📍 East Croydon Making use of London’s lessor-known cross-city rail service this evening en route home, the East Croydon-Watford Junction service operated by Southern. Just a shame they decided to use the 377/7s in recent years, which have the very uncomfortable ironing board seats… 🙃

When I took this train last month it was incredibly packed, mind you a large amount of people boarded at Amersfoort and alighted at Bremen. Funnily enough I already had this video scheduled in for a couple of weeks time, will have more to say then…

📍 Milton Keynes Central A trek to work today proved to be worth it as I caught 222601 (formerly 222001) on a Stirling-Euston test run ahead of Lumo’s West Coast launch at the end of the month. Nice to see a Meridian that doesn’t look like it’s been through RHTT season for a change 😅

NEW VIDEO! A ride on Germany’s FASTEST regional train, the RE 200! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=MImx...

📍 London Kings Cross Attending a wedding in Herts today, with 387114 and 387102 being my chariots of plastic onwards - an increasingly rare sight on the Great Northern route nowadays with the 379 introduction…

NEW VIDEO! Riding France’s first PRIVATE express train along the French Riviera! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=EKtO...

After getting around #Morocco for 10 days on fast, comfortable, on-time trains, I have a new definition: “A developed country is one where you can easily, comfortably, and routinely travel between major cities more quickly by train than by car.” Morocco qualifies. Canada and the US? Not so much.

Out enjoying the weather in South London today - completely forgot about the Southeastern Redhill diverts over the Bank Holiday weekend, so was a nice surprise seeing a 375 trio whilst waiting for my connection into Croydon 😁

This is brilliant news - prior to this the only way to book was on the CFR Calatori website and then pick up the ticket(s) in person at Bucharest, or at TCDD booking offices. Any progress is good progress! Speaking of which, really need to get that video from last Summer moving… 🙃

Another sight nowadays on the WCML - the inactive @varamisbhi.bsky.social 321s, one of which I noticed had even been graffitied over its headlights. I wonder if they’ll be back soon (if ever)?

📍 Milton Keynes Central Out for work today in MK - whilst waiting for my train home I was reminded of the changing face of the WCML, both the current and what’s to come…

NEW VIDEO! Inside Switzerland’s AMAZING new double decker train from Basel to Zürich! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=6NlM...

Well at least that was the plan - the German rail network imploding on itself again pretty much restricted my day to Berlin, but at least the rail scene around here is pretty interesting… Home time now - I’ve used all my pass days so won’t be away for a while, which means more focus on content 🫡

📍 Berlin Hbf (Tief) Arrived 38 mins in the end, but still a great journey in the end with Nightjet. Been a while since I arrived on a sleeper train showered and refreshed for the day! Heading back south now, there’s something I want to try… 👀

📍 Singen Normally this train would go via Basel, however it’s taken a diversion tonight owing to track works. Safe to say seeing an NS Vectron here isn’t an ordinary sight!

Heading up to Berlin on the Nightjet, with my Interrail reservation costing €199 for a deluxe ensuite sleeper… better than having to pay €500 as you used to have to!

📍 Zürich HB Made it in time which gave me a moment to relax and grab dinner… also never knew Zürich HB hosted a squash tournament, what are the odds hey 😅

📍 Bern Now onwards to Zürich on the IC1! 🇨🇭

📍 Spiez A brief stop for some BLS stock photos, one of which being the Goldenpass Express hauled by an Re465… 🇨🇭

📍 Basel SBB The good news is I made it on time after escaping the chaos that is NRW, the bad news is services to France are suspended this weekend, so that kills off my original plan… Plan #2 - to Bern 🇨🇭

📍 Köln Hbf Off to Basel 🇨🇭 on board ICE 103, formed of an XXL ICE 4 set. Much like the Berlin-Munich ICEs, Cologne to Basel almost exclusively uses high speed lines for most of its journey, so should be a comfortable and speedy journey to Switzerland. Let’s go!

📍 Köln/Bonn Flughafen Seems the German rail network isn’t playing in my favour today as my RRX to Hbf was delayed leaving by over 20 minutes… but it’s all good as my connecting ICE is delayed too 😆

Nothing says “disruption between Kirkdale and Headbolt Lane” better than an arrival from Paris

"The willingness to travel long distances by train has increased dramatically...The Berlin-Paris ICE is a great success, 80%+ occupancy. We thought 50% of passengers would travel the full 8h, but 75% do. Talking to SNCF about a 2nd Berlin-Paris train in 2028." www.berliner-zeitung.de/article/chef...

The continuing farce that is HS2 You really couldn't make it up www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

NEW VIDEO! Inside CrossCountry’s refurbished Voyagers from Bristol to Manchester! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=38sj...

📍 St Pancras International On time into STP despite delays in the Netherlands from a faulty NS train - was a bit surprised by how chaotic the new terminal is at Amsterdam CS with security & passport control, hopefully this is something Eurostar work on going forward. Still beats the old hut though!

