When I had time on my hands sometime during a COVID lockdown and started digging into the longest train journey in the world, I did not know what a saga this one would become. Within a few months of publishing this long post about the topic, war in Ukraine meant […]
Quick takes
8am on the slow train to Paris
It’s just past 8am. I’ve been on the slow train to Paris Bercy from rural Bourgogne for an hour an a half. The sun has just about burnt off the fog of the morning along the Yonne and now the Seine. We are rumbling along the line somewhere between Montereau […]
Railway work: what I am doing has some ethical purpose, but is anyone listening?
This summer will be my last big #CrossBorderRail tour – 80 more borders, mostly in Central Europe. There simply are not too many more borders to visit. And as the project on the ground winds down, I have started to wonder who might benefit from the lessons I have learned […]
Can’t deliver packages in crowded cities? Put more… err… passengers on your trams
At a simple, basic level it sounds appealing. Packages cannot be delivered efficiently in congested cities, so use less congested tram tracks instead. Add a the appeal of autonomous vehicles, a bit of AI, and a sprinkling of blockchain, bundle it up with some nice neat renderings, and you will […]
Berlin’s problem with dumped cars
It is a pernicious combination. Parking on the street is free in most of Berlin, and the city’s administration deficient – there is even a lack of clarity as to who is supposed to clear such wrecks. So that means Berlin is extremely slow to deal with cars dumped and […]
How to not fall foul of SNCF’s luggage rules
SNCF – for all TGV inOui and TER trains – introduced new luggage rules in February 2024, with a transition period up until mid September 2024 for their introduction, although it seems that even at the time of writing (August 2024) some SNCF staff are getting a bit over zealous […]