@edward Looks very modern and fresh, even if the concept of "rubber nose" trains with a driver compartment that is hinged and turned out of the way when two units are coupled is quite old, from the late 1980s.
@tml My train joined with another train at Helsingborg. The train staff did what you described, they folded away the driver's controls made the compartment a passageway.
Moin moin! I've checked out of the hotel and I'm back at #Hamburg Hauptbahnhof to catch a train to #Cologne. This is my first train of the journey that doesn't cross an international border.
@edward Good luck! (Is that the last Eurostar? If not, possibly they might try to fit you into a later, DB and Eurostar do have some kind of agreement.)
@tml I got off the ICE 107 at Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof and got on the IC 148 which is meant to go to Amsterdam Centraal. From there I can get a train to Brussels and I should arrive at 17:08.
However, this train has problems. The onboard Wi-Fi says "Notarzteinsatz auf der Strecke" which translates as "Emergency medical service on the route".
It says "Halt entfällt" which is "no stop" next to "Amsterdam Centraal".
@edward Ouch. Hope the person who needed the medical attention is well. (Although I fear it means a suicide.) And seems that you will have a bonus hotel night somewhere, apparently the train will terminate at Bad Bentheim...
I got off the ICE 107 at Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof and got on the IC 148 which was meant to go to Amsterdam Centraal, but there is an accident on the line and the train was cancelled. Now I'm trying to use local trains to cross the Netherlands and get to Brussels.
The Eurostar has crossed the border, I'm in France. Fourth country of the day. Sixth country of the journey. This is the only country where I won't make a stop.
My #Eurostar arrived early, which is good. I was a little worried about my last connection. Now I'm at King's Cross station on the Cambridge train, I'm waiting for it to leave.
@edward Did you in the end win anything by not continuing on the (severely delayed) train from Hamburg to Köln and instead going through the Netherlands?
If I'd stayed on the delayed train I would've arrived at Brussels Midi by 17:35. My #Eurostar was at 17:56, It was too close, I don't think they would've let me on.
With my trek through the Netherlands I arrived at Brussels Midi at 18:15.
Either way I think I would've been on the same Eurostar. My journey was a lot more fun than just sitting on a delayed train.
@edward Did you have to negotiate hard with Eurostar staff to get your reservation exchanged, or did you just have to show up and explain briefly, and it was sorted?
@edward Sweden is a good example of functional and well working railway liberalisation. 1) The incumbent state-owned operator. 2) Open Access operators. 3) Services run by regional administrations. All (partially) competing.
But for some reason, whenever you dare to suggest breaking the de-facto incumbent operator's monopoly here in Finland, the knee-jerk reaction is "but, but, look at the UK". (That "everybody" knows is a mess.) Even though next-door Sweden shows how to do it.
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