Arturs Dobrecovs
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arturs.co.uk
Arturs Dobrecovs
@arturs.co.uk
650 followers 130 following 380 posts
Queer 21y/o working in a railway control room, and occasionally the voice of announcements.

Views expressed here are entirely my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸🇺🇦
he/they
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arturs.co.uk
Went on a snowy hike through a forest, and now I shall cross the border into Sweden by foot! I am indeed on the southbound sleeper tonight, but only heading a few stops down for a hotel overnight, so I'll be in the seats instead of a cabin
Photo of an entrance path to a forest with a big wooden sign, showing 2 posters about a hiking path. There's a small fence on either side, a thick layer of snow on the ground and atop the trees, and a pretty well-trodden path in the snow. Photo of tall tree tops covered in snow, with light white and somewhat pinky-orangy clouds in the light blue sky Photo of a long gap in trees, with a power line cutting through it off into the distance. The sun is setting in the background, and there's lots of snow on the ground and on the trees.
November 18, 2025 at 11:40 AM
arturs.co.uk
A very good (and cold) morning from Kolari - the northernmost point of Finland's public railway network!
Selfie of me on the bottom right, stood on a very snowy platform in Kolari, with the sleeper train behind me on the right. In the background is the grey station building with a few cars parked out front, and in the far background is a cloudy orange and light grey sky. I am wearing an orange hat and a dark blue windbreaker jacket
November 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
arturs.co.uk
Well this is a rather exciting thing to be doing tonight! 🛌🚆💤
Photo of a green VR locomotive at the country-end of track 8 at Helsinki station. Attached to the rear of it but mostly out of view is an old white and blue VR sleeper carriage. Close-up photo of the information screen on the side of a double-decker VR train. It shows that this is coach 42 of train P269, with a destination of Kolari via Tammerfors. Photo inside my sleeper room, with a bunk bed on the left; small seat, table, and window in the rear. Attached to the top bunk are 2 vertical black straps to prevent someone from falling off. On the wall on the left is a light switch, a plug socket, and a temperature switch. On the bottom bed are 2 towels, a bottle of water, and a paper menu. Photo of my hand holding the key to my sleeper room, in front of the lock and door. The key is a rectangular piece of plastic divided in half horizontally. The bottom is a solid square, while the top has a bunch of punch-card holes in a unique pattern.
November 17, 2025 at 6:40 PM
arturs.co.uk
Not stopping at SNCF...

Also massive thanks to @chiel.uk for putting some effort into helping translate several hundred GB cancellation reasons into Dutch 🤪
Screenshot of the Oxford departure board, but in the style of Dutch NS screens. The 20:56 service to Banbury is labelled with the text "Rijdt niet door een defecte trein", which translates to "Cancelled due to a broken down train". The yellow banner at the bottom contains the National Rail Enquiries notice about trains through Banbury being cancelled or delayed up to 60 minutes - this message is also translated into Dutch.
November 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM
arturs.co.uk
Oh and of course I couldn't miss this photo opportunity...
bsky.app/profile/artu...
Photo of my hand holding my phone sideways, showing my digital SNCF-style departure board for a UK station (London Paddington, in this case). In the blurry background is the concourse of Lille Europe station, featuring an official SNCF departure board in the same style but for actual French trains.
November 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM
arturs.co.uk
I may be getting a bit carried away... 😆

National Rail Enquiries notices can now be automatically translated into French too, courtesy of Microsoft's free Azure plan
Screenshot of the bottom of my SNCF-style arrival board. Across the bottom is a yellow information bar with scrolling text about disruption at Liverpool Central station. This text was automatically translated into French.
October 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
arturs.co.uk
I may have made something a tad bit silly over the last few days... 😄
Screenshot of a rail departure board on a rotated Android device. The train information displayed is for trains in England (specifically Elizabeth line, London Overground, and Greater Anglia trains), but looks like an SNCF departure board from France. Some of the station names have been partially translated - "London" replaced with "Londres", and "Airport" replaced with "Aéroport". Screenshot similar to the other one, but this time it's an arrivals board showing trains at London Waterloo. At the bottom of the screen, a yellow bar with a scrolling message earns about some escalators being out of service taken from National Rail Enquiries.
October 31, 2025 at 6:36 PM
arturs.co.uk
Had a brief but fun time with @coastwaywill.me and @pacerclara.insanity.tube riding the ex-DLR P86/89 stock in Essen yesterday, before they go away soon to be replaced by newer stock
Photo of an old ex-DLR train pulling into an Essen U-bahn Platform underground. Selfie in front of an old ex-DLR train in Essen. I'm in the foreground in the top right corner, and Will and Clara are stood next to the train in the background. Photo of an old ex-DLR train stopped on a tram-like stop on a street in Essen. Photo of an old ex-DLR train running along tram-like tracks on a tightly curved street in Essen, towards the camera. The sun is starting to set so it's a little bit dark in the background.
October 14, 2025 at 10:47 AM
arturs.co.uk
Post the most recent photo of you in your camera roll.

