Two Weeks in Europe

[Lrd]

Hello everyone, I'm currently sat in Harwich International ferry terminal waiting to board the ferry to Hoek Van Holland in The Netherlands. I've booked various trains, ferries and coaches taking me across Europe for the next two weeks. I won't tell you where I'm going just yet, you'll have to carry on reading.

We'll start with day one then shall we...

I started the day at work on the night shift, I finished at 0800 and home by 0830 and had an initial plan of going to the terminal from London via Leicester, Peterborough, Ely and Ipswich as I needed the line via Corby to Leicester and EMT were diverting that way today. I also needed the line via Bury St Edmunds. I ended up going to sleep instead and awoke at 1300. I packed my bag and checked I had everything with me and left home at 1450. I took the bus to Richmond station which was surprisingly quiet but I discovered that there were no South West Trains trains running through the station, luckily I wasn't aiming to catch them so I jumped on a District line train to Hammersmith. At Hammersmith I swapped platforms and got on to the waiting Piccadilly line train to take me to Kings Cross St Pancras arriving at 1600.

I'm at Kings Cross because there are no direct trains from Liverpool Street, I would have had to taken the Central Line to Newbury Park, bus to Ingatestone and train onwards from there which I really didn't fancy, especially with the station staff strike looming. Stena did call me and tell me that there would be a replacement coach from Liverpool Street direct to Harwich but I didn't fancy that either. I check the boards for the next Ely train, which was at 1615. I bought my ticket for £19.80 and a meal deal from WH Smith's and head over to platform 6 to be greeted by 3 x Class 365s joined together. I jump on the leading unit as this one is the only one going on towards Ely and Kings Lynn and have the coach to myself. We depart on time (with the driver announcing it as a "Great Northern Mainline service" which confused me slightly as surely all Great Northern trains use the mainline?) and take the "new" flyover at Hitchin which I hadn't done yet and arrive into Cambridge on time and the train fills up considerably, we carry on up to Ely and almost everyone got off when we arrived on time at 1721.

I had a long wait here at Ely for the 1829 service to Colchester via Bury St Edmunds, this being new track up to Stowmarket and jump ship at Manningtree where we arrived one minute early at 1934, giving me plenty of time to catch the 1936 to Harwich International. I was planning to stay on till Harwich Town to finish off the line as it was required but I decided against doing so as I only had the Rail & Sail ticket which presumably wouldn't be valid. I also remembered about the curve going to Ipswich which was needed so knew I would have to come back and finish it off at some point anyways.

I walk over the bridge and into the terminal and sit and watch Antiques roadshow on the television. The staff open the check in at 2030 and I was the second one through out of about 10 of us. Very quick bag scan and passport check and I collect my cabin card, breakfast voucher and rail ticket for any station in the Netherlands and take another seat and carrying on waiting. Hopefully we'll board soon so I can get some water and dinner before getting some Zzzz's...

 

[shredder1]

It might be worth your while nipping across Rouen, Sotterville, about 400 locos dumped there in store at the moment

 

[Kite159]

Hopefully you will have a good time in Europe

 

[Lrd]

Day 2.
Last night was a good night, I thoroughly recommend anyone to use the ferry between Harwich and Hoek Van Holland. Smooth check in, modern ferry, good food, comfortable bed and powerful shower. It was a very smooth sailing and very very minimal rocking and zero vibrations which meant that I slept like a log. I wake up to the ship's wake up call at 0630, shower and pack my bag. Headed downstairs to the deck below to get some breakfast and then collected my bags from my room and sat in the lounge waiting to disembark.

The Stena Hollandica "Superferry" arrives a few minutes late and we get let off pretty quickly. Long walk down the gangway and into the terminal for a quick passport check. I head out to the station and see the 0826 to Rotterdam depart, damn. After about 10 minutes of waiting, another train pulls in and terminates. I board and watch the driver do all sorts of brake tests and checks as he left his door open. We leave on time at 0856 and the train fills up considerably by the time we get to Rotterdam Centraal on time at 0927.

I grab a croissant and bottle of water and find my platform. There was a train at 0935 but kept getting delayed and was busy so I waited until the 1005 service to Amersfoort. We get to Amersfoort just after 1100. I'm booked on the 1336 DB IC #147 so have a bit of a wait. I head into the town which is about a 15 minute walk and a look around. Unfortunately it started to rain so I headed back to the station, stopping for a subway on the way.

