Search results

Indeed, you are almost always right on these issues - probably much to do with the fact that you know exactly how the people who plan this stuff think and probably speak to them on a regular basis. :D That seems a very UK- and London-centric view. London is by far Zurich airport‘s largest...

Why would there be? Since the opening of the TGV Rhin-Rhône, the TGV offer between Strasbourg and Lyon has been getting worse. And there is really no precedent in France for a short-distance TGV services which mostly runs on classic track, as Luxembourg - Basel would do.

A bit surprised that no mention of Basel and/or Zurich, which cannot be in the interest of SBB, with whom they allegedly are working together. Of course, from a London perspective, Geneva is the easier destination.

Ironically, Westbahn currently has more public information. They state that there will be no rail service - it might mean that only their own trains will not run, but that would be unusual. ÖBB infrastructure usually ensures that both TOCs get at least some paths when availability is restricted...

I don't think that is really the problem here. Brussels - Lille - CDG - Strasbourg - Basel makes perfekt sense. It is just that SNCF is unwilling to offer more than token "interregional" TGV services (and the French state is not willing to pay for more). Otherwise, you would likely have more and...

Apart from the fact that Switzerland decided, hard-nosed as they can be, that they won't subsidize new night trains (meaning Zurich - Rome and Barcelona were dead), ÖBB have realized that there is much more growth potential in long-distance (and very-long-distance) day trains than in night...

I am not sure you can accuse ÖBB NJ of "overexpanding"; their main network is still the night train network that was there before NJ was created, and expansions to Brussels and Amsterdam do not, by themselves, seem to be the problem (Paris was a bit different). Operationally, both ÖBB and ES...

Depends on the T&C of the insurance. I bought one recently on Austria which also does not require to lock the bike to a fixed object. In truth, it makes very little difference if - and if they are organized, they most certainly will - the thiefs have a good lock-cutter with them. A friend of...

Plenty of examples of rail companies with (legal or de facto) monopolies offering a vastly better service. Look at Switzerland, the Benelux countries etc.

E* is majority-owned by SNCF. What else did you expect? Offer a terrible service, but hinder competition is their entire playbook.

Ah, but that is not inevitable, merely bad regulation (which admittedly is often the rule). Obviously unregulated competetion on a scarce resource (=the most attractive and therefore the most congested lines) that has largely been paid out of public funds is a bad idea. It doesn't mean that...

RENFE I can see, but why is Trenitalia in a bad state?

Being strongly opposed to cherry-picking in rail competition, I do see your point.* However, you might need to allow competitors in on the crown jewels if you want to entice them to run elsewhere too. Let's see how Velvet does; the demand is surely there, but they need to earn money. *And...

I absolutely don't deny that operating conditions in France are more difficult than elsewhere, but most of it is either a political choice (sky-high access charges) or an SNCF one (artificially restricting capacity by operating/ordering too few sets). The "single manufacturer" has been disproved...

It is. But Spain has enabled - real and fair - competition on the most important HSL, so they are in front of France here.

Well, it is a shambles now; hard to see how it could get worse (unlike the long-distance competition plans in Germany which likely *will* make things worse).

All of what you write is really an argument for why France is one of the prime countries in Europe that really, really need real competition.

… and hinder any attempt at competition… 8-)

You don't need the space to be there already to quadruple. You just need to spend more (either to tunnel or to do compulsory purchases). In any case, Ireland has the money, so it is a question of political will.

About once a month, there is also a steam-hauled train using a class Mh (later ÖBB 399, now back to Mh), built for the Mariazellerbahn before its early electrification.