And there I hit my second snag: Train availability. The next possible departures involved a Frecciarossa, which is not available on #Interrail in France, or a Ouigo, which also are not available on #Interrail. The following option turned out to be 2 hours later. And that conditioned me to the last train from Lille.

This is in part because of the check-in procedures. Eurostar themselves tell you to arrive to the station an hour early in order to have sufficient time to complete border formalities. I'm unfamiliar with them on the train, and so I decided to take their advice. So I got an extra hour's wait in Lille, as the timetables didn’t line up well enough for me to have that hour for border formalities.

Why was it risky? I had two more long distance trains to catch.

So, the first problem is the third train train of the day, the Eurostar, is notoriously difficult to get an interrail reservation on.

Rants on SNCF group's attitude to #Interrail have been had by many in all sorts of places. I'll summarise them as: There is a limited number of seats on the train network, and the operator artificially limits those even further with a maximum number of interrail seats on each train. This sucks.

When I started looking to change my reservations, the first thing I did was try to work out if I could even change my booking. I had the possibility of two later trains, the next one had space in Basic class, and the later train had space in Eurostar Plus, too. And it would be a free change of seat for either one.

So, knowing that, I decided to look at trains from Lyon that would have a more reasonable chance of being doable.

Now that is an existential crisis question…

#Interrail #EURail

Now that is an existential crisis question…

#Interrail #EURail

On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail

Today I am taking the now-familiar route home to Barcelona.

I am hoping that the combination of the current speed restrictions and the winds that battered the city last night won’t affect my AVE too much.

This morning’s TER is pretty full. There were only a couple of seats left in first class (yes, a TER with a first class) and I had to ask someone to move their backpack in order to grab a seat.

I was a little surprised to find the billboards in Genève station quoting scriptures at me, though

Today’s itinerary: https://moof.space/trip/2026-02-13

On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail

Today I am crossing Switzerland, on an itinerary that is still in flux. I’m considering dinner in an Italian restaurant, but I’m also considering the possibility of a small trip on a rack railway, a Racklette if you will.

The itinerary for today is at: https://moof.space/trip/2026-02-12 - it’ll keep updating as I change my mind or not throughout the day.

Feel free to chime in with opinions on my proposed route over on this thread: https://cupoftea.social/@moof/116053499567479694

We start the day off with an ÖBB Cityjet-branded FLIRT doing service as the S-bahn to St. Margrethen

What #Interrail needs is a way to do this search: Starting from A, arriving at B, show me all connections with an overnight stay about halfway there.

E.g. going from Utrecht to Parma, I could stay in Lyon, Freiburg, or Basel, but finding out the routes currently takes a good long look at the railway map, a notebook, and at least 6 individual searches - and this is an easy example.

What #Interrail needs is a way to do this search: Starting from A, arriving at B, show me all connections with an overnight stay about halfway there.

E.g. going from Utrecht to Parma, I could stay in Lyon, Freiburg, or Basel, but finding out the routes currently takes a good long look at the railway map, a notebook, and at least 6 individual searches - and this is an easy example.

On the rails again… #CrossBorderRail

Today I am joined by @darkphoenix, who will be accompanying me for the rest of the week.

After a somewhat hectic #FOSDEM we are having a more relaxed day, with a short hop over the border to Aachen.

Today’s Itinerary: https://s.moof.space/trip20260202

We’re doing this on a Ticket+ discounted first class ticket, because that is way under my #Interrail threshold.

On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail

Today I am heading up to Brussels, in the hopes of being able to do some sightseeing before #FOSDEM later this week. Brussels is a new city, and Belgium is a new country, being the 16th I visit since I started my sabbatical in August 2024.

I’m taking the route that “avoids Paris” by changing at Lyon and then skirting round the ring-rail and not actually stopping at any of the Paris termini. Whilst it’s a bit of a detour, it’s still better than having to change in Paris.

I will have an extended lunch break in Lyon, as the train that leaves immediately after mine arrives from Barcelona had no reservations available when I booked it at the end of last year.

Anyway, first I need to get past the 90 minutes or so of communications blackout that is the Barcelona-Perpignan line… See you in France!

Today’s Itinerary: https://trainlog.me/public/trip/574347,574351

Here's the long-threatened "doing the sums" post from my recent #Interrail adventure.

I apologise if it inadvertently contains useful #travel advice.

https://www.siegeavecvue.eu/winterrail-doing-the-sums/

#TrainsNotPlanes

Here's the long-threatened "doing the sums" post from my recent #Interrail adventure.