I sat and watched the trains for a bit, noting that all the driving cabs are quite high up. I'm used to tube trains so basically sitting directly on the track so this was a bit odd to me. Talking of the tube, I check on Twitter and on these here forums for the latest on the station closures and how much of a struggle everyone is having getting to work. Perhaps TfL will start listening to its staff now and admit they messed up.

My train comes in on time on platform one and it's DB stock hauled by a NS loco and there is healthy loading on the train. It empties out considerably by the last station in Holland. We come into Bad Bentheim which is in Germany and there is a passport check by police joining the train. Also, there is a loco swap and crew change. As we get a couple of miles out, I notice bits of snow on the ground and start to think about how cold it's going to get and how unprepared I am, I don't even have a jumper with me.

The journey to Berlin is a long one, there wasn't many people on at all. We get to Berlin on time at 1922 and I walk to my hotel through the snow which was a 10 min slow walk. It's a bit basic but it has a bed and shower so it'll do me fine. Besides I'm only here for one night...

 

[fowler9]

Good read that mate. Have fun.

 

[Lrd]

Day 3
Today's a boring one really. I left the hotel at about 1030, dropped my bags off at Berlin Hbf station and went for a walk around the city. I went to the Berlin Wall Memorial and saw some other sights, then it started to snow so I headed back to the station. Time for some currywurst which was very nice and went down a treat. Now a bit of a wait for the 1506 to Hamburg Altona.

The train comes in and it's loco hauled with Czech stock which had come from Praha. It was manly compartments with one DB open coach tagged on the end. I sit in an empty compartment and am joined by one other passenger. The compartments are quite fancy, you get temperature control, light switch, volume control and plenty of power sockets. I take this train to its terminal station at Hanover Altona where I join a local train headed for Westerland. These trains have odd seating layout, it's half compartment and half open in each carriage but the open section had another odd layout, it's hard to explain but it just seemed to be a waste of space and they could easily fit more seats into the same space. Anyways, it was quite a busy service as we left at 1740, so peak but it emptied out at the first stop. I'm on here for about 2 and a half hours, going as far as Niebull.

We get into Niebull on time and I have an easy cross platform interchange on to the international train. This train is run by good old Arriva, it is a nice train and seems new. We leave on time and by the second station we are late, which is Tonder with a fancy o. There's a quick security check by the police as we have just crossed the border into Denmark, they literally just looked at me and walked on. Very quiet journey to Esbjerg and we get in a few minutes late at 2152, good old Arriva!

I'm staying at the Cabinn hotel which is about 5 mins walk from the station, I check in and the lady behind the desk asks me for 495, which I thought was Euro but no it was Danish Kroner which works out at about £57. This is quite a nice hotel and it was a comfy bed. There is a Netto across the road which I make a note of in my head for the morning...

 

[Techniquest]

Just discovered this trip report, been a beast of a trip report so far and I'm getting ideas for my own trips here. Those NS locos are supposed to be pretty hellfire, never managed to get one myself yet.

Looking forward to more as it's ready!

 

[shredder1]

Great reports, love my European trips, enjoy.

 

[Cowley]

Brilliant stuff. It's always interesting reading about foreign moves.

 

[CC 72100]

Hanover Altona where I join a local train headed for Westerland. These trains have odd seating layout, it's half compartment and half open in each carriage but the open section had another odd layout, it's hard to explain but it just seemed to be a waste of space and they could easily fit more seats into the same space. Anyways, it was quite a busy service as we left at 1740, so peak but it emptied out at the first stop. I'm on here for about 2 and a half hours, going as far as Niebull.

Changed cities have you?

The Westerland line transferred to DB with the December timetable change, from previous operator, Nord-Ostee Bahn (NOB). That said, all of NOB's modern push-pull sets were taken out of traffic in October and replaced by hired in DB-stock (I experienced the same during my trip in November) - was it a DB or NOB liveried loco? Since December the stock is all DB, don't know if the NOB 245 locos stayed with the franchise or not.

