Currency used onboard cross border trains and buses.

[stadler]

Norway currently has two very strange oddities regarding cash payment on their cross border train and bus routes.

One interesting curiousity is that the Gothenburg to Oslo trains and Malmo to Oslo trains only accept NOK for cash payments even for local Swedish domestic journeys such as Ed to Trollhattan etc. These are some of the only trains in Sweden to still accept cash (along with Inlandsbanan and Tagakeriet I Bergslagen (Tagab) which are the only two others) but yet you can only pay with NOK if you do not have a card. I reckon that this train may possibly be the worlds only case of a train only accepting foreign currency.

Similarly the route 120 local bus (Innlandstrafikk) from Kongsvinger (Norway) to Charlottenburg (Sweden) only accepts NOK for cash payments. Even for local journeys entirely within Sweden such as within the town of Charlottenburg or between Charlottenburg and Morast and Eda etc you can only use NOK for cash payments. I believe this is likely the one and only bus route left in Sweden that still takes cash. All others have gone cashless. I reckon there is a chance that this may possibly be the worlds only case of a bus only accepting foreign currency.

This has got me wondering if there are any other oddities that anyone knows about regarding payment (for ticket purchases or even for catering purchases) on cross border train and bus routes? From my experience most cross border train and bus routes everywhere else in the world take the currencies of both countries. Certainly within most of Mainland Europe you can pay with either currency if it is a cross border route and some accept as many of four currencies (EUR PLN CZK HUF) on one train. Are there any other cross border train or bus routes where cash payers can only use the currency of one country onboard and not the other?

Also are there any examples of domestic train or bus routes in any country (maybe near the border) that take a foreign currency? I seem to recall that Go Ahead Oxford still accept both Euro and USA Dollar on their Oxford to Heathrow and Oxford to Gatwick routes. So perhaps other countries airport routes have similar. Do any other countries have this?

I know that Gatwick Express used to take six foreign currencies onboard (GBP CHF EUR USD CAD AUD NZD) but that ended in 2008 when the franchise changed hands.

 

[Steddenm]

Both Translink and Irish Rail accept GBP and EUR on board in cash and card. Aircoach also accept both GBP and EUR cash but only EUR for card payments on Ticketer.

Goldliner, Bus Éireann and Expressway accept both GBP and EUR on board, Goldliner are GBP for card payments (not all crossborder routes take card) and BÉ and EW are EUR. The Bus Éireann service between Newry (NI) and Dundalk (ROI) only accepts cash EUR.

 

[Tester]

Not strictly what you are looking for, but interesting nonetheless.....

In 2000 I travelled on the old metre gauge line from Kunming (China) to Hanoi (Vietnam). My international ticket was priced in Swiss Francs, but of course I actually paid in Chinese Yuan.

Clearly a neutral currency!

 

[185143]

Both Translink and Irish Rail accept GBP and EUR on board in cash and card. Aircoach also accept both GBP and EUR cash but only EUR for card payments on Ticketer.

Goldliner, Bus Éireann and Expressway accept both GBP and EUR on board, Goldliner are GBP for card payments (not all crossborder routes take card) and BÉ and EW are EUR. The Bus Éireann service between Newry (NI) and Dundalk (ROI) only accepts cash EUR.

Only on cross border routes surely?

Can't imagine Sterling being accepted on a Cork-Dublin service, though I'll happily be proven wrong.

 

[stadler]

Both Translink and Irish Rail accept GBP and EUR on board in cash and card. Aircoach also accept both GBP and EUR cash but only EUR for card payments on Ticketer.

Goldliner, Bus Éireann and Expressway accept both GBP and EUR on board, Goldliner are GBP for card payments (not all crossborder routes take card) and BÉ and EW are EUR. The Bus Éireann service between Newry (NI) and Dundalk (ROI) only accepts cash EUR.

Thank you for the information. I forgot about how many cross border services the NI/ROI border has. It has been made much more complex with Ireland joining the Euro area. I remember during my first couple visits to NI/ROI the British Pound and Irish Pound were accepted in both countries at a 1:1 rate and you could normally use either.

