2023-05-06 17:25:00
Those who want to use the intercity trains to Belgium and Germany this summer will have to make reservations from now on, the Dutch Railways announced this week. The trains are too popular, the company said. Travelers association Rover complained: they fear that the tickets will become more expensive on average.
Such a more expensive ticket might be the next obstacle for international rail travelers, who are already struggling on many European routes. For example, you have to book trains such as Thalys and Eurostar far in advance to get an affordable ticket. And those who want to go further, to the south of France, Italy or Spain, often come across inadequate connections or inscrutable departure times.
At first glance, the European railways are indeed not running smoothly, but they are also working hard on improvements, says the British train expert, university lecturer in European Studies and blogger Jon Worth from a platform in Bremen. He has been making serious studies of bottlenecks on the European railways for some time now.
In Germany, where he lives, he gained some fame as a Brexit expert. “But at a certain point it became too depressing. I am convinced that we should travel more by train to avoid flying. I traveled a lot through Europe by train for my work and that just often didn’t work. So then I thought: what might you do regarding this?”
Rail companies mainly look at domestic rail
Worth started the #CrossBorderRail campaign last year to draw more attention to the problems surrounding cross-border rail connections. “The problem is that the priorities of national railway companies are on domestic routes. They often do well there. The Dutch Railways, for example, do a great job in the Netherlands.”
But when something is on or over the border, things get more complicated. Worth is on his way to the border town of Leer at the time of the conversation. Since 2015, a broken bridge has meant that those who want to travel from the Northern Netherlands to Hamburg, Bremen or Berlin have to travel quite a distance by bus. “Many parties want to solve it, but then there are differences of opinion regarding how it should be solved. So you are left with a broken bridge.”
To solve the problems on the European track, we should look more often at the European Union, says Worth. “The European Union now mainly invests money in the railway lines and infrastructure, not in the running of the trains themselves.” If, for example, an international route is not yet profitable because the ticket price does not cover the costs, countries must solve this themselves.
Borders are part of the daily life of many citizens
The focus of the European Union might also shift somewhat from high-speed lines between major cities to regional trains. “I was recently on a train in Denmark and spoke to someone who said he was going to the dentist in Sweden. That may have been an extreme example, but 30 percent of the European population lives in a border area. The border is part of their daily life. They must also be able to take the train.”
Last year, the European Commission announced a number of projects to promote international rail traffic. Worth is pleased with the plans. “The Commission looks at where the problems are and how they can be solved. For example: the international trains going to Sweden have to go through Denmark. But for that they need a safety certificate, which is hard to get. This is not because the trains are unsafe, but because the Danish system is a mess. The Commission now says regarding these kinds of problems: we are going to tackle them.”
Railway companies lack entrepreneurial spirit
Few trains are still running on many international routes. “Carriers have the main goal of maximizing profit, not capacity. This means many trains during rush hours and higher prices. But for example regarding the Dutch Randstad, the government has said: we want a lot of trains there, so NS, you take care of it. We should also do the same for international trains.”
Railway companies might also show a little more ‘entrepreneurial spirit’. “It is a fairly conservative sector. In theory, the NS might drive all the way to Marseille, there are no formal barriers to stop them. But they don’t.” The Italian Trenitalia does operate a lot abroad. “They have decided: let’s give it a try in France. They have the creativity that other countries lack.”
In many places, such as the Czech Republic and Austria, international rail has improved, says Worth. “Elsewhere, such as on the French border, things have deteriorated. But we are in a climate crisis. We don’t just have to make sure it becomes the way it was, it has to be better.”
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