Jon Worth

Jon Worth

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Bullshit Meter: Arriva NL to run international high speed trains

Bullshit Meter: Arriva NL to run international high speed trains

Here we go again. Arriva NL wants to run direct trains from Netherlands to France, as reported by De Dagelijkse Standaard (this week) and Treinreiziger (in July), and maybe from 2028. Yet in 2023 they said they wanted to do the same, from 2026. Then, as now, they have no

A rail journey to the outer reaches of the EU, and a record to set

Today, finally, the first passenger trains since 1988 have crossed the border bridge between Tornio 🇫🇮 and Haparanda 🇸🇪 (OpenRailwayMap), services finally resuming more than a year after the border bridge was repaired and electrified. When Finnish broadcaster YLE asked me about this connection back in the spring, a little idea was

Forget it. The Caledonian Sleeper is not going to run through the Channel Tunnel

Forget it. The Caledonian Sleeper is not going to run through the Channel Tunnel

There's a higher chance that Scotland becomes independent, and joins the EU and Schengen, than the Caledonian Sleeper is extended through the Channel Tunnel under the current political framework. Really. I am not joking. Whatever the SNP and The Scotsman might say. I know a thing or two

Direct trains Trieste - Beograd

Direct trains Trieste - Beograd

Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini went to meet President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, and promised there would be Trieste - Beograd direct trains. There was no commitment as to when these trains would run, or whether they would be freight or passenger trains. You can read more about it from Ferrovie

Oh deer. An animal strike makes my trip rather Silly

Oh deer. An animal strike makes my trip rather Silly

Today should have been simple enough. A TER train Nuits-sous-Ravières - Paris Bercy, a TGV Paris Nord - Lille Flandres, then SNCB IC trains Lille Flandres - Kortrijk and Kortrijk - Brugge. But a half an hour out of Nuits, bang. The train hits something. I was in the first carriage and

Kyiv-Chișinău train to run every day from end of June onwards

Kyiv-Chișinău train to run every day from end of June onwards

When I took the Kyiv - Chișinău train last summer, I must admit it was not my best journey. Having boarded it just a few kilometres into Ukraine at Mohyliv-Podilskyi, it then crawled its way across Moldova, on a circuitous and slow route via Ungheni to Moldova's capital,

NS to operate trains Amsterdam - Utrecht - Germany from 2028

NS to operate trains Amsterdam - Utrecht - Germany from 2028

This one was widely reported this week, and for once I think this is actually going to happen! The line from the Netherlands - Germany border to Duisburg (OpenRailwayMap) is currently being rebuilt, but once that is done there will be capacity to run some more trains, and at the moment

Beograd - Zagreb - Ljubljana trains back and faster by 2029

Beograd - Zagreb - Ljubljana trains back and faster by 2029

Observer of rail in the Balkans Fabian Vendrig sent me this story about plans to have the infrastructure in place by 2029 to be able to run a Beograd - Zagreb - Ljubljana train with a reasonable trip time, pointing to the renovation of the Ruma - Šid section in Serbia as the

Leo Express Przemyśl - Frankfurt train to start in 2026

Leo Express Przemyśl - Frankfurt train to start in 2026

1800km! 18 hours! One of Europe's longest scheduled services! Claims Notes from Poland, based on press materials from Leo Express. Ah. One problem. It won't happen, at least not in full. Look on Leo Express's website and tickets from Przemyśl to Frankfurt (Main) Süd

Jon Worth exclusive! 25% off Paris - Berlin train tickets! (Really, sort of)

Jon Worth exclusive! 25% off Paris - Berlin train tickets! (Really, sort of)

On 25th June I need to travel from France to Berlin. One option is to take the once daily direct train from Paris Est to Berlin Hbf. Here's the timetable and the price of that train from SNCF: And here is the same connection on the same day

Baku - Tbilisi train to restart this month

Baku - Tbilisi train to restart this month

Trains between the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, and the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, were suspended at the time of the COVID pandemic and have not been re-started. Until this month, probably. At talks this week in Baku, governments of both countries agreed to resume services on May 26. Given

Cross-border railway problems are annoyingly universal

CrossBorderRail

Cross-border railway problems are annoyingly universal

At the time of writing, my #CrossBorderRail project has taken me to 419 international railway lines since 13 June 2022. One of the very first borders I went to - on 19 June 2022 - was Haparanda 🇸🇪 - Tornio 🇫🇮 (OpenRailwayMap) at the very northern end of the Baltic Sea. Little did I know

Berlin - Oslo ICE direct train in 2028

Berlin - Oslo ICE direct train in 2028

According to DB there is going to be a daily direct train from Berlin to Oslo, via Hamburg, København and Göteborg, running from summer 2028. DB's news story about it is here. I am not altogether convinced by this idea, but I think it will happen. First of

State railways, what's wrong? CER's perplexing response to the European Commission's Passenger Package

State railways, what's wrong? CER's perplexing response to the European Commission's Passenger Package

The Passenger Package - three pieces of legislation proposed yesterday by the European Commission mostly to address issues with railway ticketing in the EU - have been a long time coming. No sooner had the ink dried on the 2021 Rail Passenger Rights Regulation, it was obvious it left many issues unresolved.

How to make the rail ticketing aspects of the European Commission's Passenger Package more workable

How to make the rail ticketing aspects of the European Commission's Passenger Package more workable

In my earlier piece, I argued that the European Commission's Passenger Package is both radical and unworkable when it comes to the rail aspects of it, and explained how the Commission ended up there. In this piece I will start to sketch out some possible fixes - to make