Our last trip on the Rhine had a train trip through the Alps from Basel to Lugano. That tunnel took seventeen years to build. It’s probably time to start digging.
Sealord - Currently, the longest train tunnel in the United States is the Cascade Tunnel, which is approximately 7.8 miles long. The tunnel is still active in Stevens Pass, Washington, and was opened 93 years ago in 1929.
That would be called a ‘ditch’ compared to the tunnel between Basel and Lugano … which is 35 miles long. (;-). It is the longest train tunnel in the ‘world’. I’ve been through it once, doing about one hundred ten miles per hour. The credit card machine on the train we were on did not work. So bring cash if you are hungry or thirsty.
Well, four out of seven posts on this page have been flagged. We should be able to figure this out?
OK. Back to trains. If they are going to do this, the Frankfurt airport is a good model..The train station is under the airport terminal. If it becomes necessary to get off a plane, then get transport to a downtown train station, that might not work. The train time from big city to small city is not as important as the train time from the big city ‘airport’ to the small city. You need to keep your apples and oranges properly separated.
I don’t think it caught us, but AF just cancelled our flt from Hamburg to CDG! They cited weather as the reason- that was a flat-out lie. Now, Instead of a reasonable get-up for an 11:45 flt we had to get up at 3:15 am for a 6:05 am flight and instead of a 2+15 layover, we now have a 5:45 layover at CDG? ☹️
Personally, I think this move is much ado about nothing. Seems more like virtue signaling than anything else. Still, it will inconvenience a lot of people and will most likely cost travel and travel-related businesses lots of money...just when they were starting to make a comeback from the Covid calamity. I hope it will not cost too many jobs for people who are simply trying to earn a living.
Whew!!! We made it home, bags and all, earlier this evening. It seems after they notified us they had cancelled our flight less than 12 hours prior, AF dropped the ball. After two calls they told me to contact Delta who I booked with, so I did. 1 of 2 AF systems did not show the cancellation and it wasn't until my second call to Delta that their system showed the cancellation. I suggested alternatives to Delta and they gave me what I wanted at the end of my call, but AF and KLM (both part of AF) both separately kept notifying us about different flights that they booked for us and one of which was cancelled as well. The bad communication worked both ways, AF & KLM didn't realize that Delta booked us on another AF flight, and that we didn't need the AF and KLM bookings. I'm glad we had a Medallion phone number otherwise we might still be in Hamburg on the phone. Oh, and the weather in both Hamburg and CDG was fine- the sun even came out at CDG, so I have no idea what weather AF was talking about!
Once I get organized I will pick up where I left off in my XMAS Mkts report and will include the excursion we took by rail to visit Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. (so much for the punctuality of German trains! )
Glad you made it home Alan. Very useful to hear this information since we leave on Sunday for our trek...same as yours...but with lots of rain most likely. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. By the way, who is Flagging everyone?
Thetriguy
5:41AM
. . . we leave on Sunday for our trek...same as yours...but with lots of rain most likely. . . . "
Wait until you see the weather we had- a few overcast skies but NO RAIN!!! Not only was there no rain, but wait until you see the beautiful blue skies we had on several days . . . below are samples. Hopefully you will be as lucky.
Basel:
Glad you made it home relatively unscathed, Alan. Did it help clicking your heels together 3 times and saying, "there no place like home"?
P.S. 5+ weeks since filing my expense report with Air Canada for clothing and incidentals I needed when they lost my bag on the way to Cairo (and didn't get it back to me until about 10 days after I was back home). Latest is "the claim is in process."
Alan, glad you got home safely. It seems that there is always something when we travel now days.
I had to book with American and Qantas for the Australia/New Zeland tour in February because I couldn't find flights with Delta and I'm worried about American.
gladysorlando984
December 15
Alan, glad you got home safely. It seems that there is always something when we travel now days.
