Trivia: Station dwells long enough to allow enough time to explore the settlement

[PTR 444]

Following on the thread about UK rail services with long dwell times at stations, I’m wondering if there are any examples of intermediate dwells around the world that are long enough for someone to feasibly take a stroll around the local area and take a bite to eat/visit an attraction etc, while still rejoining the same train some time later. For example, train arrives at station in a small town at 12:00, scheduled departure isn’t until 12:45 so passenger alights train, grabs a bite to eat in the local cafe and spends 15 minutes in the free local museum before rejoining the same train 5 minutes before departure.

 

[steamybrian]

A few years ago I caught the "Jacobite" from Fort William to Mallaig which spent a long dwell time at Glenfinnan so that passengers could visit the museum and/or take refreshments in the cafe. I am unsure if this still applies.

 

[181]

When I travelled extensively in Canada in 1990 I had time to wander round a few small towns en route, although I don't think I was confident enough to actually go into any cafes or museums. The current timetable suggests that things are still similar, with the westbound Canadian spending as much as 3 hours at Jasper (although I imagine this may be curtailed if it arrives late). My experience of Amtrak in 2017 was that stops weren't so long, although I could have had a bit of a wander round Denver if I'd been bolder.

I've also had time to look round Minsk, when the Berlin-St. Petersburg through coaches spent over 4 hours there after being detached from one train before the departure of the train to which they were to be attached (but that through working hasn't run for some years), and the two small places on either side of the Russian-Mongolian border (but not many British travellers will be going that way at the moment).

I think there may be a few overnight trains (or portions of trains) in Europe with long layovers in the small hours, but for most people that's not an ideal time to explore a city.

 

[farci]

A few examples of stops like these in the Bald & Bankrupt YouTube series about the TransSiberian, although it'll take a while for this to open up again:

 

[dutchflyer]

Yes, a very few nighttrains-of which there are not that many anyway, and also perhaps depending on how fast they can run-or not (goods trains. works, etc in the way) in some point where staff is changed-not the ideal time to go to cafë´s etc. Or have to wait before a long single track section for the opposite train to come out first-and even more if that one delayed. But thats all unpredictable. A major issue is that when its regular thieves/criminals will also find that out-and about all of station ´on the continent´ provide unguarded access.
What 181 writes was also fairly common in broad-gauge lands for cars that changed trains and had to wait for train #2.

 

[Trainguy34]

A few years ago I caught the "Jacobite" from Fort William to Mallaig which spent a long dwell time at Glenfinnan so that passengers could visit the museum and/or take refreshments in the cafe. I am unsure if this still applies.

Only on the 1015 and 1250 out of Fort William, 25 Mins at Glenfinnan.

Edit: Now I want to go there even more!

 

[AndrewE]

The InlandsBahn in Sweden was timetabled to allow you to stretch your legs every hour or so when we did it as a day train about 15 or 20 years ago. (Now it looks like a hotel train only - correction, I have just found this: https://res.inlandsbanan.se/en/timetables - look at Gallivare to Ostersund and vv)
However it fits with the thread title as some of the stops were at stations seemingly with no other dwellings around!

 

[AlbertBeale]

Certainly some night trains on the continent which shuffle sets of carriages where they mix and match destinations can spend quite some time at one station. But as 181 says, that's usually in the middle of the night, so perhaps of less interest/use...

In the days of the through service Tallinn-Riga-Vilnius-Warsaw (which had I think stopped before the turn of the century, when the "modernising" of the three post-SU, and now EU, Baltic States led to them closing their rail connections with one another), the train arrived at Vilnius in the evening and waited for some time for an arrival from - I think - St Petersburg so that coaches from both could be joined up before the onward journey to Poland during the night. In my experience, there was plenty of time to get some food on the station, find a phone box to make a call to a local contact, and have a wander around. I can't now remember how long the train sat there, but I remember not having to feel rushed!

Of course there are also "dwell times" where a train is carried on a ship, which kind of fits the question ... but in Europe this now only applies to the crossing between Sicily and the Italian mainland (where there's time to get a snack and a drink on the boat). On the internal Danish train ferries - when they operated - I don't remember getting off the train onto the boat; perhaps it wasn't expected on a relatively short crossing. On the old Denmark-Sweden international crossing (pre-"The Bridge"), via Helsingor-Helsingborg, it was all so quick and efficient - and it was a pretty short crossing - I don't remember there really being much chance to enjoy getting out onto the ship even if you wanted to. The (also now closed - though the tunnel to replace it won't be ready for a while yet) Fehrman Belt crossing between Denmark and Germany, however, was a bit longer, giving time to stretch your legs.

