#train24
March 30, 2022 3:21 AM Subscribe
Remember #bus24? That was last year, when @politic_animal set out to find out how far one could travel in 24 hours by bus from London. This year, it's "the obvious sequel: #train24. What is the furthest point I can get from St Pancras in 24 hours?". Spoiler: the route for now has been through France and Germany, and then of course you'll have to follow along to see where it ends! Bon voyage!
NB see this tweet in the thread:
posted by bitteschoen at 3:27 AM on March 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
Interesting his passport was stamped, I went to Paris last month and mine wasn't but I was travelling on an EU passport, which might have made a difference. When you don't have to pause for a covid test, sleeper from Edinburgh and then Eurostar to Paris with a pause for breakfast in St Pancras is a great journey.
I've also done Newcastle to Amsterdam by ferry, spent a day in Amsterdam and then sleeper to Zurich. I love trains. I only wish I had a reasonable train/ferry trip home to Dublin but it doesn't really work.
posted by hfnuala at 4:56 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've also done Newcastle to Amsterdam by ferry, spent a day in Amsterdam and then sleeper to Zurich. I love trains. I only wish I had a reasonable train/ferry trip home to Dublin but it doesn't really work.
posted by hfnuala at 4:56 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Interesting his passport was stamped, I went to Paris last month and mine wasn't but I was travelling on an EU passport, which might have made a difference.It seemed the reason he pointed it out was as a comparison with it not having been stamped back when his British passport was an EU passport.
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 5:17 AM on March 30, 2022
I only wish I had a reasonable train/ferry trip home to Dublin
Yeah, same here. All of the options that I can find from Frankfurt to Dublin either involve starting at 5 am, changing trains multiple times, or take multiple days of travel. I'd love to take the ferry from Cherbourg to Dublin, but getting to Cherbourg means either a 5 am start, or either stopping in Paris or Cherbourg for a night. Which doesn't really compare to a less than 2 hr flight. (Looking at prices makes it even worse)
Frankfurt's also not great for the current night trains either. While some do stop, it's usually after midnight which isn't ideal (both because I don't particularly want to stand around at that hour, and because I'd like a half-decent amount of sleep on the train), or I would need to travel a few hours in the wrong direction to get the train in Brussels or Amsterdam or somewhere.
posted by scorbet at 5:58 AM on March 30, 2022
Yeah, same here. All of the options that I can find from Frankfurt to Dublin either involve starting at 5 am, changing trains multiple times, or take multiple days of travel. I'd love to take the ferry from Cherbourg to Dublin, but getting to Cherbourg means either a 5 am start, or either stopping in Paris or Cherbourg for a night. Which doesn't really compare to a less than 2 hr flight. (Looking at prices makes it even worse)
Frankfurt's also not great for the current night trains either. While some do stop, it's usually after midnight which isn't ideal (both because I don't particularly want to stand around at that hour, and because I'd like a half-decent amount of sleep on the train), or I would need to travel a few hours in the wrong direction to get the train in Brussels or Amsterdam or somewhere.
posted by scorbet at 5:58 AM on March 30, 2022
A problem is that a lot of European railways are still quite slow; a lot of this is due to planning still being done on a national level, and there being fewer incentives for spending money on international high-speed routes, especially for countries too small for fully domestic high-speed routes.
One possible solution has been municipal, rather than national, governments taking the initiative; for example, the Danish government is not eager to build high-speed rail across Denmark, but the government of Copenhagen has been pushing for it to get high-speed rail connectivity to the German border and the rest of continental Europe.
posted by acb at 6:12 AM on March 30, 2022
One possible solution has been municipal, rather than national, governments taking the initiative; for example, the Danish government is not eager to build high-speed rail across Denmark, but the government of Copenhagen has been pushing for it to get high-speed rail connectivity to the German border and the rest of continental Europe.
posted by acb at 6:12 AM on March 30, 2022
Btw, it looks like he's headed for the new Gotthard base tunnel, and presumably thence towards Milan.
posted by acb at 6:19 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by acb at 6:19 AM on March 30, 2022
I'm interested as to where he goes after Milan - I've been down as far as Lugano on the train, but not yet further. (I'd a trip planned two years ago to Rome, but that got scuppered.)
