Hailing All Frequencies

Staying informed while Traveling by train.
Part of the series: I like trains and things about trains.

When we are planning at home all the information is at our fingertips. The wifi runs smoothly, and maps rarely try to route through someone’s backyard. During the planning stages it can be easy to underestimate the power of knowing where to quickly find information, and the value of listening for updates for the rail service may not yet be apparent.

When you’re standing on a train platform, the garbled announcement playing over the speakers might be about your train… or it might just be a reminder to smoke only in designated areas. Having your phone set to hail all frequencies can be the difference between chaotic adventure confused and scary, frustrated confused.

Hailing all Frequencies for rail travel is not nearly as dramatic as standing on the bridge of a starship and reaching out to civilizations unknown. It’s much simpler than that and it happens before my plane departs Sky Harbor International airport. 

An Advantage we tourists now have over those tourists who came before us is that we get to use Rail Service Apps downloaded to our smart phones. They can tell us essential information about delays, alternative train options, and even the assistance that might be found at a station upon arrival.

I download the app for the relevant rail service of where I plan to be from the comfort of my own wifi.
Then I organize them on my phone so they sit right next to the app for the airline I am using, my post departure trip insurance’s application and off course rail planner from Eurail.

I also ensure that I’m creating accounts using an email I actually check, and bookmarking or following the more complicated journeys I intend to take.

While traveling I go into settings and allow Rail apps to send me push notifications when possible. I reserve this priveledge for rail service apps. Eurail has a tendency to send notifications about everywhere, interesting? yes….relevant? not always. 

Sometimes, I encounter delays or a simple rail journey becomes complicated when I’m at the platforms. Having the app downloaded allows me to add journeys to follow even after they have started without much hassle.

It’s not enough to just use the rail services when your planning, having the apps ready to use from the platforms is the ability to plan on the spot, adapt to delays and even choose an impulsive day trip.

Walking through Colmar, my dad glanced at DB Navigator and informed me we could be at Strasbourg with in the next hour if we ran for the train station.

Having the push notifications will just help you stay the course and not over complicate a journey that might be just fine, even with a long delay.

We had boarded the train nearly 40 minutes late in Cologne, I already had a plan for which station might get us back on track.

Somewhere between Cologne and Strasbourg my Apple watch buzzed. The train we were on was growing less delayed and the connection that once seemed lost was in reach.

Rail travel especially during shoulder and off seasons can be unpredictable.

Perfectly laid plans cannot account for when the construction runs later than anticipated, or an emergency on the line in the early morning causes delays that ripple through the rest of the day.

It can stretch my patience sitting on a stalled train with no indication of when we might move. 

Sometimes even the apps don’t know or have alarming answers. I learned this somewhere between Bruges and Amsterdam. 

Snow had rapidly decended in the canals of Amsterdam and locals suggested our high speed train would not be departing on time, if at all the next morning.

I mourned the loss of fancy Eurostar seat reservations. Checked in with the NS help desk to confirm I couldn’t get on a Eurostar departing that night. Then embarked on a series of regional trains. A slow beeline for Bruges. 

During that beeline we sat on a train stopped between stations just watching the clock slowly tick by. Glancing at the rail apps showed us our ETA was anyones guess.

We did eventually arrive at Antwerpen Centraal. The expected 55 minute transfer time with a chance to grab dinner turned into a 6 minute dash. Using our app to know which platform to sprint towards. Dinner that night wound up being a bag of pistachios stashed from the snacks offered on our flight between Phoenix and Minnesota a few days prior. 

I’m not always on the train in my itinerary, even if I made a seat reservation.

Arrival to a place I’ve been dreaming of for the past year can be delayed.

Traveling by train is choosing adventure.

Apps dowloaded

Hailing all Frequencies

Snacks in hand.

Let’s Boldly Go