I am surprised that the Newry to Dundalk local bus accepts EUR only. That must be very inconvenient for passengers. The local currency exchanges must do well. It seems especially poor as you could potentially use it for local NI journeys and can not even pay with the currency of your country.

Looking online there are exactly 50 different cross border bus routes and many appear to be short distance local buses (similar to the Dundalk to Newry bus) that only go a very short distance across the border:

• 1A - Derry NI to Muff ROI (TL FM)
• 1B - Derry NI to Muff ROI (TL FM)
• 30 - Donegal ROI to Dublin ROI (BE)
• 32 - Letterkenny ROI to Dublin ROI (BE)
• 58 - Enniskillen NI to Belturbet ROI (TL UB)
• 58A - Enniskillen NI to Belturbet ROI (TL UB)
• 58D - Enniskillen NI to Belturbet ROI (TL UB)
• 58F - Enniskillen NI to Belturbet ROI (TL UB)
• 64 - Derry NI to Galway ROI (BE)
• 64B - Enniskillen NI to Belleek NI (TL UB) [no ROI stops]
• 64C - Enniskillen NI to Belleek NI (TL UB) [no ROI stops]
• 69B - Armagh NI to Castleblaney ROI (TL UB)
• 69C - Armagh NI to Castleblaney ROI (TL UB)
• 95 - Enniskillen NI to Clones ROI (TL UB)
• 95A - Enniskillen NI to Clones ROI (TL UB)
• 95E - Enniskillen NI to Clones ROI (TL UB)
• 95F - Enniskillen NI to Clones ROI (TL UB)
• 99 - Enniskillen NI to Belleek NI (TL UB) [no ROI stops]
• 99A - Enniskillen NI to Belleek NI (TL UB) [no ROI stops]
• 70 - Armagh NI to Monaghan ROI (TL UB)
• 70A - Armagh NI to Monaghan ROI (TL UB)
• 160 - Newry NI to Dundalk ROI (BE)
• 161 - Newry NI to Dundalk ROI (BE)
• 162 - Monaghan ROI to Dundalk ROI (BE) [no NI stops]
• 175A - Monagan ROI to Cavan ROI (BE) [no NI stops]
• 183 - Derry NI to Killea ROI (TL UB)
• 192 - Enniskillen NI to Swanlinbar ROI (TL UB)
• 192A - Enniskillen NI to Swanlinbar ROI (TL UB)
• 192B - Enniskillen NI to Swanlinbar ROI (TL UB)
• 194B - Enniskillen NI to Bundoran ROI (TL UB)
• 195A - Pettigo NI to Castlecaldwell NI (TL UB)
• 245 - Derry NI to Greencastle ROI (Local Link)
• 270 - Belfast NI to Monaghan ROI (TL GL)
• 270U - Belfast NI to Monaghan ROI (TL GL)
• 271 - Belfast NI to Cavan ROI (TL GL)
• 278 - Portrush NI to Monaghan ROI (TL GL)
• 288 - Derry NI to Ballybofey ROI (Local Link)
• 458 - Enniskillen NI to Ballina ROI (BE)
• 480 - Derry NI to Sligo ROI (BE)
• 487 - Strabane NI to Letterkenny ROI (BE)
• 489 - Strabane NI to Letterkenny ROI (BE)
• 494 - Strabane NI to Ballybofey ROI (BE)
• 705X - Derry NI to Belfast NI to Dublin ROI (Aircoach)
• 785 - Belfast NI to Dublin ROI (Dublin Express)
• 931 - Belfast NI to Derry NI to Bunbeg ROI (Gallagher)
• 932 - Anagaire ROI to Dublin ROI (McGinley)
• 933 - Moville ROI to Dublin ROI (McGinley)
• 952 - Derry NI to Carndonagh ROI (Local Link)
• 956 - Derry NI to Buncrana ROI (McGonagle)
• 957 - Derry NI to Greencastle ROI (Local Link)
• 976 - Derry NI to Buncrana ROI (McGonagle)
• X1 - Belfast NI to Dublin ROI (TL GL)
• X2 - Belfast NI to Dublin ROI (TL GL)
• X3 - Derry NI to Dublin ROI (TL GL)
• X4 - Derry NI to Dublin ROI (TL GL)
• X5 - Newry NI to Dublin ROI (TL GL)
• X32 - Letterkenny ROI to Dublin ROI (BE)

I wonder if any of the other local ones are GBP only or EUR only? If the Dundalk to Newry only accepts one currency then it would not surprise me if there are a few more cross border bus routes like this?

