A week ago the #CrossBorderRail 2025 finale ended, and I am writing this post back in Ravières, and this is a kind of quick stock take. The finale encompassed 25000km on 168 trains, more than 1000km on the Birdy folding bike, and a mass of experience and lessons learned that […]
Bulgaria
#CrossBorderRail the finale 2025: route now set, journey starts 6th June
Three short years ago when planning the first tour that was known as #CrossBorderRail, little did I know this would be the start of a project that would become a good part of my professional life in the years in between. That list of 95 rail borders investigated in 2022 […]
A story of two tunnels: Kriva Palanka to Gyushevo, and the Channel Tunnel
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 […]
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 […]
The 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 […]
North 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, […]