iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 01/10/2026

Turns out that Past Me has already gone to the effort of setting up the groundwork for connecting Sweden up to my website 👀

Screenshot of a folder called "data", containing another folder called "temp" and then 4 JSON text files. These are named fi.json, gb.json, nl.json, and sv.json - the last of which is highlighted.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 24/09/2026

Ever seen a train cab mockup consisting /only/ of the side doors on all 4 sides? Now you have 😆

Photo of a square train cab mock-up on a small wheeled platform. All 4 sides of the square have a small wall with a different design of door, and some have a window too.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 18/09/2026

Now to mix in some GB data...

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 27/08/2026

Someone (me) has been having a bit too much fun with railway open data again... 🇫🇮🇦🇹

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 24/07/2026

Wondering if anyone could help with some reference photos of SBB departure boards? I am in particular looking for how to represent services that: - Terminate short of, extend beyond, or divert away from their destination - Have additional/cancelled stops (I have this in French, but not in EN/DE/IT)

Partial screenshot of an official SBB departure board, showing an 07:05 IR90 service to Brig, with additional yellow text underneath that says "Arrêt à Leuk", translating to "Stops at Leuk".

Partial screenshot of another official SBB departure board, showing an 05:04 IR95 service to Brig, with additional yellow text underneath that says "Ne s'arrête pas à Leuk", translating to "Not stopping at Leuk".

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/07/2026

I love me some line numbers, but I must admit it is tricky for me to reverse-engineer them onto a timetable not built around them - but not for a lack of trying! 😅 (Not quite sure what's happened to the Heathrow Express label here - will investigate when I'm done with lunch)

Partial screenshot of cis.arturs.co.uk showing an SBB-style departure board at London Paddington. The different Elizabeth line routes are labelled S10/S11/S12 depending on their route, and Heathrow Express has a bright red italic "HEX" label, although the acronym is repeated twice for some reason.
Some of the station names are also translated into German-ish

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/07/2026

I should clarify that I have slightly modified the departure board for the benefit of non-railway nerds at EMF, which I'll roll back afterwards. Mostly the fact that it's showing company logos instead of train categories like S/R/RE/IR/IC (which are themselves still a work in progress)

Partial screenshot of cis.arturs.co.uk showing an SBB-style departure board for Leeds, showing various trains. On the left they have Swiss-style train categories labelled, such as R for local trains, IR for inter-regional trains, and IC for inter-city trains. Some of the destinations have also been given some German-style names, such as York Hauptbahnhof

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/07/2026

Hello! Yes probably at some point - I don't have a list that I'm working through, but rather just whatever I feel like/have the best reference photos for. I do however already have a PIS simulator for the ICEs! (Slightly oddly cropped due to me being on my mobile - sorry) cis.arturs.co.uk

Screenshot of cis.arturs.co.uk showing the DB ICE simulator, with information for East Midlands Railway service 1F16, and part of its calling pattern.

Screenshot of cis.arturs.co.uk showing the DB ICE simulator, with a map of the train between its origin at London St Pancras and its first stop at Market Harborough

Screenshot of cis.arturs.co.uk showing the DB ICE simulator, with the next stop of Market Harborough for this service, with an advert for EMF underneath it

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/07/2026

Another day at #EMF2026, another departure board design - this time from Switzerland's own SBB. Unfortunately the calling patterns from Ledbury are either only 1 station (Hereford), or too many to list on my computer monitor, so only Colwall makes the cut for screen size

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 18/07/2026

Today we are... *spins wheel* ...French! 🇫🇷🥖

Photo of the departure board monitor on display inside the welcome tent at Electromagnetic Field festival. It is modelled after SNCF's departure boards with blue background lines of alternating darkness, and the word "depárts" written vertically on the right-hand side.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 17/07/2026

My little contribution to #EMF2026 - a lil departure board in the welcome tent, showing Ledbury train departures in the style of Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Photo of a computer monitor up on a stand inside a white tent. On the monitor is a departure board in the style of Dutch NS. Next 5 trains from Ledbury are shown in rows of alternating white and light blue backgrounds. At the bottom is a bright yellow section with a "Trains at Ledbury" title, and a warning about train running between Reading/Didcot Parkway and Oxford being delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Selfie of me wearing transparent glasses and a white Uniqlo TfL-branded T-shirt, stood in front of the departure board

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 17/06/2026

Who needs generative AI when you can poorly slap 2 photos together using Instagram's story editor

Deliveroo promotional image showing a phone with a screenshot of the Deliveroo app, showing the progress of a delivery order. Next to the estimated arrival time is a small photo of Cher on a bicycle

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 10/06/2026

Meanwhile my fatass getting annoyed at not being able to find the Nando's pin...

