Author: Jon Worth

Midnight Trains – we wish them well, but where are the carriages needed going to come from?

A new night train company has launched today. Paris-based Midnight Trains has launched with a very slick website, and promises a deluxe night train experience – private compartments with showers. The renderings are all soft furnishings and are akin to a smart hotel. RTL news has a report about the […]

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SBB boss Vincent Ducrot talks about the future of night trains to/from Switzerland

Tagesanzeiger Sonntagszeitung features a long interview with boss of Swiss Railways SBB Vincent Ducrot – you can read the whole interview here (free registration required). The headline strikes us as slightly off. “Nachtzüge werden nie profitabel sein” “Night trains will never be profitable” he says. Perhaps he ought to have a […]

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BaWü Transport Minister Hermann is right – “rail isn’t always a viable alternative” – not yet anyway

How Germany makes the transition to a carbon neutral economy is becoming a major topic in the election campaign for September’s Bundestag election. The extent to which banning or stopping certain behaviours is legitimate, or whether persuading people to change their behaviour is a better route, is a central issue. […]

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Von der Leyen promises €85bn for sustainable transport – night train rolling stock would be an ideal use for it!

Speaking in the European Parliament earlier this week, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen set out some details of European Union Member States’ post-COVID national recovery and resilience plans, and gave some details of the scale of the budget for transport: Let me give you some figures. […]

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More innovation in fast freight than in fast night trains in Italy, and new night trains with seats only in Germany

Back in 2018, Trenitalia began an experiment called “Mercitalia Fast” – using a converted ETR-500 300km/h high speed train to convey light freight at high speed. You can read more about the project here. Now Trenitalia has announced a new overnight service, likewise using a ETR-500, connecting Milano and Reggia […]

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We’re live

For years I have made pretty much every long distance trip I can by train. Conference in Iași? Sure, train via Ukraine to get there. Teaching in Geneva? Night train back to Berlin. Holiday in the Balkans? I’m the one who will take the Bar-Belgrade train (the pic above is […]

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Revival of the Trans Europ Express (TEE) – these plans are going to need some new trains

Nostalgia is important in railways. Families and enthusiasts alike visit heritage railways, and railway companies across Europe try to motivate passengers to take trains today using symbolism of the past. And there is no symbolism stronger in cross-border rail in Europe than the Trans Europ Express (TEE), probably because more people alive […]

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