All of the borders listed are places I have been, and are among my priority borders where problems need to be fixed. I cannot claim credit for having solved any of these, but I am quite sure me repeatedly talking about them – especially Turmantas! – has likely not been […]
Is taking a train something you do every day, rivaling a car? Something flexible, you just get on and go? Or is it something you do less regularly? Something where you plan, that you know long ahead where and when you will travel? More similar to how most people take […]
On 3rd March the documentary “Europa spoort niet” aired on NPO2, the Dutch public state broadcaster’s TV channel. It is in the documentary series Tegenlicht, produced by vpro. You can watch the whole thing (50 mins) with Dutch subtitles here, and there is a version for Youtube edited to be […]
This morning I was meant to take Flixbus 1324 from Amsterdam Sloterdijk to Berlin ZOB, booked because Deutsche Bahn train drivers are striking today. Needs must and all that. The timetable for the service is departing Sloterdijk at 06:10 and arriving ZOB at 16:20, before the bus continues onwards to […]
This blog post has remained unchanged since it was written in 2024. It has largely been superceeded by my #CrossChannelRail Project Final Report TL;DR – whatever you read in the press about future long distance train services through the Channel Tunnel is at best only part of the truth, because […]
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 […]