Not strictly what you are looking for, but interesting nonetheless.....

In 2000 I travelled on the old metre gauge line from Kunming (China) to Hanoi (Vietnam). My international ticket was priced in Swiss Francs, but of course I actually paid in Chinese Yuan.

Clearly a neutral currency!

That is so random. I wonder what the story is behind that. Even if they accepted foreign currencies surely they would price it in Chinese Yuan or Vietnamese Dong still as that is the official currencies. I wonder if they had purchased some old second hand ticket machines from the Swiss railways that could only handle CHF prices. I can not think of any other reason.

Only on cross border routes surely?

Can't imagine Sterling being accepted on a Cork-Dublin service, though I'll happily be proven wrong.

Yes i think he probably meant solely on cross border services. I highly doubt that the domestic services do. There is certainly nothing that i can find on the Irish Rail or Translink websites to state that domestic services accept either currency.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I wonder what the situation at Narvik in Norway is - all services are now operated by SJ so can I pay cash (NOK) for a local journey to say Riksgransen? The last time I was there, the ticket office had closed for good with just a rather battered ticket machine.

 

[AlastairFraser]

I am surprised that the Newry to Dundalk local bus accepts EUR only. That must be very inconvenient for passengers. The local currency exchanges must do well. It seems especially poor as you could potentially use it for local NI journeys and can not even pay with the currency of your country.

Although you can likely use a TfI Leap card on this/other cross border services, which can be loaded with credit using an app (the credit is denominated in EUR, but you don't have to load it with a EUR denominated card) or at many top up shops (including a few across the border in NI).

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Even if they accepted foreign currencies surely they would price it in Chinese Yuan or Vietnamese Dong still as that is the official currencies. I wonder if they had purchased some old second hand ticket machines from the Swiss railways that could only handle CHF prices. I can not think of any other reason.

Surely international fares were set in Swiss francs as a neutral reference currency, as @Tester wrote, to insulate them from fluctuations in exchange rate between the yuan and the dong.

 

[MarcVD]

Swiss franc is the currency used for all international transactions between railways affiliated to the UIC. For example, when a loco or carriage runs on a foreign railway (like a French CC40100 hauling an international from Paris to Brussels), the price for those kms is expressed in Swiss francs.

 

[dub_boi]

Although you can likely use a TfI Leap card on this/other cross border services, which can be loaded with credit using an app (the credit is denominated in EUR, but you don't have to load it with a EUR denominated card) or at many top up shops (including a few across the border in NI).

Since 1979, when the Irish pound broke away from 1:1 parity with sterling, most people living close to the Ni border would keep some EUR or GBP cash for transactions on the other side of the border - a subject the Derry Girls comedy series covered

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7257698745553325355

So traditionally it would not be a huge deal to have to pay in the "other currency" on a Bus Éireann bus even for a journey entirely within NI since most people could reasonably be expected to have Irish pound, or more latterly, Euro, cash ready to hand. However, I imagine the reduction in cash payments in general has also affected the likelihood of people having cash from the "other side" of the border. Moreover, since most Translink buses now accept credit and debit card payments while Bus Éireann's local services still do not, I suspect it is becoming increasingly difficult for potential passengers from Northern Ireland to pay for Bus Éireann services.

All public service transport operators in the Republic, including Bus Éireann, will be roiling out a Next Generation Ticketing system over coming years. Perhaps cross-border bus routes would be a useful place to start the rollout?!

 

[signed]

RHB used to accept both EUR and CHF as primary currencies (but now it's fully cashless so dynamic (with a fee) conversion is of course available on card) on Bernina Express

DB as well does

 

[AlastairFraser]

Since 1979, when the Irish pound broke away from 1:1 parity with sterling, most people living close to the Ni border would keep some EUR or GBP cash for transactions on the other side of the border - a subject the Derry Girls comedy series covered

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7257698745553325355

So traditionally it would not be a huge deal to have to pay in the "other currency" on a Bus Éireann bus even for a journey entirely within NI since most people could reasonably be expected to have Irish pound, or more latterly, Euro, cash ready to hand. However, I imagine the reduction in cash payments in general has also affected the likelihood of people having cash from the "other side" of the border. Moreover, since most Translink buses now accept credit and debit card payments while Bus Éireann's local services still do not, I suspect it is becoming increasingly difficult for potential passengers from Northern Ireland to pay for Bus Éireann services.

