Jon WorthJan 6

I am now getting train-splained that trains from London to Köln and Frankfurt are not economic, and that my #CrossChannelRail work has not done an economic impact assessment https://jonworth.eu/if-you-were-to-build-a-depot-for-channel-tunnel-passenger-trains-where-would-you-build-it/#comment-88076

FFS

1) I am 1 campaigner, and have produced more detail on these topics than *anything else* in public, and more than any company has released

2) If Amsterdam (4 hours) works, why can Köln (4 hrs) and Frankfurt (5 hrs) with large catchments NOT work?

Show threadJon Worth

What do these people do when - for example - Eurostar says "we will run to Geneva!" and says nothing of how or why?

Are these people assuming the companies know what they are doing, and are not saying the HOW in public?

Why am I, a campaigner doing crowd funded projects, being held to higher standards than firms with €€€ budgets?

#CrossChannelRail

Jan 6 at 4:22pmWeb
Show threadJon WorthJan 6

And ultimately as I see it, the expansion of #CrossChannelRail has to go this way:
1) where CAN you run?
2) what are the COSTS to running there (adapting terminals, staffing border control booths, who pays for that)?
and THEN
3) is there an economic case for doing it?

Were London a NORMAL high speed destination (no bag scans or border controls) it's absolutely OBVIOUS a Frankfurt-London would work, economically. 1) and 2) make it hard

Show threadpglux.bsky.socialJan 6
London - Cologne - Frankfurt with a 2-hr headway can certainly work and break even. Even with the current ☢️🏰👽🛂 drama and no cabotage within the Schengen Area. (Just run a 200-m 🚄 London SP ↔️ Frankfurt Hbf + a relief 🚄London SP ↔️ Bruxelles M. Likewise on London SP ↔️ Amsterdam C)
Show threadSven Slootweg, low-spoons mode ("still kinky and horny anyway")Jan 6
@jon I haven't been following the conversation in detail, but this is sounding to me like one of those cases of "if you want to believe it can't work, you'll find plenty of reasons to believe that, but you certainly won't find ways to make it work", which is the absolute most frustrating discussion pattern for just about any advocacy work... sigh
Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@joepie91 Yes, it is a bit of that. And it is a bit of someone wanting to try to show they're superior. And the whole lot is indeed just tiring. And rather annoyingly it is so prevalent in railway discussions. "Here are 101 things you did not think of! Answer THOSE!"
Show threadWrzlbrnftJan 6
@jon Paris to Nice takes 6 hours by TGV. How can these trains exist in the eyes of this guy?
Show threadMostxlnt!Jan 7
@jon I wonder if stations like St Pancras, Gare du Nord etc. shouldn't introduce 'Station taxes' in the same way we pay airport taxes to fund the customs/security checks? When you buy a plane ticket you see how much the tax costs and then it's included in the price you pay. That way it would be clear who's paying for these checks. Also, it would allow e.g. Eurostar to charge this tax to pay for inspections on the train, which still seems like the obvious solution to me to all these problems.
Show threadJon WorthJan 7
@mostxlnt Perhaps. I’m not sure if putting all these costs onto the consumer is right. But transparency of who pays what would be welcome indeed.