And even after we return there always seems to be something. I had to fix the water heater- didn't have hot water for a shower until the next day- and also had to repair the ice dispenser (important, but not nearly so as the water heater )!
gladysorlando984
5:09PM
. . . Sorry about the water heater Alan
Thanks. It is now day 2, my repair is still holding and mamma had hot water in her bath tonight. The water heater is 18+ years old, so has outlasted similar units. It is past time for a new one. At least now there is no rush.
Alan, consider yourself lucky. We returned from a trip two years ago and as I was doing my first load of wash the water heater exploded. Thank goodness for my husband and the wet vac. The heater was in the garage.
OK, this is off topic about banning short flights or even riding trains, but since we got onto water heaters here's my water heater story.
A few years ago we were going to have several family members coming for a two week visit. I mentioned to my wife that our water heater was about 11 years old and that perhaps we should consider getting a new one before the family visited. She said no, that it would be OK.
Well you all know where this is going. About 3 days into their visit our water heater (which is in the garage) started leaking. So now we have to find a new one and get an "emergency" install done. We go it done in two days, thank goodness.
I am so glad that it wasn't the other way around, that my wife suggested to me that we get the new water heater. If that was the case I might still be taking showers with the outdoor garden hose. 😂
Ever see the photos of the "Icicle House"? Frozen/broken second floor pipe, people in the Carribbean, didn't leave number with neighbors. They had to use ice axes and picks to enter the house.
Comments
Very interesting. We'd have to make major improvements to rail travel in the US before that could be implemented here.
Mike
Mike - rail travel in the US, outside of the Northeast corridor, is truly pathetic.
Given that train travel is so easy and efficient in Europe, I do hope other countries follow suit.
Our last trip on the Rhine had a train trip through the Alps from Basel to Lugano. That tunnel took seventeen years to build. It’s probably time to start digging.
Sealord - Currently, the longest train tunnel in the United States is the Cascade Tunnel, which is approximately 7.8 miles long. The tunnel is still active in Stevens Pass, Washington, and was opened 93 years ago in 1929.
I've been through it multiple times.
That would be called a ‘ditch’ compared to the tunnel between Basel and Lugano … which is 35 miles long. (;-). It is the longest train tunnel in the ‘world’. I’ve been through it once, doing about one hundred ten miles per hour. The credit card machine on the train we were on did not work. So bring cash if you are hungry or thirsty.
Well, four out of seven posts on this page have been flagged. We should be able to figure this out?
OK. Back to trains. If they are going to do this, the Frankfurt airport is a good model..The train station is under the airport terminal. If it becomes necessary to get off a plane, then get transport to a downtown train station, that might not work. The train time from big city to small city is not as important as the train time from the big city ‘airport’ to the small city. You need to keep your apples and oranges properly separated.
In Amsterdam, there's a train to central station from the airport. IIRC, it's about 20 minutes, then you can go pretty much anywhere from there.
I don’t think it caught us, but AF just cancelled our flt from Hamburg to CDG! They cited weather as the reason- that was a flat-out lie. Now, Instead of a reasonable get-up for an 11:45 flt we had to get up at 3:15 am for a 6:05 am flight and instead of a 2+15 layover, we now have a 5:45 layover at CDG? ☹️
Personally, I think this move is much ado about nothing. Seems more like virtue signaling than anything else. Still, it will inconvenience a lot of people and will most likely cost travel and travel-related businesses lots of money...just when they were starting to make a comeback from the Covid calamity. I hope it will not cost too many jobs for people who are simply trying to earn a living.
AlanS - With your recent travel luck with bags and flights, have you checked, did someone tape a sign to your back "Kick Me"?
Better luck the rest of the way home.
Alan good luck coming home.
