I don't buy this argument - from T&E, ALLRAIL - that because customers know incumbents (DB Navigator, SNCF Connect etc.) those must be forced to sell *everything* Trainline, Omio, Railfinder are not good enough to recommend YET because they're deprived of data! Give them data, their market grows!

Guardian today about my topic - railway ticketing www.theguardian.com/environment/... It's largely a copy-paste of this press release from @transportenvironment.org www.transportenvironment.org/articles/fla... The report is solid on the WHY, less good on the HOW to fix these problems 🧵 (1/11)

Strong Gell-Mann amnesia this morning

Good to see this report, but not a surprise especially to those following @jonworth.eu 's work. "Across Europe, the report found incumbent operators do not sell competitors’ tickets on 86% of routes where competition exists, while on 59% of the routes, the alternative is not even displayed."

I feel like I’m losing my mind with this forthcoming EU rail ticketing reform (SDBTR) So many people - including T&E today - have fundamental misconceptions about it www.transportenvironment.org/articles/mod... Or am I the one getting it wrong?

After teaching at @collegeofeurope.bsky.social more than a decade, my course was summarily cancelled by email, ending my work, and without a word of thanks Unlike other underlings in a passive-aggressive environment, I have a voice - my blog, and this blog post euroblog.jonworth.eu/more-than-a-...

So I just got sacked by @collegeofeurope.bsky.social by email My course next academic year has been cancelled, I was not even asked about its future More than 10 years teaching there ended in an email saying “Thank you for you understanding and for your cooperation”

This is basically why, after evaluating it with my security background I basically declined to have any passkeys for my own use.

I see some people are annoyed DB boss Palla is against re-introducing the #9euroTicket OF COURSE she would be! It means MORE passengers and hence MORE work and likely LESS income for DB Regio In decisions like this DB is obviously not going to do what passengers want, but what DB wants!

I can confirm: it wasn’t me 😀 Eiffel Tower stolen in Baden-Württemberg www.swr.de/swraktuell/b... But will the new location pop up on Google Streetview? 🤔 oldsite.jonworth.eu/the-weird-an...

I tried searching the train numbers plus Oulu and Haaparanta in “” and found this.

I remember seeing a provisional Kemi 🇫🇮 - Tornio 🇫🇮 - Haparanda 🇸🇪 train timetable (for when it opens this summer) a few weeks ago, but now I can’t find it Have you seen it @sebwilken.net @lennydunord.bsky.social ?

Short of cash railway chooses most expensive way to decarbonise* railcolornews.com/2026/04/17/r... * - assuming it’s even green hydrogen

If you step back, it is truly extraordinary that so many people went to such great lengths and broke so many conventions and risked their political careers and the only outcome of all these efforts and risks was appointing a washed-up old spinner to an ambassadorial post

Spring is really here at the Armançon today

Are we really going to hold a public inquiry into whether doing the vetting after the prime minister publicly announces the appointment is a bad idea?

This week's newsletter is out! 📯 jonworth.eu/launch-of-th... Analysis: Launch of the new #CrossBorderRail database of international railway lines Bullshit Meter: Kyiv - Bulgaria trains to start summer 2026 Good week: Opening of Tornio-Haparanda now in sight, it will allow a new record to be set

This the key point. If FCDO did overturn the vetting without telling anyone it was because it had already been announced. Which was a ridiculous thing to do.

Anyone want to set a new record? When Tornio 🇫🇮 - Haparanda 🇸🇪 passenger services start this summer, a new longest train journey in the EU is possible, using multiple trains. Geodesic 3933.23km Kolari 🇫🇮 - Lagos 🇵🇹, surpassing previous best 3855.54km Riksgränsen 🇸🇪 - Lagos 🇵🇹 yle.fi/a/74-20220038

Suspect blaming Olly Robbins and the Foreign Office will not end well for Starmer.

EXCL: Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to US - a Guardian investigation by Paul Lewis @direthoughts.com & me www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The French Senate wants to force SNCF Connect to sell rivals' tickets. I am not that bothered, for there is another way. Explained here: jonworth.eu/im-not-that-...

Magyar plant ua den Beitritt Ungarns zur Europäischen Staatsanwaltschaft. Spätestens damit könnte es für Orban und seine Clique strafrechtlich eng werden.

In this moment of optimism for UK EU ties @anandmenon.bsky.social performs almost a public service in his grumpiness... bsky.app/profile/anan...

