This page lists all the places we have been quoted, mentioned or linked to by others. If you would like a comment about night trains in Europe, and especially night train stock procurement, please contact us.

 

Future Moves, 12.02.2022

FAQ: „BEGRIFFE WIE ‚FLUGSCHAM‘ ODER ‚ZUGSTOLZ‘ BENUTZE ICH NICHT“ – Interview mit Sebastian Wilken

“Eine Idee, die mir gefällt, ist die Beschaffung eines europäischen Nachtzug-Pools [mit link zu Trains for Europe!]. Dazu gehört auch: Die Deutsche Bahn muss ihre Blockade-Haltung in Sachen Nachtzug umgehend aufgeben.”

 

Der Tagesspiegel, 09.02.2022

Wo das Berliner Nachtzugnetz wachsen könnte

Wie groß die Schwierigkeit ist, die den erhofften Nachtzug-Boom auf viele Jahre ausbremsen könnte, machte der britische Bahnexperte Jon Worth deutlich: Als die nationalen Bahnunternehmen in den Neunzigern ihr Nachtzugnetz massiv herunterfuhren, hörten sie auch auf, neue Schlafwagen zu bestellen. „Wir leiden immer noch unter der Entscheidung vor 25 Jahren, das Nachtzugnetz auszudünnen und keine neuen Züge zu kaufen“, sagte Worth. Die vorhandenen Wagen sind daher extrem alt, laut und entsprechen heutigen Komfortansprüchen oft nicht. Noch gravierender: Es gibt fast keine mehr von ihnen.

Für den Aufbau neuer Linien muss also zunächst rollendes Material produziert werden. Doch für kleine Privatanbieter sei das finanzielle Risiko nicht zu stemmen. Von den nationalen Bahnbetreibern wiederum bestelle einzig die österreichische ÖBB neue Nachtzüge.

 

Berliner Zeitung, 09.02.2022

Nach London, Oslo, Madrid: So könnte das Berliner Nachtzugnetz wachsen

Article about the challenges to increase the number of night train routes to/from Berlin. The article was written after the release of Ramboll’s study of potential night train routes.

 

Wow! News, 13.01.2022

L’aventure commence sur le quai

Television interview in France for this channel aimed at children aged between 8 and 12 years of age.

 

Channel News Asia, 05.01.2022

Europe pushes rail travel to tackle greenhouse gas emissions

Television interview – filmed at Berlin Südkreuz station – about the EU Year of Rail 2021, and why the aims the EU has set for rail are going to be very hard to reach.

 

el Diario, 26.12.2021

La misión imposible de viajar en tren por Europa

Jon Worth comenzó su campaña Trains For Europe para recuperar los trenes nocturnos en Europa como una necesidad personal, usando su experiencia como usuario que se enfrenta a menudo a los problemas de viajar en tren. Para él, resulta difícil fomentar este transporte cuando las compañías no piensan internacionalmente y cuando operaciones tan sencillas como comprar un billete se convierten en una pesadilla.

 

NZ Herald, 20.12.2021

The EU want people to love overnight trains but there’s a big problem

France has taken the commitment one step further, discussing a ban for fuel-intensive short-haul flights in circumstances where a train could be taken.

A promising start but one that doesn’t resolve two key issues; a shortage of sleeper carriages and lack of an integrated program across countries.

According to expert Jon Worth, the former issue is caused by the latter.

“A load of countries in Europe are thinking about this problem, but thinking about it separately,” said Worth, a blogger behind the Trains for Europe campaign, which is dedicated to finding ways to fund new stock.

 

Investigate Europe, 16.12.2021

European Commission’s new action plan promises to strengthen railways

“The Commission is at least showing its willingness to improve Europe’s rail system,” comments Jon Worth, activist and political consultant behind the ‘Trains for Europe’ campaign. Will the new approach of the European executive be enough, Worth asks? “We know that the devil in this case is the railway companies and the national governments —both with a conservative, national approach. “We all know what kind of things have to be done, but the member states are not willing to do them, and the traditional railway companies want to keep their business models unchanged.”

 

Politico, 14.12.2021

EU aims to spur night train ‘love’

“The problem with night trains is that you can’t scale them up because nobody has any trains,” said Jon Worth, a blogger who runs the Trains for Europe campaign aimed at finding an EU solution for funding new rolling stock. “A load of countries in Europe are thinking about this problem, but thinking about it separately.”

 

Info Libre 25.11.2021

El tren nocturno resucita en Europa pero pasa de largo por España

Una dificultad especialmente grave cuando el interés prioritario de una compañía ferroviaria es obtener el mayor beneficio posible. Jon Worth, impulsor de la iniciativa Trains for Europe que pide recuperar el tren nocturno, asegura que la ruta París-Barcelona es el ejemplo perfecto para entender lo que ocurre: “Hasta 2013 había una conexión nocturna y ningún tren circulaba durante el día porque simplemente ambas ciudades están demasiado lejos. España y Francia decidieron construir una línea de alta velocidad, pero hay un problema: el viaje sigue durando más de seis horas. La cuota de mercado del tren de París a Barcelona durante el día nunca será muy alta. Además, los precios del viaje son muy caros porque no hay competencia en esta ruta. ¿Y por qué no hay un tren nocturno en la conexión? Porque el beneficio para la compañía estatal francesa SNCF sería menor. Algunas personas que ahora viajan de día lo harían de noche, con unos costes operativos más altos para SNCF. Si hubiera un tren nocturno y otro diurno, la cuota de mercado del ferrocarril sería mayor, pero el beneficio para la SNCF sería menor”.

