A hot cross bun before a hop across to Brussels. Second trip of three this week to Belgium.

Here in the UK we've had one of our wettest winters ever. At the same time, we seem to be as addicted to cheap flights as ever before. Will we ever wake up?

Steamy bus windows. #London #blackandwhite

Je n'ai aucune idée. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

BREAKING NEWS: We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that the Southbank Centre - the Hayward Gallery, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall and skaters undercroft - has finally been Grade II listed by DCMS after a 35 year long campaign. ➡️ c20society.org.uk/news/southba...

I put my boots on for work this morning and discovered a few grains of sand from Gylly Beach in Falmouth still on the sole. ☺️ #Cornwall

Bye bye Falmouth. A lovely weekend catching up with our daughter. She has picked a lovely if wet place to study. The long journey back to Cambridge begins.

4 knots. No mooring. #Falmouth

First beer of the weekend: There Is Only Now by Verdant. Gloriously dank. And so was the weather by the end of the evening in Falmouth. Lovely to be back in Cornwall though.

One of the best train window views in the UK has to be the Dawlish sea wall.

Go west! Heading to Cornwall for the weekend.

Thursday = Friday. Standby shift. Having a break from prepping trains with a cupcake baked by one of our lovely colleagues.

On this day in 1989, Chris Gueffroy was killed trying to get over the Berlin Wall. The last to be shot in Berlin trying to escape. I was in the city on a school history trip. It is heartbreaking that just over 9 months later he could have legally walked across. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_G...

Late train home. One more shift to go this week. And now my train is delayed once again by signalling problems between Royston and Cambridge. 😞

Strange round white thing spotted in sky over northern France this afternoon.

Soggy St Pancras standby shift. #London

2015 and 2026: When I took the top photo of the derelict Lord Napier pub in east London, I joked that it would probably reopen as a craft beer place. I wasn't far off. #pub #HackneyWick

Slow train to Turin: a winter journey through the Swiss Alps to Italy

On this day in 2017: Farewell 3107/8. One of our original trains was about to make its final journey to the scrapyard hauled by a diesel loco. The trains numbered in the 31xx series were the four sets originally ordered by Belgian railways when e* was set up. 30xx 🇬🇧 31xx 🇧🇪 32xx 🇫🇷 #EuropeOnRails

Really glad that I was able to visit Inspiration, the Railway 200 exhibition train, at Cambridge today. There was a great mix of people on board enjoying the various exhibits. Came away impressed and proud to be part of a very special industry that changed the world. railway200.co.uk/inspiration/

6 years ago today, it was good night Europe. 😞 Nothing is permanent...

It's beer o'clock in east London. 🍺

La première phase du déploiement de l’ERTMS dans le tunnel sous la Manche est lancée

The way there and the way back: A morning and a late afternoon view of the River Medway from the train. #TrainsNotPlanes #TrainWindowView

B comme Baguette. 🍞 🇫🇷 🚆

Platform 5 for Paris: Last shift of the week. Really looking forward to 4 days off and not working a weekend. Have a lovely day wherever you are.

Counting down to a trip featuring a few days in Lyon next month. The last time I was there, TGVs were still orange. Does anyone have any nice restaurant tips please? Need to be suitable for a pescatarian. Merci!

This afternoon, I will mainly be messing about with model trains on the kitchen table, much to a key stakeholder's bemusement. #TrainGeek

Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves): A very unsettling installation at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. www.jmberlin.de/en/shalekhet...

Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.

This will open up some great journey possibilities... #TrainsNotPlanes

Good news, #Hamburg 🌙🚆 From 13 July 2026, our Paris–Berlin #nighttrain will also stop in Hamburg. A new city to board in the evening, or wake up to in the morning. With easy onward rail links, Scandinavia is now closer than ever. 🎟️ Bookings are open 👉 www.europeansleeper.eu/hamburg

Powerful political allies have helped automakers force the EU to water down climate laws for cars. Now the aviation sector is borrowing those tactics.

January 723rd: It's cold, dark, and wet. Another 05:01 standby shift for me at St Pancras. More coffee needed...

Fourth weekend in a row working and very happy it's the last for a while. Treating myself to a Sunday roast in a backstreet Islington pub. First time I've been to the Earl of Essex for a long time. Perfect for a bit of January cosiness. #London

Timeline cleanser needed? A 1960s diesel loco leaves Loughborough on the Great Central heritage railway on a sunny day last September.

One in, one out: Passing a vehicle Shuttle as we head under the sea to the island on the 11:56 from Brussels. 🇪🇺🚄🇬🇧

Old school. If you know, you know.

Penultimate train of the day from London to the mainland.

Snowdrops in the woods on a sunny winter's day. Perfect weather for a bike ride. Shame about having to work the 19:34 to Brussels later...

The @125Group have unveiled three power cars in retro liveries. 43080 in GNER, 43025 in InterCity and 43048 in Midlane Mainline. They will be seen at heritage railways and railtours during the year. Three trailers repainted too More in @railexpress issue 358.

Training course to end my working week. On this day in 2022, some of us were doing a refresher course on the e300 train. They had been in storage for 2 years during the pandemic but were needed again as the service increased again.

Today on the 9153, an anxious passenger approached me during boarding. He doesn't like flying, and being from Spain, was upset about yesterday's accident. My colleague found out that the poor guy's parents were due to be on one of the trains. He'd had no news at that point. They're OK apparently.

Monday: London to Brussels and back with 9132/53. It's one of our original trains fir the way there. Have a good start to the week wherever you are.

Sub-optimal: Train home has terminated at Royston due to signal failure. There might be a train at 18:43 but it's not certain according to staff here. Time for more train companies to have a presence here for travel info during disruption...

A glorious sunset at Ely station this afternoon as a train from Peterborough headed for Ipswich. #EastAnglia

An afternoon out by train to see a Straw Bear in the Fens. strawbear.org.uk

It's been a while: First train of the day to London from Paris.