Jon Worth

Damn I am tired of people laughing about Deutsche Bahn. Travel in many other places in Europe and you will discover Germany is trying to do many things right with its railways. A quick blog post / rant from me: https://jonworth.eu/your-deutsche-bahn-joke-is-no-longer-fu/ #CrossBorderRail

Just had to deal with a bunch of wind turbine conspiracy theories at #StateOfEU, this polite political event I’m at in Brussels. Damn we‘re fucked. Fucked. Our notional political elite is believing in utter complete garbage.

Old style Knödel Express dining car here! 🥰

Čadca The station is run down but it’s an amazing brutalist mountain construction

Always nice to be wrong language tag or ALT text shamed here on the Fediverse. Look, I’m on a bike tour. Half the time I don’t know what language I’m even using. I’ll do what I can, from a mobile in a field in Slovakia. I’m aware this is important. But please also be aware I’m human.

Thinking about it, I need a new tactic for these illegal German controls 1) Ask the police if this is a border control 2) When they say yes, say the controls are illegal - as courts have demonstrated https://www.zeit.de/news/2026-04/27/verwaltungsgericht-erklaert-grenzkontrolle-fuer-rechtswidrig 3) Because then they have to go back on "Identität nachweisen können" and then I can show them a driving license, and see how they get on And ideally do this at a time when I have time to get thrown off the train 😄

What? Sabina Lindström from the Finnish Ministry of transport just said 1524mm / 1435mm systems dual gauge track are not possible in Finland. Here is *precisely that* in Tornio, Finland - my own photo. Yes, you need 4 rails not 3, but you can do it! #ConnectingEuropeDays

Illegal border control entering 🇩🇪, between Niesky & Hoyerswerda As ever I ask police how long are temporary controls to last? "We are allowed to control!" Why do you control every train? "We do not control every train!" I point to my bike. "If I cross by bike I am not controlled, because you don't control every road, but every train is checked" And then they don't have the right tech with them to check a Ukrainian guy in my compartment 😡 "Complain to the Interior Ministry!" the police says

In the occasional series: railway stations at the end of the world! Krišovská Liesková Mokcsamogyorós

Also I always *really* appreciate the attitude of the German police When asked why they are controlling they always get ratty. Today it was "Let me explain!" Well sorry, you have fuck all you can explain. You're conducting controls because you are told to control. You cannot tell me why this train, not cars. You cannot tell me when it will all end. What CAN you explain to me? That this is all a stupid try to reassure AfD but it doesn't, and a total waste of everyone's time and effort? 🤷‍♂️

Čadca details

Get to the front of the queue. And the two people in front of me *don’t know how to do a bag scan* They don’t prepare their bags, take off their belts etc., so they clog up everything further FFS this is #ConnectingEuropeDays you WORK IN THIS SECTOR 🤬🤬🤬🤬

It is YOUR JOB as a speaker to tell attendees something they might not know, and might need to know. It’s not your job to blather on about what you did. #ConnectingEuropeDays

I’ve lost track of the data. Am having too much fun

There was even a #caturday pic from today‘s #CrossBorderRail These kittens were so determinedly eating a grasshopper they were putting themselves in danger in the road in Ruská 🇸🇰 I made sure they were off the road before continuing my trip!

🤦‍♂️ At the re-gauging railways session and so far there’s no clarity of thought. Are we ADDING standard gauge, laying dual gauge track, or REPLACING existing track? #ConnectingEuropeDays

Ah! There’s a quick line for speakers. And I’m a speaker. But tomorrow. So I’ll stick to the regular line. #ConnectingEuropeDays

No Knödel for me. But late breakfast of fried eggs and a coffee was just fine 🙂

The dude from Lithuanian railways says that it would cost, by their estimate, €27bn to re-gauge Lithuanian railways. So that's not happening. Good. #ConnectingEuropeDays

And I’ve got a puncture. Damn it. I’ve got a repair kit, but it’s annoying.

It’s been an amazing day of #CrossBorderRail Days like this - trying to decipher problems in peculiar corners of Europe - are so much fun

Observing which people think they’re important enough to skip the #ConnectingEuropeDays queue is amusing.

Also I am on my way to Bruxelles for #ConnectingEuropeDays - a big European Commission event about the future of EU transport policy How many other attendees were subjected to this on their journey? As most attendees from beyond Paris / Amsterdam / Köln will fly, I'd wager pretty much none This is a problem that doesn't personally touch anyone in the Brussels bubble

There’s a dude ahead of me in the #ConnectingEuropeDays queue with a ŽSR badge. He must have taken the train from Slovakia like me, right? 🙄

FFS these people are so incoherent. #ConnectingEuropeDays

And now Kamburova from the EU Military Staff says gauge change technology is not proven to work, and so will not work for military purposes. But hang on. Re-gauging is going to take you decades to do. #ConnectingEuropeDays

The 1520mm standards and rules are essentially Russian rules says the Lithuanian railways guy here. Very true. But *please* if you move away from those, make sure you have a unified Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia rule book, not separate ones! #ConnectingEuropeDays

This is the #ConnectingEuropeDays programme: https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/main-events/connecting-europe-days-2026_en Delays getting in mean I’m missing a panel on re-gauging railways I’m sceptical of that idea: https://jonworth.eu/why-you-probably-should-not-re-gauge-railways-in-europe/

I feared this would be annoying. And so far it’s living up to my fears. #ConnectingEuropeDays

Premium Service in Čadca just now A shunting locomotive will haul the Praha - Košice express from Čadca via Žilina to Vrútky due to works on the power lines https://peertube.netzbegruenung.de/w/wm8oE21DYFLmL72Ge4QJwN

