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14 Dec, 6 tweets, 5 min read
Now live on EBS @TimmermansEU @NicolasSchmitEU & @AdinaValean talking about climate transition and - why I am tuning in - the @Transport_EU action plan for cross border rail in Europe audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/ebs/live/1

I'll turn this into a thread, and will use #RailActionPlan
Here's the press release covering the #RailActionPlan ec.europa.eu/commission/pre…

But I cannot find the actual plan, despite @TimmermansEU having just mentioned it...
Sorry @transport_EU but where *is* the action plan? Not linked from the press release. Not on the DG MOVE website. We're listening to a press conference without seeing the document! #RailActionPlan
Here is the Steer/KCW report that has supposedly informed the action plan - 472 pages PDF. This one is going to take a while to digest! transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2… #RailActionPlan

The EIB news link is... a 404 🤦‍♂️ eib.org/en/press/news/… #RailActionPlan
Ah. It's to be COM(2021) 810

But that document is not available yet...

What a radical idea it would be to *have the document* that they're discussing in the press conference... 🤯 #RailActionPlan
Journalist asks @AdinaValean what the changes to TEN-T will mean for Italy "We have maps" she says

Yeah *great*

WHERE ARE THEY?

If @Transport_EU got its act together and had the #RailActionPlan docs together we'd be able to know... 🤦‍♂️

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More from @jonworth

Jon Worth Profile picture
15 Dec
Right

Take a deep breath

Rather than just critique other maps, I have now made my own "Longest train journey" map - here it is

And there is a *huge* blog post to explain it! 👇
jonworth.eu/the-longest-tr… Image
I use geodisic distance to calculate the longest trip - basically the two points on the globe furthest apart nominally connected by rail, taking into account the curvature of the earth
Any such really long route is impossible without a bit of walking in a few places

But I have two workable variants...

Heavy rail and walking *only* is
Cascais 🇵🇹 - Woodlands 🇸🇬
11904.73 km

Add trams and metros and it's
Praia das Maçãs 🇵🇹 - Changji MRT 🇸🇬
11923.23 km
Read 10 tweets
Jon Worth Profile picture
14 Dec
OK so what's in the #RailActionPlan that @Transport_EU has finally put out?

18 page PDF here 👇
transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2…

Summary in the 🧵
#EUYearOfRail
ERTMS by 2030 for the TEN-T core network, 2040 for the comprehensive network (brought forward from 2050)

🤔 solid and welcome proposal to improve interoperability, but how is the Commission going to make sure this happens?
A revision of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability in 2022

🤔 these Specifications have caused problems for the introduction of new trains, so simplifying rules here makes sense. Devil will be in the detail. Role for ERA here
Read 18 tweets
Jon Worth Profile picture
14 Dec
So @EvaMontemaggi alerted me to this piece about plans for hydrogen trains in Italy

The piece is misleading, so it deserves a thread to take it all apart...

#EUYearOfRail #Decarbonisation

railway-technology.com/news/aecom-ape…
First, the piece speaks of the "300km Apennine line [...] This track stretches from the town of Sansepolcro in the northern province of Arezzo to Sulmona in the central province of L’Aquila"
All right, so let's look that up on Open Railway Map, electrification layer

It's the line highlighted here...

And 🤯 half of it is electrified already! Blue is ⚡️, black is ⛽️
Read 13 tweets
Jon Worth Profile picture
14 Dec
Also if you want the variants of this theoretical route, here's how to calculate the distances... assuming that at some point routes via Belarus or Ukraine, and into China open up again...
You need to use the geodisical distance calculator:
gps-coordinates.net/distance

You first need to define: what is a train?

Are we talking heavy rail? Or also trams and metros as well?
If it's heavy rail then starting point is Cascais station, west of Lisbon
Coordinates 38.7007835, -9.4207947

And end point Singapore Woodlands Checkpoint
Coordinates 1.44378, 103.7674213

11904.73 km
Read 6 tweets
Jon Worth Profile picture
14 Dec
OK, so I tried to work out if this is possible...

The answer is ⛔️ IT ISN'T ⛔️

At least not now

The 🧵 explains it
Basically whoever made this map read that there is now a new line through Laos, making the point furthest south east you can reach by train as Woodlands, Singapore 🇸🇬 rather than southern Vietnam 🇻🇳 as it was before

News about the new train 👇
thediplomat.com/2021/12/laos-u…
But the PROBLEM is that politics and COVID have intervened to mean you cannot actually make all parts of this trip connect...
Read 18 tweets
Jon Worth Profile picture
13 Dec
With the UK's "Plan B" COVID restrictions due to be voted on tomorrow, and with a substantial Tory rebellion expected (probably enough to mean Johnson needs to count on Labour support), a 🧵 on relations between the PM, his backbenchers, COVID restrictions, and a new Tory leader
The media framing goes like this

The Number 10 parties showed there was one rule for the elite, and one for the little people
⬇️
This means fewer people will respect COVID restrictions
⬇️
Will result in greater spread, probably more deaths and pressure on NHS
⬇️
Replace Johnson
In the Tory Party each debate about restrictions has gone like this

Johnson (and Hancock, now Javid) want tougher restrictions
⬇️
Their credibility is shot within the party
⬇️
The price to rebel gets lower and lower
⬇️
So vote against the new restrictions
Read 13 tweets

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