Guest on #RailNatter with Gareth Dennis – 4 Jan 2023
Han har krydset alle EU’s grænser i tog i 2022. Nu er han mest af alt bare sur
Information – 3 Jan 2023 – Mathias Sonne
Aktivisten Jon Worth har i 2022 kørt Europa tyndt og krydset alle europæiske grænser – med tog. Hans konklusion er deprimerende: Tognettet hænger ofte elendigt sammen. Og trods klimakrisen ser ingen ud til at ændre på det
Europas grønne drøm om en effektiv jernbane afspores ved første landegrænse (€ – Paywall)
Jyllands-Posten – 31 Dec 2022 – Jeppe Reedtz Husted
I sommer passerede britisk-tyske Jon Worth samtlige landegrænser i EU med tog for at finde ud af, hvorfor flere ikke rejser ad skinnerne til deres nabolande. Reaktionen på hans 20 konkrete forslag peger på en endnu større udfordring: Politikerne mangler viljen til at løse de mange små udfordringer, der egentlig er behov for.
The Human Risk Podcast – Rail Activism – 23.12.2022
A wide ranging and more philosophical discussion with Christian Hunt in this podcast, with the focus on the reasons for dysfunction in European Railways. You can listen to the podcast in English here, and recording the podcast prompted me to write this blog post.
Common Ground Berlin Podcast – EPISODE 72: DERAILED – THE TRIBULATIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAIN TRAVEL – 19.12.2022
I was a guest on this podcast together with Nicky Gardner from Hidden Europe. The discussion was more about the challenges railways face in Europe than on the specifics of my project, and there was a general sort of sense of unfulfilled promise of train travel – despite both Nicky and I being regular travellers to interesting parts of Europe. In English, you can listen to it here.
Borders weak spot of rail transport, new report warns
EURACTIV.com – 13 Dec 2022 – Jonathan Packroff
“In Worth’s view, this is not only a question of infrastructure.
“I hear from railway lobbyists all the time: ‘we need more investment in infrastructure’,” he said. “In some parts of Europe, we do.”
“But there are other parts of Europe where we have infrastructure […] which is impeccable but is actually chronically underused,” he added, referring to regional cross-border trains operating only one or two times per day without offering any flexibility to travel at a different time when plans change.”
Wo Bahnfahren Spaß macht – und wo es ein Ärgernis ist (€ – Paywall)
SPIEGEL Chronik 1/2022 – 05.12.2022 – Julia Stanek
“Während das 9-Euro-Ticket einen Bahn-Boom in Deutschland auslöst, reist Vielfahrer Jon Worth in 186 Zügen kreuz und quer durch Europa. Und merkt dabei, woran die Verkehrswende scheitert.”
At the end of each year Spiegel publishes its Chronik – 450000 copies are sold. The interview about #CrossBorderRail is on pages 108-110 of the printed magazine.
Jon Worth: „Wir brauchen eine Bahn für alle“ (€ – Paywall)
Die Presse – 03.12.2022 – Oliver Grimm
“An einem heißen Sonntagnachmittag Ende Juli, auf der Brücke über die Donau, die vom rumänischen Calafat zum bulgarischen Vidin führt, hat sich Jon Worth die unvermeidliche Frage gestellt: Was genau mache ich hier? Zug verpasst, Taxi genommen, dann Reifenplatzer beim Klapprad, das er auf seiner monatelangen Reise quer durch Europa stets mithatte. Es gibt lustigere Sommererlebnisse als dieses, das der 42-jährige Brite im Rahmen seiner EU Borders Rail Tour über sich ergehen lassen musste.”
Also appeared in the printed daily newspaper.
Would you give up planes for these trains? Europe pushes travel that’s climate friendly.
Washington Post – 28.10.2022 – Rick Noack, Meg Kelly, Sandra Mehl
““The number of apps or website tabs you need to have open to even find out how to make some of these trips,” said Berlin-based blogger and train enthusiast Jon Worth, “means it’s basically out of reach of anyone who’s not uber keen.””
The quickest way to facilitate international rail travel is to coordinate timetables and improve booking systems
Parliament Magazine – 24.10.2022 – Helene Dyrhauge
“Yet that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. This summer Jon Worth, a well-known EU railway activist and political analyst, travelled through the EU by rail. Often taking small and regional trains instead of the intercity services, he crossed 95 borders”
‘Always Annoying’: Hassles of Cross-Border Trains Hamper E.U.’s Green Ambitions
New York Times – Erika Solomon – 22.10.2022
““Disappointing,” was his verdict, the ruling perhaps influenced by the shuttered brick train station accumulating cobwebs in the German border town of Seifhennersdorf, not far from the Czech Republic.
