Shipley to Schleswig (or Hammstrasse to Hamm?) - and back again.

[30907]

En-route to Münster today and Schleswig tomorrow despite DB digging at Aachen.

An interesting day, starting on the 0850 Shipley-KGX, which entertained us by running on the Down Fast for a while after Huntington, picking up a few minutes' delay in the process.

In view of comments on the last ES thread, now understandably locked, I report that the main delay today (it took about 20min from joining the queue to reaching the waiting area) was caused by the baggage scanners not passport control.
It's noon on a peak Friday and most passengers are clearly leisure travellers which undoubtedly doesn't help.
All scanners were in use BTW.

So how did the day unfold?
It was a long time since we'd sampled Standard on ES, and it was a 373, so felt rather cramped after SP on a 374. Brussels was reached 9 late for no obvious reason.
As a result of the major viaduct repairs at Aachen, the 1625 ICE had been cancelled and there were no Passholder fares on Thalys, so we opted for the 1656 IC to Verviers and the connection to Aachen. The IC was mostly DD stock including the 1sts, which were pretty full, no doubt because the preceding P train to Verviers was cancelled for the summer holidays (P-coded?). The connecting unit was much more comfortable despite its age (we were the only 2 in the 16 1st seats). So far to plan.
Obsessively checking with DB, I discovered our (NX) RE connection to Duesseldorf was cancelled AND the ICE connection to Hamm which I had hoped to use for greater comfort was seriously delayed owing to "emergency doctor on the track" (I leave you to guess!).

I anticipated a 35min delay, as the least worst alternative was a RRB bendybus to Dueren and REs thence. However the bus arrived 8 early and allowed us to catch the S-bahn to Koeln, which in turn gave us a quick change onto ICE657 destination Berlin - and as I right is pulling into Hamm, roughly at the time I had originally expected. So DB is not a total disaster!

Let's see how we cope with more digging in Hamburg tomorrow...

 

[30907]

The problem in Hamburg is that the main-line tracks between Hbf and Altona (which carry the long-distance trains to Kiel, Denmark and Westerland) are closed all weekend, with just a handful of IC services diverted over freight routes North of the city. And of course it's the summer holidays, so loads of people with baggage underway.
The alternative is the excellent Hamburg S-bahn, and Altona has capacity for the trains to Schleswig-Holstein.
ICE618 was our train from Muenster (it runs overnight from Munich!) and it was clearly announced as running 15+ late and in reverse formation (not everyone spotted that, which added to station time). It made up no time en route. Loading in first was fairly light, and we enjoyed an excellent breakfast (sadly, no eggs these days) in the Bordrestaurant.
I had already decided to avoid the scrum at Hamburg Hbf by switching to the S-bahn at Harburg; this proved a wise choice, as the S3 was heaving, left people behind at Hbf and lost a couple of minutes en route. We still made our IC to Schleswig with a couple of minutes to spare, and it too was reverse-formed; the final leg of the run was pleasant and punctual (yes, it can happen!) - the single First in the 7-coach train was quite busy.

We're actually en route to friends and relatives in southern Norway, but not much rail travel is involved (Oslo to Bergen the main bit). I'll probably restart this in a fortnight to cover the return trip from Hirtshals in Northern Denmark.

 

[30907]

A technically off-topic interlude in Norway and Denmark.

We'd booked Color Line's cruise ferry from Kiel, which was an excellent experience (with the bonus of an unsought cabin upgrade, which hasn't coloured my view one jot ). Boarding was a bit slow, likewise disembarking, but neither atypical for ferries.
However, signage at the Oslo terminal was poor - we couldn't find the stop for the dedicated bus to Oslo. Like most others, we headed to the service bus terminal a couple of hundred metres away.
A word of warning - while Norway and Denmark are virtually cash-free societies, you can only use cash to buy bus tickets on board in Oslo (or download an app); otherwise you go to the ubiquitous Narvesen or 7-11, and there isn't one! (There is one by the nearest tram stop, but that's further to walk. The same applies in Stavanger, but Bergen sensibly takes cards.)
For the rest of our stay we used the excellent Oslo Card, which solved the problem.

Oslo to Bergen is still a fantastic journey, even though rather more of the line is in tunnel than on my last visit 40+ years ago, but there had been a freight derailment the previous day, so our loco hauled service had morphed into a pair of outer-suburban class 75 emus - not very comfortable in 2+3 seating for such a long journey, but at least the coffee and snacks were free! (That's standard in First - in Denmark too.)
We did the Flam line as a circular trip from Bergen, returning by the direct ferry; the whole is a fantastic trip, though the Flam train was uncomfortably full and Flam itself is now one big shopping outlet.
From Bergen we opted for the ferry to Stavanger - another good choice, largely in sheltered waters (though it was calm anyway) - and on to Kristiansand on Go-Ahead Nordic, in a Type 73 tilting set, which was very nice (there is one L/H day train each way, which uses the loco and seats coaches off the sleeper, and a fair bit of container freight.)
We left Norway on the morning ferry to Hirtshals, and easily made the 15-minute connection into the North Jutland railway DMU (a 2-car Lint aka DB 648), which connected at Hjoerring into another (absolutely rammed because of football), and then into the comfort of a DSB IC2 diesel unit to Odense, where we broke the journey.
By (genuine) coincidence the DSB museum is there, and it was well worth the couple of hours I spent there before we caught the IC down to Hamburg atsta lunchtime. It was starting from Odense because of engineering work, so the booked Vectron plus stock turned into a 3+2 IC - not that I was complaining, as the old-fashioned seats in 1st are really nice.
The train stops at Schleswig, so I'll end this overlong interlude by saying everything was punctual or within a few minutes of time.

 

[30907]

Back in DB-land, our DSB "rubbernose" (the German nickname) deposited us on time yesterday in Hamburg Hbf, and we easily made our connection onto the ICE Sprinter to Cologne, booked because of engineering nonstop to Solingen (normally it runs via Essen).
All went well until just short of Münster where we decided it was time to patronise the restaurant - only to find that the fridge was defective and so there was no food other than drinks and snacks. We were not best pleased, as it wouldn't have been difficult to announce this at Hamburg and we could have waited for the next train half-an-hour later.
Then while we ordered our coffee and crisps we ground to a halt and the TM announced that owing to "trespassers" the booked route via Hamm was blocked, so we were diverted via Dortmund and Witten, losing 25min in the process. Fortunately, we weren't too late for a meal in Köln, and of course DB aren't to blame for "trespassers" (who are sadly often in line for the "emergency services attendance" as I believe was the case).

DB couldn't be faulted this morning, though, as our ICE deposited us bang on time in Brussels. The same can't be said for Belgian Passport Control - which was apparently (we learnt later from ES) suffering major IT problems, meaning that our fully-loaded 374 was 50 late away - and 61 late into London, so at least we can claim 25% back on our Passholder fares .
And then it was back on the 1333 KGX-Harrogate (a single 5-car, which surprised us!) and a 331 to Shipley. Uneventful, though (like the 374) the Azuma rode pretty harshly at times.

So overall a pretty good trip: one cancellation (sadly part of life with German regional trains), one 15-min delay and one missing meal to book against the railway.