There are often long dwell times at border stations - though the situation is likely to be one where you very much can't wander around during the process! At Grodno in Belarus (the Lithuania-Poland through route used to cut through a little corner of Belarus), it could take hours to switch all the bogies for the change of track gauge. I did once get to see some of the local area during that time - but involuntarily, and not the bits I might have liked to have seen - when I was taken off the train by Belarussian officials who were trying to make me pay for a transit visa I didn't technically need, and I was refusing to give them any money. The resolution of the stand-off took up almost all the time the train was there.

 

[Gaelan]

Certainly some night trains on the continent which shuffle sets of carriages where they mix and match destinations can spend quite some time at one station. But as 181 says, that's usually in the middle of the night, so perhaps of less interest/use...

Similarly the Aberdeen portion of the sleeper spends over an hour in Edinburgh, in my experience. Not sure they let you out (or, more importantly, in), though.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Snälltåget’s northbound night train D300 from Berlin to Stockholm used to arrive in Malmö C more than an hour before the through carriages were marshalled onto a daytime train towards Stockholm. In summer 2021 it gave me enough time to walk into Malmö for breakfast at a nice little cafe and to reach the rather charming moated castle.

 

[Alfonso]

The Turkish Bucharest to Istanbul sleeping car spends a couple of hours at a reasonable time of day in a town I forget in Northern Bulgaria in between the trains that conveys it

 

[Segedunum]

The Turkish Bucharest to Istanbul sleeping car spends a couple of hours at a reasonable time of day in a town I forget in Northern Bulgaria in between the trains that conveys it

That'll be Ruse I'd imagine.

 

[rvdborgt]

That'll be Ruse I'd imagine.

In Gorna Orjahovica and in Ruse. A number of years ago, the dwell at Gorna Orjahovica was long enough to have a warm meal, which we did.

 

[SeanG]

EC115 has a nigh on 50 minute wait at Bohumin - as can be seen on Google Maps, its tiny and there would be ample time to visit the place. However, one wouldn't want to leave the station with the amount of loco hauled traffic seen.

 

[Gloster]

Of course there are also "dwell times" where a train is carried on a ship, which kind of fits the question ... but in Europe this now only applies to the crossing between Sicily and the Italian mainland (where there's time to get a snack and a drink on the boat). On the internal Danish train ferries - when they operated - I don't remember getting off the train onto the boat; perhaps it wasn't expected on a relatively short crossing. On the old Denmark-Sweden international crossing (pre-"The Bridge"), via Helsingor-Helsingborg, it was all so quick and efficient - and it was a pretty short crossing - I don't remember there really being much chance to enjoy getting out onto the ship even if you wanted to. The (also now closed - though the tunnel to replace it won't be ready for a while yet) Fehrman Belt crossing between Denmark and Germany, however, was a bit longer, giving time to stretch your legs.

It was definitely normal for passengers in the through coaches across the Store Bælt to leave the train and use the ship’s facilities, although they would usually find that the cheapskates like me who used the local trains had already grabbed the best seats in the cafeteria. The catering facilities were geared up for a quick service en route and then clearing up while in port. Even the Helsingør-Helsingborg and Femern services were organised like that (excellent spaghetti bolognese on the latter), even though they were shorter crossings.

 

[181]

There are often long dwell times at border stations - though the situation is likely to be one where you very much can't wander around during the process!

It can happen in some circumstances. I crossed from Russia to Mongolia in 2007, on the 'local' train from Irkutsk to Ulanbaataar, which actually consisted of just a couple of carriages that reached the last station in Russia (at the sleepy village of Naushki) in the early afternoon as part of a stopping train, and were then left there for a few hours while the rest of the train went back the way it had come. If I remember rightly, the provodnitsa (sleeping car attendant) told us to be back by a particular time for border control (and presumably locked the compartment, as I don't remember being worried about our luggage), and meanwhile we went for a walk. After we'd been trundled the few miles across the border to the Mongolian town of Sükhbaatar in the late afternoon or early evening, and had our passports and visas checked again there, again there was a significant amount of free time before our carriages were attached to the overnight train to Ulanbaataar. (I think the through trains from Moscow spent rather less time at the border stations).

 

[StephenHunter]

Ian Fleming has James Bond in From Russia With Love spend several hours in Belgrade and before that, have a meal at Pythion's "meagre buffet". I'm wondering if he was writing from experience in that regard!

 

[Watershed]

The InlandsBahn in Sweden was timetabled to allow you to stretch your legs every hour or so when we did it as a day train about 15 or 20 years ago. (Now it looks like a hotel train only - correction, I have just found this: https://res.inlandsbanan.se/en/timetables - look at Gallivare to Ostersund and vv)
However it fits with the thread title as some of the stops were at stations seemingly with no other dwellings around!

It's still the case - the services stop en-route a couple of times for photo stops and for lunch and dinner.

