France

The accessibility problems with Alstom’s new TGV-M train – with implications for future Channel Tunnel operators

There is no way to sweeten this: my original conclusion that Alstom’s Avelia Horizon (known as TGV-M with SNCF) is not legal at higher station platforms outside France was incorrect. Because transparency and correcting my errors matters to me, you can read the original blog entry in full here – […]

Read More

#CrossChannelRail is GO! The future of long distance services through the Channel Tunnel

For the past three summers, #CrossBorderRail journeys have happened every summer. So far I have been to 288 international railway lines in Europe, and – with a bit of experience now! – I know how to run these projects. But, I wondered, why not apply the same method to one […]

Read More

#CrossBorderRail looks at the Channel Tunnel – #CrossChannelRail will be the first project for 2025

A full project page about #CrossChannelRail is now available here!   Little did I know when I wrote it! My long analysis of through trains through the Channel Tunnel written a year became an unlikely hit – it’s the most read blog entry I have ever written. However there is […]

Read More

VDV on cross border re-activation of lines – nice idea, details more sketchy

The Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (VDV) (Association of German Transport Companies) has a detailed new website about reactivation of railway lines, and a PDF report with more detail. And one aspect of their proposals are cross-border reactivations that they have been publicising with the little infographic that I reproduce here. So […]

Read More

VDV zur Reaktivierung grenzüberschreitender Bahnstrecken – schöne Idee, Details noch unklar

(Dieser Artikel wurde mit Hilfe von Deepl aus dem Englischen übersetzt und leicht korrigiert) Der Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (VDV) hat eine ausführliche neue Website über die Reaktivierung von Eisenbahnstrecken und einen PDF-Bericht mit weiteren Details veröffentlicht. Ein Aspekt ihrer Vorschläge sind grenzüberschreitende Reaktivierungen, die sie mit der kleinen Infografik, die […]

Read More

A partial #CrossBorderRail success – Deutsche Bahn Sparpreis cheap tickets now work to Strasbourg and to some other destination in Eastern France

Credit to one of my students at TU Braunschweig, Roland Sivonen, for discovering this one – Deutsche Bahn’s cheap Sparpreis train tickets now work correctly from Germany to Strasbourg, and some other new destinations in France as well. In this blog post I am going to explain how this change can […]

Read More

“Summer 2025” for the new Régiolis trains France-Germany – Leroy and Hermann are just picking dates at random

So the new Régiolis trains are going to be running on France-Germany routes in “Summer 2025” according to Transport Minister, Baden-Württemberg Winfried Hermann and President of Région Grand Est, Franck Leroy. They may as well be picking dates at random. It is all because of delayed approval of the trains […]

Read More