Instagram's already seen this one, but here's me looking forward to the end of my last of 7 night shifts yesterday morning! 😆😴
Selfie of me in the dark at night. I'm wearing a white T-shirt, lanyard, and black hoodie. Behind me is a birch tree and some bushes, and behind that is the Romford ROC building.
September 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
arturs.co.uk
What is it with so many hotels only having a handful of useless small lights scattered around, instead of having a proper Big Light...

One wishes to be able to actually see what one is doing, especially if it involves packing a bag
A screenshot from Oliver Twist, showing Oliver holding an empty bowl and begging eyes, with the caption "Please sir, may I have some more light?" in a fancy cursive font underneath. In the top left, bottom left, and bottom right corners are some poorly-edited-in photos of table lamps. The entire image has been dimmed down to make it darker.
September 2, 2025 at 8:02 PM
arturs.co.uk
Gone on an overnight trip up north and... somehow managed to bring an EU power brick but not a UK one 🫠🫠
Photo of me holding an EU-type power brick onboard a train, in front of the UK-type power socket
August 25, 2025 at 6:41 PM
arturs.co.uk
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Made my way up the country on ICE trains via Berlin to Essen, partaking in some lovely meals in the DB Bordrestaurant
Photo of my hand holding a DB Bordrestaurant menu sat at a table onboard the train. Photo of a breakfast sandwich on a plate and a bottle of Spezi on a table in the bordrestaurant. Photo of a bowl of currywurst and a roll of bread, as well as a glass and bottle of Spezi, on a table in the bordrestaurant. Photo overlooking the downstairs platform at Berlin Hbf, taken from an overbridge. There is an ICE train in 1 of the platforms, and some passengers mingling about.
August 13, 2025 at 10:53 PM
arturs.co.uk
Day 1️⃣2️⃣ involved a short hop back into Austria on an ÖBB CityJet, followed by an SBB-branded EuroCity train into the second-to-last country for this trip...

# 12 - Germany 🇩🇪
Photo of the front of an ÖBB CityJet train in platform 3 at St Margrethen station, pointing towards Austria. Photo of the pointy front end of an SBB train pulling into a platform. Photo of the front 2 cars of an SBB train in a platform, with mountains in the far background. Photo of the same train taken from the front, behind the buffer stops at Munich Hbf station. A DB double-decker train is on the adjacent track.
August 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
arturs.co.uk
Ended day 11 at St Margrethen... Or is that Newcastle?
Photo of Newcastle's new class 555 Metro trains stored alongside St Margrethen station.
August 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
arturs.co.uk
Quickly got right back on another train heading onwards to Buchs SG, completing the Liechtenstein network, and crossing into

# 11 - Switzerland 🇨🇭

I then ended up walking back over to the road and rail border with Liechtenstein by foot to snap some photos
Photo of another OBB train pulling into the platform at Schaan-Vaduz. Photo of the roof above the entrance to Buchs SG station, with the name on a blue sign with the red SBB logo to its left. Photo of the 2 signs marking the border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein on the road bridge over the Rhine river. The first is a round white sign attached above the handrail, with the Liechtenstein coat of arms printed. The second is a rectangular grey metal sign attached to the fence slats. The words "Liechtenstein" and "Schweiz" are engraved in, with a vertical line between them. Photo of the rail bridge over the Rhine River taken from a distance. An OBB train is crossing with half a carriage on the Swiss side, and the rest still on the bridge. A very tall mountain is faintly visible in the distance.
August 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
arturs.co.uk
Then a regional train over the border into...

# 10 - Liechtenstein 🇱🇮

Got off at Schaan-Vaduz to have a little walk around and enjoy the mountain views.

Why did I come here? Because when I was last here I rode 83% of this teeny little rail network, and the red bit has been bugging me ever since...
Photo of an OBB multiple unit train in platform 1 at Feldkirch station. Photo of the same train pulling out of Schaan-Vaduz station, the sun reflecting in a bright beam off of the top of the rear cab window. Photo of the bicycle shed at Schaan-Vaduz station, which is an old-looking but very well-kept wooden building with a historic station name board up on the side. Screenshot of a map of Liechtenstein, with a line along it showing the railway line between Switzerland and Austria. The bit between Switzerland and Schaan-Vaduz is red, the bit between Schaan-Vaduz and Austria is green. In the top left is a little box with the Liechtenstein flag and name, and "83%".
August 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
arturs.co.uk
Start of the 11th day, yet I've only visited 9 countries... It was time to fix that and catch up!

