Quick takes

A collection of 57 posts

Longest Journey, CrossBorderRail

The film of the longest train journey in the EU

[Update 25 September, 20:20] So it turns out Simply Railway ended up uploading the wrong version? This now seems to be better! It is directly on Youtube here. And a top tip: do not try to check Youtube videos when you are on a train across Slovakia with lousy

Quick takes

Forget it. The Caledonian Sleeper is not going to run through the Channel Tunnel

There's a higher chance that Scotland becomes independent, and joins the EU and Schengen, than the Caledonian Sleeper is extended through the Channel Tunnel under the current political framework. Really. I am not joking. Whatever the SNP and The Scotsman might say. I know a thing or two

Quick takes

Chancers to the left of me, malevolent incumbents to the right, stuck in the middle with... what?

Some days following railway news leaves me shaking my head and wondering what I am doing in this whole business. Today was one such day. First I read the news that ÉcoTrain - a French GadgetBahn - has managed to raise €3 million. But it's the track and the public

Quick takes

ÉcoTrain: €3 million to answer the wrong question

It is one of the 100 startups to watch in France, according to Challenges - ÉcoTrain wants to build a new train to run on abandoned branch lines, and they have €3 million of initial funding. They even brought their prototype to the Elysée, and you can find more background about

Ticketing

Paris-Stuttgart, and Stuttgart-Budapest: two railway worlds

This morning state owned railway companies trade body CER put out this on LinkedIn, stating "YES, booking international train journeys once required a crystal ball, BUT now planning ahead is much easier." Typically for me I was actually this morning trying to do this, booking seats for a

Quick takes

SNCF and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: a railway that has given up

Tomorrow morning - Saturday 28th March 2026 - I had planned to make a trip I make half a dozen times a year. After a Friday evening teaching assignment in Paris, I would normally take a TER regional train from Paris back to Nuits-sous-Ravières in Bourgogne on a Saturday morning.

CrossChannelRail

Quick notes on Trenitalia's new maintenance facility at Maisons-Alfort Pompadour

It's been rumoured for months, and finally this week there was official confimation: Trenitalia has the location for its maintenance facility for its Frecciarossa high speed trains in France. News from Railway Gazette here. And it will be at Maisons-Alfort Pompadour. Here on OpenRailwayMap. Zoom out a

Quick takes

Railway churnalism: how many stories do I need about some new seats and a bit of carpet?

Cross Country in the UK has revealed the first of its rebuilt fleet of Voyager DMUs. These trains are getting some new carpets and some new seats. And some new paint. Big deal! It is going to cost £75 million apparently. How do I know? Because in my rail news

Quick takes

Dear European leaders: here's a little idea for your competitiveness agenda

This idea would: * Allow Europeans to travel internationally, while emitting as little CO2 as possible * Create jobs in European manufacturing industries, some even in the most deprived corners of the EU * Boost the construction industry that would get contracts to build new lines * Benefit both state owned and privately owned

Quick takes

Up and running on Ghost

As of today, 27th January 2026, this site is running on Ghost rather than WordPress. All the posts have been moved across, and URLs ought to pretty much all work as well. If something is missing here, the old site can still be found at oldsite.jonworth.eu Why am

Quick takes

Now we're going to get a Bruxelles and Amsterdam to Milano night train. Or are we?

After yesterday's news that Basel-Malmö will not happen, today there's news that a new night train route will open up - European Sleeper is proposing to run from Bruxelles and Amsterdam to Switzerland and Milano from June 2026. Their press release about it is here (PDF)

Quick takes

Geo Racers: the most fun web travel game since GeoGuessr

I was sent this a few hours ago in a messenger group, and it's brilliant: Geo Racers, a kind of web based version of Race Across the World the TV series. It's made by Chris Pattle - more about him here, and you can donate here. You

Belgium

All about 2 metres? The importance of the difference between a 200m and a 202m train is scarcely plausible

When discussing the future of long distance services through the Channel Tunnel, we generally talk of 400 metre long trains composed of one unit, and 2x 200m trains composed of two units coupled together. But when you drill down to the detail, these numbers are approximations. Eurostar's original

Belgium

Constraints on future Channel Tunnel operators

Sometime this autumn the UK's Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will adjudicate on capacity allocation at Temple Mills depot in east London. Responses to ORR from Eurostar and the four other companies that seek to also enter the market for long distance trains through the Channel Tunnel

Quick takes

Komoot: you saved me on Lithuanian dirt lanes, and through the streets of Roma. But it's time for something new

One constant throughout my #CrossBorderRail projects - despite the name! - is my bicycle. The faithful Birdy folding bike has been with me throughout, in more than 30 countries. And mounted on the handlebars (using a Quad Lock mount - amazingly good as well) is an old iPhone 6s. And, until now, all

Quick takes

Rough notes about the longest train journey in the world - in 2025

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

France

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

European Union

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 from

European Union

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

Germany

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

France

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 in their

Croatia

Somewhere between hell and hype(r-loop) - where our railway discussion ought to be

Another day, and another stream of railway news pops up in my social media feed. On the hell side - unsurprisingly from Germany - comes news that the situation for passengers at München Hbf continues to worsen, while DB has closed the Hamburg-Berlin line for 4 months for works, something that

Germany

What good is live tracking data if I cannot act on it? (and how to subsequently claim compensation from Flixbus, in some circumstances)

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

Germany

Bad Muskau - Łęknica, and the joys and tensions at the Germany - Poland border

It's one of the many joys of my #CrossBorderRail project - it takes me to these amazing and sometimes slightly odd border places, and I never know quite what I am going to find when I get there. This was the case when I went to Bad Muskau - Łęknica

Belgium

Mannheim-Bruxelles in 1972, and what it tells us about Mannheim-Bruxelles today

I stumbled across this little gem on Facebook - posted by Peter Osten (one of my predecessors as President of JEF Europe) and reproduced here with his permission. It is a rail ticket from April 1972 Mannheim Hbf - Bruxelles return, and it cost DM 95.20. Look at it closely and