Karlsruhe, Chur, Lindau

Today is the busiest day of my trip, I'm taking 8 trains and visiting 4 countries - in one day! So, there will be many photos today.

Starting in Stuttgart, my hotel is inside the train station building and its name is related to the trains I'm taking.

 It is Thursday morning, and commuters are arriving to Stuttgart.

 Here is Class 111 locomotive arriving with regional express n-coaches

 IRE train to Lindau

 Stuttgart 21 project has received lots of critics

 Class 407 or Velaro D is the latest of ICE3 series

 My first train for today is a french TGV Duplex

 The train is approved for service in Germany, France and Switzerland (according to the label on the train). Maximum speed is 320km/h

 The train has arrived from Munich with destination to Paris. I will only travel one stop to Karlsruhe

 Arriving to Karlsruhe with its trams using both tram and railway lines.

 TGV at Karlsruhe

TGV is continuing to Paris

 S-Bahn RheinNeckar

 Tram outside the railway station. This one is a NET 2012 from Vossloh

This one is a GT8-100D / 2S-M tram-train from Siemens/Duewag.

Karlsruhe Hbf

Karlsruhe is a major hub along the Baden main line. Here you can fins most type of the trains, here are a pair of ICE1 trains.

ICE1 and TGV duplex

TGV operates here 3 different lines: Paris-Frankfurt, Paris-Munich and Marseille-Frankfurt.

Süwex line RE4 (Mainz-Karlsruhe) ends here too. Operated with Stadler FLIRT3

I have some time to visit the town, here is Karlsruhe Palace

Here is a GT8-70D/N from Duewag/Siemens

Simens Desiro Classic DMU Class 642 used for RE6 Karlsruhe-Kaiserslautern

ICE3 train is arriving

And now it is time for me to continue my journey. I will take ICE 71 train service to Chur in Switzerland. The service Hamburg-Chur started December 2015 and it is now the 2nd ICE service inside Switzerland (the other one is Berlin-Interlaken). The whole trip takes 9h27min, but I'm just doing the last part of it. Here is a link to a map in order to understand how long the total journey is.

Baden Main Line is used for both passenger and freight trains

The new Karlsruhe-Basel high speed line is being built to increase the capacity and reduce the time. The project forms part of the Rotterdam-Genoa corridor (where the new Gotthard Base Tunnel is part of it).

Time for lunch. This summer DB offers a very tasty gaspacho soup.

Freiburg

I have left the last stop in Germany, now there will be 6 stops in Switzerland. 19 of the 52 ICE1 trains sets are capable of operation in Switzerland. One of the differences is equipment of ETCS system, which is used on the new Mattstetten-Rothrist line for Interlaken service.

I'm now entering Switzerland where I can see Swiss trains. Here is Bombardier Traxx F140 MS from BLS Cargo

Another one, this time with "Die Alpinisten" livery. These locomotives are equipped for non-stop long haul services over the Alps, as they are certified for Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

Bombardier Traxx F140 AC1 (to the left) and F140 MS

Bombardier Traxx F140 AC2 for Rhein Cargo GmbH

BLS Re 425 number 194 "Thun". The locomotives of this type was built 1964-1983, this particular one is from 1982.

First stop in Switzerland is Basel Bad. Even though it is already another country, the station is operated only by Deutsche Bahn, hence the electronic display is still same as in Germany.

Basel Bad is one of two large stations in Basel. ICE/IC/EC trains are stopping here, while RE/RB trans from Germany terminates here.

Basel Bad station

Passing by Roche Tower - Switzerland's tallest building since 2015 (178m)

Another Traxx F140 AC1

Another ICE1 train arriving to Basel SBB station from inner Switzerland. At Basel SBB, the trains are changing directions.

I have arrived to Basel SBB - the main station in Basel. Due to changing direction of the train, the stop is a longer one, so I have time to take this photo. The train to the left is a swiss Intercity to Interlaken.

Basel SBB is the main train station in Basel and it is Europe's busiest international border station. From here one can take trains to France, Italy, Austria and Germany.

The name Basel SBB is made to point out that the station is owned by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) in contrast to Basel Bad owned by Deutsche Bahn.

Swiss IC2000 train

Railway works here as well

Approaching Zurich

A short stop on Zurich

The train is then following the Zurich lake shore

The view from the train is very scenic on this route (like on most routes in Switzerland).

