Recent content by blotred

So with PAYG but using a proprietary stored-value card (eg like the London Oyster card), it's quite common in quite a few places... the faff is getting hold of said card. Though you can now add the card to your Apple Pay / Google Pay so it sits alongside your credit cards. For example: - Japan...

Still a few SBB Dominos (RBD 560) knocking around the network. S42 in Zurich for example (definitely on the 1713 from Zuri Altstetten, I saw it last week). Also on the Basel S-Bahn too and various other places.

The advantage of the GA is it gives SBB predicable income which can be used to fund investment. 4000CHF per year might be cheap compared to neighbouring countries, but if you consider (according to source from 2019) that around half a million people (inc. me) hold a GA, that is 2,000,000,000 CHF...

(Speaks German) I think it's a mistranslation / bad UX, each "activation" or "validation" of a ticket is valid for 120 mins. And you have 4 "validations" available on the ticket. It is important to note that it's 1 way. If you start at HbF, you cannot do a circular journey to explore the U-Bahn...

SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) have announced their December 2025 timetable change. Of course most of it is probably only relevant to those who live in Switzerland... and tbh mostly in West Switzerland / French speaking Switzerland where major new timetable changes, service changes etc are...

If it counts as crossing an international border by train..... I live in Basel so I basically sneeze and I have gone to Germany or France by accident (not just by train, but also by tram if that counts... though I have also accidentally crossed the border on foot without realising last week...

In Switzerland at least, some trams networks use a combination of "line of sight" and "fully signalled" operations, including the use of safety systems in the event of deviation from the shown signals. Line of Sight is primarily used in cities, whereas fully signalled with the use of protection...

If I understand correctly in Switzerland, the ticket purchase timestamp is encoded within the e-ticket itself, and the e-ticket will be generated by their back-office systems presumably within NOVA (Netzweite öV-Anbindung) So, when you purchase the ticket, the timestamp should be the moment when...

I think in Switzerland, its whatever the actual departure time was as measured by the vehicle in-built tracking systems. So if you bought a ticket at 1744 for a 1743 departure, which was delayed and physically left at 1745 - this is fine as long as the ticket was purchased before you physically...

This is normal in Switzerland at least. If it is a digital ticket, always buy your ticket before boarding, no exceptions. Even if it's a couple of seconds after boarding or departure, you are liable to be fined. This has been well covered in the Swiss press at least of people getting fined for...

For me, the most noticeable difference is how narrow UK trains are due to the loading gauge compared to at least in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy. When I go to the UK, I really notice the difference in the width of the carriage... it may not be much, but I definitely notice it. Also I...

I can give some information about how it works in Basel (where I live). As mentioned above, the core bus network of the city is mostly operated centrally by BVB (Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe) with a few exceptions. For example some buses are operated by Margarethen Bus AG on concession from BVB...

I was on a short-formed train which did not appear to have an OBS on board, and the drivers announcement was along the lines of "Please move as much as possible into the train, first class... well don't worry about first class, please move inside the train".

The 1904 and 1919 (from memory, they aren't on RTT) from Clapham Junction were both advertised as Gatwick Express stopping at Clapham Junction and East Croydon as well. Both were 5 cars as well, which was mental.

Not sure if it counts, and it may be a controversial one, but London Overground. Tidy stations, tidy trains, commuted for over 2 years on the NLL and its punctuality was great. So yeah, the seats aren't great on the 378s, and the journey timing is quite... padded. But it is reliable...