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 […]
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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 […]
Read MoreWhat next for #CrossBorderRail?
At the time of writing the #CrossBorderRail project has taken me to 258 international railway lines in Europe (all mapped here). Not bad for a small crowd funded project that has been going for just over two years. Through sheer perseverance and energy invested, I have somehow become the go […]
Read MorePress coverage, interviews and presentations from #CrossBorderRail South East Europe 2024
At the somewhat dilapidated border station Šíd (Serbia, border to Croatia) I sat and talked with the freelance journalist Thomas Roser – he is based in Beograd. This resulted in 5 articles in the German speaking press – 4 in Germany, 1 in Austria. Frankfurter Rundschau Bahn in Europa: Letzter […]
Read More30 trains costing €376 million for France-Germany services – parked up without any prospect of operations until 2027
Regional rail services between France and Germany are poor, but change is supposed to be around the corner. A fleet of new Régiolis trains for the these services has been ordered and built (and I set out to find them) but when the operations of these trains will start, and […]
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 MoreCrowd funding concluded, new event in Zagreb, and first press reactions
I’m writing on a grey Tuesday morning in Novi Grad at the north western corner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and yesterday evening was one of those magical but melancholy moments in this #CrossBorderRail project. I’d crossed Republika Srpska throughout the day, on worn but charming trains, and then hopped on […]
Read MoreRail Baltica: better informed but none the wiser
There is was. The sign in the middle of nowhere: Kaisma. The village of 119 inhabitants that is to get a Rail Baltica station. The village – if you can call it that – was a little further on. A cluster of houses and a bus stop. And then even […]
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 […]
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