I hope he gets a nice shot of the castles in Bellinzona.
posted by scorbet at 6:44 AM on March 30, 2022
I hope he gets a nice shot of the castles in Bellinzona.
posted by scorbet at 6:44 AM on March 30, 2022
Ooh, saving this for after work.
posted by praemunire at 7:09 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by praemunire at 7:09 AM on March 30, 2022
The most obvious route from Milano is down the boot on Italian high speed trains. There is a night train from Salzburg to Zagreb he could scoot over to catch, or (if it's still in the spirit) take the train down to Bari and get on a ferry across the Adriatic.
posted by Superilla at 8:02 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by Superilla at 8:02 AM on March 30, 2022
I've never given Switzerland much thought but those shots from the train are dreamy.
posted by muddgirl at 8:29 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by muddgirl at 8:29 AM on March 30, 2022
Also, the flag's a big plus.
posted by acb at 8:32 AM on March 30, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by acb at 8:32 AM on March 30, 2022 [11 favorites]
Switzerland has lovely scenery and really great trains (they have a lot of panorama coaches, for example, so that you can see the mountains you're passing beside) but it's pretty expensive. This train route isn't considered one of the particularly special ones either.
Here's EURail's list of the scenic train routes in Europe and a lot of them are in Switzerland. My "local" one is the bit on the Rhine between Mainz/Bingen/Rüdesheim and Koblenz - you travel right along the Rhine through the Rhine gorge, passing castles and the Loreley. (This, like at least most, if not all of the routes mentioned on the list, is not a special tourist line - it's a normal train line, that just happens to have great views.)
posted by scorbet at 9:18 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Here's EURail's list of the scenic train routes in Europe and a lot of them are in Switzerland. My "local" one is the bit on the Rhine between Mainz/Bingen/Rüdesheim and Koblenz - you travel right along the Rhine through the Rhine gorge, passing castles and the Loreley. (This, like at least most, if not all of the routes mentioned on the list, is not a special tourist line - it's a normal train line, that just happens to have great views.)
posted by scorbet at 9:18 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Note also, per this tweet:
So far, at Milan, he's about 600 miles / 960 km from St Pancras.
posted by logopetria at 10:38 AM on March 30, 2022
I’m finding the furthest station, as the crow flies, you can get to in 24 hours not necessarily the longest journey.
So far, at Milan, he's about 600 miles / 960 km from St Pancras.
posted by logopetria at 10:38 AM on March 30, 2022
Currently traveling "further south" from Milan... I guess the destination could be Reggio Calabria but according to the Trenitalia website that takes less than 9 hours so hmm... Or he could continue to Palermo? We'll see... I'm very curious
posted by bitteschoen at 10:44 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by bitteschoen at 10:44 AM on March 30, 2022
I'd say Palermo is more likely; I'm guessing a ferry across the Adriatic or to Malta would take too long.
posted by acb at 10:46 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by acb at 10:46 AM on March 30, 2022
I am very much here for this train content that allows me to experience European trains again. I've only taken them as far south as Milan, so I'm really curious to see the next stages of the journey!
posted by invokeuse at 12:22 PM on March 30, 2022
posted by invokeuse at 12:22 PM on March 30, 2022
This was great. I love subtle borders be they linguistic or culinary. Lovely to read about the Polentagraben.
posted by misterpatrick at 2:39 PM on March 30, 2022
posted by misterpatrick at 2:39 PM on March 30, 2022
In Japan you could go about 2600km in 24 hours (Kagoshima to Asahikawa). In the future as they build out the Hokkaido Shinkansen you could probably push that another 200km or so to Wakannai which would really get you from one end of Japan to the other by train in one day. It would be fun to do but also a bit of a wasted day because you've travelled across the entire country but haven't really experienced anything except for some different ekiben.