 

Telex, 19.11.2021

Így siklatták ki a klímavédelem egyik fontos projektjét

Transzeurópa Expressz aranykora nem létezett. Nem arról van szó, hogy egyszer volt egy jó szakasz, aztán tönkretették. Mindig is rossz volt – mondta Jon Worth, a Trains for Europe kampány elindítója, akinél kevesen tudnak többet az európai nemzetközi vonatozásról. A probléma ott van szerinte és minden megkérdezett szakértő szerint is, hogy az EU hosszú évek óta próbálkozik reformokkal, mégsem javul semmit a helyzet.

 

Der Tagesspiegel, 19.11.2021

Wie die Bahnen Klima und Kunden ausbremsen

„Für die Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, Trenitalia oder Renfe sind die nationalen Linien einfacher zu betreiben ohne komplizierte Kooperationen mit anderen Bahnunternehmen“, sagt der Politikberater Jon Worth, der seit langer Zeit sich mit dem europäischen Bahnmarkt beschäftigt. Das Angebot sei auch deshalb so schlecht, weil die Unternehmen den Wettbewerb scheuen würden. „Es gibt faktisch einen Nichtangriffspakt zwischen den großen Bahnunternehmen.“

 

Investigate Europe, 19.11.2021

Why Europe abandoned its night trains

Rail expert Jon Worth may have a solution. Through his ‘Trains for Europe’ campaign, he is calling for the EU to either buy night trains and lease them to smaller companies, or to create a financial framework that allows leasing companies to buy wagons to then lease on to rail companies. This would allow companies such as Regiojet in the Czech Republic or Snälltåget in Sweden (which lack the financial resources to buy expensive new carriages) to enter the market. “Because these are huge investments,” he explains. “The market is very uncertain. Nobody knows what the market will look like in five years’ time.”

 

Investigate Europe, 19.11.2021

Interview – Jon Worth, political consultant: “The big rail companies don’t want a European rail network”

The whole interview is about the Trains for Europe project.

 

Railway Technology, 16.11.2021

The Trans-European night network: dream or reality?

According to Jon Worth, the founder of Trains for Europe – which is campaigning for a night train network in Europe – the biggest barrier is the “intersection between politics and how to operate a railway”. He says that given the long distances covered, such a network is an international matter and so the views of other countries’ politicians and railway companies are going to play a role.

“Even within Germany, it can be complicated,” Worth adds. “The German Greens will have to govern in coalition with the Social Democrats and Liberals (FDP) and finding common ground on railway policy is not a foregone conclusion.”

 

Railway Gazette International, 7.10.2021

Comment: Look forward not back

To overcome a shortage of suitable modern rolling stock, the Trains for Europe lobby group has proposed an EU-level procurement of new vehicles, perhaps funded by the EIB, which could be made available to any operator who needed them. Together with marginal cost track access charges, this might offer a better way to channel public funding into night trains than tendered operating concessions, it suggests.

 

El Confidencial, 23.9.2021

El mapa de trenes nocturnos en Europa para desterrar el avión: ¿tiene sentido el plan Verde?

“Hay tres grandes interrogantes sobre esta propuesta: viabilidad política, viabilidad técnica y la duda de si las empresas ferroviarias querrán embarcarse en algo así”, apunta por su parte Jon Worth, fundador de la plataforma Trains for Europe (Trenes para Europa). Él mismo es miembro de los Verdes alemanes y, aunque celebra la propuesta como “buena”, señala que hay varios escollos para llevarla a la práctica, incluso aunque sea a largo plazo con 2030 como meta. “Uno de los grandes problemas es la viabilidad técnica: especialmente, por ejemplo, en España y Portugal”, explica.

 

International Railway Journal, 13.9.2021

Rolling stock pool could boost night train viability

Trains for Europe was formed in June 2021 with the aim of encouraging the European Union to buy a fleet of trains accessible to all operators.

 

Polskie Radio 24, 6.8.2021

Międzynarodowe połączenia kolejowe sprzyjają klimatowi. Europa stawia na pociągi

Trains for Europe tweets used within the article.

 

Smarter Communities Media, 19.7.2021

All aboard for European night trains?

Jon Worth is heading a campaign called ‘Trains for Europe’ to try to remove some of the barriers. He is a political communications professional, has written a blog about European politics for years, and is looking at the night train challenge from an EU politics angle.

“I am basically green by political conviction and a regular long-distance railway traveller by need,” he says. He lives in Berlin but his clients are in Rome, Geneva and elsewhere and he is regularly in Brussels and Copenhagen. “When you do that that often and you see what doesn’t work, it almost by definition turns you into an activist, I suspect. That’s why I am mounting a political campaign, not starting my own night train start-up.”

 

Azzonali, 7.7.2021

A gonosz extraprofitos vállalkozók? Ja. Meg még száz dolog

A közlekedés fenntartható jövőjét jó eséllyel az elektromos eszközök, a kötöttpályás tömegközlekedés és a kerékpár jelenti. A vonatozás évére felfűzve Jon Worth blogger például kampányba kezdett az éjszakai vonatozás fejlesztéséért Európában. A kampány honlapja szerint egy Brüsszel-Bécs-távon vasúton tizedannyi szén-dioxidot termelünk, mintha repülővel tennénk meg ugyanazt az utat.

 

Photos used in this page

Schnitzel_bank
Blaue Stunde in Keleti
January 20, 2007
License: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)