One of the aspects of my #CrossChannelRail report that drew the most reaction was my conclusion that serving Köln Hbf with trains to London was too complicated, and it would better to serve Köln/Bonn Flughafen or Horrem instead – as it would be easier to secure a platform and build […]
Analysis
A little short term subsidy for this or that route is no way to support night trains – lessons from the end of Basel-Malmö before it even started
So there will not be a Basel – Malmö night train from the spring of 2026. Switzerland’s parliament did not approve the subsidy to allow it to run. Without the 10 million CHF the parliament refused to grant to get this going (from a wider fund of 47 million CHF […]
European Rail Passengers Union: lobbying for passengers, cross border
It has been something in the back of my mind for more than a decade: how could railway passengers be better represented to campaign for improvements in international rail? Here’s a piece I wrote in 2014 about the topic. And the issue very much came to a head in 2021 […]
An open letter, and an invoice for €59.94, to Alberto Mazzola, boss of Community of European Railways
Dear Alberto, It is a little odd for me, a blogger and campaigner, to be writing an open letter to you as Executive Director of Community of European Railways (CER). But the combination of circumstances I have faced today on a cross border journey involving trains operated by two of […]
The Avelia Horizon trains Eurostar has ordered from Alstom are not compliant with Channel Tunnel evacuation rules – what can be done about it?
*** This post is an adapted version of one part of my #CrossChannelRail Project Final Report *** Let’s get one thing out of the way first: the problems here are nothing to do with the Avelia Horizon trains being double deck. The loading gauge in the Channel Tunnel and HS1 […]
Renfe, why should we trust a word you say about ticketing?
A post popped up in my Bluesky feed from Renfe: 🚄 Renfe se suma a la declaración conjunta @cer-railways.bsky.social y @eurocities.eu para ✅ Triplicar el tráfico para 2050✅ Conectar todas las capitales y grandes ciudades✅ Billetes integrados y financiación sostenible¡Una Europa más conectada y verde! 🌍🔗 renfe.com/es/es/grupo-… — Renfe (@renfeoperadora.bsky.social) […]
