Riding the Rails: Berlin to Prague

Riding the rails along the Elbe River in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.

July 19, 2011 -- After visiting Berlin this summer, the next destination on my rail journey around Europe was Prague. I rode the EuroCity 171 Hungaria train from Berlin Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Prague Main Railway Station (Praha hlavni nadrazi). We traveled through the spectacular Saxony countryside along the Elbe River (Labe in Czech) and Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

The train was an older model and the Czech Republic isn't set up for high-speed rail yet so it didn't go as fast as most trains traveling through Western European nations. Czechoslovakia dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia rather recently on January 1, 1993 following two uprisings against the communist regime -- the Prague Spring of 1968 and the 1989 Velvet Revolution.  There are plans to construct a high-speed rail network in the Czech Republic, although operation isn't expected until at least 2020.

Prague Main Railway Station and train I took from Berlin -- EuroCity 171 Hungaria, whose final destination is Budapest, Hungary.

But traveling at slower speeds was actually preferable because it offered more time to enjoy passing the scenic countryside and historic villages, towns and cities in Saxony and Bohemia.

There are four seats to a cabin with a sliding glass door and I had it to myself for most of the trip. There is rolling cart food and beverage service as well.

As en environmental journalist and clean energy blogger, I couldn't stop snapping pictures of the wind turbines in Germany. Every time I looked out the window while traveling through the Saxony countryside I saw enormous wind farms with huge wind turbines.

Not to be outdone, while traveling through the Czech Republic I took this picture of a solar farm. That is a lot of solar panels supplying clean, renewable energy to citizens of the Czech Republic.

Another highlight was passing through Dresden. Almost completely destroyed by an Allied bombing campaign near the end of World War II, the city has been rebuilt since then and is now one of the most important cities in Germany.

Arriving at Dresden's main train station.

We finally arrived in Prague and I set out on exploring the next city on my European rail adventure.

Here is video of the rail trip from Berlin to Prague.



And here are more photos of the rail trip from Berlin to Prague. Click here to see the set on Flickr.

Green Traveler: Berlin, Germany

July 17-19, 2011 -- Berlin is another European city with great public transportation and bicycling systems. The U-Bahn and S-Bahn rapid transit railway systems get Berliners and visitors to their destinations in Western and Eastern Berlin.

Bikes are big in Berlin. As I was walking towards Brandenburg Gate on Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district on a weekday morning, I saw more bicycle commuters than automobiles. One biker after another rolled by. It was an amazing sight to see.

And there is a unique bike sharing system in many German cities run by Deutsche Bahn. Call a Bike is different than most bike sharing systems because you don't have to check out and return a bike to a fixed station. There is an electronic rear wheel lock and cable lock that allows riders to leave the bike pretty much anywhere. The reason it is called Call a Bike is because the customer calls a phone number to receive a 4-digit authorization code that will unlock the nearest bike. In addition to Berlin, Call a Bike is available in Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich, Karlsruhe and Saarbrucken.

Berliners like to bike to the new multi-leveled, futuristic-looking Central Train Station, which opened to the public in 2006 on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof railway terminal. This is bicycle parking in front of Hauptbahnhof.

With trains coming and going above you and below you, the railway station feels like something out of the "The Jetsons" or Fox's animation science fiction show "Futurama."

And it is easy to recycle at Berlin Central Train Station with these large recycling containers.

Click here for more observations of Berlin on Josh's Travel Blog.

Here are more photos from Berlin. Click here to see the set on Flickr



And here is video of a U-Bahn subway train arriving at Hallesches Tor station near my hostel:

Riding the Rails: Brussels to Berlin

July 17, 2011 -- I took a Deutsche Bahn InterCity-Express train from Brussels to Berlin with a transfer in Cologne. The train makes intermediate stops at Liege and Aachen before reaching Cologne. From Cologne the train makes intermediate stops at Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund, Hamm, Gutersloh, Bielefeld, Herford, Hannover, Wolfsburg, Stendal and Berlin-Spandau. DB ICE trains travel at speeds up to 200 mph (322 kph).

The train station at Liege, Belgium is spectacular. It was designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the new transit hub at Ground Zero in New York City and the Chords Bridge in Jerusalem.

In typical German fashion, Deutsche Bahn wants you to know exactly how fast and efficient their high-speed trains are. The ICE trains top out at around 200 mph (322 kph) so my train was gaining speed at the time I took this picture. For Americans reading this blog post, that is 155 miles per hour.

As we sped through the German countryside I was expecting to see alpine houses and gothic cathedrals, which I did. However, I also saw gigantic wind farms with enormous wind turbines dotting the landscape. And it seemed as if every other house I saw had solar panels installed on the rooftop. Germany is obviously not the windiest or sunniest country in the world, but the Federal Republic has had a Renewable Energy Act in place since the year 2000, so this is the result of over eleven years of generous incentives for wind and solar power. It is impressive to see so many wind farms and so many citizens powering their homes with the sun.

That evening we arrived at the multi-level, futuristic looking Berlin Central Train Station. Trains are coming and going all the time on different levels, making it look like something out of the Fox animated science fiction show "Futurama." So cool.

Here are photos and video of my high speed train trip from Brussels to Berlin. Click here to see the photo set on Flickr.