Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #EUYearOfRail
Most recents (22)
Welcome to #CrossBorderRail Day 34 - Sofia to Athens twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Today’s route map - bus Sofia-Thessaloniki then train Thessaloniki-Athens 
Bus is really full. So mask on tight…
Despite all the challenges we faced this year, 2021 has also been a year full of inspiring stories about solidarity, merit and hope.
We bring you 7⃣ inspiring stories of 2021!
We bring you 7⃣ inspiring stories of 2021!
1⃣ The power of science
In 2021, Dr Özlem Türeci and Dr Uğur Şahin, co-founders of @BioNTech_Group, received the Order of Merit – an award for their scientific persistence to develop a COVID-19 vaccine saving lives of millions of people worldwide. 🏅
An inspiration to all.
In 2021, Dr Özlem Türeci and Dr Uğur Şahin, co-founders of @BioNTech_Group, received the Order of Merit – an award for their scientific persistence to develop a COVID-19 vaccine saving lives of millions of people worldwide. 🏅
An inspiration to all.
2⃣ The power of solidarity
In 2021, #TeamEurope shared over 350 million doses to low and middle-income countries - mostly via #COVAX. And our efforts will continue next year with more donations.
Because no one is safe until everyone is safe.
In 2021, #TeamEurope shared over 350 million doses to low and middle-income countries - mostly via #COVAX. And our efforts will continue next year with more donations.
Because no one is safe until everyone is safe.
OK so what's in the #RailActionPlan that @Transport_EU has finally put out?
18 page PDF here 👇
transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2…
Summary in the 🧵
#EUYearOfRail
18 page PDF here 👇
transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2…
Summary in the 🧵
#EUYearOfRail
ERTMS by 2030 for the TEN-T core network, 2040 for the comprehensive network (brought forward from 2050)
🤔 solid and welcome proposal to improve interoperability, but how is the Commission going to make sure this happens?
🤔 solid and welcome proposal to improve interoperability, but how is the Commission going to make sure this happens?
A revision of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability in 2022
🤔 these Specifications have caused problems for the introduction of new trains, so simplifying rules here makes sense. Devil will be in the detail. Role for ERA here
🤔 these Specifications have caused problems for the introduction of new trains, so simplifying rules here makes sense. Devil will be in the detail. Role for ERA here
So @EvaMontemaggi alerted me to this piece about plans for hydrogen trains in Italy
The piece is misleading, so it deserves a thread to take it all apart...
#EUYearOfRail #Decarbonisation
railway-technology.com/news/aecom-ape…
The piece is misleading, so it deserves a thread to take it all apart...
#EUYearOfRail #Decarbonisation
railway-technology.com/news/aecom-ape…
First, the piece speaks of the "300km Apennine line [...] This track stretches from the town of Sansepolcro in the northern province of Arezzo to Sulmona in the central province of L’Aquila"
All right, so let's look that up on Open Railway Map, electrification layer
It's the line highlighted here...
And 🤯 half of it is electrified already! Blue is ⚡️, black is ⛽️
It's the line highlighted here...
And 🤯 half of it is electrified already! Blue is ⚡️, black is ⛽️
Last week I made an unforgettable journey 🚞🏔️
Traveling back from work meetings in Italy 🇮🇹, I decided to go back to Brussels 🇧🇪 the slow way. And that obviously means up the #BerninaBahn
A photo-thread of one of the most beautiful alpine railways, winter wonderland edition ❄️
Traveling back from work meetings in Italy 🇮🇹, I decided to go back to Brussels 🇧🇪 the slow way. And that obviously means up the #BerninaBahn
A photo-thread of one of the most beautiful alpine railways, winter wonderland edition ❄️
Trip starts in Tirano 🇮🇹
Early start to catch the first train of the day, the 7:41 R train to St Moritz 🇨🇭
This early departure will allow me to arrive to Brussels 🇧🇪 on the same day.
The sun is just rising and I see no clouds around. It's time for #FensterAuf and 📸
Early start to catch the first train of the day, the 7:41 R train to St Moritz 🇨🇭
This early departure will allow me to arrive to Brussels 🇧🇪 on the same day.
The sun is just rising and I see no clouds around. It's time for #FensterAuf and 📸
Across the square and up we go!
