When Will The United States Learn That Guns Kill People?
Trump may blame mental health for the shootings in Florida, but then anybody can vere from their normal safe state to a dangerous one!
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is going through a controversial rebuilding called Stuttgart 21, so I had to choose to change trains there, between Karlsruhe and Essen.
The building opened in 1922 and was designed by Paul Bonztz. So it is almost the same age as Waterloo station.
The project is also costing about the same as the Thameslink Programme.
They all make an interesting comparison.
I can’t say that I understand what all the fuss is about.
This article on Deutsche Welle is entitled Stuttgart 21 – Germany’s Other Engineering Fiasco Goes Off The Rails.
This is the first paragraph.
Everyone in Germany has heard the jokes and seen the social media memes about Berlin’s BER airport. But the Stuttgart 21 railway project has also developed into a logistical nightmare — and a sinkhole for public money.
It doesn’t look to be a happy project.
Gluten Not Optional
I spent last night in the Ibis hotel at Karlsruhe and had a very good supper in Baden-Baden.
This morning, I’m on my way to Stuttgart, so I thought I’d pick up something at the station.
Usually, on German stations, I can find something like fruit, but here there were nothing gluten-free except a bag of McDonald’s fries, coffee etc and water.
I assume all German coeliacs are stick-thib, as they aren’t allowed to collect snacks on the run!
A Trip To Baden-Baden By Tram-Train
These pictures show how I caught a tram-train in the Centre of Karlsruhe and went to Baden-Baden both to have a look and an early supper.
It was a good illustration about how tram-trains widen the transport possibilities of a city or large town.
- I caught the tram-train in the middle of the main street of Karlsruhe.
- It used the tram lines to get to Karlsruhe station.
- From there it became a train anmd went all the way to Baden-Baden station.
- I then caught a bus to the centre of Baden-Baden using the same ticket.
The only problem was that the service frequency was only one tram-train every half-hour.
But then German trains and trams aren’t as frequent as those in the UK.
The Karlsruhe Tunnel Is Still Not Finished
The main reason to go to Karlsruhe was to see if the contractors had completed the Stadtbahn tunnel under the city.
The pictures, show that they haven’t!
From Munich To Karlsruhe
After a night’s rest by the station in the excellent Excelsior Jotel, it was on to Karlsruhe in the morning.
Note.
- There are not many non-stop trains on this route an d my train was pretty crowded.
- The journey took three hours and cost thirty euros.
- We arrived in Karlsruhe on time.
It could easily have been done in stages with perhaps stops at Augsburg and Stuttgart.
Pizza Again Last Night
It’s not often, I’ve ate pizza two nights running, but last night I went to Pizzesco after Cielo di Berlino in Berlin.
Both were gluten-free and washed done with Lammsbrau gluten-free beer.
If you give Pizza Express 7 out of 10, then Berlin would be 8 and Munich 9 or 10.
The only trouble with Pizzesco is that it gets busier every time I go.
The Excelsior In Munich Delivers
When I pass through Munich on my long trips, I generally stay in the Excelsior hotel by the Hbf (Hauptbahnhof).
- It is about a fifty metre walk from the station entrance.
- The hotel dies old-fashioned service at a reasonable price.
- The rooms are spacious and comfortable.
- It has baths.
- It does a proper cooked breakfast.
- It is convenient for the trams.
Once I needed a phone charger, so they sold me one for a couple of euros from their large collection guests had left behind.
From Berlin To Munich In Four Hours By Train
The length of the East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh is 632 kilometres.
Deutsche Bahn have recently completed an upgraded High Speed Line between Berlin and Munich, which has a length of 623 kilometres.
Both lines are not the very fastest of High Speed Lines, but lines where a consistent two hundred kilometres per hour is possible.
The East Coast Main Line was built in Victorian times and services typically take around twenty minutes over four hours, with nine-car InterCity 225 trains running twice an hour.
The Berlin-Munich route was originally built over two centuries ago, but the Germans have spent twenty-five years and many billions of euros punching a new route between Berlin and Nuremberg, through the difficult countryside of Thuringen Forest.
The route may allow the Germans to travel from Berlin to Munich in three hours fifty-five minutes, but at present you can only do it three times a day in a six-car train.
I took the lunchtime train and sat in First Class for a hundred and fourteen euros.
These are some of the pictures, that I took.
We were on time in Munich! Although reading an article in the February 2018 Edition of Modern Railways and talking to other passengers, the introduction of the service had been far from smooth, due to signalling issues.
Just as British Rail’s four-hour service took passengers from the airlines, Deutsche Bahn’s intention is to do the same.
But they will have to improve things.
Service Frequency
Three six-car trains every day in under four hours is just not enough trains, to compete with the airlines.
The plans for the London to Edinburgh route include an all-day frequency of a train every thirty minutes and when the new Class 801 trains are running under control of modern signalling, then many of these trains will do the journey in under four hours.
Route Capacity
The trains need to offer more capacity to provide a service to compete with the airlines.
Customer Service
In my four-hour journey, I was offered just one hot drink! I took a cup of hot chocolate and I had to pay a few euros for it.
I’m sure, Virgin Trains East Coast offer a better service on the East Coast route.
Conclusion
Properly developed, this route can become one of Europe’s main trunk rail routes.
The Modern Railways article compares the service with the new Paris-Bordeaux High Speed Line.
However, DB’s initial offering seems rather timid – 17 trains each way (compare this to the service between Paris and Bordeaux after opening of a new line in July 2017 – 27 trains each way daily!).
The article finishes with this paragraph.
When the Berlin to Nuremberg plan was being developed in the mid-1990s both the Government and DB assumed up to 137 trains each way would use the new line. It was expected the majority would be freight, with at least 20 ICE services each way as well as slower semi-fast services. Currently 35 ICE services use the full line with 18 regional services using the 20 km. section too. Freight traffic has not yet begun and seems unlikely to for several more years, if at all.
Deutsche Bahn has a lot of work to do.
If they get this service right, it must open up a lot of possibilities for new business and leisure services.
As an example, I’ve come across many Americans, Canadians and others on East Coast Main Line services, who’ve flown into Scotland and after visiting Edinburgh, London and possibly Paris, will fly back West.
Berlin to Munich must surely open up similar possibilities in Germany.
Overhead Third Rail In Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Increasingly, railway engineers are turning to overhead third rail to carry the train power.
The pictures show the installation in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof.
The Anonymous Widower 