I apologise if it inadvertently contains useful #travel advice.

https://www.siegeavecvue.eu/winterrail-doing-the-sums/

#TrainsNotPlanes

@moof There is an #Iryo office in the station in #Córdoba, but while they assured me they were in #Interrail, they explained that they couldn't sell me a seat reservation in their system because they don't have access to the Interrail system. I tried explaining seat reservations were in their system, but to no avail.

Nice #Renfe lady next door sorted me out.

So, it appears that RailEurope has started to charge "reservation fees" for SNCF reservations. A week or so ago I made this same booking on this same site and was not charged an extra fee.

This means that unless you actually go to a physical SNCF ticket office, phone SNCF, or buy it with a ticket, there is currently no way to buy a compulsory seat reservation without paying an extra fee on top of the cost of the reservation itself. Which instantly makes the already outrageous fees 2€ pricier for everybody.

It also means that despite SNCF reservations being fully refundable, you will still lose your 2€ reservation fee if you need to cancel.

#Interrail #CrossBorderRail

@moof @bovine3dom @stefanlindbohm @lave
sad for interrailers, but there is a cost associated with building booking systems. Someone has to pay for the development. Either the ones using the service or everyone- including those who don’t use #interrail at all

@moof There is an #Iryo office in the station in #Córdoba, but while they assured me they were in #Interrail, they explained that they couldn't sell me a seat reservation in their system because they don't have access to the Interrail system. I tried explaining seat reservations were in their system, but to no avail.

Nice #Renfe lady next door sorted me out.

So, it appears that RailEurope has started to charge "reservation fees" for SNCF reservations. A week or so ago I made this same booking on this same site and was not charged an extra fee.

This means that unless you actually go to a physical SNCF ticket office, phone SNCF, or buy it with a ticket, there is currently no way to buy a compulsory seat reservation without paying an extra fee on top of the cost of the reservation itself. Which instantly makes the already outrageous fees 2€ pricier for everybody.

It also means that despite SNCF reservations being fully refundable, you will still lose your 2€ reservation fee if you need to cancel.

#Interrail #CrossBorderRail

Tiedoksi, että Eurail B.V. yrityksen tietokantaan on päässyt käsiksi firman ulkopuolinen taho. Kyseessä on siis yritys, joka myy Interrail-lippuja. On hieman epäselvää, että onko kyseessä varsinainen tietomurto vai miten tämä on tapahtunut.

On kuitenkin mahdollista, että ulkopuolinen taho on saanut käsiinsä:
- Henkilötietoja: etunimi, sukunimi, syntymäaika, sukupuoli
- Yhteystietoja: sähköpostiosoitteen, kotiosoitteen, puhelinnumeron
- Passin tietoja: passin numeron, myöntäjämaan sekä eräpäivän. Tämä hetken tietojen mukaan ei kuitenkaan passikopioita.

Tällä hetkellä ei ole tiedossa, että tietoja olisi levitelty missään tai käytetty väärin, mutta lienee vain ajan kysymys että näin tapahtuu.

https://www.eurail.com/en/ni/data-security-incident

#tietomurto #interrail #eurail

Tiedoksi, että Eurail B.V. yrityksen tietokantaan on päässyt käsiksi firman ulkopuolinen taho. Kyseessä on siis yritys, joka myy Interrail-lippuja. On hieman epäselvää, että onko kyseessä varsinainen tietomurto vai miten tämä on tapahtunut.

On kuitenkin mahdollista, että ulkopuolinen taho on saanut käsiinsä:
- Henkilötietoja: etunimi, sukunimi, syntymäaika, sukupuoli
- Yhteystietoja: sähköpostiosoitteen, kotiosoitteen, puhelinnumeron
- Passin tietoja: passin numeron, myöntäjämaan sekä eräpäivän. Tämä hetken tietojen mukaan ei kuitenkaan passikopioita.

Tällä hetkellä ei ole tiedossa, että tietoja olisi levitelty missään tai käytetty väärin, mutta lienee vain ajan kysymys että näin tapahtuu.

https://www.eurail.com/en/ni/data-security-incident

#tietomurto #interrail #eurail

Ooopps. #DataBreach at #Interrail.

Thanks for requiring passport numbers, home address, gender and other information for the purpose of selling train tickets.

https://www.interrail.eu/en/ni/data-security-incident

#BahnBubble #CrossBorderRail #ITFail