With still more than an hour to spare, I had enough time to walk to Bologna's central square and back. Yes: a main station with night and high-speed connections less than 2km away from the center.
And pleasantly, the direct street was totally empty of cars, as it will host the new tramway once the electric wires are installed. #Bologna #tramway
Intercity Notte. #dawn
Tried business class for a change, direction Milano. #Trenitalia #Frecciarossa1000
Padano fog is real. 🌫️
Not much time to scout trains in Milano, but some outside pictures for completeness.
The journey went on with a direct intercity train to the French border in Ventimiglia. Older carriages but the seats are fine in first class too.
This train features a combined carriage with a large bicycle area, wheelchair space, and a bar. Unfortunately no food appears to be served nowadays. #CyclingOnRails #MiaBiciNelTreno
I guess nobody would complain if you brought a surfboard or other bulky items here, too bad the interesting waves aren't on the Mediterranean sea. #NotSNCF
Finishing this Italy tour with a "jazz" regional train, I haven't seen any official bicycle spots on board. #MiaBiciNelTreno
The journey continued into France, with a regional train from... Bretagne of course! The train made a long, scheduled stopped for illegal semi-systematic border controls breaking Schengen (the officer didn't even glance at my driving license from a meter away as my skin color didn't fit his target profile). #CrossBorderRail
And on to Nice, with the typical modern French approach of one entry/exit per platform so everyone wastes time in bottlenecks and detours. #SNCFail
I then saw a real Regio 2N in Zou! edition. Seats aren't too bad, but they borrowed the stupid concept of bicycle spaces with vertical hooks between walls that you also find for example in Pays-de-la-Loire and Normandie. So it's super complicated to manoeuver your bicycle up there.
The space near the vending machine if ok, but were the 3 folding seats really necessary? 🤔 #CyclingOnRails #MonVéloDansLeTrain
These days I got to meet with @bovine3dom and @apicultor in the Nice area, definitely let them know if you're passing by, they are wonderful people!
So I got a private tour of urbanism in the area. I'm posting mostly the optimistic good bits between Nice station and the beach, but rest assured that cars have plenty of space and that's not changing with the current far-right mayor. #urbanism #carbrainism
For more views of Nice, see my thread from 2 years ago: https://mastodon.social/@cycling_on_rails/112791197170944840
You can indeed see the bike lane that used to be on the street rather than along the beach.
@cycling_on_rails yep those BreizhGo units are set to stay here for quite a while (at least a year I believe on lease) but it's been quite amusing seeing them out and about along the coast. Drivers tell me that it gives them a chuckle when they get to use them on shift
@cycling_on_rails yeah those Transdev bike hooks are a royal pain in the rear especially for folks like me who have heavy ebikes to haul up onto them
Oct 23, 2026, 5:22 PM@cycling_on_rails @bovine3dom @apicultor I find it pretty ironic the town spend a fortune for a battery tram just to avoid catenary in an old town where tram ran in the past… with catenary.
@thias @bovine3dom @apicultor Yeah, I also saw the same in Bordeaux. No wires nor ticket machines nor information about upcoming trams at all at the Place de la Bourse stop. Just so that the view remains undisturbed... to the 2x2 lanes highway running just along. 🙄 #carbrainism #motonormativity #StadtBild
@cycling_on_rails hahaha that second picture is incredible. unspoilt!
@thias
The kicker is that Alstom offers a catenary- AND battery-free solution, and it's neat tech.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_APS
Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely fucking _not_ saying anyone should buy anything from Alstom. But there are definitely alternatives to batteries!
Oct 24, 2026, 3:50 PM@apicultor @cycling_on_rails @bovine3dom That sounds like over-designed third rail. I really don't see the problem with catenary for tramways…
@thias french towns have special requirements
Oct 24, 2026, 6:52 PM@bovine3dom @apicultor @cycling_on_rails yeah, no, yeah…
@cycling_on_rails @bovine3dom @apicultor last time I was there, one of the bike lanes (I think that was on Rue Gioffredo or Rue de l'Hotel des Postes) had massive planters in the middle of the lanes to force bikes to swing around for some reason.