 

[StephenHunter]

The Piaseczno narrow gauge line just outside Warsaw incorporates a 2 hour 20 minute stop in a forest clearing where you can cook sausages and buns over an open fire.

The portaloos have a pump sink that they get out of a shipping container.

 

[Segedunum]

There are some Hungarian services that sit and await connections or are simply two trains tacked together.

For example, Sz38912 from Hegyeshalom to Szombathely via Csorna sits at Csorna from 08:14 to 09:05. That's probably enough time to have a wander around whatever might be there. There look to be several supermarkets if you want supplies!

 

[citycat]

From my recent experience of the overnight train from Nice to Paris, I guess I could have had a wander around the dark streets of Valence for 45 minutes in the early hours of the morning.

However, it was far more interesting remaining at the station, watching the Briancon portion arrive, the detaching of the two diesel locomotives, and then all the shunting taking place as they attached the electric loco for Paris, and then joined the Nice and Briancon portions together.

 

[DEE-DE]

Took a through coach from Bratislava to Kosice last year (R 627/EN 443). Eastbound it arrives in Zilina at 22:36 and doesn't depart again till 04:34 resulting in a stop of 5:59. But that's in the middle of the night and you would've had a bit over two hours to enjoy the restaurant if you got on at Bratislava.

 

[Adlington]

The Piaseczno narrow gauge line just outside Warsaw incorporates a 2 hour 20 minute stop in a forest clearing where you can cook sausages and buns over an open fire.

This is a heritage railway, going (approximately) from nowhere to nowhere, so I'm not sure it counts.

 

[JWK]

The Budapest-Prague through sleeper coach stops for 6 hours and 3 minutes in Břeclav, should you be really keen to sample the no-doubt swinging nightlife of this small Moravian border town between 11pm and 5am. Alternatively, there’s a lot of very convoluted shunting to enjoy during those hours.

 

[Taunton]

When I travelled extensively in Canada in 1990 I had time to wander round a few small towns en route, although I don't think I was confident enough to actually go into any cafes or museums. The current timetable suggests that things are still similar, with the westbound Canadian spending as much as 3 hours at Jasper (although I imagine this may be curtailed if it arrives late). My experience of Amtrak in 2017 was that stops weren't so long, although I could have had a bit of a wander round Denver if I'd been bolder.

My own Canadian transcontinental trips at that time, particularly 1986, had about one stop a day at major cities of an hour or more, enough to have a snack and a brief walk around. On Vancouver to Toronto both Calgary and Winnipeg gave this in the evening. The major stations had a onetime grand Canadian Pacific hotel adjacent, whose bars and cafes seemed set up and used to serving brief stopovers from the train.

Outside Calgary station I was propositioned by a 'lady of the night', but certainly insufficient time was provided for such!!

 

[The exile]

I’m sure I remember reading about sleeper trains (to Moscow? And presumably different ones!) that effectively lost an entire day in Paris and In Berlin.

 

[Henffordd]

The 2021 film "Compartment No. 6" is about what happens on a trip on the sleeper from Moscow to Murmansk in the 1990s. This seems to include a long dwell at one station, which adds to the story. Oh, and it's mostly filmed on the train.

 

[tony6499]

What happens if you get out and leave the station and for some reason the train departs early and without you ?

 

[SeanG]

What happens if you get out and leave the station and for some reason the train departs early and without you ?

Then you've missed your train...

The Budapest-Prague through sleeper coach stops for 6 hours and 3 minutes in Břeclav, should you be really keen to sample the no-doubt swinging nightlife of this small Moravian border town between 11pm and 5am. Alternatively, there’s a lot of very convoluted shunting to enjoy during those hours.

Tell me about it...
Nice long wait so you think that you'll get a nice bit of sleep. Nope, lots of shunting and freights going through which isn't good for sleep for a nosey enthusiast!!

 

[FormerBritInMe]

On Amtrak the New York / Boston - Chicago Lake Shore Limited has a 30 to 45 minute layover in Albany/Rensselaer NY where the NY and Boston sections are combined/split. Enough time to pop into the station and pick up something at the cafe or newsstand, but not enough to take a stroll around, not that there is much to see in that part of Rensselaer which is across the river from the actual city of Albany.

There are only 3 trains in the Amtrak system that split/combine, the others being the Sunset/Texas Eagle in San Antonio TX and the Empire Builder in Spokane WA. The longest such stop is the San Antonio one which is several hours but it unfortunately happens late at night / early in the morning so there might not be anything to stroll to. The Spokane layover is 30 minutes to an hour depending on which section one is in. Of course these times can be shorter if a train is late although the switching does take a certain amount of time which can't be avoided.

Other than that there are frequent "smoke breaks" on the various long distance trains but usually not long enough to wander very far from the station.