Screenshot of an email from Google Maps, saying that my updated location has had 10,000 total views, about the Greenford Nando's that I corrected on the 13th of March. A map shows 2 pins on the Greenford West Way shopping centre, with 1 where the pin was originally (the middle of the car park) and where I moved it to (the actual Nando's). A subtitle at the bottom says "Your update is helping in a big way"

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 20/05/2026

While in the area, had a few rides on the Enoden Electric Railway too - particularly love the bit that runs along the Sagami Bay coast

Photo of an Enoden 1000-series train approaching the terminal station Fujisawa on the elevated single-track line that bends and curves around other buildings. The roof of the station building forms an arch over the track and casts a shadow on the platform, so the train and the buildings and trees around it really pop.

Photo of an Enoden 300-series train pulling out of Enoshima station heading towards Fujisawa, entering a level crossing over a road.

Photo of an Enoden line 1000-series train running on the line parallel to a road and the Sagami Bay, with pretty big waves crashing towards the beach shore, out of view behind the elevated road.

Photo of 2 Enoden line trains side by side in a passing loop, as most of the line is single-track. On the left is a 2000-series train travelling away from the camera with red tail-lights at the back, and on the right is a 20-series train stood still waiting for the signal to enter the single-track line, with a single big headlight illuminated at the front.
The line runs right next to a pedestrian pavement with only a small knee-height fence, although it starts to curve away from the path and behind some trees further from the camera.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 20/05/2026

Look at these two adorable cuties 🇯🇵🚟🇩🇪

Close-up photo of the side of one of the Shōnan Monorail carriages in a platform. Stickered onto the side is an illustration of both a Shōnan Monorail car and a Wuppertal Schwebebahn car, anthropomorphised and shown to be smiling and holding hands.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 20/05/2026

Had a little jolly on Wuppertal Schwebebahn's sister danglebahn today - the Shōnan Monorail!

Photo of Shōnan Monorail unit 5602 pulling into the terminal station Shōnan-Enoshima. The train is suspended above a background of green trees and shrubbery, with some of the platform visible at the bottom, which consists of a passenger platform on either side of a lowered gap where the train hovers. To either side is a dispatch mirror, and on one side the departing signal, currently showing a red aspect.
The train itself is silver, with black trim around the tall windows, and some pinkish-red highlights under and above the windows.

Selfie of me stood in front of the same train pulling into the same station, but now with the first carriage in the platform. I'm wearing a light grey t-shirt with dark green shoulders and a dark red collar, some sunglasses, and a vague attempt at a smile.

Photo of the same train earlier in the day, pulling into one of the intermediate stations. The track is suspended high above a road.
Crucially here you can see that the main part of the line (to the left, where the train is coming from) is single-track, splitting up into a passing loop at most stations to allow trains to travel in both directions. In this photo the front carriage of the train is passing through a switch crossing in the track above, going into the platform further away from the camera to the right, while the crossing is blocked for the platform closer to the camera.

Photo of train 5608 approaching another intermediate station on the Shōnan Monorail. This station is single-track with no crossings on either side, so trains in both directions use the same platform. This train is almost identical but has orange highlights instead of pinkish-red ones. On approach to the station, the train is passing above a residential road on a big sweeping curve, with everything expect the front carriage blocked from view by some large support columns.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 07/05/2026

Obvs had to chase down both of the Super Mario Shinkansen trains while staying in Kyushu 🍄🐢⭐🚄

Photo of JR Kyushu's class N700S Shinkansen wrapped in a colourful Super Mario livery, in a platform at Takeo-Onsen preparing to take me to Nagasaki. The livery is mostly red with a thick blue stripe across the bottom, with lots of large Mario stickers of him in different poses.

