 1 Things started bad. I was supposed to catch the 10:59 IC-E service from Utrecht to Frankfurt. I worked in my office for a few hours (literally on top of the Utrecht station hall) and went to my train at about 10:40. To my puzzlement and surprise the IC-E was not announced. The station's speakers soon came to life and firmly announced the cancellation of the service. I had to travel to Arnhem with a normal intercity service and continue my journey from there.... by bus to Duisburg. Well that was a good start. I hadn't even left the station and was in deep trouble already. |
 2 The normal intercity service to Arnhem slowly slides to a halt in Utrecht. The fog makes it a sad day. |
 3 Near Maarn. Snow and freezing weather. The intercity trundled behind a stopper. By this time I had given up every hope to keep any kind of schedule. Not only was my IC-E cancelled, the replacement went no faster than 80 km/h. The view was delightful despite the foggy conditions |
 4 In Arnhem I changed to buses, some 90 km to Duisburg ahead!! |
 5 At appr. 14:00h we reached Duisburg. An IC-E directly to Stuttgart was announced on the direction board in the station hall. I had just a few minutes to spare so I dashed for platform 6. It was there!! I nearly jumped in but remembered to ask the steward. Nope, wrong one, this one was a belated service to Munich. Ten minutes later though the through IC-E to Stuttgart rolled into the station. It's number was oddly familiar. I took a look at my reservations. Yes, it was the same IC-E I normally would have caught when changing trains in Frankfurt. So I could get in time to Stuttgart after all!! The weather had cleared. Duisburg was in bright sunshone wintery condition. |
 6 At last in IC-E 519 to Stuttgart |
 7 Within the hour we were in Köln (Cologne) |
 8 After Köln the sky turn deep blue |
 9 |
 10 The IC-E suffers from faulty axles. Speeds have been limited to 200 km/h, serivce intervals have been decreased, thus hampering routine timetables. |
 11 I arrived in Stuttgart only ten minutes late, very acceptable considering the difficulty I had getting underway |
 12 Well, here Dieter picked me up. I forgot all about taking photo's (imagine!!) so this is where the day ends |