All public service transport operators in the Republic, including Bus Éireann, will be roiling out a Next Generation Ticketing system over coming years. Perhaps cross-border bus routes would be a useful place to start the rollout?!

I agree that people in the border counties are likely to have some of either currency (especially as the fluctuations in currency can save you money on shopping if you're crafty). The Leap card does simplify things if you are a regular cross border commuter.
I have heard about the next generation ticketing system being introduced - cross border would be a good idea to trial, although I suspect they'll go for the Short Hop Zone because passenger numbers will be high enough to identify and iron out any issues quickly.

 

[jack31439]

Budapest to Bucharest sleeper last week accepted - even preferred - Euros at the on board bar.

In Bulgaria, the international ticket office at Ruse organised my domestic and International (to turkey) reservations and stated the cost in Euros, however when they handed the card machine it was in Bulgarian Lev. Had to do some quick mental maths to make sure it was about right, which it of course was.

 

[30907]

RHB

Rorschach-Heiden Bahn?

Back to the OP: given that Norway and Sweden are effectively cashless societies, it's a bit academic. A couple of years ago I was .given cash in an Oslo restaurant after being overcharged on card, and struggled to get rid of it (£2-odd).

 

[dutchflyer]

Swiss franc is the currency used for all international transactions between railways affiliated to the UIC. For example, when a loco or carriage runs on a foreign railway (like a French CC40100 hauling an international from Paris to Brussels), the price for those kms is expressed in Swiss francs.

Nearly so-it is in fact a purely hypothetic ´currency´ or calculated unit, called UIC-FRanc. UIC = Union International des Chemins de Fer (=railways). Airlines also had a similar kind of IATA neutral currency. Though this is from pre 2000, I dont know how the actual current situation is. But yes, that FRanc was tied to the Swiss one for many years. Any railway had to send its fare table, based on the nr of KMs, to a central organisation, which then distributed all those printed tables to all participating railways. A hand written INTernational ticket could be made up for any routing wished for by the client, just add up all the fares for all countries passed by- could be 6 or 7.
The old communist/socialist countries used it for those capitalistic westerners, they had their own similar system based on of course, what else, the Russian/Soviet Rouble.
As for taking busfares: in pre € days a Belgian buscompany situated close by the 3 countries point had its drivers even use 3 currrencies for on board paying: Belgian Franc, Dutch Gulden and German Mark. But they did not have one line doing all 3 countries.
The Basel city transport also has lines fanning out into FRance and Germany, so once had 3 currencies, but no on board cash handling-all by machine or prepaid.

 

[DanielB]

The Basel city transport also has lines fanning out into FRance and Germany, so once had 3 currencies, but no on board cash handling-all by machine or prepaid.

Though by card you'll pay the fare in Euro when buying the ticket at a ticket machine in Germany or France. Don't remember the machines there accepting coins however. But the exchange rate was definitely better when buying from those machines compared to a machine in Switzerland with European debit card.

 

[A S Leib]

I can't speak from first-hand experience, but Seat 61 lists euros and US dollars as valid currencies for railways in Egypt.

 

[rvdborgt]

Nearly so-it is in fact a purely hypothetic ´currency´ or calculated unit, called UIC-FRanc. UIC = Union International des Chemins de Fer (=railways). Airlines also had a similar kind of IATA neutral currency. Though this is from pre 2000, I dont know how the actual current situation is. But yes, that FRanc was tied to the Swiss one for many years. Any railway had to send its fare table, based on the nr of KMs, to a central organisation, which then distributed all those printed tables to all participating railways. A hand written INTernational ticket could be made up for any routing wished for by the client, just add up all the fares for all countries passed by- could be 6 or 7.

NRT (previously TCV) fare tables have been in euros for over 20 years now.