Whew!!! We made it home, bags and all, earlier this evening. It seems after they notified us they had cancelled our flight less than 12 hours prior, AF dropped the ball. After two calls they told me to contact Delta who I booked with, so I did. 1 of 2 AF systems did not show the cancellation and it wasn't until my second call to Delta that their system showed the cancellation. I suggested alternatives to Delta and they gave me what I wanted at the end of my call, but AF and KLM (both part of AF) both separately kept notifying us about different flights that they booked for us and one of which was cancelled as well. The bad communication worked both ways, AF & KLM didn't realize that Delta booked us on another AF flight, and that we didn't need the AF and KLM bookings. I'm glad we had a Medallion phone number otherwise we might still be in Hamburg on the phone. Oh, and the weather in both Hamburg and CDG was fine- the sun even came out at CDG, so I have no idea what weather AF was talking about!
Once I get organized I will pick up where I left off in my XMAS Mkts report and will include the excursion we took by rail to visit Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. (so much for the punctuality of German trains!
)
Glad you made it home Alan. Very useful to hear this information since we leave on Sunday for our trek...same as yours...but with lots of rain most likely. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. By the way, who is Flagging everyone?
Wait until you see the weather we had- a few overcast skies but NO RAIN!!!
Not only was there no rain, but wait until you see the beautiful blue skies we had on several days . . . below are samples. Hopefully you will be as lucky.
Basel:
Heidelberg:
Cologne:
NOTE TO THE FORUM: Alan is human!!! He posted pictures rotated incorrectly.
I know he will fix them, but still, the Forum Guru is one of us!!!
Pictures corrected by Alan 11:44AM, December 16th. The Forum Guru is BACK!
Glad you made it home relatively unscathed, Alan. Did it help clicking your heels together 3 times and saying, "there no place like home"?
P.S. 5+ weeks since filing my expense report with Air Canada for clothing and incidentals I needed when they lost my bag on the way to Cairo (and didn't get it back to me until about 10 days after I was back home). Latest is "the claim is in process."
Alan, glad you got home safely. It seems that there is always something when we travel now days.
I had to book with American and Qantas for the Australia/New Zeland tour in February because I couldn't find flights with Delta and I'm worried about American.
Smiling Sam - Congratulations in your appearance in the Tauck Connections 2022, it looks like someone does read the Forum.
Gladysorlando984 - I just saw it. OMG!
And even after we return there always seems to be something. I had to fix the water heater- didn't have hot water for a shower until the next day- and also had to repair the ice dispenser (important, but not nearly so as the water heater
)! 
Sam, I fixed the photo orientation- just for you!
Nothing less is expected from the Forum Guru!!!
He is my Guru !!!! Sorry about the water heater Alan
Thanks. It is now day 2, my repair is still holding and mamma had hot water in her bath tonight.
The water heater is 18+ years old, so has outlasted similar units. It is past time for a new one. At least now there is no rush. 
Alan, consider yourself lucky. We returned from a trip two years ago and as I was doing my first load of wash the water heater exploded. Thank goodness for my husband and the wet vac. The heater was in the garage.
AlanS - FYI, the cost of a new water heater is insignificant compared to the cost of "mamma" having to take cold showers!!!!
Alan - you were pushing your luck waiting so long to replace it. You're lucky it didn't start leaking in recent years.
OK, this is off topic about banning short flights or even riding trains, but since we got onto water heaters here's my water heater story.
A few years ago we were going to have several family members coming for a two week visit. I mentioned to my wife that our water heater was about 11 years old and that perhaps we should consider getting a new one before the family visited. She said no, that it would be OK.
Well you all know where this is going. About 3 days into their visit our water heater (which is in the garage) started leaking. So now we have to find a new one and get an "emergency" install done. We go it done in two days, thank goodness.
I am so glad that it wasn't the other way around, that my wife suggested to me that we get the new water heater. If that was the case I might still be taking showers with the outdoor garden hose. 😂
Wait a minute... Mr. Engineer is asking his wife for advice on replacing a water heater???
Ever see the photos of the "Icicle House"? Frozen/broken second floor pipe, people in the Carribbean, didn't leave number with neighbors. They had to use ice axes and picks to enter the house.