Sounds like you're describing a Bimz coach, and yes, the layout is bizarre. The open section of the coach varies from 3 across to 2 across, with odd tables by the side of the seat closest to the window, and the seat closest to the aisle being a tip-up seat. The open bits of the coach on reflection have lower capacity than the compartments.

The attached photos show the NOB loco on hired-DB stock, and also the Bimz stock that you likely experienced based on your description

 

[Lrd]

I didn't pay to much attention to the loco unfortunately. IIRC it looked like the first one but I have a feeling it was a big diesel lump unless it was just a noisy electric thing...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Day 4
I had a very good sleep and struggled to wake up. Nice shower, pack my stuff and check out. I head into Netto to pick some supplies as I'm on trains all day and then take a walk around the town which is very small and quiet but really quite nice. I wish I had more time here but I had to make my way to the station as I was booked on the 1025 to Copenhagen (Kobenhavn). Quick check of the departure boards to find my platform and I head over to my train, checking my ticket as I do.

I'm booked in Coach 22 but there was only a 3-car unit in the platform, coach 21 is the rear carriage and coach 22 is the front two carriages (very confusing at first). I found my seat, which was at a table of 4 and settle down for the long trip to Copenhagen. We set off on time and there was nothing to report until about half way through the journey where we slowed down and lost a fair bit of time (I was checking our booked departures for each station on the DB Navigator app which is very useful). There were various announcements in Danish and none in English but we ended up about 25 mins late. Curious as to why, I check the DSB (Danish State Railways) website and there were reports of a tree leaning on the overhead cantenary between two stations. I keep an eye out but don't see anything and we keep making progress. We eventually make it to Copenhagen, about 8 mins late at about 1336 instead of 1328.

Copenhagen station is huge and very busy, I headed up to the concourse and enquired at the information desk about my next train and the platform it was booked for. The friendly man told me it was platform 27 and pointed me in the right direction. My train was at 1420 and had to allow 30 mins for security check so I was rushing slightly. Following the directions, I went down on to one platform and walked the length of it. Half way down it, painted on the floor was a sign saying "Platform 27 - 15 minutes" so I start speeding up, conscious of this 30 mins security check. I walk about two carriage lengths and there's another sign saying "10 mins" so I calm down and start breathing again. Still following the signs, I had to take a lift up to a bridge and then stairs back down to the platform. Very odd layout. Two guys in hi vis jackets take a quick glance at my passport and I join a few other people on the platform taking shelter from the cold winds in one of the few bus stop style shelters. I rushed for no reason as the train was in and was being cleaned and the 30 mins security check took two seconds, I guess this is one of the benefits of traveling in the quiet season.

We depart on time at 1420 and make good progress through Sweden. The bridge and tunnel over to Malmö being impressive. We were onboard one of the older SJ2000 trains but it was very comfortable. Nice wide seats with lots of legroom. There was very heavy snow and it was very cold but the train managed to remain on time for most of the journey but as we got over half way we started to struggle for time and eventually got in to Stockholm just after 2015, instead of 1939. I pack up my things and in doing so I manage to leave my UK plug adapter plugged in still without realising until I got to the hotel.

A very short walk out of the station and I check in at the "Central Hotel" which again, is very nice. After unpacking my things and discovering I no longer have my plug adapter, I check my bag for the second adapter that I bought to find out that it's UK to US so no good here. That's what I get for rushing to pack my bags.

Anyways, I'm here for a few days so will check back later.

 

[Kite159]

Hopefully you can pick up another adapter when in Stockholm.

 

[anti-pacer]

Amazing read and I'm very jealous.

Looking forward to your next instalment and I hope you manage to sort out your plug adapter.

 

[Iskra]

A very interesting read so far. I've booked a trip to Sweden this year so I can't wait to hear how you find the rail network over there.

 

[Lrd]

Day 5
Today was a no train day. I had a lay in and awoke about 11am. I went for a walk around the city, bought some fancy adapters and a new bag (as I broke the zip on my current one) from Clas Ohlson and got some food. Nothing to report really apart from that Stockholm is a really nice city with lovely people.

Day 6
When I was booking this trip, all I did was look at Google Maps and find some cities and countries that I had never visited before. Stockholm was definitely on the agenda as I had an inkling to go there for some reason so everything else was arranged around that and why I'm here for four nights.

