It’s just past 8am. I’ve been on the slow train to Paris Bercy from rural Bourgogne for an hour an a half. The sun has just about burnt off the fog of the morning along the Yonne and now the Seine. We are rumbling along the line somewhere between Montereau […]
This summer will be my last big #CrossBorderRail tour – 80 more borders, mostly in Central Europe. There simply are not too many more borders to visit. And as the project on the ground winds down, I have started to wonder who might benefit from the lessons I have learned […]
The European Commission and the state owned railway companies are getting very excited about the idea there could be a EU masterplan for high speed rail. With that in mind, let’s do a little thought experiment. This started as a Bluesky thread, and has been lightly edited into this blog […]
At a simple, basic level it sounds appealing. Packages cannot be delivered efficiently in congested cities, so use less congested tram tracks instead. Add a the appeal of autonomous vehicles, a bit of AI, and a sprinkling of blockchain, bundle it up with some nice neat renderings, and you will […]
In Switzerland, as a test, 48 solar panels have been laid between the tracks on an active railway line between Neuchâtel and Buttes. News about it here, and cue all the feel-good-but-don’t-think-twice influencers crowing about it. But let’s think twice about this. First, should you install solar panels in a […]
No company wants to enter a market thinking they are going to fail. But what happens were they to fail might have a bearing on whether they succeed in the first place. It was with this in mind that I read this morning that Virgin Trains is looking for money partners. […]