For reasons I cannot possibly imagine, I will log off this evening with Brandolini’s law
And tomorrow I will write something serious, rebutting something rather unserious
Remote
Jon Worth
@jon@gruene.social
mastodon 4.7.3European, originally a Brit, became German, moved to France. Runs #CrossBorderRail project, writes a weekly newsletter about railways. Green, lives happily without a car.
Normally stuck on a train, stuck in a village, or escaping either on a folding bicycle.
Toots mostly in EN, einige auf DE, parfois en FR.
15161 Followers
3281 Following
50 Posts
Joined October 31, 2022
Railway Analysis Site:
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Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
Damn I am tired of people laughing about Deutsche Bahn.
Travel in many other places in Europe and you will discover Germany is trying to do many things right with its railways. A quick blog post / rant from me:
https://jonworth.eu/your-deutsche-bahn-joke-is-no-longer-fu/
#CrossBorderRail
You could - at a stretch - imagine how #CrossChannelRail trains to London could depart Gleis 5 at Köln Hbf
In this article - with loads of photos and plans - I explain how you could do it: https://jonworth.eu/trains-to-london-from-gleis-5-at-koln-hbf-its-bold/
Whether you would actually WANT to is rather harder to answer!
Replying to
Turbines kill birds. They don’t you jerk. Your cat is more a danger to birds. #StateOfEU
Edit: for clarification - the number isn’t zero. But it’s not a significant issue.
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We know beyond any doubt that wind as part of the renewable energy mix is vital. It’s cheaper than nuclear. And sure, turbines make some noise - so don’t build them next to homes. Which you don’t anyway. #StateOfEU
A little late this week, but finally the newsletter is out!
Subscribe here:
https://jonworth.eu/platform-numbers-finger-pointing-and-the-end-for-some-modern-locomotives/
In this edition:
Bullshit Meter: Direct Köln - London trains will depart Gleis 5 at Köln Hbf
Good week: Finally Poland sees sense with platform numbers
Bad week: DSB slammed by the Danish audit office
Also a bad week: End of the line for Škoda's modern locomotives
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Also making the case for new nuclear in France right now after the headaches nuclear had with cooling water this summer. WHAT? #StateOfEU
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Thinking about it, I need a new tactic for these illegal German controls
1) Ask the police if this is a border control
2) When they say yes, say the controls are illegal - as courts have demonstrated
https://www.zeit.de/news/2026-04/27/verwaltungsgericht-erklaert-grenzkontrolle-fuer-rechtswidrig
3) Because then they have to go back on "Identität nachweisen können" and then I can show them a driving license, and see how they get on
And ideally do this at a time when I have time to get thrown off the train 😄
Replying to
Čadca
The station is run down but it’s an amazing brutalist mountain construction
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The 1520mm standards and rules are essentially Russian rules says the Lithuanian railways guy here. Very true. But *please* if you move away from those, make sure you have a unified Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia rule book, not separate ones! #ConnectingEuropeDays
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Whenever I hear "military mobility" in the context of rail in an EU discussion my immediate thought is "I don't really know what this will MEAN in practice". And then I come to a panel like this, and none of these supposed experts on the panel have any idea either. Which is... worrying! #ConnectingEuropeDays
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"How is Portugal not going to be left behind?" the moderator asks at #ConnectingEuropeDays
Maybe replace this? 😄
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Also I am on my way to Bruxelles for #ConnectingEuropeDays - a big European Commission event about the future of EU transport policy
How many other attendees were subjected to this on their journey? As most attendees from beyond Paris / Amsterdam / Köln will fly, I'd wager pretty much none
This is a problem that doesn't personally touch anyone in the Brussels bubble
Replying to
What? Sabina Lindström from the Finnish Ministry of transport just said 1524mm / 1435mm systems dual gauge track are not possible in Finland. Here is *precisely that* in Tornio, Finland - my own photo. Yes, you need 4 rails not 3, but you can do it! #ConnectingEuropeDays
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And now Kamburova from the EU Military Staff says gauge change technology is not proven to work, and so will not work for military purposes. But hang on. Re-gauging is going to take you decades to do. #ConnectingEuropeDays
Replying to
Illegal border control entering 🇩🇪, between Niesky & Hoyerswerda
As ever I ask police how long are temporary controls to last? "We are allowed to control!"
Why do you control every train? "We do not control every train!"
I point to my bike. "If I cross by bike I am not controlled, because you don't control every road, but every train is checked"
And then they don't have the right tech with them to check a Ukrainian guy in my compartment 😡
"Complain to the Interior Ministry!" the police says
Replying to
There’s a dude ahead of me in the #ConnectingEuropeDays queue with a ŽSR badge. He must have taken the train from Slovakia like me, right? 🙄
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Observing which people think they’re important enough to skip the #ConnectingEuropeDays queue is amusing.
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Also I always *really* appreciate the attitude of the German police
When asked why they are controlling they always get ratty. Today it was "Let me explain!"
Well sorry, you have fuck all you can explain. You're conducting controls because you are told to control. You cannot tell me why this train, not cars. You cannot tell me when it will all end. What CAN you explain to me?
That this is all a stupid try to reassure AfD but it doesn't, and a total waste of everyone's time and effort? 🤷♂️
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There was even a #caturday pic from today‘s #CrossBorderRail
These kittens were so determinedly eating a grasshopper they were putting themselves in danger in the road in Ruská 🇸🇰
I made sure they were off the road before continuing my trip!
