A few weeks ago it looked like VONC was the chosen route after the summer recess...
... now it's a legislative route instead.
This has meant major restructuring of the #BrexitDiagram - and even by my standards this is an ugly one - Series 3 V11.
This one sees increasing chances of both a General Election (now at 63%) and No Deal (now at 20%)
It assumes legislative efforts to stop No Deal are more likely to work than not (.6 to .4), and if there is a VONC in October it is also .6 to .4 likely to pass
There is a new section on prorogation of Parliament, and if this could be stopped - this is very sketchy until more is known about the @JolyonMaugham case (thanks @ProfKAArmstrong and @StevePeers for explanations here)
Also numerous leaks and documents seem to indicate that the Government is planning for a General Election *anyway*, so the odds Johnson tries to call this anyway have increased in the earlier parts of the diagram
As there has been no evidence whatsoever that the UK has viable alternatives to the Backstop that might mean a new Brexit Deal is possible there is no route to that on the diagram. If that were to change it will be added in a later version
Also thanks @usherwood and @astroehlein for the sarcastic diagrams, but I hope there is still use for a complete new, detailed one!
This morning I’m one of the first new regional trains Maubeuge 🇫🇷 - Charleroi Central 🇧🇪 #CrossBorderRail
It was a bit of a #fail at the station. I needed a ticket to Erquelinnes, the first station in Belgium. But prior to today trains from Maubeuge didn’t stop there!
Ticket machine ⛔️
Ask at the ticket office. “Le train ne s’arrête pas à Erquelinnes!” I politely told the SNCF employee that yes, it did stop at Erquelinnes. I explained the situation to the SNCB train manager and he laughed, confirmed it did stop there, and I bought the ticket online!
Delays in my favour. Maybe? S-Bahn to FFM Flughafen. Get a late running ICE to Köln Messe/Deutz there. Then try to blag my way onto a Thalys Köln Hbf to Bruxelles? It’s a long shot but it might work…
ICE 612 Frankfurt Flughafen to Köln Messe/Deutz.
This is why accurate live running data in apps matters. Were this not running 10 min late I’d not have caught it… but live data allowed me to plan a connection that’d otherwise not work
Already on the 2nd train of the day: TGV Montbard - Paris. All being well I’ll be in Denmark tonight… but that feels a long way off just now! #EGPCongress#crossborderrail
Across Paris RER Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord, walk to Gare de l’Est (faster than changing into a Métro to Est) and it’s onto the TGV to Mannheim. So far so good, but I banked on this bit working 🙂 #EGPCongress#CrossBorderRail
Franco-German train service. Very French prices! And no, it’s too early (and expensive) for #beerontrains 😉
Jeez. It could take until 2025 until TGVs are approved for the line.
And the whole effing point of Stuttgart21 - of which this line is a part - was to create a Paris-München high speed corridor!
Really, how can everyone mess up *so badly*?
And to those going “yeah but there are few TGVs anyway” true, but so it goes on and on. International services are the lowest priority - even when *they were the stated rationale for building the line*