Felix Pole
Established Member
Fuentes de Oñoro (Spain) to Vilar Formosa (Portugal) is about 800m. There are no cross border passenger trains at present, but Salamanca to the border is being electrified at 25kV AC (the Portuguese side already is). Maybe the 'Sud Express' and other through services will stage a comeback?
Western Sunset
Established Member
Some may think that the 1m 11c between Saltash and St Budeaux Ferry Road crosses a significant border...
The Pelican
Member
Yes, you're quite right- I'd only been to the German side, and thought the Austrian cable car went from there too. So none of the Zugspitze cable cars are international.
Same in 74 and no doubt later - though there was the DR Vindobona diesel set and IIRC an overnight service too.
izvor
Member
Ungheni (Moldova) to Ungheni Prut (Romania) is about 1.5km, shown as 2km in public timetable.
OVS Flatbottom
Member
The shortest journey crossing the Irish border historically seems to have been Strabane to Lifford, which Johnson's Atlas lists as 41 chains, so about 0.8 km. (Nowadays it's around 24 km between Dundalk and Newry; between 1965 and 1984, it was more than twice that distance, when there were no stations between Dundalk and Portadown.)
Only in one direction!