A trip to St Pancras today to purchase Eurostar tickets (more about that later). Thought I would check up on what's happening with #EES And basically sod all. Zone A (near the Thameslink entrance) had the shutters rolled up but glass doors locked and terminals powered off.

#InterRail #DataBreach Not had the email yet, but this has been a well discussed topic over the last few days. Worrying to say the least. I've changed my password, but what the heck are we supposed to do if your passport data was compromised?

Was so fond of British prog rock band, Renaissance, back during 1970s. Just learned that their drummer from the 1970s, Terence Sullivan, has passed away. Just Annie Haslam left now. I'm sure many remember their hit single Northern Lights back in 1978. www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Qi...

As a London resident for the last 25+ years and just coming up to State Pension Age, this isn't good news at all. Fair to say, I've made good use of the TfL managed Oyster 60+ for the best part of 6 the last years. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Passed through (not travelling) St Pancras yesterday. With a bit of spare time I checked up on the progress of #EES Not looking good albeit not a busy day. Zone B (7 terminals) near check-in closed. I know currently only for Premium ticket holders and can be done at the French immigration booths.

Northstar Line, a single route Commuter Rail operating into Minneapolis closes on 4 January. Only been in operation for 16 years and one that has obviously never recovered its passenger numbers since the pandemic. Like so many other Commuter Rail routes its almost entirely aimed at just that.

Until a few weeks ago, stations west of Istanbul to Sofia weren't listed in the International Tickets tab on the TCDD site. Now they are. No schedules/fares loaded yet. But hopefully there soon. Its one of very few trains that still can't be booked online. @jonworth.eu @seatsixtyone.bsky.social

Been busy over the last few months selling a lot of my old ppl 12" vinyl collection. eBay is rather addictive. EVRi seem to be the preferred delivery option (I offer RM too). 60+ sales in and had my first damaged item. Handled very well after the buyer filed a report. Buyer refunded in full.

Heading from Sivas to Kars. Early start (04:56) although we departed 50 mins late. I've done Turkish night trains before. I was more interested in the catering as that has seen some changes in recent years. Full restaurant car. One person serving and cooking the food.

After a night in Sivas I took the train to Samsun. 8 hours or thereabouts. 4 car diesel set which was less than half full. And this only runs three times a week each way. Buses are several times a day, take 5 hours but a quick check revealed the price was around 800 TL each way.

YHT High Speed Train from Ankara to Sivas where I stay the night. Fantastic food market.

Did Istanbul (Bakirköy) to Ankara today on the YHT with a detour at Arifiye to cover the short line to Adapazari. Very slow in the Istanbul area and several waits to cross over with another YHT. Only room for three tracks most of the way through the suburbs.

Once #EES is up and running for Bulgaria's only rail crossing out of Schengen, suspect process at Svilengrad non-EUs at least will need to detrain. I doubt there's portable EES equipment. Ironically the US does have that. Had biometrics done in the comfort of my seat on Amtrak's train in May

Finally got to cover the Sofia to Turkey sleeper train last night. Bulgarian border control was the easy one. Though I checked my passport when it was given back and no stamp. Fortunately officers hung around on the platform, so one went off and got it stamped.

Heading to Cornwall having just crossed the Royal Albert Bridge.

Thought I would pay a visit to St Pancras today to see what I could of the #EES I'm not travelling. Spotted that all 7 terminals near the Premier check-in weren't in use and the glass doors. E* have announced non-Premier pax won't be "invited" to do EES until next year.

Just booked my first of several journeys in Turkey on the TCDD website. Not exactly the most robust site. Payment success is best described as "wonky". Two "check payment details" to start off with. Then for no. 3 attempt (with same card) it wanted my banking app to verify.

Technically not #CrossBordeRail but this was on my travels today. Nowy Świętów to Głuchołazy Miasto. Been on my to do list for ages and worked out well as a route from Poland to Olomouc. Last night stayed in Nysa. Two round trips per day, Saturday and Sunday only but all year round.

Perhaps I'm a bit of a Google-holic, but Google Maps really ought to be the number one start point for planning city public transport. I'm 99%sure MPK Wroclaw was integrated with GM. Now they are not. Bit of a dismissive reply I thought.

Not done this for many years for European trips. I'm no fan of using cash, but always needed in case you end up at a place that doesn't accept cards. My bugbear nowadays is so many ATMs are charging a user fixed fee to withdraw cash.

I see this trial pass has just been launched. Global 7 days in a month or Italy only 4 days in a month. Includes cost of most seat res although with T&Cs. Approx extra €100 for Global pass though that will then include E*. plus.interrail.eu/en/interrail... @jonworth.eu @seatsixtyone.bsky.social

Why is the airline industry so bad at communicating details about what has or went wrong? If this was a major issue with rail infrastructure in the UK, Network Rail would be up there and explaining and apologising. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Will be exploring the effectiveness of VPNs to circumvent going through this. It's a step too far. As all I'm sure know for BS it's DMs only. Understand it may be needed for things like hobby forums which have a similar DM facility.

Whilst I'm no big user of buses, just over a year to go and I get an England bus pass. Biggest benefit is not having to work out the most applicable bus fare/pass rather than the actual cost it. Fortunately I already go free in London (after 09:00 Mon-Fri).

