Non electrified main lines running out of major European capital cities?

[nw1]

The line from Madrid towards Extremadura (Cáceres, Badajoz). Mostly units now, but one diesel-hauled Talgo a day left.

The section from Plasencia onwards will be electric very soon, but the part from Madrid to there will stay diesel for some years, since electrification was only recently announced.

However, I suspect that single Talgo will be replaced by class 730 very soon.

The single daily Intercity from Madrid to Almería is also a diesel-hauled Talgo throughout, but runs under the wires for the first half of its journey.

Isn't Granada also DMU-operated? I went there some years ago, didn't get close to the station but saw it from a distance and it looked like some kind of DMU was in the platform. Not sure if this operated to/from Madrid though.

 

[Austriantrain]

Isn't Granada also DMU-operated? I went there some years ago, didn't get close to the station but saw it from a distance and it looked like some kind of DMU was in the platform. Not sure if this operated to/from Madrid though.

Only the line to Almería is still diesel-hauled. The new HSL towards Antequera is electrified and takes all other (sparse) traffic, including AVE trains to Madrid.

 

[30907]

The Ostbahn out of Berlin is probably the best candidate

Yes, but that is stretching it as a comparison, with its basic hourly service (ignoring the S-bahn) from a suburban station (Lichtenberg).
Hamburg Altona (HL) with its hourly service to Westerland would be more impressive, but the line is electrified to Itzehoe. And Hamburg isn't a capital city.

 

[haltendehand]

Yes, but that is stretching it as a comparison, with its basic hourly service (ignoring the S-bahn) from a suburban station (Lichtenberg).
Hamburg Altona (HL) with its hourly service to Westerland would be more impressive, but the line is electrified to Itzehoe. And Hamburg isn't a capital city.

It may well not have an intensive service, but it is fundamentally a main line.

If the question is about an intensive service, then Dublin Connolly or Heuston would probably be the best candidates

 

[Jamesrob637]

Tirana

I'll get my coat

 

[Nodding Cat Ch]

Nicosia in Cyprus hasn't got any trains at all.​

 

[dazzler]

Tirana

That doesn't even have a railway line at the moment, never mind any trains!

 

[Jamesrob637]

That doesn't even have a railway line at the moment, never mind any trains!

Doesn't it have a line, but not from the centre anymore?

 

[dazzler]

Doesn't it have a line, but not from the centre anymore?

The line all the way from Durrës to Tiranë has been closed for some time for rebuilding, including a new alignment and terminus at the Tiranë end. If/when it will reopen is anybody's guess, but don't hold your breath/make any plans...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Nicosia in Cyprus hasn't got any trains at all.​

Nor have Andorra-La-Vella or Valletta... but we're getting a bit silly now!

 

[nwales58]

*Major* capitals is in the title. Define which are major then we know where to stop. Also define 'important'.

Others will be more up to date with eastern Europe than I am so please correct anything wrong.

Assuming a country is one at least partially recognised internationally as an independent nation state (Corsica is definitely not such):

Chisinau (Moldova): I'm not aware of any electrification nor proposals.

Skopje (Macedonia, North Macedonia to keep the greeks happy): the line towards Lake Ochrid is not electrified and was important, relative to the size of the country, in the 1990s when the country had no motorways. It could have become really important, in a parallel universe, as part of a mad, temporarily EBRD-backed, proposal for a land bridge (rail, containers) Durres-Tirana-Skopje-Sofia with several intermodal hubs along the way. The Macedonian line is probably now rotting into oblivion. Skopje towards Pristina is also non-electrified, if it still exists.

Pristina (Kosovo): non-electrified nor proposed as far as I know.

Bosnia: presumably Banja Luka qualifies as a capital as well as Sarajevo. How much of the two sides is actually operating with electric power?

 

[Krokodil]

Bosnia: presumably Banja Luka qualifies as a capital as well as Sarajevo. How much of the two sides is actually operating with electric power?

