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 threadjslJan 6
@jon Deutsche Bahn jumped through all the hoops to do exactly that because they are dumb? Gemini (?) recently did the same, because start-ups don't think about economic viability?? Lufthansa & BA are operating 20 daily flights FRA-LON because they are mostly empty and only used by people living and working walking distance from these airports and not by bankers who'd love to arrive in the middle of a city??? These commenters really know it all! /s
Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@jsl To be fair I am not sure that Gemini had full answers. DB did in the 2010s. DB doesn't now, really, it wants to let Eurostar find answers :-)
Show threadDr. SobekJan 6

@jon @jsl Why did DB, having all the answers in the 2010, not run anything to London commercially ?

(If there's some explanation)

Show threadjbJan 6

@Sobex @jon @jsl

Quite likely due to the same privatization cuts that is helping the ICE run on time.

Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@jb No. Not directly. Operationally too difficult, and some bad luck with the ICE 406 series. @Sobex @jsl
Show threadjbJan 6

@jon @Sobex @jsl

I just had two, TWO, on time ICE trips between Munich and Cologne, with no delays in either direction, this weekend.

I consider my DB luck entirely consumed for 2026.

Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@jb I actually think the mess DB finds itself in NOW (which stems from the issues that date back to the late 1990s, Schröder etc.) is the reason - understandably! they are not keen on London now. If I were in their shoes I would not do it now either. And the pr the other week was basically saying "we'll not stand in Eurostar's way" @Sobex @jsl
Show threadDr. Sobek
@jon @jb @jsl So DB is paying for decision taken when it was under direct government control ?
Jan 6 at 4:48pmWeb
Show threadjbJan 6

@Sobex @jon @jsl To be honest, we‘re all paying for the austerity and deferred maintenance on rail from the 90s onward.

I expect more of that under Merz.

Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@jb Yep. We can happily discuss dates, people, cause and effect (or not) here, but the mid to late 1990s are the start of this. @Sobex @jsl
Show threadJon WorthJan 6
@Sobex @jb @jsl Hmmm, not quite. Bahnreform was 1994 (to make DB AG), but it was the Mehdorn period as boss of DB 1999-2009 where - looking back - the rot really set in. And that coincided with Schröder as Kanzler.
Show threadjbJan 6
@jon @Sobex @jsl I will defer to you and your expertise. I wasn’t in Europe during those years.