Thread by @jonworth

#CrossBorderRail Day 13 - welcome to today’s thread twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Europe’s top cross border regional network apparently

It’s still a grim SUV. Whatever powers it

Even the scooters are parked neatly

Good morning from the EU Agency for Railways stand with @JoDoppelbauer

A hydrogen racing car

(Note: while my project is #CrossBorderRail, there are all sorts of transport things at #ConnectingEurope days. So forgive me if the thread is a little off topic today. And I’ll try to not only rant)

I’m in a massive room. 1/4 full. And we’re talking about sustainability in front of a hydrogen powered racing car. This feels really weird.

“A truly European spirit of European transport networks” Jeez what the hell is this.

If you give speeches all the time… it’s *your job* to make sure you learn to be good at doing it. How can someone who has been Commissioner now for 3 years, and a MEP before that, still not make a coherent speech?

And this isn’t a language issue - you can be coherent in your second or third language. I have to give speeches in French and German as well as English, but that’s no excuse for not having a structure and some basic presentation skills.

I want to cry

This is all so wrong

These leaders of our political institutions are supposed to be the people taking the decisions to save our futures faced with climate change. But I find them all, and events like this, so horribly empty. Hollow. It’s painful

There’s apparently an initiative called Eureka Rail - EU financed no less! - pushing for better #CrossBorderRail NL-BE-DE. Hamont-Weert listed as a bottleneck. But I’ve somehow never heard of it before… eurekarail.net/over-eurekarai… @DavidEerdmans @vincent313 @mauritswever have you?

OMG. There’s a cardboard cutout of von der Leyen!

Talking about how CZ-DE rail can be improved with @Spravazeleznic - I’m crossing all the CZ borders later in #CrossBorderRail

This is the one you want improved, right, @TrainTracksEU ?

And Cargobeamer is here. Super simple way to get truck half trailers onto rail.

And I now know all the background for the Pau-Canfranc line - I’m going there on Saturday on #CrossBorderRail

I suppose it’s important!

OK, so I got in a question to @adinavalean at the press conference at #ConnectingEuropen days. It’s on the record and filmed - I will post the video later on.

Someone in Valean’s team had warned her I am the postcards guy 🙂

Agh, now a journalist is asking about re-gauging Ukraine’s rails (1520mm to the 1435mm standard) - because someone came up with this idea recently

Re-gauging railways is no good short term, and even medium term I am not at all sure it’s a good idea…

Let’s not get stuck here!

And now DG MOVE Director General is going off on a hydrogen hype ramble… 🤦‍♂️ Not a grasp of the *priorities* of where to use it.

“Demand for flying is high! And that is a great thing!” says DG Hololei, with a beaming smile on his face. Damn he comes across as a Trojan horse for the air industry inside the Commission. Infuriating.

Director General DG Move Hololei has just given a deeply unacceptable set of responses in the press conference here. He basically doesn’t even hide his pro-air transport bias - and there is not the accountability anywhere to hold him to account for it

We need better than this!

Discussing sustainability with @karimadelli - I’ll be asking her questions about #CrossBorderRail shortly

So now @KarimaDelli - chair of the Transport Committee in the EP - knows about the #CrossBorderRail project. Good discussion about building political will for better railways in Europe!

The overwhelming impression from the discussion with @KarimaDelli & the answer to my question from @AdinaValean earlier: EU policymakers cannot have a complete overview of the problems on the ground. That’s what #CrossBorderRail can do - put forward concrete, practical solutions

Ah now we’ve got Renfe “we’ll run a handful of trains a day to France, and just 2 a day to Portugal” telling us how to improve #CrossBorderRail I suppose they know what not to do?

Bang. @EUAmbSchmidt introducing @JoDoppelbauer. “It’s your job” says Kristian, “to allow Renfe (previous speaker) to run trains on the French network!” Well, pretty much 😉

“Ticketing is the access to the new paradigm of mobility” says the Renfe dude. Eh come on. I can’t even buy a A to B train ticket *on all Renfe trains* in Spain. What is he on about?

Inspecting the rail infra here… at the park railway Parc de la tête d’or! Has infra that looks equivalent to that north of Suwałki 🙂 No #CrossBorderRail though - it can’t get off the island!

Diesel. Dressed up as steam. Potential for hydrogen here 🤪

Loads of hydrogen hype (what’s the word for a hydrogen non rail #gadgetbahn @GarethDennis ?) outside #ConnectingEurope

#CrossBorderRail Train 44
TER 89487 19:12 Lyon P.D. - Bourg en Bresse 20:14
Ave speed: 58 km/h
Operator: @SNCFTERAURA

Train type: Bombardier AGC
⚡️ & ⛽️ (bi-mode, most ⛽️ here)
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

This is the line via Vilars les Dombes. By French standards it’s good - the track is smooth and all stations en route have been renovated and have step free access. Now just add some overhead ⚡️ wires! 🙂

Ok, I like this @SNCFTERAURA Lyon - Bourg en Bresse. Stations and train accessible. The AGC trains are fine for a trip of 1 hour. Timetable is reasonable.

#CrossBorderRail Train 45
TER 95988 20:40 Bourg en Bresse - Lons le Saunier 21:22
Ave speed: 91 km/h
Operator: @TER_BFC_Trafic

Train type: @alstom (design now acquired by CAF) Régiolis
⚡️
🚲: ✅
🦽: ✅ (step free)
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

Ahhhhh 😍

Summer evening. Sun on the fields leaving Bourg en Bresse. Empty train. Perfect.

Saint Amour

Golden hour. @TER_BFC_Trafic Régiolis version. Somewhere approaching Lons le Saunier.

Quaint

Lons le Saunier. It’s nice in the town centre!

Today was - in terms of transport - the easiest yet in the #CrossBorderRail project. Just two quick regional trains.

But mentally and politically it was the most complex day yet.

It’s going to be a long daily summary video… once I’m done with a late dinner!

The video of my question to @AdinaValean is now on Youtube