 

[jamesontheroad]

I wonder what the situation at Narvik in Norway is - all services are now operated by SJ so can I pay cash (NOK) for a local journey to say Riksgransen? The last time I was there, the ticket office had closed for good with just a rather battered ticket machine.

SJ doesn't handle cash anywhere. Tickets are only sold digitally (or at Pressbyrån newsagents in Sweden). On board, SJ charges in SEK and customers' debit or credit cards handle the conversion.

 

[plugwash]

Nearly so-it is in fact a purely hypothetic ´currency´ or calculated unit, called UIC-FRanc.

At least Wikipedia claims that the UIC franc was replaced by the European currency unit in 1990, which was in turn replaced by the Euro in 1999.

 

[Re6/6]

The Rhaetian Railway, abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. The trains run in the canton of Graubunden in eastern Switzerland and the most famous trains it operates is the Glacier Express, St Moritiz to Zermatt and the Bering Express, Chur to Tirana in Italy.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Some examples that I'm aware of:

Bus 983, Frankfurt (Oder) - Słubice. The SVF buses (part of the VBB) only accept euro, not złoty.
Koleje Dolnoslaskie, Zasieki-Forst. As far as I know, DB doesn't sell tickets for this section, they're only available onboard the KD trains for 5 złoty each.
ODEG at Krzewina Zgorzelecka - tickets are only sold in euro onboard.
Głuchołazy (Poland), České dráhy on the Krnov–Jeseník line. Tickets are only sold in Czech koruna onboard.
Kudowa-Zdrój, Nachod municipal buses - only Czech koruna accepted.

 

[riceuten]

Some examples that I'm aware of:

Bus 983, Frankfurt (Oder) - Słubice. The SVF buses (part of the VBB) only accept euro, not złoty.
Koleje Dolnoslaskie, Zasieki-Forst. As far as I know, DB doesn't sell tickets for this section, they're only available onboard the KD trains for 5 złoty each.
ODEG at Krzewina Zgorzelecka - tickets are only sold in euro onboard.
Głuchołazy (Poland), České dráhy on the Krnov–Jeseník line. Tickets are only sold in Czech koruna onboard.
Kudowa-Zdrój, Nachod municipal buses - only Czech koruna accepted.

I read somewhere that the Goerlitz to Zgorzelec section of cross border trains is effectively free, as there is no defined fare for this route in either direction.

 

[dub_boi]

I agree that people in the border counties are likely to have some of either currency (especially as the fluctuations in currency can save you money on shopping if you're crafty). The Leap card does simplify things if you are a regular cross border commuter.
I have heard about the next generation ticketing system being introduced - cross border would be a good idea to trial, although I suspect they'll go for the Short Hop Zone because passenger numbers will be high enough to identify and iron out any issues quickly.

On IT projects, the normal strategy is to launch the bare basic system to a small market. Based on that, I'd expect an initial launch on the town bus routes in Athlone or similar. But who knows !

 

[AlastairFraser]

On IT projects, the normal strategy is to launch the bare basic system to a small market. Based on that, I'd expect an initial launch on the town bus routes in Athlone or similar. But who knows !

Fair point, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[The exile]

That is so random. I wonder what the story is behind that. Even if they accepted foreign currencies surely they would price it in Chinese Yuan or Vietnamese Dong still as that is the official currencies. I wonder if they had purchased some old second hand ticket machines from the Swiss railways that could only handle CHF prices. I can not think of any other reason.

A source of hard currency - CHF being the only politically acceptable one?

 

[cool110]

CHF being the only politically acceptable one?

More that it was the last one to abandon the gold standard, sticking with at all the way until May 2000.

 

[nwales58]

A source of hard currency - CHF being the only politically acceptable one?

More that it was the last one to abandon the gold standard, sticking with at all the way until May 2000.

and any international accounting mechanism needs an accounting unit. Aviation uses USD. The IMF uses SDR which is a basket of 40% USD, 30% EUR and so on.

I too had assumed the UIC used CHF as a neutral choice for Europe but that turns out to be wrong. Wikipedia says the UIC used the gold franc which was the Bank for International Settlements unit (until replaced by the SDR) until 1976 when the UIC Franc was introduced. English Wikipedia does not state what that was tied to until 1990 when the Ecu was used which became the Euro.