I woke up early at about 6am, showered, dressed etc and left the hotel. I went to a 7-11 for some supplies and went into Stockholm Central station which is about 2 mins from the hotel. I was booked on the 0714 to Oslo, Norway. Using the SJ app (which is in Swedish only but easy to work out) I was able to see what platform the train was booked on and I confirmed this with the station boards.

Waiting on the cold, breezy platform for about 15 mins, I was happy to see the train pull in. This is one of the newer SJ 3000 4-car trains which are very fancy. The train is slightly wider than normal stock and the seats are set away from the windows with a little shelf which is useful to put your bag on. The seats are wide enough so you're not elbow bashing the person sat next to you. We leave on time at 0714 and it's an uneventful journey thankfully. It was still dark but it soon brightened up and there were some great views over the frozen lakes and snowy fields. There weren't many people on board, there only being about 10-15 in my carriage. As we cross the border into Norway, the crew make an announcement welcoming us to Norway, which was nice. We arrive on time at 1238.

Oslo is a lot smaller than I thought it would be for some reason. I walk around and see the trams and mainline trains. I then went up into the high street and was after something warm to eat and the first place I see was Techniquests favourite place "Burger King" so grabbed a burger from there.

I couldn't venture too far as I was booked on the 1332 back to Stockholm. I know an hour in Oslo isn't enough but at least I can say I've been there now. I took a slow walk back to the station and saw that I will be back on the train that I just got off, although I would be in a different coach.

There were a quite a few people on the platform waiting for the train doors to be released and when they, everyone rushed on board. I held back as it was compulsory reservations and knew we would all get a seat.

We leave on time but it was a lot busier now than it was earlier and I had someone sat next to me for the whole journey.

We're booked back into Stockholm at 1854 and we are currently on time. So far there has been decent free wi-fi on all trains that I've been on, except in the UK. Good enough to watch YouTube on my phone so I've been happy.

Tomorrow will be a trip on the Metro but I have nothing planned so we'll see what happens then...

 

[Techniquest]

Hope you had a good day on the Metro, my second favourite Metro system in the world (not far behind London Underground, and ahead of Vienna's U-Bahn).

I believe I travelled on one of the same trains as you did in 2014, they were a pleasant surprise to see how good they were inside. The free WiFi and power sockets were hugely welcome en-route to Västeras for a flight home! Also glad you enjoyed your visit to Stockholm, I loved my visit. If you still have time, visit Globen. They have this fascinating place next to the shopping centre called (I think) The Globe. Basically you go up the side and to the top in something similar to the London Eye compartments, and you get a spectacular view across Stockholm from up there. I'm not able to put into words exactly how worthwhile it is doing, but highly recommended!

I was disappointed to read virtually nothing on Oslo, as I plan to visit there later this year. No matter, I'll be going into detail in my own trip report once it's organised, time off needs booking etc first!

The mention of the lengthy walks at places like Copenhagen are worth knowing for future reference though

 

[CC 72100]

I didn't pay to much attention to the loco unfortunately. IIRC it looked like the first one but I have a feeling it was a big diesel lump unless it was just a noisy electric thing...

Not to worry. I've found a picture of the strange layout that you were describing for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with it.

http://www.bahnbilder.de/1200/blick-innenraum-eines-2klasse-wagens-803688.jpg

 

[Techniquest]

Well that really is just strange!

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's an ex InterRegio coach. It is quite wasteful of space, but the idea of it was to compete with the car by providing a unit of seating suitable for many sizes of groups of passengers.

Edit: the options are (if I recall) compartments for 5, with the 2 side having a small kid seat higher up so they can see out of the window, row of 3, row of 2 and table for 4. There are also single folding seats in the aisle as is typical of German compartment stock.

The sales pitch used on the old posters was "GROSSRAUMLIMOUSINE MIT KINDERSITZEN, EINGEBAUTER RASTSTAETTE UND 200 SPITZE. DER INTERREGIO." (Stretch limousine with child seats, built-in motorway services and 200km/h top speed. The InterRegio.) - very clearly aimed at getting traffic out of cars.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[anti-pacer]

This thread has gone quiet. I was looking forward to more reports.