When – from a passenger point of view – I make the case why the EU ought to pass a Regulation to fix cross border railway ticketing, the reaction from the railway industry (especially state owned railway firms) is essentially “why should we make booking easier, because our cross border […]
Austria
If you reduced track access charges in European passenger rail, very little would happen – at least short term
Transport & Environment, Allrail, Trainline and some private railway companies and ticket sellers have released a letter (PDF here) to the European Commission calling for a reduction in track access charges for passenger trains. They specifically mention “trains with high capacity” (whatever that means exactly – run fewer, larger trains?), […]
Deutschlandfunk and Süddeutsche Zeitung about railway ticketing, and a niche slow train in Croatia
Warum Bahnfahren in Europa oft so kompliziert ist Mal eben schnell mit ein paar Klicks buchen, das funktioniert nicht. Aber ein paar Tricks gibt es doch, um schneller oder zumindest maximal günstig an eine Fahrkarte zu kommen. “Man sollte die Planung von der Buchung trennen”, sagt Jon Worth. Süddeutsche Zeitung […]
Stuck between an undeveloped market and the hangovers of state monopolies, rail passengers face the worst of both worlds
It’s one of the most common questions I field from journalists: “would more private companies help with the state of the railways in Europe?” And rather than a yes or no, my answer is instead “I’m not sure“. That puts me in a strange position – I take no position […]
Where is the sense of urgency in international rail in the EU? I can’t see it
Party! From 28 July there will be 4 trains a day each way on the Figueres – Perpignan cross border high speed line! A doubling of the services! Renfe’s entry into the French market! Eh, hang on. 4 trains a day each way on a dual track electrified line capable […]
TimeOut makes a right hash of the new Milano-München trains story
Christian Hunt (I was a guest on his podcast) just sent me this article from TimeOut about proposed Milano-München trains, and asked me if I could do some quick analysis of it. I have already written one piece about this proposed route here, but TimeOut makes such a complete mess […]