After making contact with some Dutch commmunity rail colleagues I ended up making a little diversion – and visiting the 12th country of this trip. I realised that Aachen was only a couple of hours by rail from an award winning station which I’ve had the pleasure to judge in the community rail awards but never been able to visit. Deurne.

So, this morning I put that right by crossing the border on a two hour long trip via Eindhoven. I’ve not travelled on Dutch mational rail operator NS (Nederlands Spoorwegen) for several years and certainly not in 1st Class. I must admit, it was a little underwhelming and also rather dated. Most of my trips were on their double-deck EMUs, where the  upper deck is split 60/40 with standard class. The biggest difference is in 1st you get 2+1 seating and a bit more legroom. Power sockets are provided but there’s only one between a pair of seats. If you’re in a solo seat you’re stuffed!

Still, the sun was shining, it was an easy 2 hour journey via Eindhoven and the reception I got at stationspark Deurne from Michel Lintermans and his wife Frieda was worth the trip! As well as a tour of their community station garden and artwork – I also got fed some regional delicacies!

Whilst this was my 12th country since leaving the UK it was the first where I’ve encounterd ticket barriers like these at Eindhoven Centraal.

Oh, another observation about Dutch railways. Toilets.

I went for a pee on the train but found both toilets were out of use. Annoying, but We were only a few minutes away from Heerlen where I was changing trains. Only both station toilets were knackered too. Bugger! As I wasn’t going to risk being caught short again if the bogs were screwed on the next train I ended up having a pee off the end of one of the platforms. That’s fine for me as a bloke, but what about women?