Selfie of me in front of the same red Super Mario Shinkansen train, with some half-height platform edge doors between me and the train.

Photo of JR Kyushu's 800 series Shinkansen, also decorated with lots of Super Mario characters and items, but this time just stickers on a plain white background.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 05/05/2026

3/10 the Shard is pointier

Photo of the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, poking out through trees both above and below. Behind the tower is a perfectly clear light blue sky.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 05/05/2026

Spotted Croydon's trams and S&DR's Locomotion both featured in Korea's Railroad Museum 🚂👀

Photo of an information board in the outdoor tram area of Korea's Railroad Museum. The infographic is all in Korean, but prominently features photos of 4 trams in various European cities, with the top right being a red tram in Croydon, labelled in Korean simply as "UK". Also pictured are trams from Italy (top left), Germany (bottom left), and France (bottom right).

Photo from inside the main exhibition building of the Korean Railroad Museum, in the section about the global history of railways. One of the items on display is a small model of Locomotion No. 1, the first passenger steam locomotive of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in the UK.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/03/2026

That's certainly one way to keep a carriage door open ☕

Photo inside a VY FLIRT train carriage, looking at the top of a door between carriages. At the very top is a stack of 55 single-use hot drink cups, jammed horizontally between the 2 doors to force them to stay open.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 25/02/2026

Now this is super exciting! Did have a bit of a fright today when I got an email saying that our ICN 1959 was cancelled, but fortunately it was simply re-numbered and re-timed to be IC 37069 instead (whoever put the schedule in seemingly forgot to label it a night train) bsky.app/profile/simo...

Photo of a Trenitalia E.464 class electric locomotive stood on track 12 at Roma Termini station, with passengers on the platform walking towards the InterCity Notte carriages in the distance. The platform departure board advertises this as the InterCity 37069 train to Palermo Centrale, scheduled to depart at 23:25, expected to be 5 minutes late.

Photo inside our cabin on the InterCity Notte train. There are 2 beds folded down, with a third at the top folded up and away.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 24/02/2026

Dragging Simon off for a not-so-little (despite his claims 😆) jaunt down onto the continent 🚆

Selfie of myself and Simon in front of an e320 Eurostar train on the platforms at London St Pancras, with a still very dark sky in the background.

Selfie of myself in front of an SNCF TGV Neo Duplex on a platform at Paris Gare de Lyon station.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 27/01/2026

Came up north for a few hours in 🇩🇰 Helsingør... Then saw how quick, cheap, and convenient the ferry over to 🇸🇪 Helsingborg is, and have unexpectedly ended up on my way to Sweden... 😆

Photo of Oresundslinjen's "Hamlet" ferry docked in Helsingør, taken through a window of the pedestrian boarding bridge.

Photo onboard Hamlet, looking through the window out over the water.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 26/01/2026

Love this silly little metro station in Copenhagen that has a bunch of platform furniture littered all over the walls and ceiling 😆

Photo taken from the platform at Havneholmen metro station looking up towards the mezzanine concourse and the ticket hall. On the walls and ceilings are various clocks, departure boards, wayfinding signs, bins, benches, and smartcard validators hanging sideways or upside down. The departure boards actually show real arrival information, mimicking the screens on the platforms themselves. The clocks are all spinning quickly showing different random times.

Selfie of me on an escalator at Havneholmen station, going down from the ticket hall to a mezzanine concourse, and again there are various bits of platform furniture littered across the walls behind me. I am wearing a white t-shirt, dark blue jumper, dark blue coat, and a dark cyan beanie hat.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 26/01/2026

Where can I get myself one of these 🤔

Photo of a track trolley in the Danish Railway Museum. This particular one looks a bit like a bicycle, with two wheels, pedals, a seat and handlebars all above the right-hand rail, and a bar extending off to the left for one wheel on the left-hand rail. A dressed up mannequin sits on top of the trolley. In the background is an old train carriage with the letters DSB on the side.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 26/01/2026

Ticked off another railway museum, this time in Denmark 🇩🇰 140kr for adults, but there's plenty to see and read about - with most signage in both Danish and English, plus a bit of German. You can go inside most vehicles including various cabs and carriages, and there's a whole exhibit on Interrail!

