Finally some progress for France-Germany regional rail

In the Newsletter this week
Analysis: Régiolis trains approved to run in Germany
Bullshit Meter this week: Hungary to buy 100 Chinese trains
Good week: Arad's trams
Bad week: Siemens
Very bad week: for a driver whose car was hit by a train
Photo of the week: Budapest Keleti
Calendar: Come and say hello at Railtech in Utrecht

This is the first edition of what will become my subscriber-only newsletter that will be sent every Friday at 14:00 CET. Both free and paid subscribers will receive the first four editions. For now some of this is rather experimental - please bear with me!

Régiolis trains approved to run in Germany

When in 2024 I started looking into why the 30 Régiolis diesel and electric hybrid trains ordered for France-Germany regional services were so delayed entering into service, I did not know the saga I was about to start to reveal. This rumbled on throughout 2025, with fingers being pointed across the Rhine, and no one taking any responsibility for getting the issues fixed. A poor decision as to what trains to order back in 2021 is a central problem, and making that decision to order without an agreed model at the time how to operate and maintain the trains, are the root causes of the dysfunction to this day.

But now, finally, in January 2026 there is a little bit of good news: the Régiolis trains have now been approved to run in Germany (approval was granted last year for France) - the EU Agency for Railways approval is here. If you can bear the over-inflated statements of Vice President of Grand Est Thibaud Philipps, Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace has a bit more background here.

Given that the full and complete framework for how these trains will operate will now only start in December 2027 at the earliest, we are not going to see the full introduction of the Régiolis trains on all their foreseen routes for some time. But now the approval has been granted there is the prospect of them being partially introduced on Strasbourg-Offenburg and perhaps even Mulhouse-Müllheim from some time later in 2026 (May I have heard), replacing the under-sized diesel trains currently operating on these lines.

So this is not a complete solution by any means, but at least it is a solid step in the right direction.

Bullshit Meter: Hungary to buy 100 Chinese trains

It's election time in Hungary. That has nothing to do with the "announcement" that Hungary is to buy a big round number of InterCity trains from China, oh no. You can read about it Railway Gazette here. Hungary might eventually buy some Chinese trains, but promising a hundred and without any means to finance them looks like electioneering bullshit to me.

All previous Bullshit Meter posts can be found here.

Good week: Arad's trams

This is a story that had rather slipped under my radar until now: the Romanian city Arad is looking to buy tram-trains in addition to its existing regular trams, and re-activate some former railway lines to run them on. 14 tram trains are to be ordered, as Club Feroviar reports. There is even a close to cross border implication as part of the line to the Cheresig - Körösnagyharsány border crossing to Hungary will be used by the tram trains, although currently there is no plan to cross the border.

Bad week: Siemens

Siemens thought they had a good week - they have found way to enter the high speed rail market in Poland. However their choice of partner - Newag (who are still not in the clear after the GPS industrial espionage scandal that first came to light in 2023) - is not a good call in my view. No one should be partnering with that firm until that matter is cleared up. I previously wrote about the scandal here, and there is a video from the people who discovered it from CCC as well.

Very bad week: driver of a car hit by a train

Warning: this video is grim! But the car driver should have noticed the barriers were down. And the car absolutely flies when the train hits it. Thankfully only minor injuries to the car driver, and none to anyone on the train.

Photo of the week: Budapest Keleti

Each week I am going to include a photo from my archive in the newsletter. These are going to be places that remind me of the joy of this railway work, or are simply good picture or beautiful places. But each time there will be a reason.

This is Budapest Keleti in March 2009. I cannot even remember why I was in Budapest then, but that does not matter. My best railway adventures have always taken me through Budapest Keleti, one way or another. Sure, I would not want to use this station every day, but it is always special for me, and always will be.

Calendar: Railtech in Utrecht

I am running a workshop at RailTech Europe 26 in Utrecht 10.10-10:40 on 4th March. You can attend the event for free - all the details are here. In the evening of 4th, also in Utrecht, will be the first offline meeting of the new organisation I am starting to set up, the European Rail Passengers Union (ERPU).

If you would like to stay up to date with what I am doing, there are public calendars to which you can subscribe: Jon Worth - Speeches and Events ICS | Jon Worth - Travel ICS | Jon Worth - Other Rail Dates ICS And if you'd like me to speak at an event or run a workshop, contact me about that.

Photo Rights

All photos in this edition are taken by Jon Worth. Bullshit Meter images always have photo rights listed directly on the image.