We start "low" at 429 meters above sea level. In roughly 1½ hours, we will be up at 2253 meters above sea level.
The Bernina is the only alpine railway crossing that literally goes up to the top of the mountain pass, instead of using long tunnels
We start "low" at 429 meters above sea level. In roughly 1½ hours, we will be up at 2253 meters above sea level.
The Bernina is the only alpine railway crossing that literally goes up to the top of the mountain pass, instead of using long tunnels
So @VCDeV @BastianKettner have brought out their "VCD Bahntest 2021/22"
It's a hefty piece of work, looking at 6 international rail connections to/from Germany
The whole PDF is here:
vcd.org/fileadmin/user…
#VCDBahntest
Quick 🧵
It's a hefty piece of work, looking at 6 international rail connections to/from Germany
The whole PDF is here:
vcd.org/fileadmin/user…
#VCDBahntest
Quick 🧵
The document highlights very well the many headaches a passenger encounters when booking cross border rail in Europe - no through tickets, inconsistent timetables etc. - anyone who follows my rail tweets will know these problems very well #EUYearOfRail
The Bahntest then takes 6 example routes:
Hamburg - Stockholm
Berlin - Amsterdam
Berlin - Gdańsk
Frankfurt - Marseille
München - Roma
München - Budapest
and examines them in detail...
Hamburg - Stockholm
Berlin - Amsterdam
Berlin - Gdańsk
Frankfurt - Marseille
München - Roma
München - Budapest
and examines them in detail...
Jeeeez. This interview with the boss of the to-be-merged Eurostar-Thalys… a few comments in a 🧵 #euyearofrail
A common booking site will save them €1 million *a month*
Whaaat?
Either Thalys’s site or Eurostar’s cost €1 million a month to run? For the basic services each offers? 🤯
And Eurostars stay blue, ex-Thalys trains red. Coherent branding that! 😜
Whaaat?
Either Thalys’s site or Eurostar’s cost €1 million a month to run? For the basic services each offers? 🤯
And Eurostars stay blue, ex-Thalys trains red. Coherent branding that! 😜
ROFL 🤣 . The executive of a SNCF controlled rail group saying it’ll be fine if a rival respects the rules. You mean the rule that no one should rival SNCF? And he says this with a straight face?
🇮🇹 is the latest country to consider ordering new night train carriages - the @railjournal article talks of 70 carriages 👇
But what's happening here? Some European countries are starting to wonder about night train stock
A 🧵
But what's happening here? Some European countries are starting to wonder about night train stock
A 🧵
So who - other than 🇮🇹 - is having similar thoughts?
🇫🇷 Government acknowledges new night train carriages are needed to achieve the aims set out in this report 👇
ecologie.gouv.fr/remise-letude-…
🇫🇷 Government acknowledges new night train carriages are needed to achieve the aims set out in this report 👇
ecologie.gouv.fr/remise-letude-…
🇸🇪 is considering ordering new night train carriages for services to Northern Sweden 👇
regeringen.se/pressmeddeland…
regeringen.se/pressmeddeland…
Another Jon-doesn't-understand-French-trains thought...
There are 8 TGVs each way a day, Paris-Mulhouse. 4 of these go further to Zürich HB, via Basel SBB.
But why not extend the Mulhouse TGVs to Basel SBB?
There are 8 TGVs each way a day, Paris-Mulhouse. 4 of these go further to Zürich HB, via Basel SBB.
But why not extend the Mulhouse TGVs to Basel SBB?
Mulhouse Ville to Basel SBB is just 22 minutes by regional train (TER). The fastest TGV manages it in just 18 minutes...
As loads of Deutsche Bahn ICEs, and SBB trains to all over Switzerland serve Basel, surely this would be a useful addition - for very little extra effort!
As loads of Deutsche Bahn ICEs, and SBB trains to all over Switzerland serve Basel, surely this would be a useful addition - for very little extra effort!
And while we're at it...
There are 2 direct TGVs each day from Paris Est to Colmar, via Strasbourg.
There are 2 direct TGVs each day from Paris Est to Colmar, via Strasbourg.
🔍 INFOGRAFÍA MATINAL PARA AHORRAR TIEMPO
Analizamos las partidas de los las partidas de los #PGE2022💰 que tienen que ver con la protección del medio ambiente y la paz.
➕ℹ️bit.ly/3nvrleo
#LaLupaVerde
#RecuperaciónJusta
Analizamos las partidas de los las partidas de los #PGE2022💰 que tienen que ver con la protección del medio ambiente y la paz.
➕ℹ️bit.ly/3nvrleo
#LaLupaVerde
#RecuperaciónJusta
👉La ganadería es la principal causa de la contaminación del agua por nitratos en la UE.
👉A pesar de ello, @LuisPlanas, en lugar de impulsar la agricultura y ganadería ecológicas, centra la inversión en la modernización de regadíos, perpetuando el insostenible modelo actual.
👉A pesar de ello, @LuisPlanas, en lugar de impulsar la agricultura y ganadería ecológicas, centra la inversión en la modernización de regadíos, perpetuando el insostenible modelo actual.
@LuisPlanas 🚅En el #EUYearOfRail la mitad de las inversiones estatales en infraestructuras se destinarán a este transporte.
@raquelsjimenez esta apuesta por el tren choca con la intención de ampliar la capacidad de autopistas, autovías y de aeropuertos aprobado Plan Director de AENA.
@raquelsjimenez esta apuesta por el tren choca con la intención de ampliar la capacidad de autopistas, autovías y de aeropuertos aprobado Plan Director de AENA.
Want a cheap train from Brussels to Paris?
It sure ain't IZY!
And you better not speak German, Italian or Spanish (seriously)
Do read on in the #EUYearOfRail thread 🧵
It sure ain't IZY!
And you better not speak German, Italian or Spanish (seriously)
Do read on in the #EUYearOfRail thread 🧵
There's a low-ish cost train service between Brussels and Paris called Thalys IZY - its own website is here 👇
izy.com/en
Services are reduced post-COVID, but it still runs...
But how do you book it?
Here's the train I want on the IZY site ✅
izy.com/en
Services are reduced post-COVID, but it still runs...
But how do you book it?
Here's the train I want on the IZY site ✅
But presuming you might - naively - assume it's run by Thalys, you might think its trains were on the Thalys website
❌ But no, you'd be wrong - they don't show there 👇
booking.thalys.com
❌ But no, you'd be wrong - they don't show there 👇
booking.thalys.com
Let's do a little check, shall we?
@albertowmazzola was happy to tell me the other week that Skyscanner for Rail tools exist in Europe
And @CER_railways has trumpeted the need for ticketing platforms in #EUYearOfRail and on #ConnectingEurope Express
A quick 🧵
@albertowmazzola was happy to tell me the other week that Skyscanner for Rail tools exist in Europe
And @CER_railways has trumpeted the need for ticketing platforms in #EUYearOfRail and on #ConnectingEurope Express
A quick 🧵
Were I to want to travel between Tourcoing (in France at the border to Belgium) to Lyon, tomorrow, where can I find the details of the only direct train there is?
Oh, and of course it's a train run by SNCF, member organisation of @CER_railways 👏
Oh, and of course it's a train run by SNCF, member organisation of @CER_railways 👏
So tomorrow 22 Sept my #ConnectingEurope express trip starts...
And because I am not a hypocrite I am going to and from the train itself... by train
And because I am not a hypocrite I am going to and from the train itself... by train
22 Sept
Normal trains
Berlin 🇩🇪 - Poznan 🇵🇱 - Kraków 🇵🇱 (9 hrs)
23 Sept
#ConnectingEurope Express
Kraków 🇵🇱 - Ostrava 🇨🇿 (stops there 5 hours) - then 🌙 overnight to Ljublana 🇸🇮, arriving 24 Sept (3.5 + 11 hrs)
24 Sept
Normal train
Ljubljana 🇸🇮 - Villach 🇦🇹
(1.5 hrs)
Normal trains
Berlin 🇩🇪 - Poznan 🇵🇱 - Kraków 🇵🇱 (9 hrs)
23 Sept
#ConnectingEurope Express
Kraków 🇵🇱 - Ostrava 🇨🇿 (stops there 5 hours) - then 🌙 overnight to Ljublana 🇸🇮, arriving 24 Sept (3.5 + 11 hrs)
24 Sept
Normal train
Ljubljana 🇸🇮 - Villach 🇦🇹
(1.5 hrs)
25 Sept
Normal trains
Villach 🇦🇹 - Linz 🇦🇹 - Praha 🇨🇿 - Berlin 🇩🇪 (13.5 hrs - I wanted a scenic route!)
Between 13:00 22 Sept and 21:00 25 Sept...
Over 38 hours train travel in an 80 hour period! Even by my standards that's a bit mad
Normal trains
Villach 🇦🇹 - Linz 🇦🇹 - Praha 🇨🇿 - Berlin 🇩🇪 (13.5 hrs - I wanted a scenic route!)
Between 13:00 22 Sept and 21:00 25 Sept...
Over 38 hours train travel in an 80 hour period! Even by my standards that's a bit mad
So...
I am trying to sort out a Ljubljana - Berlin train trip end of September, and want to do it Ljubljana - Villach, stay the night there, then continue north the following day
The best bet: a💺on EN 40414
But how?
I am trying to sort out a Ljubljana - Berlin train trip end of September, and want to do it Ljubljana - Villach, stay the night there, then continue north the following day
The best bet: a💺on EN 40414
But how?
Deutsche Bahn tells me that EN 40414 runs every day, and that it has seats in 2nd class
D. 21:10 Ljubljana
A. 22:49 Villach Hbf
D. 21:10 Ljubljana
A. 22:49 Villach Hbf
Vagonweb confirms this - 3 seating carriages as far as Villach at least, one of them just Zagreb-Villach Hbf
vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.ph…
vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.ph…
A question for the rail nerds @vorortanleiter @Lenny_du_Nord @TrainTracksEU... and sorry, it's about Poland, the country whose rail systems I never understand
I am vaguely planning a trip to Kraków, end of September
DB gives me this - can book a ticket for a seat, not for a bed
I am vaguely planning a trip to Kraków, end of September
DB gives me this - can book a ticket for a seat, not for a bed
International Bahn gives me this, if I click "Preis ermitteln", and ÖBB can't give me a price *either*
If I then go day by day until ÖBB *can* give me a price for the EuroNight, the first that works is... 10 September
Which is 5 weeks from now
A pretty odd time horizon if ever I saw one!
Which is 5 weeks from now
A pretty odd time horizon if ever I saw one!
Yay!
Let's all 🎉 that we've spent €140m renovating the Karawanken tunnel 🇦🇹 🛤 🇸🇮...
... but then run just 5 passenger trains through it each way each day 🤷♂️ (and 1 of those is seasonal)
railwaygazette.com/infrastructure…
Let's all 🎉 that we've spent €140m renovating the Karawanken tunnel 🇦🇹 🛤 🇸🇮...
... but then run just 5 passenger trains through it each way each day 🤷♂️ (and 1 of those is seasonal)
railwaygazette.com/infrastructure…
Villach - Rosenbach on the Austrian side has a Taktfahrplan (trains pretty much every hour)
It's a little messier on the Slovenian side, but there's pretty much a train every hour Jesenice-Ljubljana as well
So rail nerds @TrainTracksEU @Koelschlenny @vorortanleiter @AndyBTravels @seatsixtyone @AnnaDeparnay @PaliparanDotCom @LenaDonat - let's plan @AdinaValean and @MarianMarinescu a nice rail route Bruxelles-Bucharest arriving latest morning of 17 Sept un Bucuresti Nord!
Perfect! Here we go...
Just 2 changes (in Vienna and Budapest), and time for a coffee with @lgewessler @MartinSelmayr at Wien Hbf en route!
Trip time 35 hrs 58 mins...
Now how best to book that? 🤔
Just 2 changes (in Vienna and Budapest), and time for a coffee with @lgewessler @MartinSelmayr at Wien Hbf en route!
Trip time 35 hrs 58 mins...
Now how best to book that? 🤔
OK, so we can book Bruxelles Midi - Wien Hbf - Budapest Keleti with ÖBB, €219,80 in a single compartment in the NightJet and a regular seat in the RailJet for the last bit...