Trip to Aylesbury to visit a relative in Stoke Mandeville Hospital tomorrow. Local bus ticketing info sketchy. PlusBus not valid on the operator, Redline routes 130 & 300 between bus station in the town and hospital. Local £4 day pass strangely valid on the 130 but not the 300.

Just had my US eSTA approved. About 2.5 hours wait. I found it quite odd that the section to fill in for Social Media profiles still lists Twitter and not X. And Bluesky amongst not in the list of other SM sites.

I remember using Minitel and Chip and PIN in France when these things were unknown in the UK. France had a technological edge. Now, Paris shows itself to be decades behind.

According to @seatsixtyone.bsky.social RATP paper tickets for the Paris Métro etc. had gone in 2025: www.seat61.com/changing-sta... This page was shared today and surprised to learn they are still being sold until Tuesday 13 May: www.bonjour-ratp.fr/en/actualite...

I get an irate caller on my phone earlier who runs an apartment in Foggia. Stayed there a month ago. Had to register online including uploading passport page photos for Italian police before I arrived. Turns out he never got the photos. And he never bothered to check on the day or straight after.

It's early days yet, but many of our council seats are filling up with Reform candidates. Many I'm sure just volunteered to stand as a candidate and weren't selected by a referendum at local branch level. These new recruits with Reform badges on need scrutiny.

Really worried about potential outcome of today's #LocalElections in parts of Britain. Reform no doubt have put up candidates with no proper understanding of what local councillors actually have to do. It's all about numbers to change political distribution & not actually needs of local residents

Went to see Norwegian prog rock band, Airbag at The Dome in North London last night. Powerful, brilliant set. Their 1st UK gig headlining despite being around for 20 years or so. They played at Winters End Festival in Chepstow on Friday. Support was Dutch band Lesoir. Again a great performance.

Would never have used the word culvert unless it was explained with a definition in plain English as a separate sentence. When I posted information like this for a TOC, that would never have gone out. Probably written by someone who deals more with operations rather than the general public.

And this sadly is what puts people off EVs if, like me, you live in Haringey which has a substantial proportion of housing without off street parking. Council's don't like leads being trailed across the pavement. What's needed is special tariff for these homes. www.haringey.gov.uk/news/2025042...

#NowPlaying "Sheer Heart Attack" by Queen. Probably my favourite album by the legendary band and produced by #RoyThomasBaker whose passing was announced earlier today.

Signed up for (yet) another hotel chain for my forthcoming N American trip. Does annoy me that basics like entering a phone number from outside the US/Canada is impossible.

Any idea what's causing a photo to go dark on another site? My original and as seen on Flickr. I then upload the same photo to a site which has rolling stock data files. Get an approval email and it is now on display. Details of what photo is what is in the Alt text.

A ward close to where I live in "red" Haringey. Election after election both parliament & council, Labour get in. That was always good for me. But like many others I'm unhappy with their position in government & also a lot of local issues. This could be a big change, though our next ones are 2026.

Where else would you find the state owned national railways board with many of its subsidiary companies managing a long distance bus station right next to its own Central rail station?

Well over a 6 hour journey from Taranto, I made my connection to Villa S Giovanni and an earlier ferry over to Messina. Eating out at 18:30 is probably way too early, so I had a restaurant all to myself. Seafood washed down with some perfectly fine local white wine. Really early start tomorrow.

The sticking point seems to be the ongoing closure of the Georgia to Azerbaijan land border. It's not for me as I'm no fan of sea cruises. One night on a ferry is enough for me. Personally, I'd prefer VIA Rail across Canada versus Amtrak across the US (and that's not because of the current news).

Turns out I didn't check the intermediate station stops! It's not a problem as I've covered all the lines in this part of Itself.Looks like the line around the coast through Crotone doesn't have much or any train service at all at the moment.

Know Your Train is a good feature. However Realtime Trains isn't a site many rail employees refrain from advising passengers to use. Issues with changes to platform numbers and train alterations may not be reflected inline with bespoke passenger information systems used on the rail network.

Long journey today and a route I've covered before. Taranto to Reggio Calabria which runs along the coast. Was a traditional locomotive hauled service, now it's a bimodal Hitachi built HTR412 4-car set. Seats a bit firm. Vending machines for snacks and drinks.

Why Trenitalia entering the market to rival Eurostar on Paris-London #CrossChannelRail routes makes them the most serious rival yet - blog post 👇 crossborderrail.trainsforeurope.eu/trenitalia-t...

This afternoon's trip was to Matera , a branch line on the Ferrovia Appulo Lucane 950mm gauge network. Now split into two parts as the central section of the 'main' line from Bari to Potenza remains closed.

Too much text for a post so I screenshot what I wrote on FB. First time I've encountered internet based door access to an accommodation properly which didn't go well.

First delay of the trip with Trenitalia Frecciarossa running 45 late as are all the other long distance trains on the line down the Adriatic coast. Only going Termoli to Foggia. Bloomin' cold too and to annoy me more see that the GBP has dropped €0.03 since arriving last Wednesday.

Ticketing confusion! Doing the journey shown on Trenitalia app. Bought ticket at Lanciano ticket office as TI can't sell it. Yet two tickets sold and the one from S Vito to Termoli is issued as TI not TUA despite latter operates both trains. So could I have used my rail staff TI free travel pass?

Hotel in Roma buffet breakfast. I do love an empty croissant.