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My biggest regret is to have missed railways in Syria and Jordan before they were completely destroyed or abandoned.

If you have enough time to walk the whole width of Nord or Midi, then yes, exiting at the first station is your best bet.

Regardless of security aspects, changing in Brussels Central if often the wise thing to do, specially if the connection is tight. As that station has only 6 tracks, you will never have to walk or run very far to catch your next train.

There are also hourly SNCB trains from Maubeuge to Charleroi. Unfortunately the last one departs before you arrive in Lille. But in any case it would be wiser to interrupt your travel in Lille at 21h07 than in Maubeuge at 22h53.

You might also want to try the classic route of yesteryear via Brussels, Luxembourg, Metz, Strasbourg, and Basel. Once in Brussels, all the trains on this route are absolutely free of charge for any Interrail pass holder. Most trains run hourly, I think. Bahn.de tells me that for example on...

Something I forgot to mention : Eurostar splits/combines trains daily in Brussels, one set to/from Amsterdam and the other one to/from Cologne, the pair coming or going to Paris Nord. They are advertised as two separate trains on the French departure boards. But you need a reservation to board...

Same fate as for the ex NS/CFF TEE rakes that were sold to Ontario Northland.

Or simply because railway stations are usually found in or near city centres, with lots of activities around them, while airports are usually located far away and in the middle of nowhere (you know, space for runways, parkings, and all that). Homeless people usually live from the leftovers they...

In Belgium you can have formations consisting of - motorized éléments : - - M7 power cars - - HLE 19 locomotives - - HLE 13 locomotives - Driving cars : - - M6 driving trailers - - M7 driving trailers - - I11 driving trailers - intermediate cars : - any M6, or M7 car. Probably also I10 and I11...

Waterloo to Central Brussels is twice hourly, if I'm not mistaken.

This happened daily in Liège Guillemins 40 years ago. International trains with portions coming from Paris and Oostende were merged together to continue towards Aachen and further. Each portion stopped at a different track first and then one of the two portions was moved to the other track to be...

Yes I have done that too. From Köln all the way to Athens and back. With my then girlfriend who later became my wife. And promised ”never again”... That was in 1980. Last time I went to Greece by train was in 2015 via Bulgaria, when that border point was still active for passengers. I...

If nothing changes at the last minute, the next two weeks should be the last ones for belgian M4 cars and series 21 and 27 locomotives. Not yet 100 % sure but probability is very high.

I have indeed been caught. It does not let you chose. And picks the most expensive ticket available on the card first. So, will have to purchase that 4 zones ticket again, just before I need it. Porto métro is not expensive, so the loss is minimal, but it is a pity that this is not explained...

We, wife and I, are in Porto for a few days. Mostly walking but using the metro once or twice a day. Wife will also use the metro for her return to the airport (I won't because I'll return to Brussels by train). The metro uses a zonal fare system, you pre-load the tickets you need on a smartcard...

At that time there was still a bogie change installation in Hendaye. It worked exactly the same was as the one that still exists - but unused today - in Brest-Litovsk.

There used to be a Moscow - Madrid direct carriage. Not only a lot of border crossings but also it changed bogies twice on its way... There also used to be a Moscow - Tehran direct carriage. Only one border crossing at the time it ran. But count how many there would be if that carriage was...

Somebody mentioned examples at the russian/khazak border. There were dozen examples of that, scattered everywhere on the ex Soviet territory. Republic boundaries in USSR were mainly administrative divisions, no special papers or authorizations were needed to cross them. Railway lines were built...

As far as l know the replacement of GSM-R, FRMCS, has a provision for that.

The problem for railfans is that the variety is shrinking dramatically. Traxx and vectrons everywhere. Only variety comes from the liveries. Most pre-2000 series getting extinct at an alarming rate. You still find a few "broken nose" locos in France, and the more recent models that Alstom failed...