Made my way back to Bischofshofen, followed by a Rail Jet Express all the way west to Feldkirch - almost on the border with my next country...
Photo of an OBB class 1116 locomotive in a platform at Graz Hbf. In the background on other tracks is a shunt locomotive and a multiple-unit. Photo out of the window of a train with a field of what appears to be wheat, some trees in the distance, and massive mountains in the background. Photo of 2 trains in platforms at Bischofshofen station. In the background are rolling hills, followed by massive rocky mountains behind them.
August 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
arturs.co.uk
Ended the day with some lovely panic at the hotel reception...

Tried to use a self check-in machine but then couldn't pull my bank card out 😭

Fortunately the receptionist came back a few minutes later and was able to get it out for me, then got jealous of my long nails 😅
Close-up photo of a bank card slot of my hotel's self check-in machine. Pretty deep inside the slot is my bank card, with only about a 2cm x 0.5cm surface area that I couldn't grab with my nails
August 9, 2025 at 11:53 AM
arturs.co.uk
You got any games on your phone?
👁️👄👁️
Photo out of the end door window of a train carriage, showing the connected locomotive. The photo is taken with the wide-angle lens, so the train is distorted and looks like it's very up close and personal with you - like when a child is trying to ask to play with your phone.
August 9, 2025 at 11:53 AM
arturs.co.uk
Next up - Bischofshofen.
Now sadly my train ran late so I only had a few minutes at Bischofshofen, so here are some of the beautiful views along the way instead
Photo taken from the window of a train. Immediately out of the window you can see another pair of tracks next to us, and then support columns for a road bridge directly above the railway. Through the columns there are the tops of some very tall trees, followed by a flat field low below, with really big mountains in the far distance. Photo taken from the window of a train looking straight-on at a station name sign at Bischofshofen station. Behind the railway fence there is a really big mountain with lots of tall trees covering it. Photo out of a train window looking forward. You can see the front 2 carriages of the train as it curves off to the right. On the right side of the photo is a road also curving to the right. Between the road and the railway is a steep drop down to a narrow river. There are lots of trees on either side of the railway and road.
August 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM
arturs.co.uk
First stop - Villach.
The station is currently going through some renovation works, and I found the temporary platforms 91 and 92 quite fascinating.
The town and the river Drava made for a lovely walk around for a few hours, and had some time to sneak in a wiener schnitzel for lunch too
Photo of temporary platforms 91 and 92 at Villach Hauptbahnhof. The platform support structure at the bottom is made of wood, and so is the temporary roof, poster boards, and the shelter around the stairs. The signage is all yellow instead of the usual dark blue. Photo of the river Dreva going through Villach. On the right is a floating water fountain installation, in the middle distance is a pedestrian footbridge, with some church towers and mountains visible in the far distance. Photo of a plate of potato chips and a large wiener schnitzel, with a small pot of cranberry sauce and a lemon wedge. Next to the plate is a cocktail.
August 9, 2025 at 11:41 AM
arturs.co.uk
Started where I left off in Wien, and had to finish in Graz by the evening, with a bunch of trains in-between.

I ended up entirely re-writing my original plan for this day only a day prior, and settled on doing a little loop via Villach and Bischofshofen.
Screenshot of a map showing a blue line for the route that I took on this day. Line starts in the top right in Wien with a green pin, going southwest to a number 1 pin in Villach, then northwest to a number 2 pin in Bischofshofen, then east to a red pin at Graz.
August 9, 2025 at 11:41 AM
arturs.co.uk
So I seem to have slipped and am now 2 days behind on posting 😅

Days 1️⃣0️⃣ and 1️⃣1️⃣ were spent mostly travelling around Austria, visiting new areas of the country and making the most of my FIP coupon box. Let's start with 🔟...
Photo of the main entrance to Wien Hauptbahnhof station. Photo of the main entrance to Villach Hauptbahnhof station. Photo of the main entrance to Graz Hauptbahnhof station.
August 9, 2025 at 11:41 AM
arturs.co.uk
An obligatory "other brands are available"... but not in the UK either!
Photo of a grocery store shelf with different soft drink bottles, focusing on bottles of Spezi.
August 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
arturs.co.uk
These machines are however the only way to get your hands on Mezzo Mix in the UK as far as I'm aware 😭😭😭

I desperately need someone to start importing them by the truck-load from Germany plsnthx xoxo
Photo of a grocery store shelf, with lots of 500ml bottles of Mezzo Mix.
August 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM