The Hackney Eight Lose Their Tail-Gunners
The New Buses for London on route 38, or the Hackney 8, are now running without conductors or as I call them tail-gunners.
I came back on one from the Angel tonight, and the driver was opening and closing all three doors. The bus was about half-full and evetybody seemed to be using the bus as they should.
But then those that use the 38 buses, seem on the whole to be a sensible bunch.
Crowds Greet The New Buses For London On Route 24
Yesterday morning, I went to see how the New Buses for London were performing on Route 24 from Hampstead Heath to Pimlico.
I didn’t see any real problems except those caused by the crowds in Trafalgar Square and near Victoria Station.
I also got the impression that some tourists were a bit confused at the new buses.
This post shows though how the New Buses for London are superb ways to see the sights of London. Will the tourist buses suffer, when there are more routes with the new buses?
Especially, if someone does a commentary app for a smart phone, so you get the details on everything you pass.
Rescued By Eurostar
I hadn’t got a ticket for Eurostar, as let’s face it, what good would it have done me, as I didn’t turn up in Brussels at a date and a time, remotely near anything I could have expected.
So when my number was called after a wait of a few minutes, I approached the ticket counter with more than a little apprehension. After my luck, I fully expected to be told that as it was a Friday and the start of the school holidays, that no seats were available until Tuesday at the earliest.
But the pleasant lady smiled broadly, like air hostesses do in adverts, except that she meant it, and said she could get me on a train in an hour for €190. Expensive, but then it was a last-minute walk-up and what else could I do, as I can’t swim? I then asked how much Premium Economy was and she said €204. So I paid the extra fourteen euros and within an hour I was on my way back to Blighty. Incidentally booking now for next Friday, I’d save somewhere around £80.
On the train, I got a fulsome apology for not being served a gluten-free meal, but I knew that to get one, you have to book in advance. But at least the food was infinitely better than the rubbish you get on German trains, where gluten is compulsory in all snacks.
The train had a very unusual passenger.
A Very Unusual Passenger
The balloon was tied to a child’s buggy. It did give one of the stewards a bit of a fright, as he came through the door.
I was of course, on time in London. But let’s face it, Eurostar have one great advantage. With the exception of the Channel Tunnel and various junctions, it is a virtually straight line largely under their control. So could we expect that HS2 will be a more reliable railway than the West Coast Main Line? I think the answer will be yes!
Exercise On The Go In Brussels
I saw this crazy device, called a Workstation, with a guy peddling away on it, in Brussels Midi station.
Exercise On The Go In Brussels
I suppose, I could do with a bit more exercise!
Impressive Structures At Liege Station
In this home run from Stockholm, I didn’t see any good modern station architecture, until I got to Liege station.
Impressive Structures At Liege Station
So why can’t the Swedes, Danes and Germans, do what the Belgians obviously can?
From Osnabruck To Brussels By Train
On the Friday, I decided that I would go home the direct route, by taking a train to Brussels and then using the Eurostar.
By eight I was on the platform waiting for the 08:37 train to Cologne, for an onward connection to Brussels.
I waited and I waited! The only entertainment was several car carrying trains going through.
Car Carrying Trains At Osnabruck
i could have sworn that the same train went through first one way and then the other.
I did meet a German lady, who was probably a lot older than me and she was on her way to Paris, after a change at Cologne. Like me, she had a First Class ticket on the 08:37. Even with the advantage of her native tongue, she couldn’t even ascertain what was happening. We did get messages like this.
Zugdurchfahrt
Google Translate says it means train passes. Passes what? Wind? We were also treated to the site of trains going to Cologne that seemed to be running normally.
Hamburg Köln Express
But as these were the Hamburg Köln Express or HKX, our tickets weren’t valid. The HKX has Internet-only ticketing and runs what the lady said were clapped-out ex East German carriages. So it would appear that HKX is something like a German version of Grand Central, running trains in competition to the incumbent operator. But looking at the rust-buckets running on HKX and listening to the lady, they appear to be about ten classes below, those of Grand Central.
In the end we sat and waited on some of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve found in a public place.
Uncomfortable Seats
Seats are generally noticeable by their absence on German stations, as I suppose the operators assume that the trains turn up on time and you don’t need to sit down. Uncomfortable seats mean that stations don’t get cluttered with passengers. I suppose though, we could always have played hopscotch.
Hopscotch
But then I never have and don’t know the rules. And anyway like baseball (i.e. rounders), it’s a girly game. The words are Dutch and mean that the train leaves in 40 mins? – no problem.
They should be so lucky!
We waited for well over an hour and a half, before a train arrived. I got in and found that as the corridors were so congested with bags, it was like crawling through a tunnel to get to a First Class carriage, where I did find a seat next to an amiable German electrical engineer, who spoke excellent English. The highlight of the run to Cologne was catching a glimpse of the amazing Schwebebahn at Wuppertal.
