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Jon Worth

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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

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

AI generated image of Ursula von der Leyen holding a book labelled "Political Guidelines", with Apostolos Tzitzikostas head slightly bowed to her left

How the gospel - the Political Guidelines - left the European Commission with a ticketing proposal both radical and unworkable

Ursula von der Leyen called her disciples, the Commissioners, to gather around. Holding up a bound edition of the Political Guidelines, she conferred a great responsibility onto each of them. Beckoning disciple for transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, towards her, she gave him his instructions: "cross-border train travel is still

Skopje commuter train service to start 1st September

Skopje commuter train service to start 1st September

Skopje is going to get a commuter rail service! Zelenikovo - Skopje! This year! The tracks are being repaired. That bit - from Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski - might be true. The problem is that to run a train service you, well, need trains. And the state of the rolling stock maintenance

The longest train journey in the EU

The longest train journey in the EU

🚨 THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY A WHOLE PROJECT DEDICATED TO THIS LONGEST JOURNEY! 🚨 Anyone who has been following my work for a while knows I have long had a rather abstract discussion about the definition of the World's Longest Train Journey. I started calculating this back in

Italo to run high speed trains in Germany

Italo to run high speed trains in Germany

Stuttgarter Zeitung had the story this week that Italian private high speed rail operator Italo is to enter the German rail market, and will likely buy 25-30 Velaro trains from Siemens to do this. There are a whole slew of hurdles Italo would have to overcome before they can

Kyiv - Bulgaria trains to start in summer 2026

Kyiv - Bulgaria trains to start in summer 2026

When Ukrainian Railways decides to do something, they normally find a way. And this time we have a commitment from the Minister of Transport as well as a provisional map of the route: No one is under any illusions here - the train would have a trip time of about 30

I'm not that bothered if SNCF Connect is forced to sell Trenitalia tickets, but someone has to be able to offer me both

I'm not that bothered if SNCF Connect is forced to sell Trenitalia tickets, but someone has to be able to offer me both

It has been kicking off in the French Senate in the past few days on the topic of railway ticketing. The Senate wants to force SNCF Connect, the French state incumbent railway's ticketing platform, to sell tickets for trains run by SNCF's competitors on French routes

My railway work: no shortage of meaning, but for the EU institutions that can be uncomfortable

My railway work: no shortage of meaning, but for the EU institutions that can be uncomfortable

I stumbled across an excellent essay about the EU this week: "Not a messaging problem. Why institutional narratives keep failing" by Meisoon Nasralla and Lilit Poghosyan. They write: "We are told, once again, that Europe “has a communications problem.” [...] as if proximity to citizens were an issue

Monocab as a solution for rural rail lines

Monocab as a solution for rural rail lines

Another week, another Gadgetbahn. This time one from Germany - Monocab. It's supposedly so important there is even a Wikipedia page about it. This thing is a narrow monorail that is supposed to balance on a single traditional rail track, and has a gyroscope to keep it upright. There

Chancers to the left of me, malevolent incumbents to the right, stuck in the middle with... what?

Chancers to the left of me, malevolent incumbents to the right, stuck in the middle with... what?

Some days following railway news leaves me shaking my head and wondering what I am doing in this whole business. Today was one such day. First I read the news that ÉcoTrain - a French GadgetBahn - has managed to raise €3 million. But it's the track and the public

ÉcoTrain: €3 million to answer the wrong question

ÉcoTrain: €3 million to answer the wrong question

It is one of the 100 startups to watch in France, according to Challenges - ÉcoTrain wants to build a new train to run on abandoned branch lines, and they have €3 million of initial funding. They even brought their prototype to the Elysée, and you can find more background about

Direct Eindhoven - Bruxelles Train

Direct Eindhoven - Bruxelles Train

There is definitely a more positive spirit around cross border rail between Netherlands and Belgium. But could there be a direct Eindhoven - Bruxelles train, as Thierry Aartsen suggests? Don't get me wrong: this is a good idea. The question is how you do it, and indeed if you

Rising fuel costs due to the Iran conflict give European railways an opportunity - can they seize it?

Rising fuel costs due to the Iran conflict give European railways an opportunity - can they seize it?

Go back a couple of short years to the months prior to the 2024 European Elections, and railways were trying to set their political direction. This was is in CER's manifesto (PDF): "the regulatory framework today is not fair, with railways carrying many costs and obligations not

Paris-Stuttgart, and Stuttgart-Budapest: two railway worlds

Paris-Stuttgart, and Stuttgart-Budapest: two railway worlds

This morning state owned railway companies trade body CER put out this on LinkedIn, stating "YES, booking international train journeys once required a crystal ball, BUT now planning ahead is much easier." Typically for me I was actually this morning trying to do this, booking seats for a

SNCF and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: a railway that has given up

SNCF and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: a railway that has given up

Tomorrow morning - Saturday 28th March 2026 - I had planned to make a trip I make half a dozen times a year. After a Friday evening teaching assignment in Paris, I would normally take a TER regional train from Paris back to Nuits-sous-Ravières in Bourgogne on a Saturday morning.