Starting 15th September I am back on the rails (and cycle paths!) of Europe on my #CrossBorderRail conclusions tour. You can find the whole route of the tour here (dates indicated in the data panel of the map), and the signup form for all the events here.
But there are three events I especially want to highlight. And if you’re reading this, you’re warmly invited to come along!
Saturday 20th September – Völklingen-Saarbrücken borders bike tour
Bring your bike, and come along to discover four forgotten railway lines at the France-Germany border, and with one of them at Überherrn with a chance of re-activation.
Start: 15:00, in front of the main station building, Rathausstrasse, Völklingen [Map]
End: 19:00, Saarbrücken Hbf
Distance: 56.5km, and 550m elevation – you need to be quite fit! And there is no real public transport only way to do this! And you need your own bike!
At about 16:00 there will be a stop at the old railway station in Überherrn, for a meeting with local activists there.
Borders to be investigated on the tour, in this order:
Überherrn 🇩🇪 – Hargarten-Falck 🇫🇷
Former 1435mm tramway – Überherrn 🇩🇪 – Creutzwald 🇫🇷
Puits Merlebach Nord 🇩🇪 – Puits Rumeaux 🇫🇷
Saarbrücken Nordbahnhof 🇩🇪 – Schœneck 🇫🇷
(you can find all of these on my borders map here)
Saturday 4th October – Kulturzug Berlin-Wrocław
One of the most unusual trains – a train with a cultural programme on board! Running for 10 years at weekends between Berlin and Wrocław, it started when Wrocław was European Capital of Culture and has carried on ever since. And on 4th October I will be giving a speech on board. I will be showing some of the best photos from the more than 380 borders I have investigated in the project so far, and telling some of the stories of these forgotten places rail could bring together.
You can buy tickets here, and this is the timetable:
IRE 5461 / IRE 69024
Berlin-Lichtenberg D. 08:42
Berlin Ostkreuz D. 08:47
Cottbus Hbf D. 10:14
Weißwasser(Oberlausitz) D. 10:46
Węgliniec A: 11:30
Bolesławiec A: 11:47
Chojnów A: 12:03
Legnica A: 12:17
Wrocław Główny A: 13:07
Sadly I have no time to enjoy Wrocław though, and will be returning to Berlin that afternoon on EC 58 (D: 15:06)
Sunday 19th October – Wien-Angern an der March-Bratislava borders tour
17-18 October I am in Wien for Open Transport Community Conference 2025, and 19 October I am adding an extra day – and an extra border! – and you would be welcome to come along.
Start: 10:00, Platform 3 at Wien Praterstern upper level [Map], to take train REX 1 (2312) at 10:11 to Angern an der March
End: c. 17:00, Bratislava-Petržalka station
Cycle distance: 50km, and 85m elevation, and you need your own bike!
There is also a way to do this tour without a bike – by taking bus 240 from Záhorská Ves to Malacky (D: 13:30, A: 14:05 – timetable PDF), and a regional train Os 2021 from there to Bratislava hl. st. (D: 14:14, A: 15:00). The first border to check is one I have not been to in my project yet – Angern an der March 🇦🇹 – Záhorská Ves 🇸🇰, but this line is long gone, and though the line exists Slovak side there are no trains. Further south the line from Marchegg to Devínska Nová Ves is supposed to be complete by October, but building works are dragging. Cycling past that border bridge will give an opportunity to check what is going on. And the tour will end with a beer with bike advocates in Bratislava (exact location tbc). You need your own tickets for the trains / buses – I cannot cover these (sorry!)
