This blog post has remained unchanged since it was written in 2024. It has largely been superceeded by my #CrossChannelRail Project Final Report TL;DR – whatever you read in the press about future long distance train services through the Channel Tunnel is at best only part of the truth, because […]
Once in a while someone gives you an idea so simple you wonder why you never thought of it yourself. “Jon, did you ever think of making a board game to explain the problems with international rail in Europe?” the producer of a documentary I am working on asked me […]
It’s one of the most common questions I field from journalists: “would more private companies help with the state of the railways in Europe?” And rather than a yes or no, my answer is instead “I’m not sure“. That puts me in a strange position – I take no position […]
This week’s schedule: Tuesday – train Berlin-Bruxelles Wednesday – train Bruxelles-Maastricht-Bruxelles Friday – train Bruxelles-Berlin Three countries. Borders I have crossed dozens of times before. But not altogether simple when it comes to the railway connections. At least I know that for all of these countries all trains will reliably […]
At opposite ends of Germany there are two cross border railways where tickets for the trains are wonderfully simple – from Gronau (Nordrhein-Westfalen) to Enschede (Netherlands), and from Freilassing (Bayern) to Salzburg (Austria). At two other borders – Kehl (Baden-Württemberg) to Strasbourg (France), and Forst Lausitz (Brandenburg) to Żary (Poland) […]
Before we can really scale up night trains in Europe, someone (other than ÖBB!) has to order some new trains. This is the argument I have been making for some time on my Trains for Europe site. So it was good to have the FT examine the subject. The piece […]