In Canada you could go from Toronto to Miramichi, New Brunswick, which is around 1365km. The Canadian trains look to be half as fast as the Japanese ones and cost about 2/3 the price per km which is better than I thought it would be.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:26 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
In Canada you could go from Toronto to Miramichi, New Brunswick, which is around 1365km. The Canadian trains look to be half as fast as the Japanese ones and cost about 2/3 the price per km which is better than I thought it would be.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:26 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
In the US the longest might be Chicago to around Aspen Colorado (really Glenwood Springs) on the California Zephyr. I think it's about 1650km as the crow flies and the train can't run late. But I haven't checked any of the other flattish Amtrak routes, and maybe you could go farther if you started & ended further east (my thinking being for God sake, stay away from the mountains as much as possible).
posted by muddgirl at 5:09 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by muddgirl at 5:09 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
You can do - with current schedules - I believe roughly 1585 km straight-line under the 'official' 24 hour rules - depart New Haven CT at 9:14 on the Acela, arrive DC Union Station at 1:56 PM; depart 2:40 PM on VRE commuter train #330, arrive Lorton, VA 3:21; depart Lorton, VA (you have to walk a little bit) on the Amtrak Auto Train at 4 PM, arrive Sanford, FL (outside Orlando) at 8:58 AM. You could get on earlier - the Acela leaves Boston at 7:15 AM - but that violates the 24 hour rules.
posted by Superilla at 5:43 PM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Superilla at 5:43 PM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
And if he arrives in Siracusa as it now seems is the endpoint, that's 2015 km straight line. Pretty darn good. His 24 hour bus journey was 338 km.
posted by Superilla at 5:52 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Superilla at 5:52 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ahh he's not going to continue to Sicily...
This is the point where I am going to disappoint a lot of people in my timeline. Despite appearances, I am not staying on the train to use Europe’s last train ferry, but getting off at the last mainland stop, Villa San Giovanni, to go further on this side of the straits. #train24posted by bitteschoen at 10:28 PM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Put simply, when you are up against the clock, being shunted on and off a ferry and sailing slowly across the Straits of Messina is inefficient time use. My 24hrs would be more than up by the time we got to the other side… #train24
And it's over, destination reached!
Did it! 6 minutes late, 45 seconds to spare. Bova Marina, in Calabria, 1964.6km from St Pancras, 23hrs,59min,15sec. I think that is the furthest you can make it. #train24posted by bitteschoen at 11:36 PM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Depart Lorton, VA (you have to walk a little bit) on the Amtrak Auto Train at 4 PM, arrive Sanford, FL (outside Orlando) at 8:58 AM
Can you ride the Auto Train without a vehicle? I just tried to go through a reservation and it wouldn't let me advance past the vehicle page without adding something. It's obviously the best option if possible because it makes no intermediate stops, so you can cover the most mileage.
If that's not doable, looks like the next best option is the Silver Star from DC Union Station, which would get as far as Palatka, FL before our intrepid traveler times out. That would be 1,515 km. (DeLand is tantalizingly close at 9:21a scheduled arrival, and good for another 36 km.)
There's a dwell time of about an hour in DC on this alternate itinerary, but no later train leaving NHV arrives in DC before the Silver Star departs a little after 3:00p. Dang.
posted by sockshaveholes at 4:20 AM on March 31, 2022
Can you ride the Auto Train without a vehicle? I just tried to go through a reservation and it wouldn't let me advance past the vehicle page without adding something. It's obviously the best option if possible because it makes no intermediate stops, so you can cover the most mileage.
If that's not doable, looks like the next best option is the Silver Star from DC Union Station, which would get as far as Palatka, FL before our intrepid traveler times out. That would be 1,515 km. (DeLand is tantalizingly close at 9:21a scheduled arrival, and good for another 36 km.)
There's a dwell time of about an hour in DC on this alternate itinerary, but no later train leaving NHV arrives in DC before the Silver Star departs a little after 3:00p. Dang.
posted by sockshaveholes at 4:20 AM on March 31, 2022
I love that he put a 1000 km in Italy. Way to go Trenitalia ❤️
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 7:44 AM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 7:44 AM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
So lovely! We’ve had a week of such varied weather, shame he got the rainy bit rather than the sunny days that came after, but glad it was before the snow! I’ve done a few of those journeys, nice to remember them.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:16 AM on April 2, 2022
posted by ellieBOA at 3:16 AM on April 2, 2022
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