Photo of my hand holding a leaflet from the Danish Railway Museum. In the background is a replica of the first railway locomotive in Denmark, with the original having been scrapped centuries ago.

Photo of the entrance to an exhibit on Interrail in the Danish Railway Museum. Projected onto the wall is a map of Denmark with all the railway lines highlighted, and to the left is an introduction to the exhibit titled "Inexpensive train travel for the young generation" with lots of photos of young people travelling by train.

Photo of a red DSB diesel locomotive and a black steam engine, side-by-side. In the background you can see part of a brown freight trailer carriage.

Selfie of me inside the cab of the diesel engine from the previous photo. Projected onto the windows is a view of a station with passengers waiting to board this train.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 25/01/2026

Quirky interchange at Lindaunis bridge in northern Germany: the main bridge is being rebuilt, with a temporary bridge only open to pedestrians. The Kiel-Flensburg railway line has been severed, with temporary stations constructed on either side to allow people to connect between the north and south

Screenshot of the Google Earth app, showing the Lindaunis bridge over the Schlei in north Germany. The land juts out with piers from the north and south, with a bridge connecting the two. The bridge has a visible gap in it for ships to pass when open.

Photo taken from the Lindaunis bridge looking towards the south. A train sits in the temporary station/platform with "Kiel Hbf" on its destination display. In front of the train is a set of temporary red/white road barriers to block access to the track from the bridge. It is very dark outside with the sky pitch black, and the only light coming from a few street lamps and from the train's red taillight.

A photo taken on Lindaunis bridge looking north, with the rails abruptly ending due to a temporary footbridge overlayed on top of the normal bridge deck. It's very dark outside, with bright white LED lights lighting up the bridge.

Photo taken from the north end of the bridge looking north. Like on the south end, in the distance a train sits in a temporary station/platform, this time with "Flensburg" on its destination display. Again there are red/white road barriers blocking access to the track for pedestrians.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 23/01/2026

First international trip of 2026! 🚢

Photo of the Stena Hollandica ferry, as seen through a slightly dirty window of the Harwich International port waiting area. There is a pedestrian walkway bridge partially obscuring the ferry.

Selfie of me in my cabin of the Stena Hollandica ferry. I am in the foreground wearing a white shirt, dark blue jumper, making a peace sign with my other hand. In the background is the interior cabin with a large circular mirror on the back wooden wall, a double bed on one side, and the corner of a red sofa poking out of the other side.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 01/01/2026

Finally up-to-date on logging all of my public transport travels in 2025... so of course I had to create a Spotify-style Wrapped for the year 😆

Image of some of my travel statistics. At the top is a screenshot of a map showing all of my journeys around Europe. Below is a list of my top travelled countries (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Netherlands) and my top operators (Eurostar, Elizabeth line, Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, and Renfe). Below that are a few more stats: distance travelled is 96,047km; hours spent travelling is 1,283; countries visited is 26; and border crossings is approx 123.

List of 7 transport modes in order from most to least travelled: train at 87,359km; metro at 2,597km; plane at 2,465km; ferry at 1,224km; bus at 2,165km; tram at 225km; and aerialway at 12km. Each mode has a photo alongside it to represent that mode of transport.

List of my top 5 operators for the year - in photo grid form at the top, then as a list at the bottom. Eurostar at 12,445km; Elizabeth line at 10,430km; Deutsche Bahn at 9,194km; SNCF at 4,858km; and Renfe at 4,805km.

List of my most travelled on transport vehicles - in this case they're all trains. Eurostar e320 at 10,836km; Elizabeth line Class 345 at 10,413km; Germany's ICE 3neo at 3,254km; Austria's Class 1116 locomotive at 3,161km; and Germany's ICE 4 at 2,898km.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 19/12/2025

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the Romford ROC! Our reception tree has 2 cute little gnome friends 🎄

Photo of a decorated Christmas tree in the reception of Romford ROC. Stood next to the tree is a cute little gnome, with another smaller gnome on top of the tree.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 18/11/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 18/11/2025

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

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 17/11/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 05/11/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 01/11/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 31/10/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 31/10/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 14/10/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 27/09/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 02/09/2025

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.

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 25/08/2025

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

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Arturs Dobrecovs @arturs.co.uk · 13/08/2025

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.

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