Jon Worth

European, originally a Brit, became German, moved to France. Runs #CrossBorderRail project, writes a newsletter about railways. Green, lives happily without a car Normally stuck on a train, stuck in a village, or escaping either on a folding bicycle

Analysis

Is a Rimowa suitcase worth the money?

€529 for a suitcase? A suitcase? Yes. I paid that, back in June 2013, for a Rimowa Topas Cabin Trolley IATA 55cm (model details here). It is one of the very best purchases I have ever made, and now, with hindsight, I do not regret it for a moment. First,

European Union

A rail postcard from Baden Baden

Dear Violeta, Have you ever changed trains in Baden Baden (in Baden-Württemberg between Freiburg (Breisgau) and Karlsruhe)? I guess not. It's a pretty unlikely place to have to hop off a TGV and onto a ICE, but that's what I had to do there today -

Analysis

Why securing Europe's railways against terrorism shouldn't be attempted

So apparently this morning Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, has announced that security gates will be built to access Thalys trains: https://twitter.com/jul_mm/status/669058150729957377 De Telegraaf interprets this as meaning bag scanners, going further than La Voix du Nord does (although their

Analysis

We now have no idea what's happening with Brussels-Strasbourg TGVs

This blog entry was published on 2nd November, and remains intact below. However, two things have happened since then. First, the Eckwersheim Derailment has led to the suspension of all TGV tests, and will mean the part of the LGV Est that the Brussels-Strasbourg service will use will not open

Analysis

More transparency needed - an EU citizen can't currently know when and where Schengen is suspended

On Thursday 29th October I am taking the train from Berlin to Vienna, via Nürnberg. This means I will cross the German - Austrian border at Passau. But what is the status of that border at the moment? Is Schengen suspended there, or not? This is a valid question to

European Union

A rail postcard from Köln

Dear Violeta, It's only a week or so since I wrote the last postcard to you. That one didn't receive a response - perhaps you were too busy talking to the rail industry, rather than thinking of passengers' needs? Anyway, today at Köln Hbf things

Analysis

Not always the cheapest train in France, and a sneaky 50 cent Belgian charge

A couple of weeks ago Seat61 had the splash that booking cross-border France-Spain TGVs would cost you more on French language websites than anywhere else (Seat61's news page here - you have to scroll down as he has no link to individual stories). After a bit of a

European Union

A rail postcard from Berlin Südkreuz

Dear Violeta, I have had plenty of time to contemplate this postcard to you. Most of the day in fact, as I've wasted that long trying to get to the bottom of what ought to be a rather simple cross-border railway problem. Later this week - on Thursday

Analysis

Should I have to pay more for a rail ticket so as to ensure I get compensation?

On 4th June 2015 - as so often - I took the train from Berlin Hbf to Bruxelles-Midi, changing in Köln. The difference from my usual trips on this route was that I booked only on 26th May, only 8 days ahead, and no Deutsche Bahn Sparpreis tickets were available

Bulgaria

A guide to the trains of Bulgaria

Between Saturday 20th June 2015 and Monday 29th June 2015 I crossed Bulgaria by train . This blog entry summarises my experiences, with the aim of assisting fellow travellers who might attempt similar trips. The map above shows my route, and the information is correct as of June 2015 - do

Analysis

Non-Schengen compliant border control at Buchs SG station, 1 July 2015, 0700

I was a passenger on the EuroNight 60466 D. Budapest-Keleti at 2100 on 30 June 2015, scheduled arrival Zürich HB at 0820 on 1st July 2015. I was a passenger in the Sleeping Car on this service (there are three carriages from Budapest - a carriage with seats, a couchette

In the media

Politico Europe | 4 things America could learn from Europe when it comes to railways

"Pictures of tangled metal and overturned carriages dominated the news last week following the Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. Eight passengers lost their lives, and more than 200 were injured because the train was traveling at more than twice the 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit as it

Analysis

Uber returning to Brussels: I think this is a decent solution

Taxis in Brussels have been been plastered with the slogan "Ceci n'est pas un taxi clandestin" for some months now, in protest at Uber that was allowed in Belgium, then banned, and now - according to this story from Politico - has a reprieve and its

Analysis

Beware the UIC Train to Paris - cross border rail for dignitaries only

In 2009 the United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Copenhagen. The UIC organised a special night train (pictured) for dignitaries to be able to get from Brussels to Copenhagen by rail - the Climate Express. By 2009 regular night trains to Brussels were already history, and in 2014

Analysis

France's LGV Rhin-Rhône best serves... Paris. So much for high speed lines of regional importance!

