Is Berlin Hbf the capital city station with the most direct trains to other capitals?

[Austriantrain]

Bern(e) also is only a "de facto" capital city. My understanding is that if the Swiss could get away with not having a capital at all, they would.

Indeed. Berne is officially designated „federal city“ and is the seat of federal government, but it was always avoided to officially call it „capital“.

 

[Tester]

Indeed. Berne is officially designated „federal city“ and is the seat of federal government, but it was always avoided to officially call it „capital“.

This is interesting stuff!

What determines where embassies are?

 

[Cloud Strife]

This is interesting stuff!

What determines where embassies are?

Where the seat of the government is, usually. If memory served, the UK didn't move their embassy to Berlin until 1999 for instance.

 

[route101]

Moscow to Sweden/Norway is interesting, what route did that go?

 

[JonasB]

Moscow to Sweden/Norway is interesting, what route did that go?

Via Denmark-Germany-Poland.

Where the seat of the government is, usually. If memory served, the UK didn't move their embassy to Berlin until 1999 for instance.

And a country can choose the location as they like. Donald Trump e.g. moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 

[StephenHunter]

Via Denmark-Germany-Poland.

Not sure about that one; believe it was via the Trelleborg-Sassnitz train ferry i.e. to East Germany without going through Denmark.

 

[vlad]

In the olden days (Timetableworld.com SZD 1990) Moscow had

(20) [capital cities]

They also had trains to Iran, Netherlands, Sweden, West Germany and Turkey, but not to the capitals.

True - but these left from about 10 different station dotted around the city. I'd hazard that today the Belarus or Yaroslavl station sees the most capitals but no doubt I'm wrong!

 

[oldman]

Moscow to Norway missed out Denmark; via Berlin then ferry from Sassnitz to Trelleborg then via Malmö and Göteborg to Oslo. Moscow to Copenhagen crossed from Warnemünde to Gedser.

 

[JonasB]

Not sure about that one; believe it was via the Trelleborg-Sassnitz train ferry i.e. to East Germany without going through Denmark.

You're correct! I did a bit of googling and found a schedule from the late 1980's:

Malmö C 21.20
Trelleborg 21.47-22.15
Saßnitz Hafen 2.15-3.16
Stralsund Rügendamm 4.36
Berlin-Lichtenberg 7.16-7.59
Berlin Hbf 8.16-8.50
Frankfurt (Oder) 9.56-10.18
Kunowice 10.41-10.45
Warszawa Centr 17.50
Warszawa Wsch 18.04-18.20
Sidelce 19.40
Terespol 21.10-21.28
Brest Central 23.58-2.04
Baranowitschi Central 3.54
Minsk 5.33
Orscha Central 8.00
Smolensk 9.21
Wjasma 11.25
Moskwa Bjelorusskaja 14.49

It was a once weekly soviet sleeping car. Earlier in the 80's it went all the way to Stockholm.

 

[StephenHunter]

Five times a week in 1973, also including an East German Stockholm-Berlin sleeper.

As a note for those who don't know Cold War Berlin's railway layout, Berlin Hbf was the name of Ostbahnhof between 1987 and 1998. The site of the present Hbf was the Lehtrer S-Bahn station, the last one in West Berlin before the Wall, with West Berlin services going onto the border station at Friedrichstrasse, where you could actually find an Intershop duty-free on the Western platforms without the need to go through GDR border controls. But watch out for customs officers when you returned...

 

[Peterthegreat]

Between 1970 and 1995 (I'm not sure how many ran in the same timetable) Paris had through trains to
Brussels
Amsterdam
London
Luxembourg
Madrid
Lisbon
Bern
Berlin
Prague
Warsaw
Moscow
Vienna
Budapest
Bucharest
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Rome
Belgrade
Athens

 

[StephenHunter]

Also, Berlin was technically two capitals until 1990; East Berlin being the capital of the German Democratic Republic and West Berlin being its own distinct political entity from the Federal Republic of Germany. The latter's residents were exempt from Bundeswehr conscription for example.

 

[Bald Rick]

Between 1970 and 1995 (I'm not sure how many ran in the same timetable) Paris had through trains to
Brussels
Amsterdam
London
Luxembourg
Madrid
Lisbon
Bern
Berlin
Prague
Warsaw
Moscow
Vienna
Budapest
Bucharest
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Rome
Belgrade
Athens

Minor point - unless I’m mistaken there wasn’t a through train between Paris and London that late. Advertised connections, yes.

 

[StephenHunter]

Minor point - unless I’m mistaken there wasn’t a through train between Paris and London that late. Advertised connections, yes.

Night Ferry ran until 1980.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Night Ferry ran until 1980.

And Eurostar started in 1994.

 

[Wolfie]

I wonder what Midge Ure thinks... he's probably quite indifferent.

But don't ask him about Joe Dolce. He'll tell you to shutuppa your face if you do...

 

[StephenHunter]

But don't ask him about Joe Dolce. He'll tell you to shutuppa your face if you do...

I must admit to having made a deliberate decision to hum a few bars of a certain Beautiful South song in the Dutch city it doesn't actually talk about.

 

[XAM2175]

Well - yes, I know. But for that journey (to save a reversal) it's treated as "the Copenhagen stop", and Høje-Taastrup is on the city's metro, and, and,... OK; you win.

To be pedantic, Høje Taastrup station (without the hyphen) has S-tog service but is not directly connected to the Metro

It's also a calling point for all regional train services on the Western Main Line (except those on the new high-speed bypass via Køge Nord) and receives some Intercity and IntercityLyn calls too. I suppose the comparison would be a service passing through 'London' but calling only at somewhere like Stratford or East Croydon.

 

[StephenHunter]

The latter two are both in Greater London though.

 

[Tester]

The latter two are both in Greater London though.

Watford Junction?

 

[XAM2175]

The latter two are both in Greater London though.

Just as Høje Taastrup is in the Capital Region (Region Hovedstaden), which is a not-unreasonable approximation of 'Greater Copenhagen' if you consider that the actual Copenhagen Municipality (Københavns Kommune) is most equivalent to the City of London and a handful of adjacent boroughs.

Watford Junction?

This is indeed another option, although I'd picked the examples I did on the grounds that they were within the Travelcard Z1-6 area and Høje Taastrup is within the (admittedly somewhat more generous) City Pass Large area. The travel times are also reasonably analogous; circa 15 minutes by regional train or 27 minutes by S-tog between Høje Taastrup and København H.

 

[StephenHunter]

Just as Høje Taastrup is in the Capital Region (Region Hovedstaden), which is a not-unreasonable approximation of 'Greater Copenhagen' if you consider that the actual Copenhagen Municipality (Københavns Kommune) is most equivalent to the City of London and a handful of adjacent boroughs.


This is indeed another option, although I'd picked the examples I did on the grounds that they were within the Travelcard Z1-6 area and Høje Taastrup is within the (admittedly somewhat more generous) City Pass Large area. The travel times are also reasonably analogous; circa 15 minutes by regional train or 27 minutes by S-tog between Høje Taastrup and København H.

Watford Junction isn't in Greater London though, which is probably one reason why the Metropolitan Line extension isn't happening at the moment. No votes in it for Sadiq Khan.