All passenger services are electric except for Doboj - Petrovo - Tuzla (no passenger services have crossed the internal border since Covid, and international passenger services ceased a few years before that). There are still a few pockets of industrial steam.

 

[D6130]

Has anyone mentioned Praha to Kladno, Dobris and Cercany? Although these routes start off on electrified lines, as far as I know they are still diesel-worked and bring diesel-hauled or railcars services into and out of Praha Hvalni Nadrazi.

 

[30907]

Has anyone mentioned Praha to Kladno, Dobris and Cercany? Although these routes start off on electrified lines, as far as I know they are still diesel-worked and bring diesel-hauled or railcars services into and out of Praha Hvalni Nadrazi.

They are - though I wouldn't call them main lines.

 

[D6130]

though I wouldn't call them main lines.

True....unless, of course you live in Vrane-nad-Vlatavou!

 

[Jamesrob637]

All passenger services are electric except for Doboj - Petrovo - Tuzla (no passenger services have crossed the internal border since Covid, and international passenger services ceased a few years before that). There are still a few pockets of industrial steam.

View attachment 146735

Still steam in nearly 2024?!

 

[181]

Still steam in nearly 2024?!

Quite likely -- the latest report here is from October 2022 and there was still a small amount of steam activity then. Not surprisingly the trend has been downwards, but only slowly, so it may well still be going. (If you count fireless locomotives, there is working steam nearer the UK than that).

 

[Krokodil]

Still steam in nearly 2024?!

Yep, I took these photos in October 2022 and it still soldiers on - there should be another tour group in May 24 if you've got a couple of grand to spare. The thing is that oil supplies rely on imports that could be disrupted, whereas coal is mined locally. Keep mining coal (and maintain a strategic reserve of steam locos in case you can't fuel your diesels any more) and Tuzla Thermal Power Station can keep the lights on.

 

[Richard Scott]

There seems to be a lot of barrel scraping going on here so I'd like to nominate Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man. The main line south to Port Erin remains totally unelectrified.

Ok, how about Pristine in Kosovo?
There are lots of diesel hauled trains out of Bucharest although the line is electrified for a reasonable distance.

Yep, I took these photos in October 2022 and it still soldiers on - there should be another tour group in May 24 if you've got a couple of grand to spare. The thing is that oil supplies rely on imports that could be disrupted, whereas coal is mined locally. Keep mining coal (and maintain a strategic reserve of steam locos in case you can't fuel your diesels any more) and Tuzla Thermal Power Station can keep the lights on.

View attachment 146755View attachment 146756View attachment 146757

Can do this without spending a couple of grand on a tour. Hire a car, get a Bosnian SIM card and off you go, we did exactly that in 2021.

 

[181]

Or about main lines of the calibre of the Chiltern Line leading out of European capitals where diesel trains run? The Ostbahn out of Berlin is probably the best candidate

Yes, but that is stretching it as a comparison, with its basic hourly service (ignoring the S-bahn) from a suburban station (Lichtenberg).

I wondered whether the Paris-Belfort line mentioned upthread might (TGVs notwithstanding) still count as more of a main line than that, and although:

The last diesel workings out of Paris were from Est to Troyes/Provins on the one-time main line to Belfort, but AFAIK these are all covered by bi-modes now.

I thought electrification only covered the immediate Paris area. But French Wikipedia tells me that the wires now go significantly further out.

 

[Krokodil]

Can do this without spending a couple of grand on a tour. Hire a car, get a Bosnian SIM card and off you go, we did exactly that in 2021.

That won't get you inside the workshops, washeries, pit heads, and signal boxes. Nor will it get the narrow gauge locos out to play.

 

[Richard Scott]

That won't get you inside the workshops, washeries, pit heads, and signal boxes. Nor will it get the narrow gauge locos out to play.

Got in the workshop just by asking! Narrow gauge steam and diesel also out working! Only thing out of that we didn't see was the pit head and inside signal box!