Spotted another Velaro Egypt outside of Brussels Vorst/Forest depot… is there any reason they’re being tested in Belgium rather than Germany?

Alright let’s try this again… NEW VIDEO! A look at DSB’s disastrous long distance train, the IC4! Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbZ4...

And now it’s time for me to head home - the Amsterdam to London direct Eurostar hopefully getting me there just in time for bed… 🇳🇱 ➡️ 🇬🇧

📍 Amsterdam Centraal Arrived 6 mins late owing to a level crossing fault outside of Amersfoort - worth noting that some delays were picked up in Germany, but the ICE 3neo was more than capable of making that up relatively quickly. I really hope they stay on BER-AMS runs instead of the ICE L!

📍 Deventer I still find it strange that the layover here is longer than Hengelo or Bad Bentheim… I presume it’s for crew changes? Also still keep forgetting the display screens have been changed to dark blue, love it! 🇳🇱

Terrible news, my thoughts to all those affected…

📍 Berlin Hbf Time for me to head home - after trying GoVolta the other week to kick off this trip I’m now taking ICE 148 back to Amsterdam Centraal, my first time on a 3neo with the new interior design on a long haul run… 🇩🇪 ➡️ 🇳🇱

Whoops sorry all, appears to have been an audio issue with my latest upload (many thanks to those of you who pointed it out) - bare with me and I’ll have it reuploaded and live again by tomorrow ✌️

📍 Zürich HB 1 minute early into Zürich after another great ride with SBB - nice to end my time in Switzerland on a high note 😁 That being said with the ICEs to and from Germany buggered until later this week, I’ll need to make a move to the airport for my next destination…

📍 Interlaken Ost Compared to last time where there was a delay of almost 20 minutes, the Goldenpass Express arrived bang on time into Interlaken. What a fantastic trip! Off to Zürich now onboard IC81, formed of a set of IC2020 stock and an Re460 locomotive 🇨🇭

📍 Zweisimmen Gauge change now done, with a BLS Re465 now attached for the final leg to Interlaken 🇨🇭

Bonjour! 2 years ago I came to Montreux to ride the Goldenpass Express, however the weather wasn’t particularly pretty bad that day and the recording could have been doneA LOT better, so I’ve decided to give it another go. Over 3 hours to Interlaken, let’s go! 🇨🇭

📍 Montreux Been wanting to return here since I last visited nearly 2 years ago, so this is where the day ends for me. Tomorrow I progressively make my way back home… whilst dealing with German engineering works of course 🙃

📍 Brig Arrived 5 minutes early, which luckily extended my time to catch what was previously a 4 minute SBB connection onto Vaud - was quite impressed with the BLS FLIRT, it’s a shame we don’t have self-serving bistros on the trains back home!

The Northern portal of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel is here, used primarily by Intercity and EuroCity traffic travelling from Bern to Brig or Italy. BLS regional trains like this one however take the longer yet more scenic Lötschberg Line, the original route prior to 2007… 🇨🇭

📍 Bern My aim for stopping here was to catch BLS’ “MIKA” FLIRT set, which will be taking me over the original Lötschberg Line to Brig. For a regional train, the interior looks absolutely fantastic, so can’t wait for the ride over the Bernese Alps. Let’s go! 🇨🇭

📍 Zürich HB On time to the minute after a great trip - still think the Twindexx is a bit rough riding on some sections of track though… Against all odds I made my tight 4 min connection back to Bern - time to make a move 🇨🇭

📍 Genève This morning started with a journey to Geneva and it continues by doubling back on the IC bound for Chur, which I’ll be taking as far as Zürich… 🇨🇭

“Sometimes the most beautiful shots are taken in the most strangest places” ~ Unknown 📍 Wankdorf 🇨🇭

📍 Bern Journey’s end for me today - took quite a lot of effort getting to the Swiss capital than I originally planned, but all worked out well in the end 😁 The journey continues tomorrow, some fun stuff is planned… 🇨🇭

📍 Basel SBB/Bâle CFF On time into Basel - quite enjoyed the Grand Est Corails, can guarantee whatever ends up replacing them when the time comes will have nowhere near as comfy seats! Very nice timing with my connecting train to Bern, onwards 🇨🇭

📍 Strasbourg Ended up having a long overdue catch up with a friend for the afternoon, but it’s time to head on towards Switzerland now onboard the TER 200, once of France’s fastest regional trains… 🇫🇷 ➡️ 🇨🇭

📍 Karlsruhe Hbf A rare SNCF W (sort of) - interrail reservations sold out to cross the border into France, but the TM kindly allowed me to board ICE 9584 and pay the reservation there and then. Had that not been the case, pic 4 is what my route would’ve been just to get to Strasbourg… 🙃