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I’ve lost track of the data. Am having too much fun
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Get to the front of the queue. And the two people in front of me *don’t know how to do a bag scan*
They don’t prepare their bags, take off their belts etc., so they clog up everything further
FFS this is #ConnectingEuropeDays you WORK IN THIS SECTOR 🤬🤬🤬🤬
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It is YOUR JOB as a speaker to tell attendees something they might not know, and might need to know. It’s not your job to blather on about what you did. #ConnectingEuropeDays
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This is the #ConnectingEuropeDays programme: https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/main-events/connecting-europe-days-2026_en
Delays getting in mean I’m missing a panel on re-gauging railways
I’m sceptical of that idea: https://jonworth.eu/why-you-probably-should-not-re-gauge-railways-in-europe/
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No Knödel for me. But late breakfast of fried eggs and a coffee was just fine 🙂
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🤦♂️ At the re-gauging railways session and so far there’s no clarity of thought. Are we ADDING standard gauge, laying dual gauge track, or REPLACING existing track? #ConnectingEuropeDays
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Ah! There’s a quick line for speakers. And I’m a speaker. But tomorrow. So I’ll stick to the regular line. #ConnectingEuropeDays
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The dude from Lithuanian railways says that it would cost, by their estimate, €27bn to re-gauge Lithuanian railways. So that's not happening. Good. #ConnectingEuropeDays
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It’s because the person who wrote the gospel is here later. Meaning bags must be scanned https://jonworth.eu/how-the-gospel-the-political-guidelines-left-the-european-commission-with-a-ticketing-proposal-both-radical-and-unworkable/ #ConnectingEuropeDays
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Premium Service in Čadca just now
A shunting locomotive will haul the Praha - Košice express from Čadca via Žilina to Vrútky due to works on the power lines
https://peertube.netzbegruenung.de/w/wm8oE21DYFLmL72Ge4QJwN
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I feared this would be annoying. And so far it’s living up to my fears. #ConnectingEuropeDays
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Just re-planned tomorrow’s #CrossBorderRail a bit
Leaving Košice a bit earlier means avoiding a 5 min connection in Čadca
And more time there means more time to admire one of Europe‘s most unique station buildings. It’s a kind of brutalist mountain shape. There’ll be plenty of pics tomorrow
Replying to
Peculiar here. I have a seat reservation Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig in carriage 272
But there’s no carriage 272, nor - at least until Wrocław - is there meant to be, if I understand the train manager correctly
Currently the train is quite empty, so no problem. But it’s strange
Replying to
Ha
Where I went *yesterday* is included in Poland's railway news today 😄
https://www.rynek-kolejowy.pl/wiadomosci/slaskie-odbudowy-linii-do-krzanowic-i-czeskiej-opawy-nie-bedzie--154495.html
And it is nothing to do with me
Baborów 🇵🇱 - Opava 🇨🇿, Czech side, is complex though - it is ALL gone. It used to cross the field shown in Pic 1 and run alongside the factory in Pic 2. VERY HARD to re-open.
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#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 40 of 49
Os 3418
12:40 Ostrava-Svinov - Opava východ 13:12
ČD
🚆: Škoda City Elephant EMU, 3 double deck carriages
⚡️ (3kV dc)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free if station allows, ramp on board if not)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ⛔️
🧳: 🙂 (as double deck designs go it’s pretty good!)
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)
Replying to
Yesterday at Osoblaha I was told of the idea to fill the gap in the 760mm gauge railways between Litschau 🇦🇹 and Nová Bystřice 🇨🇿 - roughly here:
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-all-the-borders_935041#12/48.980668/15.073071
There are 760mm gauge railways on both sides
But as you can see here, I think they never joined?
https://openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=49.019197899687605&lon=15.111055500000003&zoom=14
And there is 12km in between 🤔
Replying to
#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 45 of 49
EC 132
07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04
PKP IC
🚆: Newag Griffin locomotive now, Siemens Vectron later, carriages
⚡️ (3kV dc, 15kV ac)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (lift on board)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅ (at least part of the trip)
🧳: 😐 (narrow corridors, tricky with big bags)
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: 😐 (compulsory res, €3)
Replying to
#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 39 of 49
EC 142
11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22
ČD
🚆: Siemens Vectron locomotive, 8 carriages
⚡️ (3kV dc)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (lift on board)
🛜: ✅
🍽️: ✅
🧳: 😐 (hellish high steps to get in)
🧽: 🙂
Interrail: ❓ (ZSSK and Interrail say comp res., ČD and DB say not - mystery)
Replying to on gruene.social
I left Košice 30 mins earlier than planned this morning, conscious something was wrong Žilina - Čadca, and not wanting to trust a tight connection
I made the right call I think 😀
Replying to
EC 132
07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04
Distance: 476.4km
Avg speed: 90km/h
11 stops:
Opole Glowne
Wroclaw Glowny
Legnica
Chojnow
Boleslawiec
Wegliniec
Hoyerswerda
Ruhland
Elsterwerda
Riesa
Leipzig Hbf
🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#8/50.913424/15.295715
#CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU
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Os 3418
12:40 Ostrava-Svinov - Opava východ 13:12
Distance: 28.4km
Avg speed: 53km/h
9 stops:
Ostrava-Trebovice
Dehylov
Jilesovice
Haj ve Slezsku
Lhota u Opavy
Mokre Lazce
Stitina
Opava-Komarov
Opava vychod
🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#12/49.877822/18.060016
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EC 142
11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22
Distance: 83.2km
Avg speed: 62km/h
7 stops:
Jablunkov-Navsi
Trinec-Lyzbice
Cesky Tesin
Karvina hl.n.
Bohumín
Ostrava hl.n.
Ostrava-Svinov
🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#10/49.679477/18.499200
#CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU