Ukrainian trains still running

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The international Rescue Committee (IRC) is already aiding the displaced Ukrainians. The IRC has a paid staff of 11,000 and many volunteers. I’ve been interested in volunteering at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh with 700,000 refugees. It’s mind boggling how effective the IRC is - the CEO makes only $400K.
 
cassie225 said:
Are there camps set up when they reach Poland, hotels, relatives,etc So sad
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Don't know about Poland but I have relatives in Hungary and they say more than 60,000 have come in, maybe a lot more, as nobody is keeping track and the border guards have instructions to let them pass through without more than minimal formalities. Those who wish to be registered can be registered but most are chosing not to do so.

There are official reception centers being set up, but so far relatively few people have turned up there. It is being assumed that the majority of those who are coming to Hungary did so because of family ties and so are probably staying with friends or relatives, or maybe just passing through and heading for other countries. Nobody really knows at the moment.

I assume that many believe the conflict will just be of short duration and so are just staying under the radar and will go back as soon as things are safe.
 
Willbridge said:
Watching what direction trainloads of tanks are going is something that we did back in the Cold War and it's not rocket science.
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True.

But there have been dozens of false alerts over the last few years, and I think people get tired and stop taking these reports seriously.

Which was maybe an intentional tactic.
 
I think analyzing how the railway aided in the fleeing of refugees will be fascinating. Certainly far more capacity than the miles of cars. I wonder how it may be different if the electricity was off.
 
Willbridge said:
They do have Diesels but not enough and they aren't geared for speed.
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Well, if electricity was off, interlocking etc. would be off, too. So speed would be 'On Sight' (25 mph-or-slower-range?).
With a lot of commercial freight trains halted, even shunting diesels could propell passenger trains.
I guess.
 
PeeweeTM said:
Well, if electricity was off, interlocking etc. would be off, too. So speed would be 'On Sight' (25 mph-or-slower-range?).
With a lot of commercial freight trains halted, even shunting diesels could propell passenger trains.
I guess.
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If the tracks are intact then railroad is a option for people to leave the area. The Russian bomb the airports to prevent more weapons from arriving. If they see freight train or even passengers cars filled with weapon and ammunition then the tracks will be taken out of service.(bombed).

This is a bad situation and still have some means of transportation out of the country is beneficial for both side. The track will be bombed the moment there used to bring in supplies. But people fleeing the country is just another person not involved or endanger by the conflict. Quite beneficial to both sides.
 
I was watching a video of a CNN crew driving out of the country. The biggest problem was check point inside of the Ukraine by the Ukraine government trying to stop people of military age from leaving.

The next issue is most people can spend 200 dollars on a unexpected repairs of there car. It what happen as these folk run out of funds. That the tricky part. As some point your out of cash/credit then your going to need some help.

This video was early in the war, but even then you saw all those people living in the subway tunnels.

Correction it was a CNN crew not CBS.
 
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I was just on one of the Polish EuroCity/InterCity trains that ended up being converted to a Refugee Train. The early AM departure from warsaw was 95 percent if not higher refugees. I speak Russian so I volunteered to the crew to help them keep control of the train and ended up working with the conductor for the whole trip. And even with that the halls were not really clear for passage. But at least in the event of an accident egress would have been slightly better.

I also heard and saw pictures/films of the attrocities going on in Ukraine and it is heartbreaking.

The Polish people are building bakc a railway to Ukraine right now that has been out of servie for many years. Volunteers are out clearing the line while PKP gets the track up to snuff to bring trains back to it.

And of course Bald and Bankrupt would be in Ukraine for this.
 
west point said:
Seaboard thank you for your service. If there is anything one of us can do here to backstop you please ask.. Someone might be able to do it!
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Backstop? Your welcome for the service I was just doing my small part. It was so hard not to help when the train crew was clearly overran. And the electric locker on one of the old cars kept opening into where people were sitting. I jerryrigged a fix using old baggage tags from my suitcases to close it till I could get my hands on some actual tape.
 
Seaboard92 said:
Backstop? Your welcome for the service I was just doing my small part. It was so hard not to help when the train crew was clearly overran. And the electric locker on one of the old cars kept opening into where people were sitting. I jerryrigged a fix using old baggage tags from my suitcases to close it till I could get my hands on some actual tape.
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Your special "skillset" doesn't hurt either.
 
Seaboard92 said:
Backstop? Your welcome for the service I was just doing my small part. It was so hard not to help when the train crew was clearly overran. And the electric locker on one of the old cars kept opening into where people were sitting. I jerryrigged a fix using old baggage tags from my suitcases to close it till I could get my hands on some actual tape.
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Конечно! A frequent Amtrak passenger would know how to do jury-rigged repairs on defective latches, shades, etc.
 
I travelled by night train from Budapest to Zurich last night.

I had to change my plans because the train was fully booked on several days, which may occur in the summer, or around Xmas, but is quite unusual for this time of year. I never imagined that there was any connection to the Ukrainian situation though.

When the train did turn up it was quite a bit longer than usual, with the extra cars being Swiss day coaches, so not exactly the best way to travel over night. The train was not completely full but I would say pretty close. I was surprised to see the Ukrainians were not travelling with much baggage so I presume they had to leave their homes in a hurry. There were lots of families with young kids.

On arriving in Zürich there were still some but less than there had been in Budapest so I assume many must have got off at intermediate stations. There was no visible welcome committee or anybody to show the way or tell them what to do, so I guess they must have made their own way and were maybe being picked up by family or friends.
 
cirdan said:
I travelled by night train from Budapest to Zurich last night.

I had to change my plans because the train was fully booked on several days, which may occur in the summer, or around Xmas, but is quite unusual for this time of year. I never imagined that there was any connection to the Ukrainian situation though.

When the train did turn up it was quite a bit longer than usual, with the extra cars being Swiss day coaches, so not exactly the best way to travel over night. The train was not completely full but I would say pretty close. I was surprised to see the Ukrainians were not travelling with much baggage so I presume they had to leave their homes in a hurry. There were lots of families with young kids.

On arriving in Zürich there were still some but less than there had been in Budapest so I assume many must have got off at intermediate stations. There was no visible welcome committee or anybody to show the way or tell them what to do, so I guess they must have made their own way and were maybe being picked up by family or friends.
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Were the Swiss cars the Grossraumwagen or Abteilung types? In my days of 2nd class travel the Swiss, German and Scandinavian Abteilung cars had six seats and then had jump seats in the corridor. The French and Italian and preWWII German cars had eight seats, and if I was tired enough I slept in them.

News reports match your surmise that they were going to family and friends. The first wave is likely to do that because they have a plan right away.
 
Willbridge said:
Were the Swiss cars the Grossraumwagen or Abteilung types? In my days of 2nd class travel the Swiss, German and Scandinavian Abteilung cars had six seats and then had jump seats in the corridor. The French and Italian and preWWII German cars had eight seats, and if I was tired enough I slept in them.

News reports match your surmise that they were going to family and friends. The first wave is likely to do that because they have a plan right away.
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Depending on the Abteilung cars too you can get the seats to recline all the way flat to make a really large bed. I did that on the NightJet once.
 
Willbridge said:
Were the Swiss cars the Grossraumwagen or Abteilung types? In my days of 2nd class travel the Swiss, German and Scandinavian Abteilung cars had six seats and then had jump seats in the corridor. The French and Italian and preWWII German cars had eight seats, and if I was tired enough I slept in them.

News reports match your surmise that they were going to family and friends. The first wave is likely to do that because they have a plan right away.
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These were grossraumwagen, but the first class variety with 2+ 1 seating . I havent seen any Swiss Abteilwagen in years . The Austrians still have plenty though .
 
Willbridge said:
Were the Swiss cars the Grossraumwagen or Abteilung types? In my days of 2nd class travel the Swiss, German and Scandinavian Abteilung cars had six seats and then had jump seats in the corridor. The French and Italian and preWWII German cars had eight seats, and if I was tired enough I slept in them.

News reports match your surmise that they were going to family and friends. The first wave is likely to do that because they have a plan right away.
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I am curious and having trouble visualizing this seating arrangement? Six seats across the car with a jumpseat in the corridor aisle? Pictures or seat layout diagram (I did a few searches but not sure what I am looking for, I saw one car with 5 across and the side with 3 seats were facing each other making a group of 6 seats...)?
 
UserNameRequired said:
I am curious and having trouble visualizing this seating arrangement? Six seats across the car with a jumpseat in the corridor aisle? Pictures or seat layout diagram (I did a few searches but not sure what I am looking for, I saw one car with 5 across and the side with 3 seats were facing each other making a group of 6 seats...)?
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The Six seats are in a small room think the size of a Viewliner Bedroom but with just the seats, two rows of three facing each other in the room. Then a jump seat in the aisle.
 

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