A3 motorway

ICE1 train is the longest among other ICE. It has 4 1st class, 7 2nd class, 1 restaurant and 2 power coaches, in total 14 coaches and a length of 410 m. I have been in the winter taking ICE1 service between Bern and Interlaken and now to Chur and I must say that it might be a little bit overcapacity here.

Railjet train from Austria on the other side

Another way of transporting yourself here

Walensee lake

It seems that the water is nice for swimming.

Sargans station. On the other side is a Stadler Flirt for SOB (Südostbahn

Home feeling in the WC of ICE1

A13 motorway

An empty ICE1 is arriving to its final destination - Chur

Chur is situated at a height of 594m above sea level.

Chur station is a terminus for standard gauge railway and SBB services (ICE included). From Chur it is possible to continue with metre gauge Rhätische Bahn network such as Glacier express and Bernina express.

Publicity for BLS day ticket for 29CHF (with Half-fare card) or Half-fare card (Halbtax) from SBB for 165CHF (1 year)

Bus station just above the train station

Rhätische Bahn is here passing through town (like a tram) with a service to Arosa.

Chur station

Chur is considered to be the oldest town in Switzerland

Rhätische bahn train stops just outside the standard gauge railway

S12 Chur-Sargans service operated by THURBO and Stadler GTW train.

Regional Express service Chur-Wil is using Stadler KISS/DOSTO EMU's.

These trains entered the service in 2013, so they still look very fresh both inside and outside.

BLS Re 425 locomotives number 176 "Hohtenn" from 1972 and 165 "Moutier" from 1967

Landquart station

Passing over Alpine Rhine river

Bad Ragaz

I'm getting off RE train at Buchs

It is time for me to change country. In Buchs I'm changing to ÖBB S-Bahn (Bombardier Talent) for further journey to Feldkirch.

I had to improvise a bit this day, so I was not aware of that I'm going to pass through a 4th country this day, so it was a nice surprise. Buchs (Switzerland) - Feldkirch (Austria) railway is passing through the country of Liechtenstein. This is the only railway passing through the country and it is owned by Austrian ÖBB.

After passing the Rhein river bridge, I'm in Liechtenstein.

Schaan-Vaduz station

Black vehicle registration plates

The railway has a single track and it is 9,5km long. Other trains like Eurocity are passing here without any stop.

Arriving at Feldkirch, I'm already in Austria.

Conchita Wurst is saying hello at this Siemens ES 64 U2 "Eurovision" livery locomotive.

My next train, the 5th for today is a REX service Bludenz-Lindau.

There is also a slower S-Bahn service on same route (40min slower to to more stops).

I'm now passing by Lake Constance (Bodensee). After Bregenz, the train is continuing along the lake's eastern shore further north to Germany.

I can already see my next stop - Lindau, from the train.

REX train is have older coaches, the window can be opened.

I'm already in Germany, passing by Reutin rail yard.

Old fashioned railway crossing with manual service

At last the train is making the curve to island of Lindau

The embankment between the island and the mainland

The only electrified line to Lindau is from Austria (it was electrified 1954).

The german lines are non-electrified, this diesel trains are being used.

I'm not the only one taking photos of the train, even though he looks more professional than me.

The current station building, which is protected as a monument, was built between 1913 and 1921 in the Art Nouveau style.

Harbour entrance with lighthouse and Bavarian Lion sculpture (Island of Lindau).

Boat service to/from Switzerland

Back to the train station

In Sweden there are no more ticket offices (except for Stockholm). Here it is still possible to buy tickets manually.

My next train is from a company ALEX (Arriva-Länderbahn-Express). Siemens EuroRunner ER20 is used for this line.

ABvmz with 1st and 2nd class compartments

It is time to leave Lindau. ALEX train is heading to Munich, but I will get off in Memmingen.

Eurocity 194 Munich-Zurich is passing by here.

Hergatz station

Autobahn 96

Kißlegg

Leutkirch

Stadler Regio Shuttle RS1

Signal box 3 in Memmingen

My 7th train for today is an Regional Express to Ulm.

The train is a Class 612 tilting DMU from AdTranz (Bombardier). The train was serving as an ICE-T in 2003 as a replacement.

Even though the comfort is not of ICE train, it is still rather good in 1st class.

After changing trains in Ulm (very quick), I'm finally arriving back to Stuttgart. The train from Ulm to Stuttgart is an ICE1.