A Glimpse Of The Schwebebahn
I think I might have done better to go to Wuppertal the previous day and ride up and down on this amazing train. I’ve ridden it before and there’s a video I made here.
At Cologne, I had to get my tickets endorsed for another train to Brussels, as my intended one was now probably on the way back from the Belgian capital. But I didn’t get the right endorsement, and for a moment, I thought, that I’d be thrown off the Thalys to Brussels. But I found a seat and just sat put, although I did lose my temper with a Frenchman, who said the seat was his. So he stood to Brussels!
For the last part, I decided to stand and moved to the end of the carriage, which like all trains of the past few days was full of luggage. But sitting on top of it, were a group of Canadians, who had ten minutes to catch the Eurostar out of Brussels.
At Brussels, I stood by, as cases went everywhere and just piled up on the platform.
But I’d made it back to civilisation from the hell of German railways. And for the first time since I took the Underground to Heathrow, reasonably on time too.
I’d also made it back from Osnabruck, without one word of apology from any of the staff I met.
All I expected now, was for Eurostar to get me to St. Pancras.
I
From Hamburg To Osnabruck By Train
Although, I was intending to go from Hamburg to Amsterdam, as I said in this post, things didn’t work out as I and probably Deutsche Bahn intended.
The train was a few minutes late out of Hamburg and my First Class carriage seemed to be missing from the German IC train I was on. (Note the missing E!) Or possibly I couldn’t get near it, as the aisles were blocked with cases. If I’ve complained about Virgin’s services to Glasgow in the past, then this was complete travel hell, that I’ve never encountered on British trains in the worst of times.
At Osnabruck, I was supposed to change onto another IC train for Amsterdam, but of course by the time we got there I’d missed it.
I waited for perhaps two hours on the station at Osnabruck and nothing seemed to be happening. There was no information posted and those in Information, told me to wait for the next Amsterdam train. But they had no idea of when it would arrive.
One lady, who lived locally, had told me that the hotel by the station wasn’t at all bad, so as I had nothing to do I took the precaution of seeing if they had any rooms. A pleasant fraulein told me they had a few at €80 including breakfast.
So about ten, I put myself out of my misery and booked into the Advena Hotel Hohenzollern.
Advena Hotel Hohenzollern
It was a decision I didn’t regret.
I thought that I might regret going to McDonalds for a bite to eat, but the fries and Coke had no effect. The trouble was that the information on the back of the paper on the tray is unreadable because it’s so small. So I assumed that they were as in the UK, and gluten-free! I did think though, that McDonalds were showing some very unsuitable adverts for their target clientèle.
On the other hand, breakfast in the hotel of fish, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee was excellent.
I would certainly use this hotel or one of the other, Advena hotels again. Also as a lot of the trains seem to go through Osnabruck, this hotel is a convenient place to break a journey.
German Trains Don’t Have A Coach 13
German stations like a lot of continental ones, have a poster showing where your coach will be on the platform.
German Trains Don’t Have A Coach 13
It looks to be a good idea, but just imagine the system at somewhere like Clapham Junction or Crewe, where we seem to run many more trains than our European cousins.
Incidentally, I don’t think we have a coach 13, as we give coaches on long trains, like those out of Kings Cross and Euston, letters rather than numbers. Several times though, I’ve travelled in coach M. Is that unlucky?
Would I Go Back To Copenhagen?
The most interesting part of Copenhagen was the journey by which I left to Hamburg. I suppose though, that the grotty hotel ruined it and if I go again, I’ll certainly stay somewhere better.
But I have this feeling that I like quirky and unusual places like Spittelau and the gasometers in Vienna, the Vasa in Stockholm or the Rock in Gibraltar. So perhaps Copenhagen is far too sane for my tastes.
I also like to explore in the early morning and it seems a city that gets up late.
So I doubt I’ll ever return again. But who knows?
From Copenhagen To Hamburg By Train
This is one of the more unusual journeys you can do in a high speed train. Usually, high speed trains, are defined as ones, that are capable of travelling at 200 kph or 125 mph. thus, the UK’s InterCity 125 train, built over forty years ago, are high speed trains, despite being diesel-powered. I thought that the train I was on, was a standard DeutscheBahn ICE. But it wasn’t, as it was an ICE-TD, which is diesel-powered.
You don’t notice the diesel engine in each car, and the comfort is similar to an electrically-powered train.
But the big difference on this route, which is called the Bird Flight Line, is that the train is carried part of the way in a ferry from Rødby to Puttgarden. Here are a few pictures.
I nearly delayed everything by falling asleep and was quickly roused by the guard and told to get off the train at Rødby.
The train arrived in Hamburg a few minutes late. It certainly had been an unusual trip in a train. It was also noteworthy as I saw a hare in the station at Puttgarden. But then a few years ago, I saw one on the dock at the Hook of Holland.
The Anonymous Widower 