Back when the Rhine-Rhône high speed TGV line (in French: LGV Rhin-Rhône) was being planned it was described that "In contrast to France's other high speed lines — apart from the bypass round the east of Paris — LGV Rhin-Rhône was conceived primarily as an inter-regional route and not

Analysis

Now Dresden-Wrocław trains are cancelled for good - third piece of bad news for PL-DE rail this winter alone

Following the end of the Berlin - Wrocław EC Wawel (early December 2014), Frankfurt(Oder) - Poznań RegionalExpress trains (end December 2014), we now have the news that Dresden - Wrocław RegionalExpress trains will cease at the end of February 2015. News of this cancellation can be found here in

Analysis

Brits going to Spain at May bank holiday: you're probably paying too much for car hire

As regular readers of this blog are surely now aware, I have become quite fascinated by the tricks used by car hire companies to wring more money out of their customers. I first reported on this in summer 2014, and revisited the example in early February 2015. I have since

Analysis

"Source market pricing" - euphemism for car hire companies screwing customers

Following my presentation yesterday at a European Commission event about services in the EU Single Market (blog entry here, slides here), I was told by a representative of Leaseurope that Hertz charging someone using hertz.be €20.06 more for 4 days of precisely the same car hire in Brussels

Analysis

Revisiting car hire price discrimination - 1 step forward (Europcar), 2 steps back (Hertz, Avis)

Back in July 2014 I discovered some price discrimination in prices for car hire, when hiring a car for a Belgium-Germany trip. The details of that discrimination can be found here, and the largest difference was €5.47. Little did I know that the European Commission was looking at the

European Union

A rail postcard from Mannheim

Dear Violeta, Since my postcard from Forst (Lausitz) in December I've travelled the length and breadth of Germany by rail (even stopping off to hear you speak at the Schwarkopf Stiftung in Berlin), and today I am sending you a virtual postcard from Mannheim. I have no idea

Guides

My attention-seeking Blaze bicycle light

As a person I seldom stand out, at least to look at - I am of medium height and medium build, my hair is plain and I choose my clothes precisely so as no-one remarks about them. If you passed me in the street your head would not turn, and

Analysis

The extraordinary ease of DriveNow, GPS-based car sharing

"Why would I need a Mini or a BMW for car share?" I wondered when I first saw DriveNow cars on the streets of Berlin when moving here 15 months ago. A bit of searching online led me to discover that DriveNow (like its competitor Car2Go) is a

Analysis

Bundestag hearing on long distance rail, night trains, Autozug

On Wednesday 14th January at 1100, 3 members of the Bundestag from Die Linke - Sabine Leidig, Herbert Behrens and Caren Lay - are organising a public hearing about long distance rail in Europe. The title of this is "Rückzug der Deutschen Bahn AG bei Nacht- und Autoreisezügen stoppen

Analysis

Frankfurt(Oder) - Poznań regional trains axed from 1st January 2015

Following my post about the final EC Wawel, and the funding absurdity for PKP's new high speed trains in Poland, here's yet more bad news when it comes to Germany-Poland rail connections - the two daily regional trains each way in each direction between Frankfurt(Oder)

Analysis

How €93 million of EU money prevents Polish trains being used EU-wide

Polish Railways PKP has just launched its Pendolino EIC Premium service - a fleet of brand new, 250km/h capable Alstom trains that connect Gdansk, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow. The trains are the first capable of speeds greater than 200km/h in central and eastern Europe, and were hence