Jon Worth

EU politics and sustainable transport, especially railways Brit who became German & lives in a village in France. When he's not escaping it on a train or a folding bicycle Teaches at College of Europe, still writes a blog, photographs with a drone

Analysis

How to organise a rail replacement bus service (Schienenersatzverkehr)

ICE36 train, departing 0944 from København H to Hamburg Hbf will not be able to run any further than Rødby on the Danish side of the Fehmarn Belt, and all passengers will have to board the ferry on foot instead of in the train, and take a replacement bus on

Analysis

More from that little Nordic rail trip... Liberalisation doesn't work

The theory of liberalisation of European railways is all very well. At one level the cross border service between København and Malmo, the Øresundstog, is a good example of it – a rail service running every 10 minutes across the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, and run by neither Swedish incumbent

Analysis

Goodbye Benelux train, the service that gave me my best-ever rail story (to date)

Tomorrow is the last day of operation of the Benelux Train, an hourly Intercity service that has been connecting Brussels, Antwerp, Rosendaal, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Amsterdam since the 1950s. Philip Richards documents his three eras using it here, here and here, and Alex van Herwijnen will be on the

Analysis

How to complain to an airline: do it en masse

Maybe it's the winter season, or perhaps it's just bad luck, but two friends of mine are currently wrestling with airline customer services to get compensation - one for luggage lost for a fortnight, and another for a long delay. There is one clear lesson from

Analysis

The demise of CityNightLine

A goods train derailed in southern Jutland on Friday last week and, as can be seen from the picture from the local newspaper, it was on a single track line section between Padborg and Kolding, meaning the whole connection between Hamburg and Jutland is blocked. The wagons were dragged between

Analysis

OK, so Schengen is a myth. Systematic checks on the train leaving France are OK according to the Commission.

Back on 9th October I documented a non-Schengen compliant border control that took place on a train between St Jean de Maurienne and Modane - see the full details here. I put all that information into a full and official complaint to the European Commission, and today (about 2 weeks

Analysis

A little Nordic rail trip

I will be making what should be a reasonably simple rail trip in early December - the 600km journey between Copenhagen (station: København H) and Oslo (station: Oslo S). So how do I do it? Well, it turns out that it is all nowhere as simple as it should be.

Analysis

Non-Schengen compliant border control between St Jean de Maurienne and Modane, 9th October 2012, 1240

Four French police boarded the front carriage of the 0749 Paris Gare de Lyon – Milano Garibaldi TGV at St Jean de Maurienne on 9th October. The train was running with a delay of around 55 minutes, hence departing from St Jean at around 1230. At 1240 the four police entered

Analysis

Schengen: what can they ask, and what am I obliged to tell?

Bleary eyed and grumpy last week due to a delayed night train, I was nevertheless rather surprised when a Danish policeman demanded to see my passport abord the night train to København H at Padborg (border station from Germany). When I asked him why and how he was demanding this

Analysis

In praise of @DB_bahn (not the railway, but the Twitter account)

This is for you Torsten, Simon, Norman, Marc, Kai, Danny, Janice, Matthias, Maik, Filiz, Jana, Christian, Christian and Nicole: a huge thanks from a regular DB traveller for helping to make my journeys a little more manageable and pleasant. For those of you reading this that are not regulars on

Guides

Cheap rail tickets through Germany

So you want a one-off rail ticket through Germany, and you want it as cheap as possible. You're doing a journey like Belgium (- Germany -) Austria, or Denmark (- Germany -) Czech Republic, but you're not going to stop* in Germany. Here's how

Guides

5 stops, 13 trains - a little European rail diary

Tomorrow I set off for a journey lasting just over two weeks, mostly for work but with a little holiday in between. The whole trip is by train. Here's the schedule, and how I booked at at the lowest price possible: 1. Thu 19 Apr - London-Paris Eurostar

Analysis

My top, erm, coolest airports...

