When I went to Kumanovo in June of 2024 and found a railway station half complete, I must admit I did not think trains would run there any time soon. But this week I was proven wrong – the first part of the line that will eventually connect Skopje ion […]
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Provisional planning: #CrossBorderRail the EU’s eastern borders June 2025
While the #CrossChannelRail project for March-April is my main short term task, I have also been wondering about “completing” the #CrossBorderRail project in 2025. There are about 80 railway borders in Europe that I have not examined yet that are worth looking at, and the vast majority of them are […]
Read MoreThe best photos from #CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024
Finally I am done sorting and uploading photos from #CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024 In this post there is one photo from each of the days, and a link to the full Flickr album from that day – to give an idea of this weird and wonderful journey! Day -02 […]
Read MoreNorth Macedonia’s phantom rail line, and why I am worried they’re repeating the error at the other end of the country
The railway line from Thessaloniki (Greece) to Bitola (North Macedonia) via Florina has a long history. It was completed in 1894, before the Balkan Wars in 1913 resulted in the final 17km ending up in Yugoslavia. Trains continued to run on the cross border section until 1987, and then ceased, […]
Read More9th July 19:00 CEST – presentation of the first conclusions of #CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024
The research phase of #CrossBorderRail 2024 is done, so now it is time to start to assess what I learned. The first conclusions will be presented in a public webinar at 19:00 CEST on 9th July. The webinar has now concluded, and you can view it here: The slides that […]
Read More#CrossBorderRail South East Europe starts 26 May – how to follow the project
Sunday 26 May, at about 6am, I will hop on the faithful Birdy folding bike and cycle from Ravières to Montbard – the first of about 125 stages of #CrossBorderRail. Over the 5 weeks that follow I will travel more than 13000km, and investigate 35 new railway borders, most of […]
Read MorePostcards during #CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024
During my #CrossBorderRail projects in 2022 and 2023 I sent postcards throughout the trips. In 2022 European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean even received a postcard from me every single day of the project! For #CrossBorderRail 2024 I am going to be repeating the postcards, with a slightly different format. […]
Read MoreDetails of the events on the South East circuit
Trying to plan events while in the middle of a complex railway trip has not been easy, but now I am happy to announce the events during the South East circuit of the project, starting 19th July. Please note in particular the changes on 20 July – with the Wien event […]
Read MoreHectic planning as the start of the project draws closer!
The start of #CrossBorderRail is now less than 3 weeks away, and the planning is reaching a hectic phase! The biggest news is that it is now possible to signup for the events in these locations: Berlin ?? (pre-departure) Brussels ?? Valenciennes ?? Den Haag ?? København ?? Stockholm ?? […]
Read MoreA small step forward for rail in Greece, so now Athens is on my itinerary
When I originally did the planning for the #CrossBorderRail project I thought it was going to be impossible to get all the way to Athens. But now – thanks to a timetable change by TrainOSE, the Greek railways – I have been able to reorganise the South East loop so […]
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