Dear Siim, I’m writing to you today from Liège. In one way this is a surprise, in that I am not supposed to be in Liège, but judging from experience I suppose it was inevitable I was going to have to write to you from here at some point. I […]
Latest Posts
A rail postcard from Hendaye
Dear Siim*, Although we have never met, you seem familiar to me. I follow all your upbeat reports on Twitter about the bright future of European rail, and your great liberalisation plans, and investments in trans-European networks. Well Siim, for me as a traveller, I’m not feeling it. I am […]
The worst international train service I’ve taken for a long time – in Switzerland! (OK, with an Italian train)
The Cisalpino joint venture between the Swiss SBB and Trenitalia no longer exists, wound up in 2009 due to failing service quality and problems with an order of new trains. The sad news is that now, with the EuroCity trains between Switzerland and Italy using some of the same railsets […]
Taking the train rather than the plane for business travel in Europe: does it work?
Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know I take the train for almost all my journeys, and many of these are business trips. Sean Hanley has asked me to sum up my experiences in a blog entry, so here goes. This post should be read in conjunction with the […]
Torn between a retro past and an uncertain future: is the sun setting on Romanian rail?
The two guards on the EN472 “Ister” between Bucuresti Nord and Budapest Keleti pu. set aside their fading hats with the silver trim and the CFR logos and tuck into the dinner they have brought from home in the bar carriage. They crunch what look like home grown, gnarled gherkins, […]
Bike boxes at traffic lights – a little eye witness example
I’ve been sat for 30 minutes at a café on the corner of Great Smith Street / Great Peter Street in Westminster. This is the view of the cycle box on Great Peter Street, going westbound. More than half of the times the lights were red cars stopped more or […]