Longest gaps between station calls

[A S Leib]

On Saturdays from the 24th of June, there's a service advertised as running non-stop from Köln Hbf to Berlin-Spandau (12:17 - 16:03; 3h46m; 539km according to signal.eu.org/osm). Which longer non-stop journeys which can be made on public services in Europe (counting set-down / pick-up only as stops, even if it's only possible to buy a ticket for a longer journey)? Are there any longer ones excluding sleepers (as the Lowlander between Watford Junction and Carlisle and the Highlander between Preston and Stirling would beat that, and the Night Riviera on Sunday nights would only be a few minutes out if it doesn't reach Exeter / Reading early)?

 

[alistairlees]

The Highlander from London Euston to Dalmuir / Inverkeithing / Stirling when it goes via the ECML.

 

[A S Leib]

The Highlander from London Euston to Dalmuir / Inverkeithing / Stirling when it goes via the ECML.

I'm counting Glasgow Queen Street as stopping in that case, but yes (there are also currently Sleeper diversions between Edinburgh and Dundee, but I'm not sure if there are any service-stop-only Euston to Dundee via the ECML services).

Edit: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C06473/2023-04-23/detailed is non-stop for 9h56m between Euston and Dundee (excluding service stops) on 23rd / 24th April.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Paris Lyon - Marseille St Charles is 750km and several TGVs do that non-stop in about 3h20m.
Some Paris-Nice trains used to be first stop Toulon, that's 812km via the Marseille avoiding triangle I think.
I did Paris-Toulon non-stop once, in the days when the LGV finished at Valence, so taking the longer classic line via Arles - possibly 850km at the time.
The return trip was interrupted by the Toulon signallers engaging in a lunch-time "manifestation", but fun nonetheless, taking a break on the platform during the time-out.

Madrid Atocha-Barcelona Sants is 621km, and there are several AVEs which do that non-stop in 2h30m.
Milano Centrale-Roma Termini is 568km and plenty of TI/ITA trains do that non-stop in 3h, the original Firenze-Roma LAV being slower than the newer lines.

 

[rvdborgt]

Paris Lyon - Marseille St Charles is 750km and several TGVs do that non-stop.
Some Paris-Nice trains used to be first stop Toulon, that's 812km via the Marseille avoiding triangle I think.

There used to be one with the first stop after Paris only at Les Arcs-Draguignan, which is even further. A friend of mine once was in that train, and as they were leaving Paris the announcement was made about the stops etc. and one man cursed because he wanted to go to Lyon...

 

[StephenHunter]

European Sleeper will be running non-stop from Bad Bentheim to Berlin Hbf when it starts on 25 May - and due to engineering work forcing a diversion via Magdeburg for a while, it will mean no passenger stops between 01:09 and 09:00.

 

[MisterT]

I think that the seasonal Thalys trains between Amsterdam and the French Alps are a pretty strong contender. They run non-stop between Brussels South and the south of France, for example: https://treinposities.nl/ritinfo/20230128/9920
Or on their way back: https://treinposities.nl/ritinfo/20230128/9987

 

[Bald Rick]

There used to be one with the first stop after Paris only at Les Arcs-Draguignan, which is even further. A friend of mine once was in that train, and as they were leaving Paris the announcement was made about the stops etc. and one man cursed because he wanted to go to Lyon...

Yes I caught that going north once. 5h40 from Nice to Paris.

 

[dutchflyer]

Note however that nearly all these overnight trains-and certainly those in FRance, do make service stops en-route. And I recall once even-with a heavy delay, having got off at such a stop, which was frowned upon. There are also specific rules for how long an uninterrupted service-time for workers can last without any break.
A variation on the theme: a train may have both seated and sleeper cars-and sometimes the sleepers are locked off for longer time and do not allow board/alight in the night hours. So on the same train it can even vary by car! But that train will of course still make the stops.

 

[StephenHunter]

Note however that nearly all these overnight trains-and certainly those in FRance, do make service stops en-route. And I recall once even-with a heavy delay, having got off at such a stop, which was frowned upon. There are also specific rules for how long an uninterrupted service-time for workers can last without any break.
A variation on the theme: a train may have both seated and sleeper cars-and sometimes the sleepers are locked off for longer time and do not allow board/alight in the night hours. So on the same train it can even vary by car! But that train will of course still make the stops.

Isn't locking a sleeping car door a bad idea? What if there's a fire?

 

[duesselmartin]

Isn't locking a sleeping car door a bad idea? What if there's a fire?

There are emergency handles to unlock.

 

[thaitransit]

Adelaide to Cook on the Indian Pacific train at 1141km with no intermediate stop. But given Cook is only a stopover station not an open access station where you can end a journey.

Thus making Adelaide to Perth at 2700km the longest distance between stations where you can get on or off the train.

 

[davetheguard]

There used to be one with the first stop after Paris only at Les Arcs-Draguignan, which is even further.

Yes I caught that going north once. 5h40 from Nice to Paris.

As did I, going southbound.

I think I looked the distance up at the time, and if I remember correctly, it was almost the same distance non-stop as Kings Cross to Dunkeld & Birnham (one stop north of Perth on the Highland Main Line).

 

[Flying Snail]

Adelaide to Cook on the Indian Pacific train at 1141km with no intermediate stop. But given Cook is only a stopover station not an open access station where you can end a journey.

Thus making Adelaide to Perth at 2700km the longest distance between stations where you can get on or off the train.

