OH HELL YES, TRAIN NEWS!!!! 🚂✨✨

An informal agreement has been reached that trains in the EU will have to have switched to the EU standard rail gage and signaling system by 2040! That means every. Single. Train. in the EU will work on every single track in the EU.

We’re getting one step closer to the dream of transcontinental sleeper trains! Next station: official sign off from EU member states, with votes happening in March and April.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/transport/news/2023-the-year-europe-finalised-its-path-to-greener-transport/

If this is the first time you’re hearing about gage and signaling interoperability issues in the EU —

— here is a good overview of the issues with the current state of European rail interop: https://youtu.be/Oxz4oY0T85Y

Oh I guess I completely forgot about the electric system issues 😅

I pulled this image from the video: this seems like it might require some effort.

I need to log off and go to bed. But also: ohhhhhhhh, a train connection from Copenhagen <-> Verona could actually happen!

https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/infrastructure-and-investment/trans-european-transport-network-ten-t/scandinavian-mediterranean-corridor_en

Oh shooootttt, >200km/hr railway from Copenhagen <-> Stockholm might be on deck too it seems

Document 5 here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52022PC0384

Oh. Oh no.

This is all the legislation has to say about standardizing the electric train system in the EU. Which is to say: nothing.

I mean, I don’t read any of this stuff professionally so like, I might be missing something. But this text basically seems to say: “well as long as you’ve got power lines of any kind you’re golden. You’ve got until 2050* to make this happen.”

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021PC0812

* this is from original legislation, the extension seems to move it to 2040.

@yosh I fucking love a good bullet train

@zkat @yosh and the bullet trains from Stockholm (last I took one) were so smooth too

Booooooooo*. I really want my Copenhagen <-> Barcelona sleeper train! Entire countries will be switching gages and trains. What’s a little changing the numbers on the wires eh?

At least normalize that stuff sometime in the next 25 years. What I’m reading is that this is not set to happen before I’m well on my way to retirement.

*unless train interop is easy, which I doubt. In which case: yayyyyy.

@jhpratt I don’t know much about roads or boats, but I’m confused about why it would make sense to replace electric overhead lines with hydrogen?

Hauling fuel is pretty inefficient, is relatively dangerous, and requires refueling infrastructure. I don’t understand what benefits that would have?

Reddit says: probably yay? I’m going to have to trust that the cost of building trains which can operate on the various AC/DC protocols is cheaper than overhauling the entire electrification system of a bunch of countries.

If done right (and who knows lol, I sure don’t ), this could even be an interim step to standardize the systems. Or maybe it doesn’t even matter. Signaling + gauge + mandatory electrification are the big ones it seems. And that’s being tackled.

@yosh Whining that "there must be a direct train between my pet cities" is counter-productive. It just leads to people thinking "oh but there is no direct train, I will just continue flying".

Changing trains is not hard. That you have to do it a couple of times during a multiple-day journey is not a problem.

@tml @yosh
Booking trains for crossborder rail is a nightmare. I do it, I want to do as much of it as I can afford, but it's a nightmare.
Also, changing trains when everything runs smooth is not hard. When things break down on the other hand...

@Veza85UE @yosh Don’t generalise. In some cases it is hard, in others not hard at all. Be more specific.

@tml @yosh

Fill yer boots.

https://jonworth.eu/simple-international-trips-and-the-failures-of-ticket-booking-platforms/

I've experienced the Bordeaux to San Sebastián one myself, it's ridiculous and that's for someone who speaks two of the three languages spoken on this ex-border. Good luck to monolingual tourists.

Not mentioned in Jon's experiment but a perennial massive timetabling failure before the R3 refurbishment works: Barcelona-Toulouse via Rodalies. We'll see what happens once the works are done, but I'm not holding my breath.

@tml wow, you’re a particularly unpleasant individual. No thanks, here’s your block.

@aslakr @sebwilken @jon my understanding is that changing track gauge in countries bordering Russia is less about what it enables, and more about what it prevents.