There will be a few railway journeys in this thread (I promise!) but like Portillo, I also enjoy visiting the sights.
One of the most notable features of the city of Luxembourg are the Bock Casemates, these were once part of the Fortress of Luxembourg but today consist of the ruins of the castle and a system of passageways and galleries in the cliff which provide superb views over the city and surrounding countryside.
View out from The Bock, the viaduct in the background carries the main North-South railway line from Luxembourg City station (out of shot to the right) up through Ettelbruck and Clervaux to Troisvierges and over the border into Belgium.
From the galleries of the Bock you can look out along the cliff towards the Old Town:
As you can see it's fairly high up, and the valley floor is a good few feet down!
One of the prominent landmarks of the Old Town is the Grand Ducal Palace attached to which is the Chamber of Deputies, the Luxembourgish Parliament.
Moving into the 'New Town' so to speak is Luxembourg Central station. Luxembourg itself has a small but interesting network consisting of a main North-South line from Luxembourg north eventually to Liege as mentioned, a line west to Esch and into France, a line south to Bettembourg and a line east to Wasserbillig and on to Trier and Koblenz in Germany, plus a few branches here and there. A day ticket for the entire network costs just Two Euros or Four Euros in First and is also valid on the buses.
There are 3 classes of EMUs (the entire passenger network is electrified), the Class 2000 a fleet of 22 2-car single deck EMUs based on the SNCF Z2 design. They were built in 1990-1992 and have a top speed of 160 km/h and seat 24 First and 140 Second. The 2200 Class is a fleet of 22 3-car double deck EMUs based on the SNCF Z 26500 Class, built between 2004-06 and 2009-10 they have a top speed of 160 km/h and sometimes work through to Metz in France alongside the similar SNCF units. The Class 2300 were built specifically for the Luxembourg-Wasserbillig-Koblenz service and rarely stray from this route. They are derived from the Stadler Kiss family being 3-car double-deck units capable of 160 km/h. Finally CFL (The National rail operator) also employ a fleet of Dosto double-deck push-pull sets of 3 to 5 coaches with either Class 3000 or 4000 locomotives.
This is the foyer of Luxembourg Central with the departures board and a very colourful piece of stained glass above:
Now a selection of images of actual trains! Firstly a TGV Duplex awaiting its departure on the 10:10 to Paris Est:
Meanwhile a Class 2000 sits in the next platform:
I travelled on the 10:24 to Diekirch (pronounced Dee-keersh), formed of a 3-car Class 2200. The journey follows the main line north to Ettelbruck where the Diekirch branch diverges. The journey takes about 55 minutes or so stopping at all stations. The acceleration is impressive but the drivers seem to brake very hard resulting in somewhat bumpy stops! My Class 2200 departs from Diekrich on it's return to Luxembourg:
Next I travelled by bus (sadly the line is long gone) to the town of Vianden, where Victor Hugo once resided in exile. The town is dominated by the castle which towers over Vianden from above:
The view down over the town and hills is equally impressive:
Part Two coming up:
