#CrossChannelRail, my latest project, starts Sunday 16th March and runs until Sunday 6th April. As with all of my #CrossBorderRail projects to date there will be lots of ways to follow it online. Every day there will be a thread on Mastodon – you can follow me @jon@gruene.social there. This […]
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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 MoreNothing beyond London? Why #CrossChannelRail is not going to Birmingham, Nottingham or Newcastle
It was inevitable the question would come: why is my #CrossChannelRail project taking me nowhere in the UK other than London, and along the HS1 line between London and the Channel Tunnel? The simple answer is that I had to draw a line somewhere – I cannot in a three […]
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 MoreA 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 […]
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 MoreFrom Turmantas to Nova Gorica – #CrossBorderRail improvements due in 2025
All of the borders listed are places I have been, and are among my priority borders where problems need to be fixed. I cannot claim credit for having solved any of these, but I am quite sure me repeatedly talking about them – especially Turmantas! – has likely not been […]
Read MoreVDV 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#CrossBorderRail goes to Innotrans (only six new borders en route!)
Innotrans is the world’s largest train fair for the railway industry – it happens every two years in Berlin, and this year it’s on 24-27 Setpember. And yes, I organised my move from Germany from France accordingly – to be able to go before departing Berlin for good! But it […]
Read MoreA 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 […]
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