That isn't a scheduled passenger service by any real definition though, it is a (very) expensive tourist land cruise.

 

[Watershed]

The Optima Express service, which runs between Villach (Austria) and Edirne (Turkey) has no intermediate passenger calls during the 1416km, 31.5-hour journey. There are, however, 6 locomotive changes and 6 stops for passport inspections.

 

[farci]

That's a long trip. Difficult to accept the term 'Express'. By road it takes less than 15 hours .

Who are the passengers?

 

[A S Leib]

That's a long trip. Difficult to accept the term 'Express'. By road it takes less than 15 hours .

Who are the passengers?

There's ~1.6 mn Turks in Germany and Austria and the Optima Express is (I think the last apart from one or two of the Nightjets) car-carrying passenger trains in Europe; presumably people going back* to visit family's a sizeable market.

*Of course, people born in Austria, Germany etc. can have family in Turkey without having previously been there themselves.

 

[Farigiraf]

Don't remember which service it was but a few years ago I was at Latour-de-Carol Enveitg (for Andorra) and saw a Spanish train towards Paris non-stop, that must be a contender

 

[Watershed]

That's a long trip. Difficult to accept the term 'Express'. By road it takes less than 15 hours .

Who are the passengers?

Indeed - a misnomer if ever I heard one, given it averages just 45km/h (28mph) - if it's on time!

It seems to be a mixture of Turks visiting family (in either direction) and those who are along for the ride itself (cranks, photographers, travel writers etc.). It has car carrying wagons on the back and is billed as avoiding the cost, stress and wear & tear on your car caused by driving

 

[nwales58]

... at Latour-de-Carol Enveitg (for Andorra) and saw a Spanish train towards Paris non-stop ...

Was that really at Latour-de-Carol? There might have been through services in the past but I first used it around 1968 and went back fairly frequently until about 1979 and I do not recall exotic spanish stock or any through passenger service. The Paris sleeper (SNCF, couchette) stopped everywhere down the valley to Toulouse where it picked up more coaches.
You may be thinking of Port Bou or Hendaye.

 

[Farigiraf]

Was that really at Latour-de-Carol? There might have been through services in the past but I first used it around 1968 and went back fairly frequently until about 1979 and I do not recall exotic spanish stock or any through passenger service. The Paris sleeper (SNCF, couchette) stopped everywhere down the valley to Toulouse where it picked up more coaches.
You may be thinking of Port Bou or Hendaye.

I was definitely at Latour, I flew into Perpignan and went straight there.
I wasn't necessarily talking about a spanish company but a train coming from the spain side towards Paris.
This was in 2017, it might have been a one-off service

 

[ac6000cw]

It has car carrying wagons on the back and is billed as avoiding the cost, stress and wear & tear on your car caused by driving

Sounds a bit like the car-carrying Amtrak 'Auto-train' service between Lorton, Virginia (just south of Washington DC) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando) - 855 miles/1376 km in around 17 hours, with one intermediate crew change/servicing stop.

 

[rvdborgt]

I was definitely at Latour, I flew into Perpignan and went straight there.
I wasn't necessarily talking about a spanish company but a train coming from the spain side towards Paris.
This was in 2017, it might have been a one-off service

AFAIK gauge changing was never possible at Latour and changing bogies didn't happen there either. in 2017, in any case, there was no regular through service. From the Spanish side, it was just the regional services from Barcelona and that had already been the case many years.

 

[nwales58]

... a train coming from the spain side towards Paris. This was in 2017, it might have been a one-off service

Weird. RENFE stock or a tour operator?

That would have needed bogie changing. I thought the RENFE side had been a single platform dead end for decades with no access to the standard gauge yard.
Anyone know more?

 

[farci]

This is the Wikipedia entry for La Tour station - it notes there are three lines from Spain & France and the station has three different gauges without any mention of gauge changing facilities.

Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg (Catalan: La Tor de Querol-Enveig) or Latour-de-Carol is a railway station in Enveitg and Latour-de-Carol, Occitanie, France. It is the current terminus of three lines.

France's SNCF operates TER (local) services on the Portet-Saint-Simon–Puigcerdà railway (from Toulouse-Matabiau) and on the Ligne de Cerdagne known as Train Jaune (from Villefranche-de-Conflent, with connections to Perpignan). Spain's Renfe Operadora runs Rodalies de Catalunya trains from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat on the Barcelona commuter rail line R3. SNCF also runs Intercités de Nuit night trains to Paris.

 

[nwales58]

Currently no gauge changing and never has been a Talgo/CAF changer. The question is whether anyone knows for sure whether jacking bogie/axle changing was ever regularly done. The track layout now does not permit it and I very much doubt it did in 2017. 50 years ago I remember manual transhipment of freight between wagons but no axle changing, though I could be wrong.

We are well off topic for longest run between booked calls though and I doubt this qualifies.

So I suspect the OP saw a charter using spanish-looking stock but probably a tour operator so loads of doubt. Any passengers will have changed from a broad or metre gauge train or arrived by road.

 

[MarcVD]

There are no - and to the best of my knowledge there have never been - gauge changing acilities in Latour or Puigcerda. I was there in the late 90ies. There are two tracks, one 1435 mm and one 1668mm, between the two stations but no connection between them. A Spanish train cannot go further north than Latour and a French train cannot go further south than Puigcerda. For the last 25 years at least, the normal service only use the 1668mm track with RENFE trains coming to Latour. The 1435mm track sees only very occasional traffic and I think today is out of service.