Since embarking on my first #CrossBorderRail tour in the summer of 2022 and follow up smaller tours in 2023, internal railway borders of the European Union have been my prime focus – and so far I have been to exactly 200 borders (you can see them all mapped here – pink pins are all places from the project so far).
The core demand – that it should be as easy to travel internationally by train as it is to travel nationally remains as true as ever, and as these problems are cross border, then the European Union should step in to fix them. Since I started this work in 2022 there are a few success stories, but there remains a hell of a lot of work to do. My advocacy towards political decision makers continues – here for example you can find a recent presentation to officials from DG Regio of the European Commission.
But what about non-EU Europe, and in particular a region where the EU is pouring a lot of money into the railway infrastructure – namely South East Europe (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo)? And it is not only the EU that is investing in rail in that region, but China and Russia too. But – speaking from bitter personal experience – passengers in that region have yet to see many benefits from the proposed investments.
So – between 26 May and 1 July – #CrossBorderRail is back, and I am off to South Eastern Europe to check the situation at all the borders. I am going to be checking all the existing lines (whether there is passenger traffic there or not) and also look at some lines that have fallen into disrepair and even follow the routes of four new proposed lines. In total more than 30 more borders will be examined – you can see where I will be going here (link to the full zoomable map):
As ever the project will be crowd financed – I have no railway company or rich benefactor backing me, so I rely on individual donations for these projects. If you can back the project financially the crowd funding appeal is here, or if you could help in kind in some way then do contact me. I need to raise €3276 to cover the costs of the project (tickets, accommodation), and ideally would like to raise €7172 – so I can also pay myself the minimum wage for the days the project runs.
As ever I will be taking a folding bike along with me, to be able to cross borders in the places trains no longer run, but given the desolate state of railways in South East Europe I am also going to have to make a lot more use of buses than in past projects as well. Events will also take place en route – at least in Beograd, Skopje, Sarajevo, Zagreb and
Oh and as if that is not enough, I need to start the project at the other end of Europe in Tallinn because I am going to the beginning of the building of Rail Baltica, but more about that in a further post! Needless to say this project is going to be the toughest and most extreme I have done so far, but is likely also to dig up some borders with amazing potential, and tremendous stories throughout the route.
I look forward to your support!
