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

Radical enough to see purpose in my work, sensible enough to propose something that can be done?

I find myself buffeted from both sides at the moment in my transport work. Am I radical enough, or too radical? Based on who's lecturing me on social media it is both, simultaneously. This quandary most importantly crops up regarding the future of the Channel Tunnel. The question

Analysis

If you were to build a depot for Channel Tunnel passenger trains, where would you build it?

When it was announced that Virgin Trains was successful in being allocated maintenance depot capacity at Temple Mills in east London, there was a sort of reaction "we'll that will mean that Virgin will be the competitor to Eurostar then." But no sooner had the decision

Analysis

Flat rate national ticketing: public transport policymaking through shock

A post by UITP Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani caught my eye on LinkedIn - it's about Spain's plan to introduce a €60 a month flat rate national public transport ticket next year, along the lines of what Germany did with Deutschlandticket. "While this plan will

Analysis

A creative solution to serve Köln Hbf en route from Frankfurt (Main) to London

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

Quick takes

Now we're going to get a Bruxelles and Amsterdam to Milano night train. Or are we?

After yesterday's news that Basel-Malmö will not happen, today there's news that a new night train route will open up - European Sleeper is proposing to run from Bruxelles and Amsterdam to Switzerland and Milano from June 2026. Their press release about it is here (PDF)

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

Analysis

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

Quick takes

Geo Racers: the most fun web travel game since GeoGuessr

I was sent this a few hours ago in a messenger group, and it's brilliant: Geo Racers, a kind of web based version of Race Across the World the TV series. It's made by Chris Pattle - more about him here, and you can donate here.

Analysis

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

Analysis

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

Analysis

#CrossChannelRail final report released, and the next steps

After three weeks of research on the ground in spring 2025, dozens of follow conversations, and plenty of desk research, today I finally published the conclusions report from my #CrossChannelRail project - you can download the PDF of the report here. The stations map is also available in a zoomable

Analysis

Renfe, why should we trust a word you say about ticketing?

A post popped up in my Bluesky feed from Renfe: https://bsky.app/profile/renfeoperadora.bsky.social/post/3m4xurom2is2k CER praised it, of course. And - after a bit of searching - I finally found the right link to the press release (as the one on Bluesky did not work)

Analysis

"News" that Régiolis cross border trains cannot operate in Germany is actually nothing new

The latest setback in the entry into service of the new Régiolis fleet for France-Germany cross border services: now there is a problem with the emergency brakes, Le Republicain Lorrain reported yesterday. While the trains are OK to operate in France, but they do not respect the standards on the

Analysis

We have no intellectual space for big but implementable ideas about railways

There's this railway joke* where a passenger is at Calais Fréthun station, staring at the "Londres, Ebbsfleet - Voie 3" sign. The passenger stops a gnarled SNCF employee and asks "How do I get to London?" (in French, obviously), and the response is "

Analysis

When a plan's not a plan, and a revolution isn't a revolution - European High Speed Rail

Today the European Commission released its "plan to accelerate high-speed rail across Europe" (press release here). Only it's not a plan. And Community of European Railways (CER), the state owned railways' trade body, stated this will "revolutionise the way travel distances are perceived in

Analysis

Not being allocated depot space at Temple Mills: blessing in disguise?

As the discussion about future rivals to Eurostar has heated up, so more and more of the focus has been on access to the Temple Mills depot in East London. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) last week decided that yes, there was capacity for a company other than

Analysis

News stories, and social media posts for context: from Elvas to Nagykereki

On 12th July I was at Nagykereki on the Hungarian great plain, trying to find remnants of the former cross border railway line to Episcopia Bihor in Romania. You can see where the line used to run on OpenRailwayMap here, and on my borders map here. In terms of international

Belgium

All about 2 metres? The importance of the difference between a 200m and a 202m train is scarcely plausible

When discussing the future of long distance services through the Channel Tunnel, we generally talk of 400 metre long trains composed of one unit, and 2x 200m trains composed of two units coupled together. But when you drill down to the detail, these numbers are approximations. Eurostar's original

Analysis

ORR grants Virgin Trains access to Temple Mills: the low risk option

The UK's Office of Rail and Road has today decided that Virgin Trains should have access to the Temple Mills depot in east London to maintain its future Channel Tunnel fleet, and has rejected applications from Trenitalia, Gemini and Evolyn to use the facility. It has also, importantly,

Belgium

Working out what Eurostar is going to do - based on the numbers, not what the company says

If you take what Eurostar has said in its press release, Alstom has said in its press release, and what has appeared in the FT and The Guardian among others yesterday, you end up with the impression that these Avelia Horizon double deck trains Eurostar is to order from Alstom

Analysis

Eurostar ordering just 30 Alstom trains: pragmatism, and a lack of ambition

Put all the rhetoric to one side. In announcing today they are ordering 30 Alstom Avelia Horizon (TGV-M) double decker trains (see the FT here), with only options for 20 more, Eurostar is being less ambitious than has been rumoured for more than a year, where the talk was of

Analysis

What train other than Alstom Avelia Horizon could Eurostar even consider?

Back in June I wondered why - despite it being heavily rumoured for more than a year - Eurostar still had not signed a deal with Alstom for the purchase of 50 Avelia Horizon double deck high speed trains. These trains are to be called TGV-M in France, while Avelia

Belgium

Constraints on future Channel Tunnel operators

Sometime this autumn the UK's Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will adjudicate on capacity allocation at Temple Mills depot in east London. Responses to ORR from Eurostar and the four other companies that seek to also enter the market for long distance trains through the Channel Tunnel

Analysis

Why you probably should not re-gauge railways in Europe

Once in a while the debate pops up that some country should re-gauge its railways - Finland being the most recent example. In this blog post I am going to delve into this issue, and explain why - in most cases - it does not make sense. But first let&

Analysis

SNCF's half hearted effort to support international night trains in danger of hitting the buffers

In December 2023 the Paris-Berlin night train re-started after a 9 year hiatus. Operated as a Nighjet service by ÖBB, SNCF provided motive power for the train from Mannheim to Paris. They even put SNCF stickers on some of the carriages, and ÖBB lauded the launch of the service as