By profession, Jon Worth is a university lecturer in political communications. By passion, he is the self-anointed inspector of Europe’s railroads. And he has tasked himself with addressing a dilemma: Why isn’t it easier to traverse European borders by rail?”
What you learn when you cross every EU internal border possible by rail
International Railway Journal – 15.10.2022
“In summer 2022 Jon Worth put international rail travel in the European Union to the test. From Haparanda in the north to Lisbon in the west and Athens in the east, he went everywhere the railway would take him. Here he explains to IRJ the conclusions of his research.”
Spoorweg-activist Jon Worth: ‘In Brussel lobbyt niemand voor de Europese treinreiziger’
Follow the Money – Lukas Kotkamp – 09.10.2022
“Het Europese spoorwegnet is een ratjetoe aan nationale maatschappijen die moeizaam internationaal samenwerken, stelt politiek-blogger en spoorweg-activist Jon Worth. Terwijl Brussel korte vluchten wil verbieden, laat het alternatief – de trein – nog veel te wensen over. Afgelopen zomer reisde Worth per trein door Europa op zoek naar een functionerende internationale infrastructuur: ‘Als je wilt dat mensen internationaal reizen per trein moet dat net zo gemakkelijk zijn als per vliegtuig.’”
How to fix Europe’s railway system? | DW News
29.09.2022
She Drives Mobility / Katja Diehl Podcast – 25.09.2022
Die Diskussion im Podcast mit einem der bekanntesten unabhängigen Verkehrskommentatoren Deutschlands drehte sich um Themen wie Multimodalität bzw. Übergänge zwischen Zuganbieter:innen, Information, Barrierefreiheit, Digitalisierung, Fahrplänen und Taktung. Sie können den Podcast hier anhören (auf deutsch).
Challenges for cross-border railways in Europe
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – 20.09.2022
“So in the summer of 2022 I set about working out whether any of the other 14 of the projects Cramer had listed had any future, but also aimed to go a long way beyond that – to cross every internal border of the European Union you can cross by train in one massive journey, and to see what I could discover on the ground. Where trains do not run any longer I took to my folding bicycle, and armed with a camera and a drone photographed and filmed what I found.”
Verkehrt Podcast – 17.09.2022
Eine facettenreiche und ziemlich lange Diskussion über eine Vielzahl von Eisenbahnthemen im Zusammenhang mit meinem #CrossBorderRail-Projekt. Die Moderatoren haben sich auch mit einigen Fragen an die Europäische Kommission gewandt – die Antworten finden Sie hier, und den Podcast (auf deutsch) können Sie hier anhören!
Langsamfahrt Podcast – 15.09.2022
Dieser Podcast beleuchtet die Schlussfolgerungen des #CrossBorderRail-Projekts aus einer eher betrieblichen und technischen Perspektive als andere Podcasts, in denen ich zu Gast war. Dies ist eher etwas für Leute, die sich mit Eisenbahnen schon sehr gut auskennen. Sie können sich die Folge hier anhören (auf deutsch).
Spaßbremse Podcast – 07.09.2022
Talking about #CrossBorderRail, and more generally the problems with rail in Germany – but some of the upsides too, most notably some of the lessons learned from the 9 Euro Ticket. Listen here (in English)
Dismantling Schengen – half a year at a time
Investigate Europe – 9.9.2022 – Sigrid Melchior, Pascal Hansens, Nico Schmidt, Amund Trellevik and Ingeborg Eliassen
“Railway campaigner Jon Worth has crisscrossed Germany’s borders with Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland by train this summer. He found that border controls happen on main train lines and motorway crossings, but not on the smaller lines or road crossings.
“The controls make no sense,” he says. “They are not helping our security or stopping terrorists, as organised crime can find their way around them with minimal information. They are just a pain that creates delays for everyday people who need to cross those borders.””
Im Takt der Schienen – Nachtzüge in Europa
Deutschlandfunk – 03.09.2022 – Philipp Lemmerich
A detailed report about the state of night trains in Europe. Philipp Lemmerich and I chatted while crossing Czechia by train.