For some time I have been annoyed there is no discernible strategy for 🇪🇺-wide cross border rail
jonworth.eu/long-distance-…
I am not sure I have all the answers yet... but I think I am starting to get there
Short 🧵
jonworth.eu/long-distance-…
I am not sure I have all the answers yet... but I think I am starting to get there
Short 🧵
First, an idea I first floated on my blog - that the EU ought to procure a pool of night trains - I have now developed into the @TrainsForEurope campaign
Original blog post from September 2020 👇
jonworth.eu/how-could-the-…
Original blog post from September 2020 👇
jonworth.eu/how-could-the-…
Second, timetable and ticketing data remains a mess (and the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation has not improved matters)
How do you solve this one? With some better open data standards
Blog post from November 2019 👇
jonworth.eu/how-a-little-o…
How do you solve this one? With some better open data standards
Blog post from November 2019 👇
jonworth.eu/how-a-little-o…
I've travelled a lot through Europe by rail in the last years, mainly with @Interrail tickets. My latest journey from Sweden to Spain and back has been an utter disaster, mainly due to how the #Interrail system is organised as a whole. Let me tell you why: (1/15)
Let's start where my journey started last week, in rural southern Sweden. A regional train that should have brought me to Copenhagen with a nice transit time of 20 minutes was cancelled out of the blue, which is why I missed ALL my following reservations that day and beyond (2)
@Interrail doesn't offer insurance plans for seat reservations on high-speed trains (like my TGV from Bonn to Paris or my SNCF from Paris to Barcelona, each costing over 25,-€). This money, together with all my hopes of catching my ferry to Mallorca (another 30,-€) was (3)
A client in Belgrade 🇷🇸 is pushing me to actually attend their event in person at the end of June...
I'll write about the whole effort to book this at some point, but just one part is so ridiculous it deserves a 🧵 of its own
Why railways can't fix this is 🤯
I'll write about the whole effort to book this at some point, but just one part is so ridiculous it deserves a 🧵 of its own
Why railways can't fix this is 🤯
The part of the trip here uniquely concerns the Kraków Główny 🇵🇱 - Budapest Keleti 🇭🇺 night train - EN 407 / 477
(Tangent: yes, I know this isn't the most logical train to take, but I have to, as other viable services aren't running)
Here's the connection from DB's website
(Tangent: yes, I know this isn't the most logical train to take, but I have to, as other viable services aren't running)
Here's the connection from DB's website
Does it have a sleeping car?
At the moment, due to COVID, where DB lists sleeping cars as running is not always accurate, but Vagonweb thinks it does
vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.ph…
At the moment, due to COVID, where DB lists sleeping cars as running is not always accurate, but Vagonweb thinks it does
vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.ph…
Earlier today I cast an eye over the communication of the "European Year of Rail"
It's *this year* folks, just in case you were not aware
There's a chirpy video (oddly with a load of Russian trains) and a nastily Photoshopped ICE on a dedicated website
europa.eu/year-of-rail/i…
It's *this year* folks, just in case you were not aware
There's a chirpy video (oddly with a load of Russian trains) and a nastily Photoshopped ICE on a dedicated website
europa.eu/year-of-rail/i…
There's a hashtag too! #euyearofrail
@unsereOEBB even decorated a train with it - and @MartinSelmayr launched it
@unsereOEBB even decorated a train with it - and @MartinSelmayr launched it
But the amount of content on the hashtag is... well, it's pretty thin gruel. Mixed in with cheery infographics about why trains are good
twitter.com/hashtag/EUYear…
twitter.com/hashtag/EUYear…
Today, we are proposing to declare 2021 the European Year of Rail. 🇪🇺
This will be a game changer for achieving the European Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions.
More in the thread ↓
#EUYearofRail #EUGreenDeal
This will be a game changer for achieving the European Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions.
More in the thread ↓
#EUYearofRail #EUGreenDeal
Trains genuinely connect Europeans. They're one of our greenest and safest modes of transport.
Rail is the only mode of transport to have almost continuously reduced its CO2 emissions since 1990, at the same time as it increased transport volumes.
#EUYearofRail #EUGreenDeal
Rail is the only mode of transport to have almost continuously reduced its CO2 emissions since 1990, at the same time as it increased transport volumes.
#EUYearofRail #EUGreenDeal
The #EUYearofRail will highlight benefits for people, economy and climate.
The focus will be on the remaining challenges to create a true Single European Rail Area without borders.
More here → europa.eu/!jd36Vq #EUGreenDeal
The focus will be on the remaining challenges to create a true Single European Rail Area without borders.
More here → europa.eu/!jd36Vq #EUGreenDeal