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is being refreshingly blunt: there is “no workaround” for Europe’s energy price crisis. Hoekstra’s message? The only way out is through: more electrification, more solar, more wind, more storage, more grid interconnection — and all of it faster.

Péter Magyar might not have anything like the same values as I do, but damn this guy has determination and courage. Not only to win the election but what he’s done since. Impressive.

Peter Magyar displaying a ruthlessness that Biden and Starmer seem devoid of

Listening to Prof Jessica Gienow-Hecht of @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social talk about efforts to "brand" the EU. Good speaker, well structured, knows how to write a speech... But her words leave me feeling rather cold, and probably also would her daughter who she cited. #BerlinVerbindetEuropa

Right, my new map and database of all #CrossBorderRail lines in Europe is online! This blog post explains what I am trying to do: crossborderrail.eu/new-borders-... At the moment it is all rather provisional, so bear with me, but the idea is to have EVERY line mapped, and basic data available!

To those saying Orbán will be back in 2030 to win back power from Magyar: honestly I doubt it Legal cases will come if not directly for him, then at least close enough to him to cause damage He'd be 66 in 2030 Fidesz in some form will continue, but I reckon he will not try to be PM again

The alt text here puts it rather well.

Genuine 😂 The Goodwin stuff has brought me almost as many new followers here as… err… Barack Obama! 🎉

SCMP: Péter has thoughts on the the Budapest-Belgrade line "an example of something not in 🇭🇺 interests, saying it was built with 🇨🇳 money, technology and workers, primarily for 🇨🇳 benefit, and funded by “an enormous sum of money that is sorely missing from 🇭🇺 own railway development” @jonworth.eu

Back to normal today! #CrossBorderRail Spring 2026 Tour Day 18 - 14 Apr - Budapest - Ústí nad Labem - Dresden - Berlin New borders: Heidenau-Süd 🇩🇪 - Ústí nad Labem západ 🇨🇿 (Future line) Borders already crossed: Štúrovo 🇸🇰 - Szob 🇭🇺 Lanžhot 🇨🇿 - Brodské 🇸🇰 Bridged to Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/jon....

Absolute “Big Mac weight loss plan” levels of idiocy from the German government here.

Today has been ridiculous and awful and amazing. This thread summarises the main event. And the interesting politics was provided over a beer by @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com @garvanwalshe.org @thomas.escritt.eu And special thanks to @gyoripeter.bsky.social for moral support at the Goodwin event!

So then let’s get this thread started! Matthew Goodwin is speaking in Budapest at 17:00 CEST this evening, at this event hosted by MCC: mcc.hu/en/event/202... And I’m signed up to go. Updates in this thread The tag is: #BadLossBudapest

Magyar gets his supermajority in parliament because of the biases Orbán put in the system to keep himself in power The supermajority lets Magyar right Orbán's wrongs (judicial appointments, media laws etc.), but then... ... Maygar ought to then make the system fairer too. Will he?

“Fidesz lost power so democratic backsliding isn’t really that much of a thing” is the worst, most complacent take possible. The minimalist definition of democracy as a system in which parties lose elections is a great place to start, but that’s all it is.

That's my concern looking ahead. A movement built around one man might be a necessary step to removing Orbán, but TISZA can't keep fighting that battle for the next four years. They'll need to govern, and Hungary still doesn't have a functioning party system

So, as MattGPT is speaking today in Budapest mcc.hu/en/event/202... it had to be done How does ChatGPT think Goodwin would analyse Orbán's defeat? It *doesn't* suggest there'll be overtones of Brussels elites, some sort of conspiracy at play for Orbán's defeat. We'll see what we get at 17:00 CEST!

This is a good thread. Whether he was authoritarian enough didn’t really matter. It was the corruption and poor economic situation that ended everything for Orbán, mostly.

And as MattGPT is speaking at an event hosted by one of these organisations this evening in Budapest, and I’ll go, it’ll be an interesting moment to test the mood mcc.hu/en/event/202...

I avoided optimism for a long time. I didn’t want to believe in false hope about the election. But last night something broke — and I almost cried. Sixteen years of weight lifted at once. It feels like a celebration. And knowing that young voters made the difference? That means there is hope. 3/1

lol 😂 I’m still in Budapest, shall I go?

Well placed warning.

It’s been joyous seeing the reactions in Budapest to Orbán’s defeat Let us just stop to appreciate that 16 years in power, setting the rules for everything in his favour, but ousted nevertheless An important corner turned tonight!