I was posed a challenge on Twitter by @airport_one if I could pen a similar post to the one about rail stations about airports instead. This is a bit of a challenge as I don't travel as often by air as I do by rail, and one

Analysis

The World's 11 Coolest Train Stations - JW version

Huffington Post has a piece listing The World's 11 Coolest Train Stations. Problem is I'm rather unconvinced by their choice, as is @christianwolmar. So here's my own choice of 11 stations - and I have been to all of these. Perhaps these are not

Analysis

In its quest for market share, Deutsche Bahn has forgotten about technology and service on their Frankfurt-Brussels route

The Intercity-Express (ICE) connecting Brussels with Frankfurt/Main via Köln is probably the least reliable train I've ever experienced. The catalogue of problems I have had with this service stretches back years, right from when the service was first introduced. I do at least 4 return journeys a

Analysis

Ljubljana

A dusting of snow covered the peaks at Jesenice after crossing the border from Austria into Slovenia yesterday lunchtime. A 1970s Yugoslav coach on the Eurocity from München, replete with pee-onto-the-tracks toilets, creaked and groaned over the old lines through Lesce Bled and Kranj and a warm afternoon sun softened

Analysis

Dubai

At one level Dubai is a shining example of the determination and ingenuity of the human race. Here a city of more than 2 million inhabitants built in double quick time in the most unlikely of locations, lacking water to sustain its population and enduring suffocating heat and even humidity.

Analysis

The case for night trains from Brussels

As part of my relentless pursuit to be green with my travels, I'm always taking the train. But for a trip I'm planning 3-6 December to Berlin, my patience is really running low. To get to Berlin from London I have 2 options - Eurostar to

Guides

Petra ticket prices

The ancient city of Petra is the highlight of any visit to Jordan. The great Nabatean city, with most buildings constructed between the 5th Century BC and 2nd Century AD, is a must-see. However the problem is the ticket price. A standard day ticket costs JD50 (€49.04, $70.26,

Analysis

How to consistently get London-Brussels or Brussels-London Eurostar tickets for €49 single

NOTE: this system has been replaced in 2022 with a new "De Connect" ticket. You can find out how that works in this new post! I'm a regular traveller on Eurostar, and I often travel onwards from Brussels to Germany by train, so much in fact

Analysis

Driving more nails into the Schengen coffin

It's not France and Italy this time, but Denmark, driving more nails into the coffin of Schengen, Europe's border free system, at least in spirit. Danish Finance Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen, as reported by BBC, said: We have reached agreement on reintroducing customs inspections at Denmark&

Analysis

Bringing German cycle culture to the UK

I've spent the past 10 days in Berlin, ostensibly for a half marathon and an IT/politics conference... but as I'm sure anyone who reads this blog can tell, my mind works in strange ways and makes odd connections. So here's a blog entry

Analysis

Eurostar rebrands - suppose I'll get used to it

So my favourite rail service - Eurostar - is being rebranded. The old E* logo, in use from the start of the service in the mid-1990s, is to be replaced with a silver 3D logo, dark blue background and a yellow caps sans serif font. There is also an adaption

Analysis

Topic 1 for NL-UK dialogue: rail tickets (London-Bruxelles-Rotterdam)

I'm lucky enough to have received an invite to The Apeldoorn Conference on UK-Netherlands dialogue, taking place 6-8 March in Rotterdam. An easy and high speed train journey - perfect! The route is Eurostar to Bruxelles Midi, then Thalys on the new HSL-Zuid to Rotterdam Centraal. Total journey

Analysis

Köln-London €66.50, or Bruxelles-London £121, booking today on exactly the same trains - odd, no?

Above are screenshots taken within the last twenty minutes (i.e. between 0900 and 1000 on 18th November). The first is for prices for a ticket between Bruxelles Midi and London St Pancras, second class, non-flexible, for the morning of Saturday 4th December. The second is from the ticket I