 

[gerjomarty]

For what it's worth, you can cross the border into Northern Ireland and quite happily spend your Euros in most any shop you go into, with the opposite also being true when going south and using Pounds Sterling. The petrol station totems near the border in the south will often show prices in both Euro and Sterling. For many years petrol was much cheaper in the south, leading to clusters of petrol stations appearing just over the border.

As it turns out, shops want people to spend money - they don't care what currency it is! Walk around and you'll see many shops post their store's exchange rate for the day in the window, and indeed many shops compete on their exchange rate to get the punters in.

I used to work for Debenhams, and even we were set up to take Euro notes with change in Sterling (and indeed many days we took more Euro cash than Sterling) which I could have imagined being an edge case for the POS systems.

 

[Cloud Strife]

and any international accounting mechanism needs an accounting unit. Aviation uses USD. The IMF uses SDR which is a basket of 40% USD, 30% EUR and so on.

I too had assumed the UIC used CHF as a neutral choice for Europe but that turns out to be wrong. Wikipedia says the UIC used the gold franc which was the Bank for International Settlements unit (until replaced by the SDR) until 1976 when the UIC Franc was introduced. English Wikipedia does not state what that was tied to until 1990 when the Ecu was used which became the Euro.

It was quite a complicated system, based on a basket of currencies. Each currency was weighted according to the amount of railway exports that they carried out, and the reweighting was carried out every 3 years. To be included, the respective state (that used a particular currency) had to be involved in at least 1% of the total settlements over the last 3 years.

The UIC then calculated the exchange rate daily, which required them to calculate the UIC franc exchange rate against the Belgian (not Swiss!) franc. Once they obtained that figure, they would take the exchange rate for the Belgian franc against member state currencies, and use that to come to daily exchange rates for the UIC franc against the member state currencies. From what I understand, the UIC would then calculate an average exchange rate for each currency against the UIC franc over the previous 2 week period, and this number was used as the official exchange rate for settlement purposes.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think this is how it would have worked in practice.

Let's take a hypothetical traveller going from Warsaw to Barcelona. The traveller would pay at Warsaw using Polish złoty to PKP, but in practice, each part of the journey was calculated on a per km basis, with each country having a set price per kilometre for international travel. It might be, for instance, that the journey would cost 150 UIC francs in total.

The traveller would simply pay 150 UIC francs to PKP, but as this was a virtual currency, PKP would actually charge whatever the current exchange rate was. While the official exchange rates were largely manufactured rubbish, the socialist countries did have real exchange rates that they used for international transactions. It's not clear to me if PKP would have sold these tickets at the 'official' exchange rate or the real exchange rate however, but I suspect that they were charged at the real exchange rate.

PKP would then transfer money to DR, DB, SNCF and RENFE in their national currencies, based on the UIC franc exchange rates. I'm not sure if there was a clearing system set up for these transactions, or if they had to simply send the money to each national railway company individually. I suspect that there must have been a clearing system in place, because it wouldn't make sense for countries like Poland to buy large amounts of national currencies and to receive large amounts of złoty back.

I read somewhere that the Goerlitz to Zgorzelec section of cross border trains is effectively free, as there is no defined fare for this route in either direction.

Yes, it is. The KD conductors can issue a free ticket between Zgorzelec and Gorlitz, but in practice, no-one cares. No-one is checking in Gorlitz if you have a ticket for the cross-border section as well. It's not really clear to me why this is the case, as KD sell plenty of other cross-border tickets. I've found suggestions that it's about cross-border mobility, but this makes no sense because the free travel is only to the Zgorzelec station, which isn't actually the main station for the town.

Interestingly enough, ZVON (the regional transport association) will sell you a ticket for 1.90 Euro, and even worse, DB will sell you a ticket for Gorlitz to Zgorzelec Miasto for 7.30 Euro, even though in practice, the cross-border section isn't charged and Zgorzelec-Zgorzelec Miasto is charged at 6 złoty (around 1.50 Euro). There are other examples of this elsewhere too, where the fare is dramatically higher if you buy it from DB rather than from the Polish conductors.