It also smells of piss. #ConnectingEuropeDays

It’s because the person who wrote the gospel is here later. Meaning bags must be scanned https://jonworth.eu/how-the-gospel-the-political-guidelines-left-the-european-commission-with-a-ticketing-proposal-both-radical-and-unworkable/ #ConnectingEuropeDays

Peculiar here. I have a seat reservation Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig in carriage 272 But there’s no carriage 272, nor - at least until Wrocław - is there meant to be, if I understand the train manager correctly Currently the train is quite empty, so no problem. But it’s strange

Just re-planned tomorrow’s #CrossBorderRail a bit Leaving Košice a bit earlier means avoiding a 5 min connection in Čadca And more time there means more time to admire one of Europe‘s most unique station buildings. It’s a kind of brutalist mountain shape. There’ll be plenty of pics tomorrow

Ha Where I went *yesterday* is included in Poland's railway news today 😄 https://www.rynek-kolejowy.pl/wiadomosci/slaskie-odbudowy-linii-do-krzanowic-i-czeskiej-opawy-nie-bedzie--154495.html And it is nothing to do with me Baborów 🇵🇱 - Opava 🇨🇿, Czech side, is complex though - it is ALL gone. It used to cross the field shown in Pic 1 and run alongside the factory in Pic 2. VERY HARD to re-open.

I like Košice a lot but their Eiffel Tower is a bit weird 😀 #CrossBorderRail

Yesterday at Osoblaha I was told of the idea to fill the gap in the 760mm gauge railways between Litschau 🇦🇹 and Nová Bystřice 🇨🇿 - roughly here: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-all-the-borders_935041#12/48.980668/15.073071 There are 760mm gauge railways on both sides But as you can see here, I think they never joined? https://openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=49.019197899687605&lon=15.111055500000003&zoom=14 And there is 12km in between 🤔

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 40 of 49 Os 3418 12:40 Ostrava-Svinov - Opava východ 13:12 ČD 🚆: Škoda City Elephant EMU, 3 double deck carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (step free if station allows, ramp on board if not) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ⛔️ 🧳: 🙂 (as double deck designs go it’s pretty good!) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 45 of 49 EC 132 07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04 PKP IC 🚆: Newag Griffin locomotive now, Siemens Vectron later, carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc, 15kV ac) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (lift on board) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ✅ (at least part of the trip) 🧳: 😐 (narrow corridors, tricky with big bags) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 😐 (compulsory res, €3)

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 36 of 49 Os 8528 17:02 Čierna nad Tisou - Košice 18:49 ZSSK 🚆: Škoda Panter EMU, 4 carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (step free, or lift if platform too low) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ⛔️ 🧳: 🙂 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: 🙂 (accepted)

And as I’ve been to Uzhhorod 🇺🇦 - Maťovské Vojkovce 🇸🇰 #CrossBorderRail today, that means I’m missing only 1 active border railway line now: Rybnitsa 🇲🇩 - Klymentove 🇺🇦 As that’s im the north of Transnistria it’s a bit tricky 😀

Quick video from before the puncture https://peertube.netzbegruenung.de/w/cCnFsTbLj3hJsrHNDTT4St

#CrossBorderRail to/from #LongestTrainEU Train 39 of 49 EC 142 11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22 ČD 🚆: Siemens Vectron locomotive, 8 carriages ⚡️ (3kV dc) 🚲: ✅ 🦽: ✅ (lift on board) 🛜: ✅ 🍽️: ✅ 🧳: 😐 (hellish high steps to get in) 🧽: 🙂 Interrail: ❓ (ZSSK and Interrail say comp res., ČD and DB say not - mystery)

I left Košice 30 mins earlier than planned this morning, conscious something was wrong Žilina - Čadca, and not wanting to trust a tight connection I made the right call I think 😀

EC 132 07:45 Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Leipzig Hbf 13:04 Distance: 476.4km Avg speed: 90km/h 11 stops: Opole Glowne Wroclaw Glowny Legnica Chojnow Boleslawiec Wegliniec Hoyerswerda Ruhland Elsterwerda Riesa Leipzig Hbf 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#8/50.913424/15.295715 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU

Os 3418 12:40 Ostrava-Svinov - Opava východ 13:12 Distance: 28.4km Avg speed: 53km/h 9 stops: Ostrava-Trebovice Dehylov Jilesovice Haj ve Slezsku Lhota u Opavy Mokre Lazce Stitina Opava-Komarov Opava vychod 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#12/49.877822/18.060016

EC 142 11:01 Čadca - Ostrava-Svinov 12:22 Distance: 83.2km Avg speed: 62km/h 7 stops: Jablunkov-Navsi Trinec-Lyzbice Cesky Tesin Karvina hl.n. Bohumín Ostrava hl.n. Ostrava-Svinov 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#10/49.679477/18.499200 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU

Os 8528 17:02 Čierna nad Tisou - Košice 18:49 Distance: 94.5km Avg speed: 53km/h 21 stops: Cierna nad Tis. zast Biel Dobra pri Ciernej n.T. Pribenik Velky Hores Somotor Streda nad Bodrogom Borsa Slovenske Nove Mesto Cerhov Michalany Kuzmice Kalsa Slanec Ruskov Bohdanovce Vysna Mysla Nizna Mysla Krasna nad Hornadom Košice predmestie Košice 🚆 mapped: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/crossborderrail-autumn-2026-inc-longest-train-jour_1443266#10/48.554630/21.675333 #CrossBorderRail #LongestTrainEU