Why the crowdfunding appeal?

I have to cover the costs of these projects I do about railways – I have no railway company or rich donor backing me, and so I rely on individual donations. MitOst e.V. helps me with the book-keeping. First and foremost I need to cover the costs of the project – the tickets and the accommodation. Once that is covered, the project can go ahead. Then in addition it would be nice to be able to pay myself the minimum wage for the time invested during that project (that does not count the research time to get this whole thing to happen!) And if you cannot help financially, I am very much open to assistance in kind – if you could host me somewhere en route, or organise an event for me for example – please do get in touch!

What is the method?

You can only really understand where and how to fix international railway lines if you have been there and seen the situation on the ground. That is what I do with the #CrossBorderRail project – travel to international railway lines, investigate what I find, meet local people, organise events – and then propose ways the connections could be fixed. Since starting this work in summer 2022 I have been to 200 international railway lines in Europe so far. There are also daily live blogs throughout the trips, and threads on social media (Mastodon and Bluesky). This video gives an impression of what to expect in 2024 – based on what I did in 2022:

Background

In 2022 (Main project) and 2023 (Germany borders, Autumn project) my focus was on internal borders of the European Union. In 2024 I will instead look at non-EU Europe, starting in South East Europe in May and June.

The borders of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo will be the focus – both the borders between them, and their borders with the European Union.

Why this region? Firstly, because all of these countries have the medium term aim of joining the European Union. Second, the geopolitics of infrastructure investment in these countries is fascinating, especially Serbia. Third, there are some amazing border regions and brilliant train routes in this region – and these are places comparatively few people have visited. I have had so many enjoyable times in this region over the years, and I cannot wait to return.

So far this project is in the early stages of planning. A provisional timetable for the route is available in the document PLANNED-routes.xlsx in Nextcloud here, version 9 in the table. The project will happen in between 26 May and 1 July 2024. The list of the borders I aim to cross is at the bottom of the post, and this is the provisional route map (also directly on umap here):

As ever where trains do not run, I will try to cycle across the borders on my folding bicycle instead, but in this region I am going to have to use a lot of buses as well. If you have ideas, tips or something to contribute, or would like to organise an event for me en route please do contact me.

35 borders to be investigated for the first time – roughly in the chronological order I will cross them
Ikla 🇪🇪 – Ainaži 🇱🇻
Future Rail Baltica Ikla 🇪🇪 – Ainaži 🇱🇻
Meitene 🇱🇻 – Joniškis 🇱🇹
(and yes I know these 3 are not in South East Europe – but I have to begin the project in Tallinn – it’s a long story…)
Röszke 🇭🇺 – Horgoš 🇷🇸
Bácsalmás 🇭🇺 – Subotica 🇷🇸
Donja Borina 🇷🇸 – Karakaj 🇧🇦
Metković 🇭🇷 – Čapljina 🇧🇦
Volinja 🇭🇷 – Dobrljin 🇧🇦
Loksun 🇭🇷 – Bihac 🇧🇦
Ilirska Bistrica 🇸🇮 – Šapjane 🇭🇷
Rakitovec 🇸🇮 – Buzet 🇭🇷
Imeno 🇸🇮 – Kumrovec 🇭🇷
Rogatec 🇸🇮 – Hum na Sutli 🇭🇷
Sveti Rog ob Sotli 🇸🇮 – Ðurmanec 🇭🇷
Središce ob Dravi 🇸🇮 – Cakovec 🇭🇷
Kotoriba 🇭🇷 – Murakeresztúr 🇭🇺
Drenovci 🇭🇷 – Brčko 🇧🇦
Slavonski Šamac 🇭🇷 – Šamac 🇧🇦
Beli Manastir 🇭🇷 – Magyarbóly 🇭🇺
Bogojevo 🇷🇸 – Erdut 🇭🇷
Apatin 🇷🇸 – Kupusina 🇭🇷
Apatin 🇷🇸 – Svilojevo 🇭🇷
Jimbolia 🇷🇴 – Kikinda 🇷🇸
Stamora Moravita 🇷🇴 – Vrsac 🇷🇸
Plakovo 🇷🇸 – Jarinjë 🇽🇰
Being constructed – Kumanovo 🇲🇰 – Kriva Palanka 🇲🇰 – Gyueshovo 🇧🇬
Preševo 🇷🇸 – Tabanovce 🇲🇰
Blace 🇲🇰 – Han i Elezit 🇽🇰
Gevelija 🇲🇰 – Idomeni 🇬🇷
Kremenica 🇲🇰 – Neos Kafkasos 🇬🇷
Future Line – Bilisht 🇦🇱 – Kristallopigi 🇬🇷
Future Line – Lin 🇦🇱 – Radozhda 🇲🇰
Future Line – Prizren 🇽🇰 – Kukës 🇦🇱
Tuzi 🇲🇪 – Vukpalaj-Bajze 🇦🇱
Vallorbe 🇨🇭 – Labergement-Sainte-Marie 🇫🇷

Crossed on #CrossBorderRail before
Lille 🇫🇷 – Bruxelles 🇧🇪 HSL
Aachen 🇩🇪 – Welkenraedt 🇧🇪
Lanžhot 🇨🇿 – Brodské 🇸🇰
Zebrzydowice 🇵🇱 – Bohumín 🇨🇿
Nendeln 🇱🇮 – Tisis 🇦🇹
Buchs SG 🇨🇭 – Schaan-Vaduz 🇱🇮
Dobova 🇸🇮 – Savski Marof 🇭🇷
Rosenbach 🇦🇹 – Jesenice 🇸🇮

Crossed before, but not on #CrossBorderRail
Tovarnik 🇭🇷 – Šid 🇷🇸
Dragoman 🇧🇬 – Dimitrovgrad 🇷🇸
Bijelo Polje 🇲🇪 – Kumanica 🇷🇸
Štrpci 🇧🇦 – Mramorje 🇷🇸
Štrpci 🇧🇦 – Jablanica 🇷🇸
Kelebia 🇭🇺 – Subotica 🇷🇸
Štúrovo 🇸🇰 – Szob 🇭🇺